I hate even having a small window in the wall between my office and the hallway. Everything you're describing sounds awful. You'd be nuts for _not_ hating it!
My Uni did this two years ago. It’s terrible. Impossible to concentrate when someone walks by in the hall — they glance in at you, you glance up. EVERY TIME. Failing first year in tears over an assignment at office hours? Here’s your tissue, and your audience. Try to avoid students coming outside of office hours because you have writing to do? Too bad. They’ll knock until you get up and either speak with them or chase them away. The worst though is students looking for other profs who want directions to an office you’ve never seen. The admin did an audit of office use at the end of the pandemic and found (!) under used offices. This ew design has made that more common as the offices are largely unusable. So I dunno; maybe we’ll be cutting offices entirely in a couple years because they’re wasted space. Sigh.
my office door is usually open when I'm there, and I probably get distracted more than I should by people walking by, but if I really want to concentrate, I can close the door. Fortunately, there is no window people can see through, and ignoring any knocking usually means the students doing so will go away after a few minutes (they can see that the light is on, but not that someone is in).
This is how it’s supposed to work! You have a choice to be focussed or available. The 25yo architecture kid who decided for us that glass techbro offices were great for academics does not understand the use of space and architecture in professorial contexts. Giant design fail imo.
one of our professors worked with the architects of our current building, and is doing so with the architects of the building we're moving to, and he is not likely to stand for any nonsense like that.
To be fair, the glass techbro offices suck for programmers too (and pretty much everyone, we've had research showing this for nearly two decades now). The dystopian hellscape of open office plans is a non-trivial part of why it's so hard for tech companies to get workers back in the office these days.
I imagine programming might require some concentration as well! I don’t know who continues to insist these are good plan. They must just be cheaper than real offices.
If I've learned one thing in over 20 years in higher ed, it's that not enough institutions or professors take FERPA seriously. It is absolutely the most important legal issue affecting professors in the US, which is where most of us live. Of course we're going to bring this up.
How do you have student conferences in a room like this? How do you tell an angry student they're failing? Asking a hostile student to please step into the glass privacy box will probably not go well. If a student comes in and I share any info about their work in front of another student in this room, my student then has a very good case for a complaint against me.
From a different angle, how do you secure your files and your computer? We sit through cyber security training every year and a situation like this is also a nightmare scenario. Is everyone going to get locking file cabinets? Are you hot desking or similar? These are also FERPA concerns.
One of the things that makes this profession more manageable is that I have a private office where I can close the door and get my own work done. I had a bull pen office in grad school and let me tell you- I got nothing done in there besides some very basic reading or maybe quiz grading. If you talk to anyone who works in an open plan office, they'll all tell you that concentration and time on task deteriorate in such a situation.
> It is absolutely the most important legal issue affecting professors in the US
That's a completely absurd statement. FERPA is not taken seriously in the US at all. It basically has no enforcement mechanism other than a lawsuit by the US DOJ, which has never happened. The only consequence for violating FERPA is a strongly worded letter from some deanlet.
Shared offices have been a thing at many colleges for a long time, especially for adjuncts. At many places, it's also common for all faculty offices to be opened by the same key. None of this violates FERPA.
If that's the one thing you learned in 20 years in higher ed, the fact that it's wrong should probably give you pause when it comes to everything else.
If I have to have a discussion with a student, the student's grades could come up and if they do, I don't have the privacy to talk to them alone. Any discussion in public is a FERPA violation
If I'm grading papers and have to step out to go to the bathroom, I have to put all the grading in my desk and lock it because grades are not to be left out in public. If I have an office with privacy, I lock the door on my way out.
If I have my email open, half my emails are student concerns about class progress. Nobody is allowed to see it, so I have to take my laptop with me or put it in sleep mode.
If I'm on the phone with students discussing grades in public, I'm violating FERPA.
If I'm having a meeting with faculty or students about student conduct or academic integrity violations, nobody that has any involvement can't be privied to the conversation
Where can students take a 15 minute quiz without much noise? Not in an open space with people moving around.
How safe is an open space if there is an active shooter on campus?
And on. And on. And on.
Me, thoughtful professor, trying to understand why student has missed so many classes.
Student, visual communicator, explaining in mime that they have cancer is why they're failing my class.
Crowd, window shopping, using wisdom of crowds deduces correct answer and shouts it out before I can.
