Blew up in school meeting

During the last meeting before winter break today, I asked faculty for inputs so we can provide more timely feedback to students in our classes.  Some faculty provided very thoughtful suggestions.  But quickly some faculty start pointing fingers to other direction: the learning management system, students don't come to office hours, etc.  When one CS professor demanded more salary and teaching assistant support, I was very upset.

I can't take the attitude that "the prerequisite to improve my work quality is to give me more money", especially we are dealing with education.  There are so many problems that we can solve and help the students, especially the under-served one, but when the first thing faculty think is more money, we quickly going to how to allocate limited financial resources - important discussion, but rarely link to better education to the students.

I discussed with a retired provost a couple of days ago.  His remarks on why he took an early retirement is interesting "I can't stand the politics of the faculty".  I am worried that many of the faculty are falling into that trap: "more money or low quality".  In both education and high-tech, it is proven the mentality does not work.
Quality has to be #1 issue.

Being a professor

I appreciate my job AND career AND calling as a professor.   There are always ups and downs, but there is not many other positions that is secure, pleasant, autonomous, prestigious, engaging, appreciated and well-paid.  Wait, sans the pay part.

Compared to the old days, a university professor is similar to a priest.  The gospel is knowledge and pursue of new knowledge. The professors are supposed to work hard, but on the subject they find worthy and interesting, answering to no one but their peers.

Internal management team

I heard this over podcast of Harvard Business Review -

Each person's perspective is limited, since we usually don't have a group of advisor that know us well and have the right aspect and available to us, it is an worthwhile strategy to have some "Internal Management Team"

CEO - set the vision, lead the charge, adjust the strategy
CFO - make sure the resource is there, be prudent and efficient with the resource
COO - make sure all the procedure is established and followed and production is effective

Board - Watch over the "big picture", heed the danger, take the long view, the sure I do the right thing, not just doing things right

Often we have to put ourself in one of these role so the overall operation is meaningful and productive.  And hopefully, lead us to peace and joy.

Financial Independence and Financial Knowledge

I started investing rather young, right out of grad school.  I carefully put away 30% of my earnings every year for four years.  I bought two houses and several stocks.  It was terrible.  I was too naive and too lazy to learn.  I lost most of my money in stock and lost one house to foreclosure.  The bad credit followed by for 7 years, during my time in the doctoral program.

I was lucky enough that I cash out most of my remaining stock in 1999 for another house in Monterey and escaped the dot com stock bubble. I restarted my investment in 2003. Not until I stared study the necessary book, take the necessary risk, avoided the typical pitfall that devour the typical investor: greed and fear.  I read several books on stock and real estate, follow closely WSJ, forbes and Money and fool.com.  Between 2003 and today 2013, I started with less than 100K, now is 10X more.

The total time I studied is less than 3-400 hours.  The hourly rate is more than $1000!  I cannot believe I did not spend some time earlier in financial study, I probably wasted at least 3000 hours in college on games and useless chats.  Everyone should know the basic of investment.  It might not be as important as life and death, but it is definite results in rich or poor.

HIstory of finance

Getting more and more interested in finance and the history of it. Especially when I took Schiller s class last summer, he brought the financial market book with him once to a vacation.  He is so mesmerized by it that he read the 800 page book by the pool side. Siegel book is a classic. really enjoy it,  so far two chap into it.

poverty and prosperity

Watched the PBS series on Poverty.  It is a strange flim that almost equate minority to proverty which disturbed me.  Often a lot of wishful thinking people blam the proverty on circumstantce, it can be natural disaster, poor land, colonism, etc.  But the answer is easy and hard: change the culture.  Feed a person enough food so he is no long hungry, if he still work hard to prepare for the future, he will be rich.  If he just play, lay back, scatch his ball, he will be poor. It that simple.

In this case, no matter how much the government do, how much we donate, poor will be poor if they don't change within.  Rich will be rich even if they become poor temporarily. 

The poor don't want to work too hard, but accuse the game is not fair.  

"The easier way for the poor to become rich to allow them the change to earn their out of proverty."  How true!

One reason it is best to share bad news in person

Few people will remeber that you said or did, but they WILL remember how you make them FEEL. 

Paraphrased from

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

                                                                            Maya Angelou

Never ending of learning to teach

Grad student presentations notes and comments

Reviewing grad student presentation on external client supported projects.  Students put in significant efforts but the result can be improved.

- client did not come, which showed either they are either not engaged, not supportive or not happy with the project
- students presentation is not rehearsed.  1. time is not controlled, 2. demo, which is the crucial part of the presentation, is often chaotic
- presentation skills are fine overall, slides are well organized.  Many students still use "like" "uhm", "you know"...

- Most projects focus narrowly to the clients instructional media design, instead of the broad process.  We should train the student as designer, similar to an architect, not a construction worker.

- A general issue is the communication and commitment of the client, we should have a signed agreements with them and education the clients on the design process.

Most project adopt a non-personal approach, training oriented training.  How to inspire?

Faculty are very committed to the projects they advise, but during student presentation, faculty should let the student facing the challenges themselves, instead of injecting during student presentation.

40 Direct Reports

I enjoyed meeting and discussing with faculty, staff, teaching assistants.  Most, well probably all, of them are positive, responsive, dedicated.  But the number of my direct report has become overwhelming. Seven staff at School, four program directors, over 30 faculty members, three at the Institute,  another 10 or so on various projects.  Not sure it is the most effective way to run the operation.  Need to redesign.

Retire? Never! It is the next movement of the grand symphony

What surprised me most during my summer trip is that several of mine college buddies have retired.  Some of them made millions, some just enough for basic expenses.

The poem that was never written because some one knock on the door.  --  it is sometime the most difficult part of life, the interruption that cost the possibility.

So I am reading the book as suppliment to what color is your parachute, it mentioned  a few ideas that worth noting.

- People are most attracted to fifty+ people if they still have energy and passion. 

- The year between 50 and 75 can be the crowing peroid - people don't have to worry about earning and kids rearing, they can just focus being fulfilled and achievement.

- they enjoy music, write book, take interesting classes, meet new friends, travel to far-away places