范文 issue 73

tesolchina_RAUID：3675555

Colleges and universities should require all faculty to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach.

Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.


It seems to me that to require all faculty members in colleges and universities to take non-academic jobs off campus is a very bad policy for three reasons.  First, many faculty members may not find suitable jobs outside the universities. In addition, such policy may increase the attrition rates of faculty members in certain fields. Finally, the policy is not necessary for certain fields where close contact with the professional world is essential.   

To begin with, not all faculty members can easily find jobs in the professional world, especially when they are only available for a relatively short period of time.  Consider the professors in philosophy and literature for example.  While experts in these fields are important for teaching the relevant courses and conducting original research, their skills are not always immediately useful in corporate environment.  If faculty members could not find suitable jobs off campus, the policy would be very difficult to be effectively implemented.  

Another negative consequence of this policy is that certain departments such as computer science and electrical engineering may lose some talented professors.  Technology companies such as Google and Facebook are constantly hunting for employees with expertise in high-performance computing, data mining and machine learning.  Even without such policy, universities have to compete against such companies for talents in these fields.  The policy would provide professors in fields more opportunities to work in such companies without losing their academic jobs.  Once they find suitable jobs in these companies who usually offer much better compensation packages, it is likely that they might leave their university positions.  In other words, the policy may increase the attrition rate of faculty members in certain fields.  

Some people may argue that in certain fields such as law and medicine it is important for the academic researchers to stay in touch with the professional world. Working experience outside the universities would help them gain more insights into the fields and become better teachers and researchers.  In cases like these, the policy of requiring the faculty members to work outside universities would become unnecessary.  Professors interested in professional development will seek job opportunities without such requirements.  Those who do not may not perform as well as those who do as researchers and teachers.   

In conclusion, the policy may not be feasible for faculty members in certain fields who could not find suitable jobs outside universities.  It may also increase the attrition rate of certain departments such as computer science for which there is intense competition for talents.  As for those fields where professional working experience is highly valued, the policy is also unnecessary.  


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