My Dog Story

I recently read a newspaper article about colleges creating a dog-petting space to relieve stress for students during final exams. Groups bring in dogs and allow stressed-out students to play with them on their way to and from classes, study sessions, and exams. Judging from the picture in the article, it seems to work. The students--and the dogs--looked like they were really enjoying it.

We didn’t have anything like that during my campus days, and it’s probably just as well. I would have had to make a detour around the petting area.

I hate to admit it, but it’s true.  Connecting with dogs has been a real challenge for me.

You see, somewhere during my life I must have offended a dog. I don’t have any idea where, when, or how.  But it must have happened.  The dog I apparently offended, for whatever reason, must have told every other dog on the planet.  I have come to believe there is a canine version of LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter that allows dogs to network and share information.  For some reason unknown to me, I am on their s-list.

I don’t deserve this because I have never mistreated a dog in any way. It must all be a big misunderstanding.

As a youngster our family owned a dog, and I played with and loved her. When the family moved from West Orange, NJ to Greenville, SC our little Duchess didn’t make the traveling squad. My parents said it was best to give her away. It wasn’t my decision or my fault. I was just a kid.

As a parent, I agreed with my wife (reluctantly) to buy my older son a dog as a birthday present. Frisky was a handful, but we all loved him. After a few years we agreed to let Frisky go live with my mother-in-law, who had taken a special liking to him and was in poor health and in need of companionship. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Frisky seemed to be fine with it.

No, it can’t be Duchess or Frisky. Some other dog must have it in for me, and put out a network alert to all other dogs.

Trust me when I tell you this dog network is extensive. I can’t claim to be a world traveler, but I have been all over the U.S. and out of the country a few times. Everywhere I go, the dogs have been alerted.

Over the years I’ve tried my best to make friends with a few dogs, hoping to get an answer to my question, “What have you heard?” They just give me an angry growl.

I know I’m missing out by not connecting with dogs. I see my friends and neighbors walking their dogs every day, and they seem to be having so much fun. 

I hope one day to clear up this misunderstanding and restore my good name in the dog world. Until then, if I pass by you on my daily walk, please tighten your hold on your dog leash.

Your dog is probably on the network too.

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You are invited to connect with me on my Short Stories Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/LarryLaForgeStories

My 3 R's of retirement

I’m no expert on retirement and wellness, but I have learned a few things since hanging up my professor cleats in July 2011.

Whether fully employed or fully retired, keeping an active and balanced lifestyle seems to be the way to go.

Thinking about this with all my extra time has led me to formulate what I call my 3 R’s of retirement. Unlike the stuff I was supposed to write as a professor, my 3 R’s of retirement are not research based. They’re gut-feeling things, no more and no less.  They just feel right, make sense, and seem to work.

Each one of my 3 R’s is important, and it seems to me that they must be done in some fashion together. 

My 3 R’s of retirement are simple:  Read, Rite, Run.

As I will attempt to explain below, they should be interpreted in the broadest possible context.

Read: Expand your horizons by enjoying the creative output of others. This doesn’t have to be reading per se. It could also be watching and appreciating movies, plays, or concerts. It could be listening to and appreciating music of all kinds. It could be learning through travel and first-hand observation.

Rite:  Develop a creative output of your own. Do something creative that you enjoy and keep working on it. It could be writing but doesn’t have to be. It might be learning a musical instrument, sewing, painting, woodworking, or anything that draws on your creative juices and challenges your mind. You don’t have to market your creative output for it to be successful. You don’t even have to be good at it as long as you enjoy the challenge of improving.

Run: Keep moving. You can run, walk, do the treadmill or exercise bike, or whatever. But you must work up a sweat on a regular basis.

I have implemented the 3 R’s by reading fiction (something I never had time to do while working), writing and self-publishing stories that draw on my career experiences, and getting in a solid “power walk” almost every day through the great college town of Clemson, SC.  (I am also teaching myself to play the guitar, but don’t tell anyone I know because they wouldn’t believe it.)

As I said, I’m no expert on wellness and retirement. But I think I’m onto something.

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You are invited to follow my writing activities and connect with me on my Short Stories Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/LarryLaForgeStories

A Sunday Writer

I’m what acclaimed author Lawrence Block calls a “Sunday writer.”

In his book for aspiring fiction writers, TELLING LIES FOR FUN AND PROFIT, Block envies Sunday writers.

Sunday writers do it for fun and enjoyment, not for profit. We sit at our word processors when the mood strikes. It’s a hobby, not a job.

Sunday writers enjoy the process. Otherwise, we wouldn’t do it. There are no daily word-count targets or mandatory writing hours.  There is no market analysis for the final product.  We write what we think is important or interesting, and are elated if others find it useful as well.

Every writer, including the Sunday writer, likes to see his work jumping off the bookshelves to eager readers.  But the Sunday writer knows this is icing on the cake.  The fun for a Sunday writer is mixing just the right ingredients and baking the cake.

Sunday writers should be held to high standards as authors. We don't face deadlines and don't have editors and publishers demanding things from us. We should take our time and get it right. We have access to similar resources as full-time, professional writers.  The Sunday writer can easily find editorial or proofreading help if needed, as well as assistance with cover designs.

My Sunday writing is about things I experienced in my 35 years as a college professor.  The “cake” I bake is short fiction, with each story containing an underlying message about higher education or college sports.  I enjoy all aspects of each story, from developing the idea to the challenge of creating a cover design.

Electronic publishing has opened doors for many Sunday writers like me.  I use an e-book aggregator called Smashwords to distribute my short stories to as many e-book retailers as possible. 

When allowed by the retailer, I set the price as FREE for my short stories.  After all, the fun was baking the cake -- and sharing it with as many people as possible.

