Observing College Professors Teach

I came to Stanford University in 1981. After being at Stanford for five years, a new Dean of the Graduate School of Education (GSE) asked me to serve as his Associate Dean. Having been a superintendent for seven years prior to coming to Stanford and tasting the privileged life of a full professor, I had no inclination to return to being an administrator whose influence on tenured colleagues, was at best, limited, and at worst, non-existent. The Dean, however, wanted me bad enough that he and I negotiated a higher salary (Stanford is, after all, a private institution where everything is negotiated). We agreed that I would only serve two years, I could teach at least one or two courses while I served as Associate Dean, and I would get a sabbatical quarter after completing the second year. What did I do as Associate Dean? I had to insure that all of my colleagues taught at least four courses over three quarters–some did not and I had to badger them to do so. I handled students’…