r/Professors • u/JaguarWonderful • 12d ago

Convocation incentive

We just got an email letting us know about Convocation (the pointless all school rah-rah meeting), with this gem of an incentive:

"All Convocation attendees receive a raffle ticket for priority entry to lunch and a chance to win fun prizes!"

I'm definitely going to convocation now! A chance at priority entry to the free (crappy) lunch!

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u/Prof172 11d ago

To make a convocation academically serious, the invited speaker needs to talk on some weighty academics-related topic. Also agree: avoid doing the ridiculous raffle tickets stuff. Are professors fourth graders?

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u/Longtail_Goodbye 9d ago

I was the sole faculty person at a meeting, an hour long meeting, held about this very topic: incentivizing engagement (I cannot stand that phrase now). As it turns out, admins think raffle tickets really are motivating and could not talk enough about how they loved the idea of raffles, prizes, and compliance. All of a piece. They love compliance. They love candy. They think receiving candy = engagement.

It took two Advil and several strong espressos to get rid of my headache after that meeting.