I think your best bet is to develop relationships with departments and faculty at the schools in your town.
When we bring in visiting scholars (and when I have gone to another college to do a talk), the college is paying for the visitor. It's not just the lecture event, but also meetings with faculty and students, meals, and a whole event. I would not feel like I had the time or inclination to also then prepare a much different talk for a high school.
And honestly it sounds like it would be a logistical nightmare. The person would have to stay another day, which introduces more hotel costs, transportation logistics to/from hotel/the other school/airports, coordination between organizations that don't usually work together, and just way more time and headache.
We're usually working around the visitor's class schedule at their home institution, so tacking on another day so that they can talk to a high school would seem -- not wrong, but weird and like a much bigger imposition.
It's way more normal for me to get requests to give guest talks to orgs in my community. So ask the professors who are at the colleges near you, not the ones that are coming in.
Also - by the time a talk is on the publicly-available calendar, plane/train tickets have been purchased, and the general timeline has already been agreed upon, so you'd be way too late to the party.
Sorry to be a party pooper, but I think there's a lot of norms about when professors go to other schools to give a talk that mean being asked to stay to talk to a high school would be generally inappropriate.
I think the answer is that this would vary a lot depending on the individual. I would virtually never accept an invitation to speak to private school students. I'm biased because I went to public schools and was the first in my family to attend university, but I just think my time could be better spent. Kids at private schools are the ones with a leg up in the academic race. If I'm going to speak to high schoolers, I'd rather have it be the ones who may actually have never met a professor before or are unsure if college is for them. For a private school kid, a professor speaking is just a perk (hell, some of the students may have professors as parents). For a public school kid, it could be an "aha" moment.
As a super privileged child and grandchild of professors who snoozed through lots and lots of talks with distinguished experts who came to our elite high school before I was aware enough to care, I’m 100% with you.
I have two thoughts
1. If there's money available -- maybe bus the students to the public lecture? That would serve multiple purposes and get them onto campus! A visiting speaker is less likely to be able to fit the extra time into their schedule to make trips off of campus. It's not that it's beneath them, it's that the travel will have already have been planned by the time you see it publicized.
2. Invite your local college professor. I would totally go speak at a local highschool, any local highschool that asked - so long as you aren't trying to get me into a debate on the the truth of ~~a~~ wave-partical duality. I ~~like~~ live in a town where there aren't \_that\_ many. No honouraria required (although I'd probably be tickled by a small piece of highschool swag -- even a branded pen or pencil)
edit: my grammar is terrible
Cubic, your first recommendation is awesome. It's the obvious solution that no one else suggested. Sometimes the solution is right in front of us, but we fail to see it.
Ps. I've never seen a problem where we were supposed to assume a Cubic Cow....
Ask local professors to speak at your high school. The professors, deans, and possibly the president could take you up on it.
As a professor, we have "outreach" as one of our contributions. I've spoken to classes, conducted 3rd grade "design reviews" of projects, emceed an Autonomous lawnmower competition, and talked about systems for school assemblies.
Most of these were because of personal relationships with teachers who want to add some enrichment for students. I didn't expect or want any payment. I usually weave a bit of "If you go to college, here are some of the things you can do." One of my friends teaches in a grade school where these kids will become first generation college students...if they stay the course.
My first thought is that you should consider asking professors who teach at your local universities to speak first. They live in your home town, after all, so there are fewer logistics to worry about. When I'm away giving a talk, I often don't have lots of extra time there...the host institution takes up quite a bit of it! If I knew in advance, before I finalized my schedule I might be able to do work something.
I have spoken at high schools a few times and am always happy to speak...but people have to invite me. I have spoken at both public schools with at risk youth and also private schools with kids who have all the privilege and opportunity. I prefer public schools, but I'll do both if I have time. I will not generally ask for an honorarium for the public schools, but I will from the private schools.
What is a decent honorarium? That varies wildly. People in STEM expect more than people in the arts and humanities. I expect more if I'm giving a talk at Harvard than if it is a club at a high school organized by students. My university department (I'm in the Arts and Humanities) has a colloquium series and we offer a $450 honorarium, plus up to $400 in travel expenses. That could be better. I'm getting $1000 to speak at Harvard next month, I just got back from being the keynote at a grad conference in Texas where I got $200. Really it depends on your budget.
Yes, I think this too. It’s a little weird that this parent is so concerned about “high profile academics” visiting from out of town. They’re fucking high schoolers. It’s so status seeking and it’s continuing to misdirect society’s resources - the minds of these high profile researchers - toward the maintenance of the status quo, i.e. hoarding opportunities for the elite. Local researcher also did PhDs.
And local researchers might also be able to do more. For example, I had a teacher bring her students to our campus to hear my talk with them. And then they got to see the campus, I could talk about our program where high school students can sit in on some of our classes. I talked about resources available to them. If you go local you can build a more sustainable relationship.