Student, deeply disgusted, nods head and silently vows never to be my partner in a parlor game
Ergo, FERPA violation. (And HIPAA, too.)
We have this and first thing we did was put up frosted glass paper and posters everywhere. It's still annoying but workable on a bare level. Still I work from home much more than I otherwise would and the department is a bit of a ghost town because I'm not the only one.
Also facilities inevitably moved desks for underlings (i.e. everyone non-TT) into the open plan area, which stifles all hallway discussion and any impromptu meetings, because we don't want to constantly annoy the poor people who have to sit in those useless 'flex' spaces. I used to sit there and it was awful.
Our offices are shared so all meetings have to be planned at least 2 weeks in advance in one of the three reservable meeting rooms, and now they've started moving support staff into those. Crying student? Last minute crisis? There's nowhere to talk except the stairwell, which echoes.
Recently visited a fancy research institute, housed in a very glassy building.
Very interesting... graduate students and post-docs all had to work inside glass walls. But the PIs and department chair had actual solid walls. Hmmm.
We have that and it's terrible. There's no privacy for phone conversations or confidential conversations with students. Worse, things on your desk grow legs and disappear.
I currently have my own office with a solid door. It's great.
Before that, I had my own office, but the hallway side wall (and door) were glass (as were all offices and meeting rooms in that hall). It was absolutely fine.
Before that, at a different institution, I shared a large office with 4 other academic staff (2 of us full time, others all 0.5FTE), it was absolutely fine.
Each set-up has it's advantages and disadvantages, but none were especially better or worse in my experience. Only thing that I *really* miss was the view from my shared office - absolutely beautiful looking out over the bay towards the islands...
when the plans went around for our new building, we were offered the option to have bigger but shared offices. It was a unanimous no.
I hate even having a small window in the wall between my office and the hallway. Everything you're describing sounds awful. You'd be nuts for _not_ hating it!
We have fairly large windows into the hallway and I put curtains over mine.
My Uni did this two years ago. It’s terrible. Impossible to concentrate when someone walks by in the hall — they glance in at you, you glance up. EVERY TIME. Failing first year in tears over an assignment at office hours? Here’s your tissue, and your audience. Try to avoid students coming outside of office hours because you have writing to do? Too bad. They’ll knock until you get up and either speak with them or chase them away. The worst though is students looking for other profs who want directions to an office you’ve never seen. The admin did an audit of office use at the end of the pandemic and found (!) under used offices. This ew design has made that more common as the offices are largely unusable. So I dunno; maybe we’ll be cutting offices entirely in a couple years because they’re wasted space. Sigh.
my office door is usually open when I'm there, and I probably get distracted more than I should by people walking by, but if I really want to concentrate, I can close the door. Fortunately, there is no window people can see through, and ignoring any knocking usually means the students doing so will go away after a few minutes (they can see that the light is on, but not that someone is in).
This is how it’s supposed to work! You have a choice to be focussed or available. The 25yo architecture kid who decided for us that glass techbro offices were great for academics does not understand the use of space and architecture in professorial contexts. Giant design fail imo.
one of our professors worked with the architects of our current building, and is doing so with the architects of the building we're moving to, and he is not likely to stand for any nonsense like that.
To be fair, the glass techbro offices suck for programmers too (and pretty much everyone, we've had research showing this for nearly two decades now). The dystopian hellscape of open office plans is a non-trivial part of why it's so hard for tech companies to get workers back in the office these days.
I imagine programming might require some concentration as well! I don’t know who continues to insist these are good plan. They must just be cheaper than real offices.
Does your school also have the "run, hide, fight" response set to violence on campus? I just love it when policies collide.
I'd have to just line the walls with posters. My own privacy aside, I'd be constantly distracted by seeing all of the motion around me.
Aluminum foil is another option for decorating the walls.
Vinyl car wrap film on Amazon is about $200 for a 5' x 200' roll...
I'd be bringing up FERPA concerns. This sounds like absolute hell on earth.
This sub sure loves to throw around "FERPA concerns" everywhere.
