The Missing Professor: An Academic Mystery / Informal Case Studies / Discussion Stories for Faculty Development, New Faculty Orientation and Campus Conversations

by Thomas B. Jones

Fresh out of graduate school and desperate to pay off her student loans, Nicole Adams joins the faculty at Higher State U, a small university with a dubious past located in the middle of the Midwest. On her second day of classes as a new assistant professor of philosophy, still flustered and disoriented, Nicole is plunged into a campus-wide mystery. Someone has ransacked the office she shares with the ill-tempered R. Reynolds Raskin, the department's senior professor, and he has since disappeared. Two weeks later, with Raskin still missing, Nicole receives a threatening phone call . . .Read one way, this is an entertaining parody of an academic mystery and a humorous take on academic life. Turning the book upside down reveals another purpose. Each chapter is constructed as an informal case study/discussion story, as is made manifest by a series of discussion questions intended for faculty development, new faculty orientation, and conversations among faculty, administrators, and academic staff. As the mystery unfolds, each chapter finds Nicole encountering challenging situations―such as, the first day of class, student incivility, teaching evaluations, peer observation, academic assessment, the scholarship of teaching and learning, faculty and student rights and responsibilities, core curricula, and tenure standards. This little book can be read and used both as pure entertainment and as a series of informal case studies, spiced with humor, to help break down academic barriers and promote spirited discussions

Genres: Mystery

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only people who could possibly like this book are academics or future academics (and yes, I am one). I'm participating in the Preparing Future Faculty program at my department and we read this book to provoke discussion during our meetings. Although it certainly stimulated discussion (the book is about a recent Ph.D. and her first academic job), I wouldn't recommend it outside of that. If you are part of a PFF program (or any other group of future academics) and are looking for a fun and easy book to generate discussion about academic life, this is a great one. If you're looking for something to read for fun, look elsewhere.

I credit the author for bringing up dozens of issues in academia in a story-format, which again makes this book great for stimulating discussion. However, I could've done without the "romance" and "mystery" he tried to weave into the book to make it more interesting. That was a bit ridiculous...

So, in conclusion, I recommend this book as a discussion-starter for a group of future academics, but that's it. And even then, you can probably have a good discussion without this book (although it is at least an easy and quick read). Skip the romance and mystery bits. They will probably make you cringe.

[Bill Guinee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a not very well put together or interesting mystery about a first year university assistant professor. I was really uninterested in the mystery which was quite stupid. Of greater interest were the descriptions of the first-year teaching experience which, when they didn't become ludicrous, were amusing and rather scary at the same time. On this basis, I would have given the book two stars at the maximum.
It quickly becomes evident, however, that the true intention of the book is that it be used to provoke discussion in a reading group of faculty -- there are even discussion questions at the end of this book. The topics are controversial enough that I am sure it would do a wonderful job for this purpose.
So, if you are leading such a group, I would recommend it. If not, there are far better books dealing with the lives of academics.

[MacK · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book and then gone: "Damn, I can do that!"? That's this book. With a predictable plot and a trite tone, the Missing Professor offers a number of examples of what your life could be like if you're a first year professor at a typical college. Unsurprisingly, the squeezing of fairly obvious pedagogical lessons into an otherwise bland novel leaves the reader with the feeling of nothing so much as the feeling of having spent several hours with an uninspired series of Goofus & Galant principles.

Still, I'm an advocate for reflective teaching, so I won't ever deny that it's completely without merit, just without entertainment merit.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Nicole Adams who is a new Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Higher State University, a small state college in Iowa. Nicole arrives on campus to take up her new job. A couple of weeks in her office mate, an older guy in her department, disappears. She spends the rest of the novel trying to find him, and at the same time trying to navigate the byzantine ways of academe. She finally found him - he was hiding in a hidden room inside her building. However, I could not completely understand the story.

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was sold as a mystery with jumping off points for discussion on a variety of faculty development topics. However, neither the story nor the discussion points were very good. This might be of some use to a person who has zero understanding of the culture of higher education, but there must be better sources.