If I blog it, will they come?

Okay, so I love the IDEA of blogging but can't decide, after one previous failed attempt to maintain a blog, if I am any good at this. It is, I suppose, a little like keeping a journal, and I have always been lousy at that, so maybe this is a bad idea that will fade away.

Nevertheless, I figured I'd give it a go. My situation has changed recently, and with a new position, I felt like blogging might be a good outlet to join in the public conversation about academia.

Background on me: I just started my first tenure track academic position (and my first full time teaching position), as an Assistant Professor in a Communication department, teaching film, screenwriting, media, etc. I suppose I should come up with one of those cheeky names for my university, so I can remain anonymous. I don't know that I've been here long enough to really categorize it effectively. I think of it as Moderately Well Respected Mid-Size University, but MWRMSU is way too long to type every time I want to talk about the school... I'll have to think about it.

As for the blog title, well, I think the description states it adequately. I have a Master of Fine Arts, and that is a terminal degree, though not a doctoral-level degree, of course. Some departments and universities and colleges recognize this, some don't, and some just don't care and want to hire PhDs. Okay, so that's their prerogative, but I maintain that an MFA is not just NOT a PhD; it's a very different type of degree, for a different type of person/educator. I think of myself as an artist, not a researcher (not at ALL a researcher), and thus what I bring to the table, from an education perspective, is experience as a 'practitioner' in my field. Does this benefot students? I think so. Do I think they don't also benefit from teachers who are primarily researchers in their fields? I didn't say that.

I think a good balance is of the two is essential, but my experience has shown me that very few departments or universities agree. Perhaps this is driven by ranking systems that measure your worth as an institution by counting percentages of those holding PhDs among the faculty.

I sat in one pseudo-interview with a department chair that illustrates my issues. I call it a pseudo-interview because I wasn't an official applicant for a position. I was visiting my undergrad alma mater for Homecoming and one of my former classmates, now a tenure-track professor at the school, arranged a meet-n-greet with the department chair because I was pursuing the idea of returning to teach there. This dept. chair wasn't at said school when I matriculated, so we didn't know each other, though he had my CV, sent to him by the VP of Academic Affairs (who was the dept. chair under whom I studied and who was an ardent supporter of mine).

Anyway, in our little chat, he went ON AND ON about how he would only hire a PhD because he could, because it was a buyer's market, so to speak, and he could have his pick of candidates and thus would always choose someone with a PhD. This in spite of the fact that he himself was hired before he had completed a PhD and had ascended to chair of the department. I tried to have a pleasant conversation with him and discuss the reasons I had for choosing an MFA -- the fact that I would spend five years or more working on a PhD that wouldn't make me any better as an artist, and that my experience in my field, coupled with my degree, made me a legitmate YADDA YADDA YADDA. He didn't care.

My point was, and is, that for certain positions, those which focus on experiential learning (in my field, I would say this refers to things like film production, screenwriting, directing, etc.), an MFA is the appropriate degree, because the teacher should have some experience in the field in which he or she is teaching. I gave up on him, and my alma mater (sadly), and then landed my dream position at a better school, with better facilities, more funding, and people I didn't have to convince to hire me. They wanted me. Yippee!

So I've solved my hiring issue, but the MFA issue is still out there and still a problem. When I come up for tenure in six years, the people who will be Roger-Ebert-ing my tenure application will be PhDs, some of whom (at least on the committee now) don't like the idea of teaching practical education or having people with less-than-a-doctorate doing it. And even if things work out for me (my department is supportive, and the department's tenure document is appropriate for what I do), there are many others out there who should be teaching but can't get jobs with their 'lowly' MFAs.

But I don't want this blog to be just about that one issue. I certainly welcome people to discuss that, but like most academic blogs, there will probably be discussions about grading, instransigent students, and perhaps even my upcoming projects (to get tenure, I don't publish books or articles; I make films).

So, if anyone actually shows up and reads this post, please drop a comment and say hi.