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GOGSoc Episode V: The GOG Strikes Back

On the subject on donations, I keep getting emails asking me if I want to call up alumni to have a chat about their time at university and ask them for money. I have always wondered how successful anything like this since my default setting on receiving these calls is to hang up as quickly as possible.

Anyone got any tips for making transcription more fun?

My Oxford college did one of those telephone thingies where they do what you've said above. I think it was reasonably successful - at least, more successful than I was expecting. A friend of mine did volunteered to be one of the people telephoning and he enjoyed his two weeks :yes:

Top tip for making transcription fun: whistle while you work/sing a happy little working song :yep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXgMFNaQUUU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb2si7fClqA

Also remember that in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun aaaaaaaaaaaaand SNAP! The job's a game! :biggrin:

(I know, I'm so helpful, aren't I? :biggrin:

)

Reply 5981

sj27

14

Hmmm... this may be a supremely dumb question, but...
One of the documents (chapter from a book) that I downloaded (I think I downloaded this one off the MIT Open Courseware site) says at the front that according to the copyright law of the US it may only be used for instructional purposes (their bold!). I presume this is to stop people selling it or something - I mean, if I use it and cite it in a bibliography I wouldn't be breaching copyright... or would I? :confused:

Reply 5982

sj27

14

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

My Oxford college did one of those telephone thingies where they do what you've said above. I think it was reasonably successful - at least, more successful than I was expecting. A friend of mine did volunteered to be one of the people telephoning and he enjoyed his two weeks :yes:

Top tip for making transcription fun: whistle while you work/sing a happy little working song :yep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXgMFNaQUUU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb2si7fClqA

Also remember that in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun aaaaaaaaaaaaand SNAP! The job's a game! :biggrin:

(I know, I'm so helpful, aren't I? :biggrin:

)

PRSOM!

Reply 5983

Text Area

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

My Oxford college did one of those telephone thingies where they do what you've said above. I think it was reasonably successful - at least, more successful than I was expecting. A friend of mine did volunteered to be one of the people telephoning and he enjoyed his two weeks :yes:

Top tip for making transcription fun: whistle while you work/sing a happy little working song :yep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXgMFNaQUUU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb2si7fClqA

Also remember that in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun aaaaaaaaaaaaand SNAP! The job's a game! :biggrin:

(I know, I'm so helpful, aren't I? :biggrin:

)

Hahaha thats brilliant.

My previous plan was to have a skittle after every 30 seconds of interview transcribed, but failed miserably when I got hungry and ate the whole bag anyway. Similar ideas with chocolate have also failed. Have no self restraint evidently :colondollar:

And I just tried to give you a thumbs up, but it won't let me.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5984

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Original post by Text Area

Hahaha thats brilliant.

My previous plan was to have a skittle after every 30 seconds of interview transcribed, but failed miserably when I got hungry and ate the whole bag anyway. Similar ideas with chocolate have also failed. Have no self restraint evidently :colondollar:

And I just tried to give you a thumbs up, but it won't let me.

Not to worry! I went out and bought myself lots of Cadbury's today to try a similar motivational tactic but I'm just hopeless at rationing chocolate in a vaguely sensible manner. Or rationing chocolate at all, tbh :ninja:

Dw: tiz the thought that counts :biggrin:

Reply 5985

Text Area

Original post by threeportdrift

The top 20 (top meaning a combination of RG/largest) universities probably raise of the order of £500k each year from what is usually called the Annual Fund, which is all the direct mail and telephone campaigns. £250k+ wouldn't be unusual for UCL, ICL, Warwick, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh etc from the telephone calling campaign. Oxford and Cambridge are in a different league because of the split between university and college fund raising, so most average figures omit Oxbridge as a matter of routine.

Alumni are usually sent a letter/postcard first, warning them the campaign is about to start and they will probably be called. Then the student calling them is often from the same faculty/subject area as the alum. And again, it's not just about the money, it's about giving the alum the opportunity, if they want to ask questions about the department, course, sports team etc.

It's a pretty decent deal for students, good CV material for all those persuasive, negotiating, presenting, client facing skills, pay is usually £7-10 per hour, hours are usually as many as you choose to fit in, with bonuses for most pledges per night, week etc and you'll get to learn a heck of a lot more about university funding!

Yeah they were trying to sell it to us as an opportunity for a chat about the department, which I wouldn't mind doing even though my department might not like it. The asking for money bit I'd find too hard though. Maybe when the old PhD funding runs out I'll consider it.

Reply 5986

Craghyrax

17

Yeh basically I have now banned milk chocolate from my home. I can't ration it at all. It all goes in one sitting. Dark chocolate is a bit safer, so I stock that instead.