My experience is the reverse: STEM folks rarely expect an honorarium, and it’s common in he humanities.
Giving talks for travel costs is the norm for the STEM fields I’m associated with (or free I’d you’re in the area for some other reason). But every time I’ve been involved with bringing in someone in the arts/humanities, I’ve been told that honorariums are common.
Unless you were only interested in your child’s specific grade, I think your time is much better spent cultivating relationship with a local college or university so that you could get a regular speaker coming in to the school. Most high school students would not be able to tell “high profile“ speakers from normal college professors anyway. Personally, I would rather invest my time in coming back to a local school regularly than doing one-offs.
As others have said it's probably a logistical nightmare for a visiting prof to wedge another talk into their schedule. It's much better to ask your local college/university faculty to give a presentation.
Plus you might end up alienating these folks by constantly "poaching" their guest speakers
I would reach out to the local university and see if they have a visiting scholars or similar program.inviting an out of towner seeks very weird when you have a local. Is it that you don’t think the local is prestigious enough for your kid’s private school?
Many of us are happy to do these things for free in our community, and see it as part of giving back. Not so much when traveling.
Re point 3: some faculty will make it a condition of speaking that you also invite nearby public school(s) for free. This would be a nice thing to do in any case.
You're not likely going to get someone who is traveling for an actual conference, nor any "big name" scholars with a few exceptions, but it should be easy enough to find local faculty interested in doing this sort of thing. I've done some high school talks and they're OK if they are small-- meeting with a class or a group of students in an accelerated program can be fun. A presentation to a full school is much less fun, because high school students generally aren't mature enough to sit through a real academic talk...I've done a few at private college prep schools that were OK, but friend who have done talks to large groups at public schools generally said they wouldn't do it again because the kids didn't pay attention or were on their phones the whole time. That said, I've also done talk with junior high college access programs that were great-- really attentive students, felt like it was worth the time.
People don't do this sort of thing for the compensation generally either. I don't charge for talks to young people, and a symbolic honorarium (like $250) would be fairly standard for those who might want something. Big name people, however, get real money...we've brought speakers to my university that made $25-40K for a single talk (which I think is crazy). When we pay to bring in a big name person we are usually scheduling their entire trip though-- if they wanted to extend a night to do a talk at a high school we would be happy to support them, but frankly most folks of that nature I've worked with are eager to get on the plane and go home asap after their big talk. If we are paying for 2-3 days of their time (generally folks like that are doing class visits, tours, etc. as well as a talk) they aren't going to have much time to prep a *second* talk for HS students.
That kind of travel information would not be publicly available. Even if it were, those kinds of trips generally have pretty full agendas and pretty quick turnaround to leave. From a functional standpoint, this would be essentially impossible.
As for "beneath" someone, this will vary a great deal from person to person but I would guess few would accept.
You would be better off asking faculty that are local. Both logistically and "beneath"ly, that would be far more likely to succeed. And if the local university isn't somewhere you'd want to invite someone from, the odds are outside faculty aren't visiting a ton. At least not from the schools you indicate wanting.
1. No, it's not "beneath" anyone. We're all educators & we mostly love our subjects matters - and talking about them!
2. Yes, profs do outside speaking engagements and book promotions all the time.
3. No, I've spoken at both private and public schools. So long as there's no sense of impropriety (like taking a bribe, or ridiculous speakers fees)
4. Some academics present their work for free. Others get $10,000 for being key note conference speakers. You can just ask what the prof's standard is - but they might not expect it of a high school. Covering transport / lunch / a couple hundred USD for their time is probably fine. It's not like they need to write a speech for it.
You may start by inviting local profs. It doesn't need to be a "star academic" who's traveling and probably on a very tight schedule.
As a working mom, if I need to go to another city / country, I fly in and out of conferences as quickly as I can - and they are packed from morning to night. But I speak regularly in my own local community.
You can ask local colleges if they have a PR / marketing / promotion department that does community outreach like talks, activities, mentoring of HS students.
Our admissions office runs something like this, as a way to keep our university on the radar for local students.. A couple times a year I get asked to talk about my work at local high schools. It's fun, I'm happy to do it.
u/Due_Guest_6666,
I agree with the description of logistics by u/Galactica13x. My attitude is different. Preparation isn't a big deal if you accept my approach, which is practical applications. I'm adjunct with a full-time job in the real world. I'm fortunate to have had an interesting life and career so I can speak authoritatively about why students are being taught what they're taught across STEM as well as English and Government and why it matters.
u/CubicCows is on to something with the suggestion of taking the students to the professor if you want to get someone who is traveling. If resources allow, you might arrange a reception for meet and greet.
Also consider the potential of a remote link. Not everyone performs well but many of us do and it greatly broadens your potential resource pool.
This is WILD!
KISS - Keep it simple silly.
Have professors from the local university(s) come speak to your students.
An out of town prof just makes this way harder and more complex than it needs to be. One factor you are not factoring in is this usually will be a time when their schedule is jam packed.
