[game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?

[Roberts, Scott]

It isn't all that bleak.  There are always workarounds, and those with industry experience who want to get into education are currently in a seller's market.  At DePaul, for example, we're able to offer full-time visiting professor positions to those without terminal degrees, and there are plenty of other programs like ours.  This thread (about the necessity of job experience for game design teachers) only increases the demand.  Someone committed to getting their terminal degree could work something out to balance the time needed to work towards the degree.  You could also try negotiating a position based on an intent to achieve the degree.  Negotiate.

While there may currently be few programs for game MFAs, attending grad school doesn't preclude working freelance or as a consultant while working towards the degree.  I have a friend with a film background who's looking into an MFA program that allows him to do most of the work remotely, but then spend a few days on-campus a month.

I quit my job and went back to grad school after working for 10 years.  It was a difficult financial decision, but one of the best moves I ever made.  (The fact that I was a season ticket holder during the Badgers' Rose Bowl season was a bonus.)  Then again you've gotta want it.


As for changing academia's mind about an on-line terminal degree, let's tackle the easier problems first.  Like global warming or cancer.

Scott



Scott Roberts
Associate Professor
DePaul University
sroberts at cti.depaul.edu<mailto:sroberts at cti.depaul.edu>




________________________________
From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [game_edu-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Ian Schreiber [ai864 at yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 12:23 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Where to post academic job offers?

Interesting point, and one that saddens me. Here's the problem with a residency requirement, speaking as someone seeking growth in my own academic career: the number of terminal degrees in game design is shockingly small, and there's no guarantee that any of them exist within a 500-mile radius of wherever you happen to live. More traditional disciplines don't have this problem; if I want a Ph.D. in Computer Science, the university down the street from me probably has one.

To begin with, it's difficult for experienced game developers to take the plunge and leave full-time game development for full-time teaching. Add the constraint that you need to first take a few years getting a terminal degree (with requisite pay cut), and it becomes darn near impossible for most working professionals. With the additional constraint that you have to move across the country to get the degree in the first place... see where I'm going with this?

Rather than say "online-only degrees aren't taken seriously", perhaps it should be rephrased as a question: how can we ensure that online-only degrees ARE taken seriously? That is, if we're all serious about getting more tenure-track positions open for people with industry experience.

- Ian

"Roberts, Scott" <sroberts at cti.depaul.edu> wrote:
For those of you who are considering this, possibly down the road, you should do some research and talk to tenured faculty at a variety of institutions. Just receiving a PhD/MFA may be enough to get you hired at some schools, but the reputation/quality of the degree program does affect your hiring and your pursuit of tenure. Tim, your idea of an online-only terminal degree sounds interesting, but I think keeping some residency requirement will increase the value of your degree for those seeking academic careers. To be honest, I'd be concerned about whether an online-only degree will be looked at in the same light, at least for the near future. There's value in having alternative structures that encourage long-distance students, such as working it out so that they can periodically travel to the school for 2 days of solid class/mentor meetings. I think Brenda mentioned something like this in the panel at GDC.

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