Teaching Only Staff (TOS) are becoming more visible in Business Schools, where the main income and, often, the only surpluses that a University can derive from its activities, are derived from teaching and programme management.
But Researchers make good teachers...good communicators...good heavens, you mean that they don't necessarily? My previous blogs on
SECOND CLASS LECTURERS and
THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW might suggest how I feel about this, but I digress.
TOS feel, to me, like outcasts - even the epithet attached suggests some deficiency in their value - Teaching ONLY!! It's like the Catholic Church thinking of all other religions as "non-catholic".
The tag ONLY also allows institutions to hide the disproportionate loading of what some research professors call "Admin.", to you and me, that's "Management". Management of recruitment, student experience, programme suitability, teaching policy, learning resources....the list goes on. TOS staff are highly professional, have skills, often bring industry insights and are developed in their specialist area - teaching. Why is this part of the university mission so undersold?
So, what could we call TOS to try to avoid and reduce the stigma that is surely embodied in the name and the career opportunities?
- Professor
- Reader
- Senior Lecturer
- Lecturer
Worth a thought...
