[game_edu] Online-only degrees (was Re: Where to post academic job offers?)

[Yusuf Pisan]

"Academia" is a beast with multiple heads, so generalizations can be
misleading and it might be necessary to look at what institution or
what type of institution one would like to work at before starting to
pursue a degree. I think to understand the value of an online-MFA, we
need to look at different institutions and their attitude towards
research and their expectation of faculty members.

*My* view on this topic is as follows:

There are "research heavy" institutions. In general, they want to hire
people that will bring them lots of grant money. At the same time,
they do not want to ignore teaching. Depending on what "department" is
doing the hiring, the emphasis on future grants may get different
level of emphasis. They do want people who are at the top of their
field, so terminal degrees are often a must.

There are "research light" institutions. Research is important, but
they are not top tier and there is a heavier emphasis on innovation
and teaching. All academic staff is still expected to bring research
money, still expected to publish, but the pressure is not as high.
There would be less resistance from other departments if they decided
to get people who did not have terminal degrees as long as they made a
good case for the people.

There are "teaching focused with research" institutions. They are
known for their high quality teaching. They do small amount of good
research. Not all staff members necessarily publish academic papers
regularly, but tenure-track faculty is often expected to publish and
get grants while doing a very good job in teaching. Depending on the
department, terminal degrees may or may not be required. A CS
department would have a hard time hiring somebody without PhD as there
are many PhDs around. The arts department would prefer somebody with
MFA, but would be able to make a case for non-terminal degree
candidates.

There are "teaching" institutions. They do very little or no research.
Staff members are focused on teaching. The teaching loads tend to be
heavier. They may need a certain amount of PhD/MFAs for their
accreditation, but they would tend to focus much more on external
achievements and experience.


Game Design is a tricky area. It is acknowledged to be
cross-disciplinary. We are not exactly sure about the set of skills
needed, what classes should they have done. Is industry experience
essential? What does industry experience contribute that cannot be
communicated in a teaching/mentoring environment?

We are still figuring out where research on game design gets
published. It is difficult to get funding for "game design research"
from traditional funding bodies, but there might be some very good
industry collaborations worth exploring.

A number of institutions have started offering online degrees as a way
of of making money. There are also institutions that will grant you a
PhD with minimal or now work! While "online" does not mean
less-worthy, there is a certain level of skepticism and requirement to
check on the legitimacy of the program much more than "traditional"
degrees.

Some institutions have recognized the importance of non-traditional
paths and instead of requiring PhDs/MFAs they have come up with
alternative solutions. I first encountered the title "Professor of
Practice" while I was on sabbatical at WPI which seems to be a great
way of bringing industry experience into the university. A quick
google search revealed that a number of institutions (CMU, Syracuse
University, Georgia Tech, Tufts, Arizona State, etc) have "professors
of practice" as part of their faculty.

My 2 Australian cents which is worth as much as 2 US cents these days!

Cheers,

Yusuf

-- 
A/Professor Yusuf Pisan
Faculty of Information Technology
University of Technology, Sydney
http://staff.it.uts.edu.au/~ypisan/