<p>They better ramp it up. He’s not getting any younger!</p>
<p>At the small, 100% undergraduate-focused college where one of my kids now works as an administrator, a week before classes started they cancelled almost 20% of their classes for under-enrollment. That turned dozens of students who thought they were full-time students into part-time students ineligible for much of their financial aid. If they were lucky – if they had given the college a phone number that worked, and they had their phones turned on, or responded to voice mail – the college got in touch with them about it. But the college didn’t reach 100% of the affected students within a couple of days.</p>
<p>It’s not clear to me that a student at this college was better off than a student at Penn. Just a different set of issues.</p>
<p>xiggi- That is the funniest post of the month!</p>
<p>In the absence of further information, I would say that the acting chair of the Political Science department at Penn really messed up here. If I were paying full-freight for my kid at Penn and this happened to him, I’d be furious. Any podunk college knows the importance of having a qualified warm body in the classroom for each section come September.</p>
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<p>I think we’ll see this happening more and more as administrators try to maximize every ounce of efficiency from the schedule. Any class that’s not popular or required will be scrutinized. It’s unfortunate because the small, boutique class is a wonderful feature of the LAC.</p>
<p>I could totally and absolutely picture this happening, having been a department chair. We set up our teaching schedules for the fall in around March. Guy dies in April. Now one person- the chair- grieves, goes to funeral, helps wife clean out office, change the guys’ teaching schedule and finds replacements or drops a course (not always possible to find a substitute for a particular course that was a specialty of one faculty member)…and meanwhile is dealing with a ton of loose ends (not just around this guy but in terms of endless bits that hit the dept chair’s desk)…and somehow, at some point, she or he drops the ball on this course. If time gets to pass, it gets lost. </p>
<p>I’ve never yet made such a big blunder, yet I could imagine someone doing that because I have had those experiences of waking up at 2am in a jolt because there was something critical to do and somehow I almost forgot. So far it’s only been ‘almost’. </p>
<p>Nothing at all to do with not enough focus on undergrad education…just a mistake that could be caused by ONE very busy/older/absentminded (fill in the blank) human being. Not excusable of course- I’d be really frustrated if this happened to my kid!- but I do think one person does not make or reflect an institution either. </p>
<p>And for some reason this story made me laugh.</p>
<p>It was funny, and unfortunate, but I completely agree with starbright. It’s probably one busy person’s screw up. Check out the thread about work faux pas. Not surprising that the Penn-haters are crowing, though.</p>
<p>Maybe Penn is just following the model set forth by the Federal Govt - to continue to pay dead people [Feds</a> pay $601 million to dead retirees - UPI.com](<a href=“Feds pay $601 million to dead retirees - UPI.com”>Feds pay $601 million to dead retirees - UPI.com)</p>
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<p>Oh, JYM, considering how many living deads are supported by public coffers, the actual death certificate represents a trivial confirmation. </p>
<p>After birthers, will we see the uprising of the “deathers?”</p>
<p>Guys, you have to pick one: either the dead should be given the freedom to find jobs (including teaching undergrads in Pennsylvania) and earn a liv-- um, I mean… earn enough to l-- … earn enough to provide for themselves and their families or they should be allowed to retire and collect the pensions and annuities that they’ve earned. I mean, what do you expected them to do? Just drop d… oh.</p>
<p>How can you tell if a tenured professor/teacher is dead? …</p>
<p>No, it’s a real question.</p>
<p>That was clever, W&MParent. I almost died laughing. Do I get a pay raise? Or do I have to be a professor or on the govt’s payroll?</p>