[game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?

[David Wessman]

Excellent discussion! For the most part I agree with Mark's points. I myself
never completed a degree in anything, but after 17 years in the game
industry and multiple hit games it seems like academia ought to have some
mechanism for awarding the appropriate degrees for that hard won knowledge
and experience! It surely does rankle that were I to seek a full-time
teaching position, my salary would be at the low end of the scale because
academic salaries are based primarily on academic achievement. Fortunately,
most schools have some leeway to make appropriate adjustments.

I would add one critical element to consider whether someone is qualified to
teach that is independent of the subject being taught: can they actually
teach? All the experience and knowledge in the world will only get you so
far. You must also be able to engage students - get them excited and
motivated about the subject.

Game design teachers have a great advantage in that (most) students enroll
in these classes because they really want to learn it, and that's not always
the case. A teacher who understands that teaching involves much more than
the academic knowledge they impart, and can act on that, is going to be a
lot more effective.


>From the student's point of view their choice of school/program is clearly

going to be heavily influenced by the faculty's accomplishments in the field
- and a staff drawn from art, animation, film and multimedia is not going to
have the same pull as one drawn from games. This is something else school's
should consider when recruiting instructors from the game industry. (Which
brings up some interesting thoughts regarding "teaching" institutions vs.
"research" institutions.)

Regarding the tenure track I highly recommend Survival of the
Witless<http://www.avalanchepress.com/gameI2K.php>,
published by Avalanche Press, but sadly out of print at this time. It is a
card game for 3-8 players trying to gain tenure.

Thanks for reading,
David
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