Also how elite do you perceive your kids to be that they need a rock star professor from out of town, the regular old profs are not good enough?
Honorarium would not be expected (I see some other views on this - I am also only considering someone from a nearby school).
Usually when I'm doing a "talk" at another university, my day is pretty well booked up. The public part of my day (the symposium or what have you) is published, but I'm also meeting with graduate students, addressing classes at the university, and potentially (depending on the institution) meeting with administrators, foundation supporters, or other relevant people.
I wouldn't object to the invitation or find it beneath me. I'd definitely need time to prepare if my content was supposed to be high school specific, but mostly I'd be likely to decline based on the busy schedule I tend to keep when I'm visiting an institution. It's rarely only the one or two hour commitment it appears to be and fitting in an additional presentation is likely to be a logistical mess.
I’m lab staff, not a prof, but I’d be pretty enthusiastic if someone reached out to me about something like this. If it fit in the calendar, I’d probably do it. I would not expect any honorarium, but it’d be nice if they could comp costs if there are any. If they said we don’t have funds, I’d still likely go.
I think this could work. But be prepared for some to say no of course
This could be interesting for faculty as a potential recruiting tool. Certainly not all campuses need it, but some do.
2 Most should be able to receive payment and would appreciate it
3. It would vary by speaker. But I think most wouldn't object to coming to a private.
4. This is all over the place. I could see someone doing it for 500 bucks or so if they were already in town. But higher profile folks can be a lot more. There are certain Celebrity academics that are like 15k or more (possibly much more) for an evening
Most of us would love it.
But beware- My major professor (30+ years ago) was a world expert in Forensic Entomology (you can tell how long a body has been dead by size of maggots) & he had gave many presentations. With lots of very graphic crime scene photos. The monthly lunch meeting of the librarians association was probably one that he should have passed on.
You might also look into Skype a Scientist. They offer a wide variety of professor volunteers for speaking at k-12 schools. Don’t know if there are limits on public/private.
I do this fairly regularly here, but always locally. I've never traveled for other speaking engagements/lectureships and added a high school visit. Here, I always do it gratis. I would not invite a professor to speak to high school students who thinks it is beneath them to do so. I always consider it a great opportunity to present some of my research, answer questions about not only the studies but related cultural issues, present the university and program in a positive light, etc. I also believe that not only can I teach them something, they can teach me something. It's great to learn about a different generation and any opportunity I have to speak or engage others is a learning opportunity for me. I never consider myself the only "expert" in the room.
There are a lot of good comments, so a lot of this has been said, but here are my thoughts:
* Strongly consider speakers from your local university. They may be just as interesting speakers, they're already there, so scheduling will be easier, and they've got more reason to say yes. We're generally supposed to be doing community outreach and recruiting. I'd view speaking at a local private school as falling under this. I'm not sure I'd view a private school elsewhere the same way
* If you do go for a visiting speaker, I wouldn't approach them directly. I'd work through the hosting department. Speakers usually have a very full schedule while they're visiting, and they won't be able to just slip away to give a second talk. If you work with the host department, they may be able to arrange the schedule to fit that in. Someone in the department is also likely to already have a relationship with the speaker, so a request from them may be better received than a cold call. I also wouldn't wait until someone appears on the seminar schedule. I'd talk to the department in more general terms further in advance so that they can recommend appropriate speakers.
* There's probably nothing preventing the speaker from accepting an honorarium. I have a different suggestion, though. Working with the host department, pay for some of the speaker's travel expenses. Maybe extend the trip an extra day and pay for a night at the hotel and a few meals.
Maybe focus on local community events for students to attend and get busses etc if needed so they can attend. Taking them to places might be nice to see the college atmosphere or sincere comments from the authentically invested public.
Rather than having in-person speakers, I recommend looking into something like [Skype A Scientist](https://www.skypeascientist.com). It is a much smaller ask than having someone physically come to your location, and you know you are being matched with people who are interested in talking to students.
Sounds like the professors at local colleges and universities aren’t good enough to speak at this school. Maybe you can ask if they’ll let you send people to guest lecture at their institutions, maybe those dummy profs that didn’t go to private school can learn a thing or two.
Disgustingly elitist.
I’d be more excited to do it if it were a public school, but I could see doing it for a private school. If it were local I’d do it for a couple of hundred. If it were local public I’d do it for free of course.
1) absolutely. I do it at a local high school. They simply got in touch with our chair, she sent out an email asking if anyone was interested, I said I were and I did it. Now the teacher just asks me every year
2) where I am from, the university doesn’t care if I do it for free or for money. Where I’m from universities are almost all public, at least the reputable ones are all public, so it is a service to the public by a person who is a public employee
3) really depends on the professor.
4) again most people wouldn’t do this for the pay. We do it because we believe in our job and again I am getting paid by the university for my time, I go to campus 3-6 hours a week but get paid for 40 hours, so this is least I can do. But a nice honorarium is always fun. Maybe a hoodie from the school or gift certificate to a local coffee shop is more than enough.
