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In this paper I introduce the theory of gift giving as a possible means to reconcile the contradictions inherent in accountability measures of 'faculty productivity' in the American university. In this paper I sketch the theory of gift economies to show how, given the historical ideals that characterize the faculty-student relationship, a theory of gift giving could help us better judge the labor of the faculty. I suggest that it is the relational character of teaching that frustrates accountability measures and that perhaps if viewed as a gift economy-and in particular an economy with 'reproductive' ends-we could better grasp the effectiveness of these relationships.As the demand for accountability in American higher education continues to grow, countless efforts are put forth by individual institutions and government policy boards to assess the performance of higher education, in particular the productivity of the faculty. Largely motivated by public demand for standards and accountability given tuition increases, state governments, accreditation agencies and universities develop strategies and programs to evaluate the labor of the faculty inside and outside the college classroom. In these efforts, however, the nature of the facultystudent relationship in the university and its perceived relevance for assessing undergraduate education is relatively free of scrutiny. 1 Accountability efforts in both the public and private university sectors signal a desire to understand, assess and improve this unique relationship yet appear conceptually suspect. Accountability models that seek to assess faculty productivity appear to apply formulae without any clear and explicit articulation of conceptual frameworks that guide their application. These models ascertain the literal value of faculty-student relationship as a metrics borne of unspecified conceptual claims. This paper will present a conceptual account of the professor-student relationship. Specifically, this paper will focus on gift giving or a 'gift economy' as a novel means

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T echnology's march into the college classroom continues. Generations of college and university faculty have both embraced and resisted instructional technologies such as the book, the mimeograph, the overhead projector, and hand-held calculators. Now college and university faculty are greeting the 21 st century's signature technology-social media-with varying combinations of apprehension and excited curiosity.Since pioneering social-networking sites Friendster (2002), MySpace (2003) and Facebook (2004) leveraged the power of the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies, blogs, micro-blogs, wikis, mashups, videosharing, videoconferencing, Webconferencing, and telepresence technologies have followed close on their heels. Together, these constitute a rapidly developing suite of instructional tools for the brickand-mortar college classroom.