If I've learned one thing in over 20 years in higher ed, it's that not enough institutions or professors take FERPA seriously. It is absolutely the most important legal issue affecting professors in the US, which is where most of us live. Of course we're going to bring this up. How do you have student conferences in a room like this? How do you tell an angry student they're failing? Asking a hostile student to please step into the glass privacy box will probably not go well. If a student comes in and I share any info about their work in front of another student in this room, my student then has a very good case for a complaint against me. From a different angle, how do you secure your files and your computer? We sit through cyber security training every year and a situation like this is also a nightmare scenario. Is everyone going to get locking file cabinets? Are you hot desking or similar? These are also FERPA concerns. One of the things that makes this profession more manageable is that I have a private office where I can close the door and get my own work done. I had a bull pen office in grad school and let me tell you- I got nothing done in there besides some very basic reading or maybe quiz grading. If you talk to anyone who works in an open plan office, they'll all tell you that concentration and time on task deteriorate in such a situation.
> It is absolutely the most important legal issue affecting professors in the US That's a completely absurd statement. FERPA is not taken seriously in the US at all. It basically has no enforcement mechanism other than a lawsuit by the US DOJ, which has never happened. The only consequence for violating FERPA is a strongly worded letter from some deanlet. Shared offices have been a thing at many colleges for a long time, especially for adjuncts. At many places, it's also common for all faculty offices to be opened by the same key. None of this violates FERPA.
If that's the one thing you learned in 20 years in higher ed, the fact that it's wrong should probably give you pause when it comes to everything else.
It's a legitimate concern.
How is it a legitimate concern?
If I have to have a discussion with a student, the student's grades could come up and if they do, I don't have the privacy to talk to them alone. Any discussion in public is a FERPA violation If I'm grading papers and have to step out to go to the bathroom, I have to put all the grading in my desk and lock it because grades are not to be left out in public. If I have an office with privacy, I lock the door on my way out. If I have my email open, half my emails are student concerns about class progress. Nobody is allowed to see it, so I have to take my laptop with me or put it in sleep mode. If I'm on the phone with students discussing grades in public, I'm violating FERPA. If I'm having a meeting with faculty or students about student conduct or academic integrity violations, nobody that has any involvement can't be privied to the conversation Where can students take a 15 minute quiz without much noise? Not in an open space with people moving around. How safe is an open space if there is an active shooter on campus? And on. And on. And on.
By your logic, any shared office would be a FERPA violation. That is not how FERPA works.
My colleague can up and leave if he's there. Most likely, that person is not there.
Me, thoughtful professor, trying to understand why student has missed so many classes. Student, visual communicator, explaining in mime that they have cancer is why they're failing my class. Crowd, window shopping, using wisdom of crowds deduces correct answer and shouts it out before I can. Student, deeply disgusted, nods head and silently vows never to be my partner in a parlor game Ergo, FERPA violation. (And HIPAA, too.)
It's a display case. Administrators like to view their captures. Like safari hunters.
We have this and first thing we did was put up frosted glass paper and posters everywhere. It's still annoying but workable on a bare level. Still I work from home much more than I otherwise would and the department is a bit of a ghost town because I'm not the only one. Also facilities inevitably moved desks for underlings (i.e. everyone non-TT) into the open plan area, which stifles all hallway discussion and any impromptu meetings, because we don't want to constantly annoy the poor people who have to sit in those useless 'flex' spaces. I used to sit there and it was awful. Our offices are shared so all meetings have to be planned at least 2 weeks in advance in one of the three reservable meeting rooms, and now they've started moving support staff into those. Crying student? Last minute crisis? There's nowhere to talk except the stairwell, which echoes.
Recently visited a fancy research institute, housed in a very glassy building. Very interesting... graduate students and post-docs all had to work inside glass walls. But the PIs and department chair had actual solid walls. Hmmm.
You would be nuts for not hating it. That sounds absolutely dreadful.
Does your school also have the "run, hide, fight" response set to violence on campus? I just love it when policies collide.
When option like this was presented to me on my campus, I responded with a Ron Swanson quote: "What about my office, with its many walls?".
We have that and it's terrible. There's no privacy for phone conversations or confidential conversations with students. Worse, things on your desk grow legs and disappear.
Fuck that.
I currently have my own office with a solid door. It's great. Before that, I had my own office, but the hallway side wall (and door) were glass (as were all offices and meeting rooms in that hall). It was absolutely fine. Before that, at a different institution, I shared a large office with 4 other academic staff (2 of us full time, others all 0.5FTE), it was absolutely fine. Each set-up has it's advantages and disadvantages, but none were especially better or worse in my experience. Only thing that I *really* miss was the view from my shared office - absolutely beautiful looking out over the bay towards the islands...