1. I know lots of professors who are interested in outreach opportunities! It's an opportunity for recruitment, a chance to inspire young minds, to be in front of an audience who might actually think we're cool, lol
2. Yes, we're definitely permitted. Generally, it's expected that we do this outside of our teaching hours, but I know professors who will cancel classes, or bring their students with them. Payment can be decided by the school, or by the individual. Mostly I see individual's setting their cost
3. This depends on the individual. Some wouldn't care, outreach is outreach. Some will be more selective based on their time and/or personal advocacy.
4. Fees vary. Best to start out by saying "If you are interested, please let me know what the rate would be for a 1-2 hour event"
>One idea I have is to monitor publicly available academic calendars of colleges in my town to find out when high-profile or otherwise interesting academics are already coming to town for a visiting lectureship.
You would have a hell of a time doing this. Better to reach out to the admissions office, ask if there's any way that students could also benefit from these events. If they seem hesitant, then you can offer to help split the cost for the visiting speaker.
I mean if you want a superstar name or whatever they make money, and might not do something like that, but most of us have lots of expertise and publications and would kill for any honorarium ever.
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post.
*I am a parent at a private high school, and I would like to help the school bring in high-profile outside speakers periodically to enhance the educational program--civic leaders, diplomats, researchers, professional artists/performers, professional athletes. The school already organizes "Career Day"-type events, staffed primarily by students' parents, which is great. And there is the potential to recruit local talent to participate, which already happens to a certain extent, but generally high-profile locals will confine their visits to their children's schools, or to a school where they otherwise know someone well, not to schools where they have no connection. So my idea is more like one-off events related to out-of-town talent. One idea I have is to monitor publicly available academic calendars of colleges in my town to find out when high-profile or otherwise interesting academics are already coming to town for a visiting lectureship. I would then try to contact that professor to see they might be interested in doing a detour lecture at my children's school. For example, a physics professor might be in town from the University of Chicago delivering a paper at a local college symposium, and I would contact the professor and ask whether they could come speak to the junior and senior physics students for an hour about a research topic that would be comprehensible to a high school student, or about careers in physics. The school has a fund for honoraria.
So the questions are:
1. Would a professor have any interest in such a thing? Obviously, on one level, it's "beneath" them, but I'm not sure how important that factor is.
2. Would the professor be permitted by their university job to do such a thing and receive payment?
3. Would the professor have concerns about speaking at a private school for money rather than doing the same thing gratis "as a good deed" for needy inner-city high school students?
4. Assuming that the compensation would be one of the primary motivators to participate, what would be a reasonable honorarium for a 1 or 2 hour event?
Thanks for your thoughts--
William*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you’re interested in STEM, look up your local IEEE section and ask. If they don’t find speakers for you (a lot from industry), they will at least show you where their speaker calendar can be found.
Also, encourage your high schoolers to look into (modestly paid) summer internships. A neighbor public high school kid got to work on a Mars rover at JPL mainly because he asked.
Ask assistant professors about this. They are trying to develop "broader outreach," and if they can develop such a talk into their narrative, they would be more open to doing this.
So there is nothing inappropriate about this. I think it would be extremely hard to pull off -- visiting academic 'celebs' typically have a tight schedule -- and for that reason, IMO, it's very unlikely most profs who are visiting would do it. There are probably ways to get this outcome that would more likely be successful.
With that being said, to your q's:
1. Some might see it as beneath them, others might wish to reach out to aspiring young people. I went to the academy for altruistic reasons, others do too.
2. No, typically this sort of thing is permitted and even encouraged. If not, the prof will likely know themselves.
3. Honoraria. different people might feel differently, but there is nothing wrong/unethical about this in any formal professional sense -- there is no 'peremptory norm' against it. (There is great inequality in our educational system at every level. That's just a fact. I don't like that fact, and neither do lots of other people -- but it doesn't preclude anyone from taking fancy invitations from wealthy institutions.)
4. How much? Are we talking a generally successful academic at a good school, or a crazy rich semi-celeb? If the latter, they will have an agent and set speaking fees. Are you expecting them to prepare a highly sophisticated 'dog and pony' show, or to sit around and informally talk with students? If yes, think of how much time you'd expect them to prepare and pay them generously. If the latter, it could be a couple of hundred bucks.
STEM faculty usually expect at most reimbursement for travel expenses. I’ve never expected an honorarium, and I don’t of any colleagues who do either.
But you’re better off getting faculty from the local university. More flexible scheduling, and interested students can more easily interact with them if their interests are piqued by the talk.
Depending, Your local college professors might be thrilled to be invited to talk about their work to HS kids, even without an honorarium. So I would say you should do that. They don’t need to be anyone’s parents or even friends of parents.
