Renaming the board Academic Common Room?

[impostersyndrome]

What are people’s thoughts on asking Mumsnet HQ to consider renaming this board as Academic Common Room by analogy to The Staff Room board, as there seem to be quite a few people posting here by mistake, when they’d be better off on Higher Education. Even better, we might increase traffic from people actually in the industry. Who knows, we could use some self support at the moment.

That’s a good idea, it feels like half the threads on the board are not actually about working in academia.

Of course, the irony is that academic common rooms barely exist any more!

Yes, the irony hadn't passed me by, GCAcademic. I imagine some have been closed due to lack of use (as we're all too busy)

It'd be a good idea, I think.

It's like the frustation about The Weights Room - people keep barging in there to talk about weight loss, even though there's a clear indication in a pinned post that it's about weight lifting.

That must be very frustrating Dolorabelle. I think now I’ll report my post to Mumsnet HQ so they can look at it after the weekend. If there are any dissenting voices, hopefully we’ll hear by then.

Fine by me. We lost our common room, it was great to bump into people and chat more casually.

Seems sensible to me too - although I'm another one who has mostly not worked in places where there is a common room, or any staff space at all!

Yes, common rooms are pretty rare, aren’t they? Still, glad to have a general thumbs up so far on the renaming.

how about 'the Ivory Tower' ???

okay maybe not

I quite like the name 'Ivory Tower' as ironic and self-deprecating. I think 'Academic Common Room' contains many of the same pejorative connotations anyway.

(Disclosure: am ultra-precarious, gig-economying, not-even-legally-employed, casualised dogsbody. Even if my uni had an Academic Common Room, they wouldn't be letting me in )

I take your point Hannah, though my thinking is that we need something more obvious, especially for searches. Plus, it’s like ‘The Staff Room’ board for teachers.

I don't mind either Academic Common Room or Ivory Tower.

Hi everyone. Thanks for the thoughts about this. It sounds like a good idea. We're going to look into changing it.

And lo, it was thus!

(Advent service last night, still got the hymns in my head)

Thanks very much HebeMumsnet. Does this make me a media influencer ?

Indeed!