At least you’re out of the garage.
The A&M satellite campus clown show is off to a rousing start. 
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/texas-am-victoria-faculty-resign-22402965.php
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Were professors instructing students remotely from campus while it was a UH school? If this was the case how could this be even possible?
“Employees are now required to work in person five days a week and 40 hours per week during the school year.”
WTF???
Professors typically only spend 12-16 hours per week on instruction. The rest can be done anywhere, and it’s basically always been like that, which is what separates a professor’s job from other traditional “in-office” jobs and why it’s not really “telework” in the way we would typically think about it.
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I always had live in the flesh professors. I graduated in 1994. Is it the norm now for remote video teaching?
Only for online classes which are set up as such.
I finished undergrad in 2007 and had multiple video and online classes even then. Some of them were a hybrid approach.
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Chris, these days a lot of classes are online. Some are asynchronous in that you don’t have to attend a regular required meeting time (although one is offered) others are synchronous in that you do, some are hybrid with in person and online instruction. Yes it is pretty normal and has been for a while.
Now of course in the 90s when you graduated there were classes offered by UH that had vhs tapes, or some were on like PBS of public access. So distance learning is not new. I don’t recall what any of those classes were but I know they existed. Btw, you graduated when I was starting at UH.
Now when I went back to finish my degree 2009-2012, I mostly was taking in person classes as that was all that was offered in my major and most of the courses needed were just one a semester or once a year. I did take at least one sophomore level class that everyone in the Valenti school had to take that was offered online. There may have been some other electives I took online but I can’t quite remember what those may have been. Then through Bauer I took some Hybrid courses that would meet maybe once a week and have significant online activities too.
Now, in May I graduated with an MBA from Texas A&M Victoria (formerly University of Houston-Victoria). When I first started that, as this was another long road of stopping and starting, the MBA classes were online or at Sugar Land, I don’t think any were in Victoria. Later that moved to Katy, then a couple years ago they shut down the stuff at Katy prior to being transferred by the legislature to Texas A&M. I took a significant number of classes online as some classes were only online but others you had options. It varied a bit over the years and I’m not quite sure how it evolved exactly but I believe the MBA was partly designed to be available for distance learning. I just don’t know how many people not in the Victoria area would want to go there otherwise. However that isn’t too unusual in the MBA as there are lots of online programs. People in my classes varied as to where they lived, one semester I had a group mostly in Houston area but my last semester it was varied with one in Victoria, one closer to Dallas and now I forget where the other was but it wasn’t Houston or Victoria. Now that’s just my group work, not sure about the rest of the class.
Classes online varied but many I took had regular lectures but also would utilize discussion boards and other online tools to keep you engaged. My capstone course had regular online meetings that were recorded so you didn’t have to be there but you really needed to be. It was also a good opportunity to meet with your group members as we worked in groups on a simulation that we basically had to meet and work on several times a week. That course the professor was in a classroom in Victoria with some students and the rest online. I considered going there once to meet the professor in person but the week that made sense was canceled because of weather.
I’m sure there were a number of professors who lived in the Houston area as they were previously teaching classes at Katy or Sugarland before that. They may not have had to go to Victoria all that often but I don’t know. Now of course the ending of Katy classes was known ahead of time and was like over a year or so ago but I don’t know what they were told as far as transitioning to more in Victoria with online components or strictly online.
As far as being told to be on campus 40 hours a week, even if all your classes are online. That seems a bit ridiculous and I’m inclined to believe it is an excessive over application of the law as that professor advocacy group claims. My sister in law is a Professor (not in Texas) at a school that has a heavy emphasis on teaching, being available to the students and all with not much emphasis on research. She is not on campus 40 hours a week and is not required to be. It mainly depends on her class schedule but she might be only Tuesday and Thursday except for meetings or something like that. Now she doesn’t live 2 hours from campus like a Victoria professor living in Houston does but it would be a big switch to go 40 hours a week on campus and only be told they have to do so a couple weeks before the new semester!
I know that was a but long though, sorry but hope it was informative.
Side note, I actually get two diplomas one from UHV and one from A&M Victoria. Although it isn’t really two degrees. The majority of my classes were under UHV. Of course the one I am framing and hanging is going to be the one that says University of Houston-Victoria.
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And setting the other one on fire? Lol
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It’s 100% a misapplication. Whether that’s intentional or not is another question, but they’re going to hurt the school’s ability to offer classes because there aren’t just a boatload of qualified professors sitting around within commuting distance of Victoria. The school probably doesn’t even have adequate space for everyone to be there 8 hrs a day.
It’s just stupid all the way around.
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The campus has grown so they might have the space but really, it sure seems like they are trying to run off professors. It may very well be a nice place to live in Victoria, only spent a few hours there, but if you’re already established elsewhere and have a family… or close to retirement age, you might be inclined to leave rather than move. Then the school has to recruit people willing to live there, and have a stricter schedule than other Universities.
Let’s all stand up rtcoog made a joke. Even Fonzie is impressed.
It took a while but he finally did it.
Maybe one day you’ll make a joke too!
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Being required to be on campus when teaching classes on line is a joke.
But there has always been Aggie jokes. How many aggies does take to change a lightbulb.
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Why are there only two pallbearers for an Aggie’s funeral?
Because there are only two handles on a trashcan.
So this article says just about all the professors in counselor education quit. Many of whom have their own established counseling practices outside of Victoria. So, some classes may have been canceled or delayed. It seems to me, they really messed up in implementation of this new rule as it is now impacting the school’s ability to teach in the short term.
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/texas-am-victoria-campus-rules-22406834.php
Long term, sure getting the professors in Victoria could certainly have a benefit for the students, the school and the community.
I think there has to have been a way to keep the professors employed on a semester by semester basis so classes could be taught until you can replace them with professors committed to living in Victoria. Even still, for the counselor eductaion department, if most Professors also have a separate and ongoing counseling practice - requiring them to be on campus for 40 hours a week would certainly kill their practice, and it might not be financially feasible.
Sounds like a frickin mess.
Yep, just as stupid as I thought.
Hey Victoria, you’re in the FO stage now. Enjoy.
This really sucks for students. No consideration for the school’s customers.
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