tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post5249246546227898133..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: An Update on Jim Wetherbe. (Now With Crampicle Text, Thanks to Several Readers.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51478759661986564292013-11-18T10:25:14.950-05:002013-11-18T10:25:14.950-05:00Ben,
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
A ...Ben,<br /><br />Thank you for your thoughtful response. <br /><br />A recent Gallup Poll revealed that two thirds of university provosts preferred long term contracts to tenure suggesting there is space for a mutually acceptable solution. The key is to have rolling contracts rather than renewable. <br /><br />By the way, an argument made by faculty is that they would be willing to give up tenure jcwetherbehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04062237006386654311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-48937484699496931802013-11-15T09:23:29.808-05:002013-11-15T09:23:29.808-05:00Perhaps I'm being pessimistic but I don't ...Perhaps I'm being pessimistic but I don't think the administrations want to discuss trade offs. They just want to get rid of tenure. Sure, they could give a bit higher raises to people as an act of good will but the goal is to spend less money on faculty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-21110076378465396512013-11-15T09:21:03.720-05:002013-11-15T09:21:03.720-05:00Hi Jim,
Thanks for responding with the clarificat...Hi Jim,<br /><br />Thanks for responding with the clarification between rolling and renewable contracts. That's an important distinction that I missed. It would make some difference in the faculty's ability to express concerns about school policies and get rid of dead wood.<br /><br />Again, you make a good point about us finding a fix before one is imposed on us. However, many of us Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-88594351824028620792013-11-14T16:53:05.890-05:002013-11-14T16:53:05.890-05:00Bollocks.Bollocks.Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83869820430543857252013-11-14T16:44:51.330-05:002013-11-14T16:44:51.330-05:00For the record, I resigned tenure at the Universit...For the record, I resigned tenure at the University of Minnesota over a decade before serving on Ciber's board and was no longer on it at the time of the first amendment incident and subsequent lawsuit. Further, Bobby Stevenson did cancel his gift but it was after the provost blocked the Horn Professor appointment recommended by the Horn Committee and subsequently the Faculty Grievance jcwetherbehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04062237006386654311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-68129997649859502842013-11-14T13:16:48.174-05:002013-11-14T13:16:48.174-05:00Please note the significant difference between a r...Please note the significant difference between a renewable (expiring) contract and a ROLLING contract which provides much better safeguards. In a renewable contract one is at risk each time contract renewal approaches (e.g., every five years). In a rolling contract the length of the contract rolls forward each year. So a five year rolling contract requires a minimum of five years notice prior to jcwetherbehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04062237006386654311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-21848015722509629302013-11-14T09:00:39.620-05:002013-11-14T09:00:39.620-05:00Would profs give up tenure if the salary was compa...Would profs give up tenure if the salary was comparable to industry and there was merit pay? Where I work I kind of see tenure as the trade off for lower salary and a higher teaching load. We used to do a lot of shared governance, now we just call it shared governance but it is top down.Academic Charlotte Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06617435890922621735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62119493187666074952013-11-14T07:39:29.101-05:002013-11-14T07:39:29.101-05:00And there's even plenty of evidence to prove t...And there's even plenty of evidence to prove that from the UK experience, where the REF means we are all REQUIRED in my department to write a certain number of grant applications per year. Meanwhile the research councils etc. have less money to share around and are giving it to fewer places (fewer, larger grants), or have developed new ways to make their selection process easier (e.g. Grumpy Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02896982515031823267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67801373726489869312013-11-14T06:29:43.319-05:002013-11-14T06:29:43.319-05:00From near the end of the Chronic article:
"A...From near the end of the Chronic article:<br /><br />"And last year, Bobby G. Stevenson, co-founder of Ciber Inc., an information-technology company that has had Mr. Wetherbe on its board, rescinded at least $9-million in gifts to Texas Tech to protest how the dean search was conducted."<br /><br />Hoookay.... No, I guess you really don't need tenure when you sit on a board that Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62077397949259169152013-11-13T15:13:24.842-05:002013-11-13T15:13:24.842-05:00"More faculty writing proposals won't bri..."More faculty writing proposals won't bring in more money, overall (nationwide). It just increases the competition for funding. " Bingo. That's something that our administration just doesn't get.Zeke Zymurgyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14103634342855587849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-26602794721179112072013-11-13T12:55:54.652-05:002013-11-13T12:55:54.652-05:00I meant to include the problem with getting more f...I meant to include the problem with getting more faculty to find outside funding. Grant money is a limited resource. More faculty writing proposals won't bring in more money, overall (nationwide). It just increases the competition for funding. The government might respond by providing NSF, NIH, etc with more funding but that's a separate fight that is difficult to win, especially if Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-49988576560787752102013-11-13T12:50:42.974-05:002013-11-13T12:50:42.974-05:00He raises some legitimate points about universitie...He raises some legitimate points about universities being less flexible, though schools can still close a department entirely in order to get rid of faculty, then move the most productive faculty in the closed department to another existing department.<br /><br />Jim doesn't address the effect of a lack of tenure on the faculty's ability to participate in university governance. Are you Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com