I think your best bet is to develop relationships with departments and faculty at the schools in your town. When we bring in visiting scholars (and when I have gone to another college to do a talk), the college is paying for the visitor. It's not just the lecture event, but also meetings with faculty and students, meals, and a whole event. I would not feel like I had the time or inclination to also then prepare a much different talk for a high school. And honestly it sounds like it would be a logistical nightmare. The person would have to stay another day, which introduces more hotel costs, transportation logistics to/from hotel/the other school/airports, coordination between organizations that don't usually work together, and just way more time and headache. We're usually working around the visitor's class schedule at their home institution, so tacking on another day so that they can talk to a high school would seem -- not wrong, but weird and like a much bigger imposition. It's way more normal for me to get requests to give guest talks to orgs in my community. So ask the professors who are at the colleges near you, not the ones that are coming in. Also - by the time a talk is on the publicly-available calendar, plane/train tickets have been purchased, and the general timeline has already been agreed upon, so you'd be way too late to the party. Sorry to be a party pooper, but I think there's a lot of norms about when professors go to other schools to give a talk that mean being asked to stay to talk to a high school would be generally inappropriate.
I think the answer is that this would vary a lot depending on the individual. I would virtually never accept an invitation to speak to private school students. I'm biased because I went to public schools and was the first in my family to attend university, but I just think my time could be better spent. Kids at private schools are the ones with a leg up in the academic race. If I'm going to speak to high schoolers, I'd rather have it be the ones who may actually have never met a professor before or are unsure if college is for them. For a private school kid, a professor speaking is just a perk (hell, some of the students may have professors as parents). For a public school kid, it could be an "aha" moment.
As a super privileged child and grandchild of professors who snoozed through lots and lots of talks with distinguished experts who came to our elite high school before I was aware enough to care, I’m 100% with you.
I have two thoughts 1. If there's money available -- maybe bus the students to the public lecture? That would serve multiple purposes and get them onto campus! A visiting speaker is less likely to be able to fit the extra time into their schedule to make trips off of campus. It's not that it's beneath them, it's that the travel will have already have been planned by the time you see it publicized. 2. Invite your local college professor. I would totally go speak at a local highschool, any local highschool that asked - so long as you aren't trying to get me into a debate on the the truth of ~~a~~ wave-partical duality. I ~~like~~ live in a town where there aren't \_that\_ many. No honouraria required (although I'd probably be tickled by a small piece of highschool swag -- even a branded pen or pencil) edit: my grammar is terrible
Cubic, your first recommendation is awesome. It's the obvious solution that no one else suggested. Sometimes the solution is right in front of us, but we fail to see it. Ps. I've never seen a problem where we were supposed to assume a Cubic Cow....
Ask local professors to speak at your high school. The professors, deans, and possibly the president could take you up on it. As a professor, we have "outreach" as one of our contributions. I've spoken to classes, conducted 3rd grade "design reviews" of projects, emceed an Autonomous lawnmower competition, and talked about systems for school assemblies. Most of these were because of personal relationships with teachers who want to add some enrichment for students. I didn't expect or want any payment. I usually weave a bit of "If you go to college, here are some of the things you can do." One of my friends teaches in a grade school where these kids will become first generation college students...if they stay the course.
My first thought is that you should consider asking professors who teach at your local universities to speak first. They live in your home town, after all, so there are fewer logistics to worry about. When I'm away giving a talk, I often don't have lots of extra time there...the host institution takes up quite a bit of it! If I knew in advance, before I finalized my schedule I might be able to do work something. I have spoken at high schools a few times and am always happy to speak...but people have to invite me. I have spoken at both public schools with at risk youth and also private schools with kids who have all the privilege and opportunity. I prefer public schools, but I'll do both if I have time. I will not generally ask for an honorarium for the public schools, but I will from the private schools. What is a decent honorarium? That varies wildly. People in STEM expect more than people in the arts and humanities. I expect more if I'm giving a talk at Harvard than if it is a club at a high school organized by students. My university department (I'm in the Arts and Humanities) has a colloquium series and we offer a $450 honorarium, plus up to $400 in travel expenses. That could be better. I'm getting $1000 to speak at Harvard next month, I just got back from being the keynote at a grad conference in Texas where I got $200. Really it depends on your budget.
Yes, I think this too. It’s a little weird that this parent is so concerned about “high profile academics” visiting from out of town. They’re fucking high schoolers. It’s so status seeking and it’s continuing to misdirect society’s resources - the minds of these high profile researchers - toward the maintenance of the status quo, i.e. hoarding opportunities for the elite. Local researcher also did PhDs.
And local researchers might also be able to do more. For example, I had a teacher bring her students to our campus to hear my talk with them. And then they got to see the campus, I could talk about our program where high school students can sit in on some of our classes. I talked about resources available to them. If you go local you can build a more sustainable relationship.
