Nikole Hannah-Jones Denied Tenure at UNC
May 20, 2021 10:19 AM Subscribe
Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer-winning lead author of the 1619 Project, was denied tenure at the University of North Carolina. Following a conservative backlash against her, the university’s board of trustees took the highly unusual step of failing to approve the journalism department’s recommendation to grant her tenure (NYTimes).
UNC faculty have protested. “It’s disappointing, it’s not what we wanted, and I am afraid it will have a chilling effect,” Susan King, dean of UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, told NC Policy Watch.
(Previously on Metafilter: the 1619 Project and "is our children learning?".)
UNC faculty have protested. “It’s disappointing, it’s not what we wanted, and I am afraid it will have a chilling effect,” Susan King, dean of UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, told NC Policy Watch.
(Previously on Metafilter: the 1619 Project and "is our children learning?".)
Why Did a University Suspend Its Mandatory Diversity Course?
Republican legislators in Idaho have in recent years been ratcheting up the pressure on colleges, saying they are indoctrinating students with a leftist agenda. The lawmakers take issue with the institutions’ efforts to be more inclusive. The course suspensions at Boise State came the same week that the Idaho State Senate passed a higher-education budget that cut $409,000 from Boise State’s appropriation — the amount the university said it spent on social-justice programs — and shifted the money to Lewis-Clark State College, the Idaho Statesman reported on Wednesday. Some Republican lawmakers had wanted to cut much more in order to send a clear signal to the university that they were against its efforts to educate students about racism and social justice.posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:34 AM on May 20, 2021 [8 favorites]
Oh hey, finally made an account after a decade or so of lurking. Our BoT is infuriating, and I'm glad there were protests on campus this morning.
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 10:37 AM on May 20, 2021 [86 favorites]
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 10:37 AM on May 20, 2021 [86 favorites]
"I am afraid it will have a chilling effect"
So, mission accomplished?
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:43 AM on May 20, 2021 [21 favorites]
So, mission accomplished?
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:43 AM on May 20, 2021 [21 favorites]
The Republicans have been playing the long game since the 90s, at least. They've built a strong base of power by getting control of state and local governments. The Democrats are like frogs in boiling water. They're seeing it now (some of them), but they're years too late.
posted by Mavri at 11:02 AM on May 20, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by Mavri at 11:02 AM on May 20, 2021 [14 favorites]
Lots of spicy takes everywhere about this (bullshit!) decision.
To clarify
She was recruited for this position and to be appointed in a prestigious chair, with tenure, based on her excellent scholarly record.
The dept and university approved wholeheartedly, then as with all tenured/tenure-track appointments, went to the board for rubber stamping. The board said "nope!, not for you!".....and the dept was like WTF??, so they did an endrun around them by appointing her to the chair with a 5 year renewable contract, which didn't require board approval.
If you want to read about the f*** UNC board of governors, start here.
posted by lalochezia at 11:02 AM on May 20, 2021 [60 favorites]
To clarify
She was recruited for this position and to be appointed in a prestigious chair, with tenure, based on her excellent scholarly record.
The dept and university approved wholeheartedly, then as with all tenured/tenure-track appointments, went to the board for rubber stamping. The board said "nope!, not for you!".....and the dept was like WTF??, so they did an endrun around them by appointing her to the chair with a 5 year renewable contract, which didn't require board approval.
If you want to read about the f*** UNC board of governors, start here.
posted by lalochezia at 11:02 AM on May 20, 2021 [60 favorites]
Also see: Teen Vogue's analysis of University Governance by Corporate Boards
(hat tip: from the fantastic @IBJIYONGI, who is a Black/Jewish Woman physics prof)
posted by lalochezia at 11:15 AM on May 20, 2021 [16 favorites]
(hat tip: from the fantastic @IBJIYONGI, who is a Black/Jewish Woman physics prof)
posted by lalochezia at 11:15 AM on May 20, 2021 [16 favorites]
The article in Inside Higher Ed also mentions a recent move by the trustees at Florida Gulf Coast University to become more involved in tenure decisions. This is not surprising given the general political movements in the U.S. and the continued distrust of academia especially in the right.
