From MOOCs to the Tenure Track

By Carl Straumsheim. When Jim Fowler becomes an assistant professor of mathematics at Ohio State University this fall, he can thank his massive open online courses -- and former president E. Gordon Gee. Fowler came to Ohio State in 2009 as a visiting assistant professor decidedly off the tenure track. When he finished that postdoctoral appointment three years later, Fowler negotiated an administrative position that split his duties equally between lecturing and researching. In fall 2012, Ohio State joined the MOOC platform Coursera, and Fowler began building what would become the university’s first MOOC, Calculus One. Read more...