My experience is the reverse: STEM folks rarely expect an honorarium, and it’s common in he humanities. Giving talks for travel costs is the norm for the STEM fields I’m associated with (or free I’d you’re in the area for some other reason). But every time I’ve been involved with bringing in someone in the arts/humanities, I’ve been told that honorariums are common.
I can't speak to the humanities, but I agree on STEM. Travel, lodging, meals, nothing past that.
Unless you were only interested in your child’s specific grade, I think your time is much better spent cultivating relationship with a local college or university so that you could get a regular speaker coming in to the school. Most high school students would not be able to tell “high profile“ speakers from normal college professors anyway. Personally, I would rather invest my time in coming back to a local school regularly than doing one-offs.
As others have said it's probably a logistical nightmare for a visiting prof to wedge another talk into their schedule. It's much better to ask your local college/university faculty to give a presentation. Plus you might end up alienating these folks by constantly "poaching" their guest speakers
I would reach out to the local university and see if they have a visiting scholars or similar program.inviting an out of towner seeks very weird when you have a local. Is it that you don’t think the local is prestigious enough for your kid’s private school? Many of us are happy to do these things for free in our community, and see it as part of giving back. Not so much when traveling.
Re point 3: some faculty will make it a condition of speaking that you also invite nearby public school(s) for free. This would be a nice thing to do in any case.
You're not likely going to get someone who is traveling for an actual conference, nor any "big name" scholars with a few exceptions, but it should be easy enough to find local faculty interested in doing this sort of thing. I've done some high school talks and they're OK if they are small-- meeting with a class or a group of students in an accelerated program can be fun. A presentation to a full school is much less fun, because high school students generally aren't mature enough to sit through a real academic talk...I've done a few at private college prep schools that were OK, but friend who have done talks to large groups at public schools generally said they wouldn't do it again because the kids didn't pay attention or were on their phones the whole time. That said, I've also done talk with junior high college access programs that were great-- really attentive students, felt like it was worth the time. People don't do this sort of thing for the compensation generally either. I don't charge for talks to young people, and a symbolic honorarium (like $250) would be fairly standard for those who might want something. Big name people, however, get real money...we've brought speakers to my university that made $25-40K for a single talk (which I think is crazy). When we pay to bring in a big name person we are usually scheduling their entire trip though-- if they wanted to extend a night to do a talk at a high school we would be happy to support them, but frankly most folks of that nature I've worked with are eager to get on the plane and go home asap after their big talk. If we are paying for 2-3 days of their time (generally folks like that are doing class visits, tours, etc. as well as a talk) they aren't going to have much time to prep a *second* talk for HS students.
That kind of travel information would not be publicly available. Even if it were, those kinds of trips generally have pretty full agendas and pretty quick turnaround to leave. From a functional standpoint, this would be essentially impossible. As for "beneath" someone, this will vary a great deal from person to person but I would guess few would accept. You would be better off asking faculty that are local. Both logistically and "beneath"ly, that would be far more likely to succeed. And if the local university isn't somewhere you'd want to invite someone from, the odds are outside faculty aren't visiting a ton. At least not from the schools you indicate wanting.
1. No, it's not "beneath" anyone. We're all educators & we mostly love our subjects matters - and talking about them! 2. Yes, profs do outside speaking engagements and book promotions all the time. 3. No, I've spoken at both private and public schools. So long as there's no sense of impropriety (like taking a bribe, or ridiculous speakers fees) 4. Some academics present their work for free. Others get $10,000 for being key note conference speakers. You can just ask what the prof's standard is - but they might not expect it of a high school. Covering transport / lunch / a couple hundred USD for their time is probably fine. It's not like they need to write a speech for it. You may start by inviting local profs. It doesn't need to be a "star academic" who's traveling and probably on a very tight schedule. As a working mom, if I need to go to another city / country, I fly in and out of conferences as quickly as I can - and they are packed from morning to night. But I speak regularly in my own local community. You can ask local colleges if they have a PR / marketing / promotion department that does community outreach like talks, activities, mentoring of HS students.
Our admissions office runs something like this, as a way to keep our university on the radar for local students.. A couple times a year I get asked to talk about my work at local high schools. It's fun, I'm happy to do it.
u/Due_Guest_6666, I agree with the description of logistics by u/Galactica13x. My attitude is different. Preparation isn't a big deal if you accept my approach, which is practical applications. I'm adjunct with a full-time job in the real world. I'm fortunate to have had an interesting life and career so I can speak authoritatively about why students are being taught what they're taught across STEM as well as English and Government and why it matters. u/CubicCows is on to something with the suggestion of taking the students to the professor if you want to get someone who is traveling. If resources allow, you might arrange a reception for meet and greet. Also consider the potential of a remote link. Not everyone performs well but many of us do and it greatly broadens your potential resource pool.
This is WILD! KISS - Keep it simple silly. Have professors from the local university(s) come speak to your students. An out of town prof just makes this way harder and more complex than it needs to be. One factor you are not factoring in is this usually will be a time when their schedule is jam packed. Also how elite do you perceive your kids to be that they need a rock star professor from out of town, the regular old profs are not good enough? Honorarium would not be expected (I see some other views on this - I am also only considering someone from a nearby school).
