The one thing that drew me to Kent State 20 years ago remains the one thing that keeps me here: Helping young people succeed in their lives and careers. Nothing else about this job matters to me. Nothing.
But after 20 years, I feel compelled to share a few thoughts:
Teaching college is a full-time job and then some. Maybe you know this already, but I’m shocked by the number of fools who think I work 20 hours a week and spend the rest of my time hunting and fishing. I work ALL THE TIME. It’s more of a calling than a job, and I minister to a pretty large flock.
The pay doesn’t suck. Oh, there was a time that it did. When I came to Kent State in 1992, I was earning about $60K a year in the real world. Kent State offered me $36K, and there was no negotiating. I took the job because I knew it was the perfect place for me. After 20 years of small and steady raises, and a few merit-pay bumps along the way, I earn a living wage. But my real-world counterparts with the same experience and abilities still earn twice what I do and more.
Academic politics ain’t so bad. What’s that old joke? The reason academic politics are so vicious is because the stakes are so small! Yep. There’s so little to fight for in the academy that it’s amazing anyone can even get angry. But they do. They anguish over the chickenshit stuff and make themselves miserable in the process. When I was 24 and a lowly PR account executive in Detroit, the boss gave me a great piece of advice: Don’t sweat the little stuff, kid. And I don’t.
It’s all about the students. Everything I do in my professional life is aimed at helping our students succeed. And that includes those “candid” notes I write atop student assignments and essays — and those private sessions when I suggest it may be time to find another major. In a way, teaching is a lot like parenting: Keep your promises to your kids or they won’t trust you. But enforce the consequences for poor performance or they won’t excel.
The rewards of teaching. Few jobs offer the level of gratification one gets from teaching. But rather than try to describe it, let me instead quote from a handwritten note a student left for me late last week as she was headed to her commencement.
…I’m so glad I got to work with you. Earning this master’s degree has changed my life as a professional. I would be lost without this program, the professors, and this opportunity to grow. Best of luck to you. And please keep in touch.
You can bet we will, Anne. It’s why we teach.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Bill. I feel the same way, but doing so often makes me feel like the odd one out in our doctoral-granting program. I dig my research and do enough of it to humor myself, feel like I’m making a small contribution, and keep myself out of not water. However, it never compares to teaching in terms of the joy I get or the sense of impact that I believe it has. Meanwhile, a plan to become the next great research university is circulating down from on high…
So cheers to your many years of teaching well!
Thanks for the comment, Dave. I came to Kent State as a teaching professional, so I won’t be much help in our quest to become a “great research university.” But my teaching in PR is more effective thanks to my time in this digital space and my brand of “public scholarship” has reached many more influential people than academic journals articles ever would. I’m fortunate to have a director and dean who see value in what I do — and in teaching.
On behalf of so many students to benefit from your guidance, thank you taking the time to “connect” with each of us on a personal level. That’s what really makes a difference.
I agree on not sweating the small stuff. There’s plenty of it for all of us, but little of it is truly worth fighting about. Your post also highlights a societal need to truly value teaching but rewarding it with stronger pay. Are we serious about education in this country or not? If we are, it’s time to invest in the foundation — teachers.
Thanks for sharing Bill … have a great one!
Thanks, Eric. Those 20 years in academe have been most gratifying, but my last 18 months working on the Online PR Master’s has me looking forward with excitement to the next 20. Well, let’s make it 10, OK? I don’t think I want to work ’til I’m 78!
I”ll keep it simple … you’re one of the greats, Bill. The profession is lucky to have you.
Nice piece Bill and I couldn’t agree more. Teaching really is more of a calling than a job and it is all about the students and doing what we can to help them along the way.
I was once a lowly pre-journalism (magazine) undergrad who took a media writing course with a wise man who taught me what PR was. You’ve always been a massive inspiration to me and I don’t doubt countless other students. Sure, people may be scared that you’re blatantly honest – but as you wrote, you must enforce the consequences of poor performance. When I wrote well, you told me. When I made mistakes, you taught me how to correct them. And here’s the thing, it wasn’t just me – you knew each and every student, provided personalized guidance and suggested great tips and tricks. By the end of my four years (each and every year, ensuring I was part of a Sledzik course) I was a well-oiled writing machine.
In particular, your wealth of knowledge and creativity in the social and digital space really inspired me. As a digital native, I’ve grown up personally using social and digital, but flipping it to use it from a business communications perspective was something I needed to learn how to do. I LOVE social and digital, so I focused on that niche to stand out as a job candidate. Now, in the first year of my career, I’ve been extremely successful in educating clients, colleagues and fostering the growth of some pretty cool social and digital initiatives. That’s all because of the great work you and the rest of the PR team at KSU do every single day. I’ll never be able to thank you enough – but I will always give you the credit when people ask why or how I got started.
Thanks for everything you do every single day. You rock.
Thanks, Robert. You’re one more reason I’m not planning to retire anytime soon.
Thanks, my friend, for stating so eloquently (as always) why we do what we do. As another semester winds down, I got another reminder today from a former student: “Thanks to the teachers who instilled in me such a love of English that I’m perpetually mortified when reading the Internet.” I couldn’t be more proud!
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