Author Archives: cavingcliff

I’ve been thinking about mentors.  I’ve had two teachers in my life that became mentors for me.  One was my high school chemistry teacher, Mrs. Mellion; and the other was a professor of mining engineering here at Virginia Tech – … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After last night’s class, I just had to hit the blog again.  I (we) had another example last night of a teacher/counselor that told a student that “they couldn’t do…” or “they would never do…” something with their education/lives/etc.  This … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, I just took the “millennial test” – and, as expected, I scored “old fart.”  Because – hey – that’s what I am!  A good, solid “15.”  Of course, I knew as I was taking the test that if I admitted … Continue reading → Continue reading →

While researching the code of ethics for mining engineers, I happened to think: “there’s a code for everyone somewhere on the internet – I wonder what the code of ethics is for politicians? Googling took me to this site: http://usgovinfo.about.com/blethics.htm … Continue reading → Continue reading →

By googling “academic freedom,” I came across the website for the American Association of University Professors – AAUP.  This site has a bunch of good pages and links, including the definitive document on academic freedom and tenure: http://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/EBB1B330-33D3-4A51-B534-CEE0C7A90DAB/0/1940StatementofPrinciplesonAcademicFreedomandTenure.pdf Of particular … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Thank goodness for Google!  I started thinking about “faculty duties,” and I figured I was a little “stuck.”  Sure, I could think of “teaching, publishing, and advising”; but that seemed brief.  A quick googling fleshed things out.  For example, http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/training/competencies/pages/Professor.aspx revealed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

 As I was driving home after last week’s class, I spent a lot of the drive (2 hours) thinking about our discussion of the Beloit Mindset List.  (I also spent a few brief moments of semi-terror dodging deer, ‘possums, and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I teach mining health and safety to mining professionals.  I think that it’s very important to tell my students up-front why they are sitting in my class.  When I start a new class, the first order of business, after introductions, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A couple of times now, I’ve blurted out in class: “what gets rewarded is what gets done.”  All I have to show as a reward for this exercise has been a couple of blank stares, so by my own statement … Continue reading → Continue reading →