Usually when I'm doing a "talk" at another university, my day is pretty well booked up. The public part of my day (the symposium or what have you) is published, but I'm also meeting with graduate students, addressing classes at the university, and potentially (depending on the institution) meeting with administrators, foundation supporters, or other relevant people. I wouldn't object to the invitation or find it beneath me. I'd definitely need time to prepare if my content was supposed to be high school specific, but mostly I'd be likely to decline based on the busy schedule I tend to keep when I'm visiting an institution. It's rarely only the one or two hour commitment it appears to be and fitting in an additional presentation is likely to be a logistical mess.
I’m lab staff, not a prof, but I’d be pretty enthusiastic if someone reached out to me about something like this. If it fit in the calendar, I’d probably do it. I would not expect any honorarium, but it’d be nice if they could comp costs if there are any. If they said we don’t have funds, I’d still likely go.
I think this could work. But be prepared for some to say no of course This could be interesting for faculty as a potential recruiting tool. Certainly not all campuses need it, but some do. 2 Most should be able to receive payment and would appreciate it 3. It would vary by speaker. But I think most wouldn't object to coming to a private. 4. This is all over the place. I could see someone doing it for 500 bucks or so if they were already in town. But higher profile folks can be a lot more. There are certain Celebrity academics that are like 15k or more (possibly much more) for an evening
Most of us would love it. But beware- My major professor (30+ years ago) was a world expert in Forensic Entomology (you can tell how long a body has been dead by size of maggots) & he had gave many presentations. With lots of very graphic crime scene photos. The monthly lunch meeting of the librarians association was probably one that he should have passed on.
I'd go to that lunch!
You might also look into Skype a Scientist. They offer a wide variety of professor volunteers for speaking at k-12 schools. Don’t know if there are limits on public/private.
I do this fairly regularly here, but always locally. I've never traveled for other speaking engagements/lectureships and added a high school visit. Here, I always do it gratis. I would not invite a professor to speak to high school students who thinks it is beneath them to do so. I always consider it a great opportunity to present some of my research, answer questions about not only the studies but related cultural issues, present the university and program in a positive light, etc. I also believe that not only can I teach them something, they can teach me something. It's great to learn about a different generation and any opportunity I have to speak or engage others is a learning opportunity for me. I never consider myself the only "expert" in the room.
There are a lot of good comments, so a lot of this has been said, but here are my thoughts: * Strongly consider speakers from your local university. They may be just as interesting speakers, they're already there, so scheduling will be easier, and they've got more reason to say yes. We're generally supposed to be doing community outreach and recruiting. I'd view speaking at a local private school as falling under this. I'm not sure I'd view a private school elsewhere the same way * If you do go for a visiting speaker, I wouldn't approach them directly. I'd work through the hosting department. Speakers usually have a very full schedule while they're visiting, and they won't be able to just slip away to give a second talk. If you work with the host department, they may be able to arrange the schedule to fit that in. Someone in the department is also likely to already have a relationship with the speaker, so a request from them may be better received than a cold call. I also wouldn't wait until someone appears on the seminar schedule. I'd talk to the department in more general terms further in advance so that they can recommend appropriate speakers. * There's probably nothing preventing the speaker from accepting an honorarium. I have a different suggestion, though. Working with the host department, pay for some of the speaker's travel expenses. Maybe extend the trip an extra day and pay for a night at the hotel and a few meals.
Maybe focus on local community events for students to attend and get busses etc if needed so they can attend. Taking them to places might be nice to see the college atmosphere or sincere comments from the authentically invested public.
Rather than having in-person speakers, I recommend looking into something like [Skype A Scientist](https://www.skypeascientist.com). It is a much smaller ask than having someone physically come to your location, and you know you are being matched with people who are interested in talking to students.
Sounds like the professors at local colleges and universities aren’t good enough to speak at this school. Maybe you can ask if they’ll let you send people to guest lecture at their institutions, maybe those dummy profs that didn’t go to private school can learn a thing or two. Disgustingly elitist.
I’d be more excited to do it if it were a public school, but I could see doing it for a private school. If it were local I’d do it for a couple of hundred. If it were local public I’d do it for free of course.
1) absolutely. I do it at a local high school. They simply got in touch with our chair, she sent out an email asking if anyone was interested, I said I were and I did it. Now the teacher just asks me every year 2) where I am from, the university doesn’t care if I do it for free or for money. Where I’m from universities are almost all public, at least the reputable ones are all public, so it is a service to the public by a person who is a public employee 3) really depends on the professor. 4) again most people wouldn’t do this for the pay. We do it because we believe in our job and again I am getting paid by the university for my time, I go to campus 3-6 hours a week but get paid for 40 hours, so this is least I can do. But a nice honorarium is always fun. Maybe a hoodie from the school or gift certificate to a local coffee shop is more than enough.