Almost every day I thank my lucky stars that I’m not a full-time writer trying to put bread on the table from my literary pursuits.

That’s because being a Sunday writer is a blast.

*****

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What is a collegiate athletic conference?

I used to know the answer to this question. An athletic conference was a small group of schools in close geographic proximity that had similar philosophies about the role of athletics in higher education.

Those days are gone.

Today it appears that a collegiate athletic conference is a coalition of schools put together to maximize leverage in the negotiation of a television contract. Geography doesn’t seem to matter.  Academic philosophy doesn’t seem to matter.  Storied rivalries take a back seat to economics. Bigger is better.

This new model for athletic conferences sits on shaky ground. Down the road, the next TV contract negotiation cycle may call for a different coalition of schools to come together, depending on the circumstances.

I hate it, but I do understand it. 

College sports can’t survive without TV money. For most schools, financial success in football is required to support a wide variety of sports that generate great experiences for student-athletes and fans, but little or no revenue.

We can’t blame athletic administrators and college presidents for acting to preserve the financial integrity of the sports teams we follow so passionately.

Athletic conferences aren’t what they used to be.

It’s no one’s fault in particular, or maybe it’s everyone’s fault.

What is academic integrity?

Several years ago I attended a campus event at my university on academic integrity.  The speaker was a nationally known expert in the field.

He opened the session by posing the question: “What is academic integrity?” Numerous hands went up in the audience.  More than he could call on.

Students, faculty and staff in the packed auditorium eagerly gave their take on the subject. Almost all of them said the same thing.  Some answers were more sophisticated and better articulated than others, but they were pretty much the same.

In a nutshell, the audience members defined academic integrity as doing your own work.  The speaker generally agreed with this notion and took that as the starting point for his excellent presentation.

I should have spoken up.  I certainly don’t disagree that academic integrity requires us to do our own work.  But that is only part of it.

The part that wasn’t mentioned is just as important.  Academic integrity is not just the honest submission of work; it is also the honest evaluation of that work.

By honest evaluation of work, I mean rigor in the presentation and assignment of work and in the grading of it.  If courses and assignments lack appropriate rigor, I don’t see how one could claim academic integrity.

For this reason, I am always cautious about drawing conclusions about colleges and universities from their published graduation rates and academic honors.  I am especially cautious when it comes to graduation data of athletes published by individual schools and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Don’t get me wrong.  I believe the numbers and am willing to assume that the overwhelming majority of schools have policies and processes to ensure that students are doing their own work.  The very public cases of academic fraud in athletics are the exception rather than the rule.

Even though I am willing to assume that there is generally honest submission of work, I still don’t know if schools with high graduation rates really have academic integrity.  That’s because a listing of graduation rates and academic honors of various colleges or sports teams tells me nothing about appropriate rigor in courses, assignments, and grading.

Most schools with high graduation rates, both for athletes and regular students, are probably doing things the right way.

We just don’t know for sure.

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Massive open online courses (MOOCs)

Something is in the works that could potentially turn higher education upside down.  Technology entrepreneurs are making college courses available to the masses.  Top professors at the very best universities in the world teach many of these courses.  One of the leaders in this effort is a technology startup called Coursera, which is working with universities to turn selected courses into MOOCs.  A single MOOC could enroll tens of thousands of students worldwide.

So far, the courses have been available for free.  Students completing an online course receive a certificate, but no academic credit from the university.  All that could be changing soon.

The American Council on Education (ACE) recently announced a joint effort with Coursera to determine the appropriate academic credit, if any, a university should give to a student completing a MOOC.  University leaders will be working with ACE to address issues in online delivery of college courses with an eye toward removing barriers to higher education – and tapping a vast market.

It is now clear why universities have been willing to provide some courses for free.  This has allowed them to understand the market potential for charging tuition, granting academic credit, and potentially awarding degrees to a multitude of students that require no brick and mortar investments in classroom buildings, dorms, dining halls, etc.

The implications are enormous.  With traditional college costs soaring, MOOCs taken for credit could make quality higher education more accessible than ever.  The traditional “college experience” could become a thing of the past.

Universities aren’t leading this charge.  It is being led by technology startups (some created by former professors) that advocate a new approach to higher education. Universities are cautious but are participating because they recognize this could be a game changer and they can’t afford to be left out.

There are clearly many issues to address with massive online learning and MOOCs.  This is something to watch carefully in the months and years ahead.

For more information:

http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/ACE-to-Assess-Potential-of-MOOCs,-Evaluate-Courses-for-Credit-Worthiness.aspx

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Fodder for future stories: community service in higher education

More and more colleges are requiring community service from their students.  It seems like a great idea to get students into the community to offer their talents and assist others in need.  Some schools refer to this as service learning.  Overall, it’s a very good thing.

There doesn’t seem to be any downside to this, but let’s look at what might happen if it’s taken to the extreme.  If community service is required for graduation, then students must document their efforts in some way.  What exactly was done in the name of service?  Did it meet the school’s criteria to receive credit? When was it done? Who verified that it was done?

If community service is the basis for competitive organizational awards (fraternities, sororities, sports teams, etc.), then again clear documentation of what service was performed becomes paramount.  Similarly, if the school’s brand image is built around the community service concept, we can expect the school will accumulate all the documented service activities of its students for public dissemination.

See where this is going?  If we’re not careful service can become a tool for self-promotion.  Are we teaching students to engage in service to help others or to promote themselves and their organizations?

In the story I am currently working on, Edward Grace (fictional character) decides not to play the game at his college.  See a preview of THE CURIOUS CASE OF EDWARD GRACE on my Short Stories Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/LarryLaForgeStories