Professors' Productivity

This story is for my friend the professor:

But some critics of the university say professors like Carter aren't teaching enough students, that they spend too much time in small classes, doing research or serving on committees. And with tuition rising faster than inflation, that's a luxury no one can afford.

David Guenthner: The top fifth of faculty in terms of teaching loads are teaching an average of about 318 students per year. The other 80 percent of faculty are teaching approximately 63 students a year.

That's David Guenthner of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Its offices are in an unassuming bank building a few blocks from the state capitol. But the conservative think-tank is behind a growing movement to transform higher education in the state. Guenthner says if more professors taught more students, the university would need fewer teachers. And that would save millions of dollars that could offset tuition.

Now that he's out of the public sector, my friend the professor doesn't have to worry about this.  One former professor I know wasn't pulling his weight, Ohio Governor John Kasich:

As a candidate for governor, Republican John Kasich has called on colleges and universities to cut costs and force professors to teach more courses.

Yet for seven years Kasich served as a “presidential fellow” at his alma mater, Ohio State University, in a role that paid him the equivalent of about $4,000 per campus visit.

“It sounds like a perk program for a politician that we can’t afford,” said Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank that has posted government salaries in an online database.

Rob Nichols, Kasich’s campaign spokesman, said: “John was paid in alignment with what OSU thought his teaching was worth. They thought his work there was valuable — they kept asking him back.”

The job was among the many hats Kasich wore in the years after he left Congress in 2000. Although other politicians, including Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman, have taught courses at OSU for no cost, Kasich’s role paid him $50,000 a year.

Then-OSU President Brit Kirwin invited Kasich to serve as a fellow in August 2001. Starting with the 2002 winter quarter and ending last year, Kasich worked roughly one to five days a month — guest-lecturing in political science, economics, finance and psychology courses, posing a question of the month to first-year Mount Scholars, and serving as a panelist at banquets and forums.

Although I'd rather have him taking money as a nearly no-show prof than being governor.  Much less damaging to all involved.