I applied to be one of the callers for my college alumni telephone campaign, but they didn't select me after the interview. I really really hate calling people. I especially hate calling to promote things/ask for things. However I was desperate for money at the time. To be honest I felt a bit relieved when they didn't select me.

Reply 5987

hobnob

14

Original post by Craghyrax

I applied to be one of the callers for my college alumni telephone campaign, but they didn't select me after the interview. I really really hate calling people. I especially hate calling to promote things/ask for things. However I was desperate for money at the time. To be honest I felt a bit relieved when they didn't select me.

to most of that. Well, except that I'd have been OK with making the calls and except for the feeling relieved bit. I was furious because the email they sent me to tell me that I hadn't been selected was one of those stupid 'very competitive... so many applications, bla bla bla' templates - except that the actual numbers revealed that there had been only five more applicants than jobs, so they might as well have written 'u suck lulz'. I'm sure the email wasn't intended to add insult to injury, but it certainly did. It required a lot of effort not to reply to them telling them to sod off. :mad:

I didn't bother trying again the following year.

Reply 5988

evantej

18

Original post by Zoedotdot

I'm not sure who you're talking about in the thread who proves otherwise, because as I largely inhabit the Oxbridge forums I'm fairly familiar with most of the Oxbridge names here and can't think of any user who would prove your point! Equally, I have a fairly significant sample size beyond this forum that would back up my point of view (as I obviously know a lot of Cambridge graduates) so I don't think it's just me. They receive higher donations not because of the social background of the students, but of the social opportunities that an Oxbridge degree affords. Yes, many Oxbridge grads go on to high paying jobs, but that doesn't mean that they started off richer than others. I don't think it's fair to suggest that going to a fee paying school has anything to do with it whatsoever - by the time you get to the age where you're likely to make a substantial donation you are well beyond your secondary education background. I agree that you can't make a donation unless you have the spare money, but I disagree that the motivation to donate comes from having a privileged background. I think it's also interesting to look at the pattern of donations to the university - most of them go to the colleges, with very few going to support the departments (where they could actually be more useful!). The does suggest that it has something to do with the relative enjoyment of the students while at Cambridge rather than just their socio-economic backgrounds. [...]

I will ignore the Russian issue as it distracts from the main discussion. Suffice to say, they retired before either of us went to university so it is unlikely that you will have been taught by them (they are on the staff list). I do not think I know any other staff members at Cambridge so I am not sure who you have in mind! :P

To get back to the main point. There are people on this thread who went to private schools, went to Cambridge and Oxford, and into – or, are in the process of going into – 'prestigious professions' (e.g. academia, economics, law and medicine). One or more of the above characteristics apply to most of the users in this thread. You need to realise that by suggesting you have a 'fairly significant sample size beyond this forum that would back up [your] point of view' you have completely missed my point. You went to Cambridge therefore you are in the above group. You might criticise this as simplistic, but there are other metrics used to gauge participation in higher education and social inequality. For example, did your parents go to university, did you receive free school meals?

I did not suggest 'that the motivation to donate comes from having a privileged background'; the level of systematic tax avoidance in this country rubbishes that idea. Instead I suggested something much simpler. Having money influences the motivation to donate. Being in the above group means you are statistically more likely to have money (you acknowledge this yourself, and also going to Cambridge and Oxford gives you more opportunities), and therefore are able to donate. Whether you think I am being dogmatic or have an agenda – like threeportdrift suggests - is besides the point (I do not, for what is worth). You might have been one of those students who went to a private school but went on a scholarship (i.e. exception to the rule). You might have went to worst comprehensive in your area. You might have been on free school meals for all I know. But it does not matter, because the majority did not. They went to private schools or selective public schools. The majority come from privileged backgrounds. The Sutton Trust published statistics a few years ago that showed over 70% of Oxford's students came from backgrounds with household incomes above £50,000 (i.e. they did not qualify for a maintenance grant). Given that something like 40% of Oxford's students come from private schools means that even those who come from public schools generally come from relatively privileged backgrounds. This is why the government uses other metrics (i.e. parents going to university and free school meals) to get around this problem.

It is about exclusivity. If you did not come from a privileged background then Cambridge and Oxford will pull you up (notice how threeportdrift shifts the emphasis of what the development office does to 'careers advice, networking and entrepreneurial development', and she still – in the same sentence – denies that this is for financial reasons!).

