Teaching materials

This is about teaching materials — those materials that you've handed out, played, or displayed to students as parts of lectures or tutorials. (These are different to lecture notes, which are written for an academic's own use.)

I'm contacted by academics (particularly those moving to new institutions) about whether they're obliged to provide their teaching materials to their successors? The answer is, probably, yes. That, however, is not the answer to the situation.

Firstly, a little generosity goes a long way. There's no harm in ensuring that a successor has access to your teaching materials.

Generosity, however, does not require anonymity. If your pedagogical efforts are good enough to live on in a unit, then you should be recognised as the creator.

I suggest that you prominently mark all of your teaching materials. For example:

© 2008 Bill Danby (b.danby@universityworkplace.com)

This right of attribution is a "moral right," recognised by the copyright legislation in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and others. Displaying the year also provides a useful "use by" guide; and, adding an email address ensures that you can be contacted. (If you expect your materials to be used in the UK or New Zealand, you should add, "The author asserts her (or his) moral rights." ▪

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus
but a molder of consensus.
—Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Workload warning signs

We all do professional reading at home. We all make those occasional work calls during the evening. And, at semester's start, there's enrollment; at the end there's marking. There are times when extra effort is required.

There are, however, warning signs when it's become too much. Here are a few:

• Taking sick days or recreation leave days to get the work done.
• Checking the email before going to the University.
• Regularly taking work calls on the weekend.
• Feeling guilty on a weekend if you're not working.
• Work worries are intruding on your time with family or friends.

I have little sympathy with the claim that to address the situation will mean falling behind your colleagues. (Who can know what desperate lives others are leading?) It's not about competition and it's not about weakness. It's entirely about doing what's safe, sensible and necessary.

Recognition is the first step. But after that there's no simple solution. Of course get professional advice. Contact your union, and contact your doctor, and formulate a plan to deal with the situation before you're injured. (Sure, plan to work smarter, but make sure you're not just fiddling around the edges.) ▪

It is never too late to give up your prejudices
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)