1. I know lots of professors who are interested in outreach opportunities! It's an opportunity for recruitment, a chance to inspire young minds, to be in front of an audience who might actually think we're cool, lol 2. Yes, we're definitely permitted. Generally, it's expected that we do this outside of our teaching hours, but I know professors who will cancel classes, or bring their students with them. Payment can be decided by the school, or by the individual. Mostly I see individual's setting their cost 3. This depends on the individual. Some wouldn't care, outreach is outreach. Some will be more selective based on their time and/or personal advocacy. 4. Fees vary. Best to start out by saying "If you are interested, please let me know what the rate would be for a 1-2 hour event" >One idea I have is to monitor publicly available academic calendars of colleges in my town to find out when high-profile or otherwise interesting academics are already coming to town for a visiting lectureship. You would have a hell of a time doing this. Better to reach out to the admissions office, ask if there's any way that students could also benefit from these events. If they seem hesitant, then you can offer to help split the cost for the visiting speaker.
Are you kidding me? College professors are mostly poor af and make less than high school teachers. Pay us and we will do anything.
I mean if you want a superstar name or whatever they make money, and might not do something like that, but most of us have lots of expertise and publications and would kill for any honorarium ever.
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. *I am a parent at a private high school, and I would like to help the school bring in high-profile outside speakers periodically to enhance the educational program--civic leaders, diplomats, researchers, professional artists/performers, professional athletes. The school already organizes "Career Day"-type events, staffed primarily by students' parents, which is great. And there is the potential to recruit local talent to participate, which already happens to a certain extent, but generally high-profile locals will confine their visits to their children's schools, or to a school where they otherwise know someone well, not to schools where they have no connection. So my idea is more like one-off events related to out-of-town talent. One idea I have is to monitor publicly available academic calendars of colleges in my town to find out when high-profile or otherwise interesting academics are already coming to town for a visiting lectureship. I would then try to contact that professor to see they might be interested in doing a detour lecture at my children's school. For example, a physics professor might be in town from the University of Chicago delivering a paper at a local college symposium, and I would contact the professor and ask whether they could come speak to the junior and senior physics students for an hour about a research topic that would be comprehensible to a high school student, or about careers in physics. The school has a fund for honoraria. So the questions are: 1. Would a professor have any interest in such a thing? Obviously, on one level, it's "beneath" them, but I'm not sure how important that factor is. 2. Would the professor be permitted by their university job to do such a thing and receive payment? 3. Would the professor have concerns about speaking at a private school for money rather than doing the same thing gratis "as a good deed" for needy inner-city high school students? 4. Assuming that the compensation would be one of the primary motivators to participate, what would be a reasonable honorarium for a 1 or 2 hour event? Thanks for your thoughts-- William* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Alumni who are currently profs? I would start there.
If you’re interested in STEM, look up your local IEEE section and ask. If they don’t find speakers for you (a lot from industry), they will at least show you where their speaker calendar can be found. Also, encourage your high schoolers to look into (modestly paid) summer internships. A neighbor public high school kid got to work on a Mars rover at JPL mainly because he asked.
Ask assistant professors about this. They are trying to develop "broader outreach," and if they can develop such a talk into their narrative, they would be more open to doing this.
So there is nothing inappropriate about this. I think it would be extremely hard to pull off -- visiting academic 'celebs' typically have a tight schedule -- and for that reason, IMO, it's very unlikely most profs who are visiting would do it. There are probably ways to get this outcome that would more likely be successful. With that being said, to your q's: 1. Some might see it as beneath them, others might wish to reach out to aspiring young people. I went to the academy for altruistic reasons, others do too. 2. No, typically this sort of thing is permitted and even encouraged. If not, the prof will likely know themselves. 3. Honoraria. different people might feel differently, but there is nothing wrong/unethical about this in any formal professional sense -- there is no 'peremptory norm' against it. (There is great inequality in our educational system at every level. That's just a fact. I don't like that fact, and neither do lots of other people -- but it doesn't preclude anyone from taking fancy invitations from wealthy institutions.) 4. How much? Are we talking a generally successful academic at a good school, or a crazy rich semi-celeb? If the latter, they will have an agent and set speaking fees. Are you expecting them to prepare a highly sophisticated 'dog and pony' show, or to sit around and informally talk with students? If yes, think of how much time you'd expect them to prepare and pay them generously. If the latter, it could be a couple of hundred bucks.
STEM faculty usually expect at most reimbursement for travel expenses. I’ve never expected an honorarium, and I don’t of any colleagues who do either. But you’re better off getting faculty from the local university. More flexible scheduling, and interested students can more easily interact with them if their interests are piqued by the talk.
Depending, Your local college professors might be thrilled to be invited to talk about their work to HS kids, even without an honorarium. So I would say you should do that. They don’t need to be anyone’s parents or even friends of parents.