Craghyrax's final comment on the last page is indicative of what I am suggesting about exclusivity - '[a]lso tutorials and colleges at Oxbridge are completely different to those elsewhere, and to make a comparison is just ignorant'. She only has experience with Cambridge so she should not be talking about 'Oxbridge' (consider why she lumps the two together). She has no clue about what it is like at Durham or Lancaster (consider why she derides their college systems without any experience of them). And she suggests that an academic who spent their entire university life at Oxford, and gave tutorials, and then moved to Bristol stopped giving tutorials for the simple reason they were given at Bristol (consider why she suggests something so stupid). It is sheer prejudice.

This is why I have far more time for the likes of Cirsium who, judging from her previous posts, seems to appreciate the fact that most students are written off before they even get to their GCSEs and seems to have actually done something to help them.

I apologise for the length of this post. The debate is rather one-sided and I simply do not have to time to reply to everyone. I just wanted to clarify my previous points for your sake.

Reply 5989

Craghyrax

17

Original post by evantej

Craghyrax's final comment on the last page is indicative of what I am suggesting about exclusivity - '[a]lso tutorials and colleges at Oxbridge are completely different to those elsewhere, and to make a comparison is just ignorant'. She only has experience with Cambridge so she should not be talking about 'Oxbridge' (consider why she lumps the two together). She has no clue about what it is like at Durham or Lancaster (consider why she derides their college systems without any experience of them). And she suggests that an academic who spent their entire university life at Oxford, and gave tutorials, and then moved to Bristol stopped giving tutorials for the simple reason they were given at Bristol (consider why she suggests something so stupid). It is sheer prejudice.

On the contrary, I have good friends who have attended York, Durham, Lancaster and also Kent (which also has a so-called 'collegiate' structure). And I have had enough discussion with these students to identify important differences. I was also an applicant to all of these but Kent. I never said that you'd have had to go to Cambridge in order to understand that its collegiate system is distinct, but the fact that you don't recognise this very obvious fact suggests that you're talking nonsense.
Most telling is the fact that you seem completely unaware of the fact that Oxbridge colleges are practically separate institutions in their own right. And so, as threeportdrift argued, the fund raising and donations issue is entirely different for Oxford and Cambridge, because money donated to colleges is not received by the University as a whole.

Furthermore you didn't 'get' my comment about tutorials. I do not doubt that the academic who came from Oxford and moved to Bristol provided any different standard of supervision. However tutorials and supervisions at Oxford and Cambridge do work entirely differently to supervisions at other Universities :rolleyes:

And the difference I'm talking about is not quality as you seem to be assuming. It is what is being asked for, and what tasks are being accomplished among other things.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5990

apotoftea

OP

19

Original post by Craghyrax

However tutorials and supervisions at Oxford and Cambridge do work entirely differently to supervisions at other Universities :rolleyes:

And the difference I'm talking about is not quality as you seem to be assuming. It is what is being asked for, and what tasks are being accomplished among other things.

Without being antagonistic, you don't have personal experience of other universities at undergraduate level to 100% know that tutorials are as different as you claim they are to that of the Oxford/Cambridge system.

/just saying

Reply 5991

Craghyrax

17

Original post by apotoftea

Without being antagonistic, you don't have personal experience of other universities at undergraduate level to 100% know that tutorials are as different as you claim they are to that of the Oxford/Cambridge system.

/just saying

That's not true. For every other student I have asked whether they write essays purely for that supervision/tutorial, and whether that essay is reviewed by the supervisor/tutor before the meeting, and whether they go over that piece of work together in the supervision or tutorial, as well as topic it is on. I have also asked whether these tutorials are either one to one or two to one. The answer is always that they don't.

If evantej is talking about tutorials or supervisions for dissertations or other significant pieces of coursework, then Oxford and Cambridge do not differ from other Universities. However when people talk about the supervision/tutorial system, they don't really mean those kinds of supervisions/tutorials that are used for significant pieces of coursework. They mean the other sort which happen two or so times a week and take the place of things like seminars/group work elsewhere.

If you are suggesting that I should not make assumptions about things I haven't experienced, then I fully agree. However I do not consider it an assumption if I have asked other people with first hand experience and they have provided me with the necessary information.

Its a bit like trying to suggest that seminars are just the same as lectures. Even if I had never been to a seminar, I could safely say on inquiring into its nature that it was significantly different to a lecture. It is just a specific sort of activity.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5992

Piggsil

16

Original post by hobnob

What were you doing away from your fiords? :eek:

Visiting uni friends in London! Was lovely, but I caught a tummy bug and still haven't fully recovered :frown:

Original post by ice_cube

Why did you not tell me???? You could have come in for coffee or something.

Sadface.

