California Universities
In regard to the article titled “UC Adopts Policy to Place More Emphasis On Teaching” (July 17):
I left private legal practice to pursue a social science doctorate in the UC system, where I also took my law degree. While I have in both programs seen some excellent teachers, they were the exception.
In my experience, most UC faculty are mediocre teachers or worse. Yet this is not because they don’t have the incentive to put time into preparing their classes. Most UC faculty are quite knowledgeable in their fields and could “wing it” with a few minutes preparation. What they frequently lack are either effective communication skills, the desire genuinely to contribute to their students, or both.
If UC were serious about teaching, it would require its faculty to take classes in effective communication skills, randomly videotape lectures each semester for peer review and de-emphasize publishing. The requirement to publish produces specialists while teachers should be generalists.
MARTY CARCIERI, Santa Barbara
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