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I've read that essay a bunch of times, and love it every time.
Yes, my little corner of academia is an idyllic little world all its own. I love being in a field that is actually relevant, where we are judged by whether or not our graduates can actually make a living in their chosen profession. It's immanently practical.
When they decided to build a commercial music program, they decided to go out and hire people who were actually making a living in the industry. Part of my employment contract for my faculty position is that I still make records, still perform live, and they give me all the flexibility I need to make that happen. They want us teaching students how things actually work in the industry now, not how things worked 20 years ago when we left the studio world for a classroom.
However, when our little world has to interact with the rest of academia, it SUUUUUUUCKS. Academia is the last remaining vestige of the feudal system, with petty fiefdoms, serfs, power plays, a ruling elite, attendant vassals, an arcane system of ranking and privilege - it's bizarre. Those of us who still make a living in the real world just stare in wonder at how it all works.
This is one of those cases where we have to bow to whims of the larger University. I was hired on as a professor without even having a degree (well, I have a master's in philosophy, but that doesn't count for anything) based entirely on my portfolio, who I had played with, what I had played on. That was all that mattered.
But in order to advance in academic life, I have to go before a committee of other faculty members from other disciplines, and they are incapable of understanding anything other than peer-reviewed journal articles, publishing contracts, and conference presentations. I can sit in front of them and say, "I played keyboards on the nation-wide promos for 'The Amazing Race'" and they would stare blankly down at their checklist, with no clue which box to put that in.
But they understand the phrase "Terminal Degree". If I have that, then they know that it's ok to take me seriously.
Bah. It's all so petty, and endlessly political.
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