Well, for starters I had no idea we'd be walking that way, only realized when we actually walked past the building! Plus we were only going to Oxford street to get some bits, then we picked up our suitcases from our friend who works near st James' park and got the tube for our flight! Nothing personal :redface:

I'd love to get a coffee another time though!

Original post by Craghyrax

I don't know if it is. The flight is ryanair so there isn't any option for amending it. We'd just lose the money we paid. I was hoping to maybe get a train on arrival from Oslo to somewhere else. Stay somewhere else for teh night and then go onto Bergen by train the next day, but so far it looks like southern Norway is quite boring. Ergh.

Oh no, sucks that you bought the wrong ticket. Are they to Oslo Torp or Moss-Rygge (neither of which are anything like close to Oslo :rolleyes:

)?
Southern Norway isn't boring! You could get the train to Gol (near where I am right now) or Geilo, which are both lovely walking areas :yep:

Reply 5993

Cora Lindsay

10

Original post by Hylean

Which should allow published material, yea?

Yes- we even allow theses which are a series of papers bound together, with a general introduction and conclusions section

Reply 5994

hobnob

14

Original post by Cora Lindsay

Yes- we even allow theses which are a series of papers bound together, with a general introduction and conclusions section

That's still relatively uncommon, though, no?

Original post by evantej

Having money influences the motivation to donate.

It influences the total amount you give, it does not influence generosity - depending where you benchmark 'having money'.

http://www.cgap.org.uk/uploads/Briefing%20Papers/CGAP%20BN7%20How%20generous%20is%20the%20UK.pdf

I'm sure this will just confirm your privilege bias, but nevertheless it makes interesting reading. Of course this looks at all charities, and includes the real favourites like guide dogs, donkeys and lifeboats. However, it is very clear from my own experience in university (non-Oxbridge, RG) and independent school fund raising that donors are very often far from 'well off'. Propensity to give depends on affinity with the charitable cause.

Reply 5996

unilibrarian

Original post by sj27

Hmmm... this may be a supremely dumb question, but...
One of the documents (chapter from a book) that I downloaded (I think I downloaded this one off the MIT Open Courseware site) says at the front that according to the copyright law of the US it may only be used for instructional purposes (their bold!). I presume this is to stop people selling it or something - I mean, if I use it and cite it in a bibliography I wouldn't be breaching copyright... or would I? :confused:

Hello

I'm certainly no copyright specialist so please read the following with the big fat disclaimer that I am only talking about what I understand from a librarian perspective and am very willing to be corrected (!)

The short answer is that you probably won't be breaching copyright (got to be vague in copyright!). A huge number of publishers put these sorts of disclaimers at the front of their books which merely serve as a threat, but the threat itself actually promises things which aren't necessarily backed up by copyright law. They often say something like "No part of this book can be reprinted, distributed, lent..without prior permission from the publisher". This threat has never been properly tested in law, and it's thought (certainly in the librarian world) that this would be very unlikely to hold up in court because it threatens to prohibit what the law allows in some cases.

With your particular "instructional" threat - I think the response to this may be along the same lines as what I talked about above. If the site gives you permission to download and read the ebook, then it's reasonable to assume that you can also quote it for research purposes (as long as you pay attention to the normal rule of citing it properly, not reproducing a huge amount etc.) Also, I imagine what is considered "instructional" in law is not clearly defined. In the hugely unlikely event that anyone were to come back at you for quoting from the book, it would be even more unlikely that the publishers would be able to do much about it.

Reply 5997

Cora Lindsay

10

Original post by hobnob

That's still relatively uncommon, though, no?

Getting more so. A few years ago, Birmingham used to require one chapter of a thesis to be a paper, or in paper format

Reply 5998

sj27

14

Original post by hobnob

That's still relatively uncommon, though, no?

I can't speak broadly, but I know that in the US it has become quite common for Economics PhD "theses" to consist of 3 published or publishable papers (occasionally not even with an obviously common theme). One of these will generally be the student's "job market paper", which is the one they will send around when applying for academic (or quasi-academic, like the Fed) positions.

@unilibrarian, thanks!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5999

Cora Lindsay

10

Original post by sj27

Hmmm... this may be a supremely dumb question, but...
One of the documents (chapter from a book) that I downloaded (I think I downloaded this one off the MIT Open Courseware site) says at the front that according to the copyright law of the US it may only be used for instructional purposes (their bold!). I presume this is to stop people selling it or something - I mean, if I use it and cite it in a bibliography I wouldn't be breaching copyright... or would I? :confused:

Can't see how this would breach copyright at all.

GOGSoc Episode V: The GOG Strikes Back

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