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Okay, I can& #39;t bottle this up any more. Just because someone is a professor does not necessarily mean that they know anything about how higher education works, what the implications of COVID-19 are, whether/how higher ed should move to more online education, etc.
Now, if a professor has actually done work learn about one or more of those topics, great - weigh in. I have lots of colleagues who are a "Professor of Something-Besides-Higher-Ed" who have learned about/researched higher ed - their views are most welcome.
But let& #39;s remember: there are numerous professors of higher education who are indeed experts. They& #39;ve, you know, actually studied higher ed history, trends, theory, etc. They& #39;ve developed expertise in that field that is difficult to acquire otherwise.
We should be giving much more weight to professors of higher education and/or online education than we do to the average professor who hasn& #39;t really studied those issues. Just being a professor doesn& #39;t make one an expert in higher education.
And I include myself in this. For example, I have little to contribute to a discussion on the economics of higher education during COVID-19. I don& #39;t know much about that. I wouldn& #39;t write an OpEd piece about that topic.
And I don& #39;t think we should give much weight to OpEds by professors who weigh in on things they haven& #39;t rigorously studied. Being a professor doesn& #39;t necessarily mean you know much about how higher ed does or should work.
And, as always: my kingdom for a Twitter edit button.