But we in the academy also deserve some blame for this, too, because we have utterly neglected boards of trustees as objects of scholarly study but more importantly as significant parts of our institutions. Faculty in particular have spent over a century working as hard as they can to remove themselves from the the operations of colleges and universities so they can focus solely on teaching, scholarship, and scholarly service. Many faculty - and staff - don't understand how their own organizations work and the continued appointments of trustees who also don't understand how the institutions work and share some of our values is unsurprising and detrimental. For example, it appears (remember that we haven't done much research about this topic so we're unsure of a lot of things!) that we've collectively been appointing many, many trustees because of their business experience and background and not because they have any specific understanding of academia beyond their own experiences as a student. In my experience, many boards are too far removed from their institutions - probably because they realize that they don't really understand these very complex organizations - and don't provide the kinds of oversight and guidance that they should be providing especially when it comes to oversight and evaluation of the president. And as these stories illustrate some go to the other extreme and become way, way too involved in decisions and operations.
posted by ElKevbo at 11:17 AM on May 20, 2021 [42 favorites]
But we in the academy also deserve some blame for this, too, because we have utterly neglected boards of trustees as objects of scholarly study but more importantly as significant parts of our institutions. Faculty in particular have spent over a century working as hard as they can to remove themselves from the the operations of colleges and universities so they can focus solely on teaching, scholarship, and scholarly service. Many faculty - and staff - don't understand how their own organizations work and the continued appointments of trustees who also don't understand how the institutions work and share some of our values is unsurprising and detrimental. For example, it appears (remember that we haven't done much research about this topic so we're unsure of a lot of things!) that we've collectively been appointing many, many trustees because of their business experience and background and not because they have any specific understanding of academia beyond their own experiences as a student. In my experience, many boards are too far removed from their institutions - probably because they realize that they don't really understand these very complex organizations - and don't provide the kinds of oversight and guidance that they should be providing especially when it comes to oversight and evaluation of the president. And as these stories illustrate some go to the other extreme and become way, way too involved in decisions and operations.
posted by ElKevbo at 11:17 AM on May 20, 2021 [42 favorites]
The following things can be true simultaneously
i) To its great detriment, the university has been deliberately corporatized
ii) To quote elkvbo "Faculty in particular have spent over a century working as hard as they can to remove themselves from the the operations of colleges and universities"
iii) There is no way a university of the 21st century could be run without professional managers. The model people hark back to is the way that 19th century universities were run by faculty and the occasional admin assistant, but the the intrinsic and unavoidable logistical/legal/regulatory/financial complexity of a modern university is simply too high to be managed by nonspecialists.
posted by lalochezia at 11:29 AM on May 20, 2021 [14 favorites]
i) To its great detriment, the university has been deliberately corporatized
ii) To quote elkvbo "Faculty in particular have spent over a century working as hard as they can to remove themselves from the the operations of colleges and universities"
iii) There is no way a university of the 21st century could be run without professional managers. The model people hark back to is the way that 19th century universities were run by faculty and the occasional admin assistant, but the the intrinsic and unavoidable logistical/legal/regulatory/financial complexity of a modern university is simply too high to be managed by nonspecialists.
posted by lalochezia at 11:29 AM on May 20, 2021 [14 favorites]
Hopefully she'll be recruited by an institution less interested in groveling to fascists.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:33 AM on May 20, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by ryanshepard at 11:33 AM on May 20, 2021 [8 favorites]
the intrinsic and unavoidable logistical/legal/regulatory/financial complexity of a modern university is simply too high to be managed by nonspecialists.
Agreed, but the disconnect between those managing the institutions and those doing the teaching and learning has led to profound differences in (e.g.) values, understanding of mission, etc. The biggest obstacles I've faced in faculty governance leadership roles have not been practical, but rather when people across the table don't really give a shit about any of things that I, as a teacher, consider foundational and essential. (I've sat in a room with a handful of people in it and listened to the Chair of the CSU Board of Trustees [the Cal State system enrolls almost half a million students annually] actually laugh out loud at the notion that the world needs artists.)
posted by LooseFilter at 12:24 PM on May 20, 2021 [24 favorites]
Agreed, but the disconnect between those managing the institutions and those doing the teaching and learning has led to profound differences in (e.g.) values, understanding of mission, etc. The biggest obstacles I've faced in faculty governance leadership roles have not been practical, but rather when people across the table don't really give a shit about any of things that I, as a teacher, consider foundational and essential. (I've sat in a room with a handful of people in it and listened to the Chair of the CSU Board of Trustees [the Cal State system enrolls almost half a million students annually] actually laugh out loud at the notion that the world needs artists.)
posted by LooseFilter at 12:24 PM on May 20, 2021 [24 favorites]
Just to be clear, she was denied tenure, but she wasn't removed from the university or anything. (It even feels wrong to say she was denied tenure: the department's recommendation to grant her tenure was not upheld by the Board.)
However, I cannot overstate the absurdity of this. All of the difficult work regarding tenure is done within the academic department, and she was overwhelmingly approved and beyond all that stuff. The Board intervened in what is normally the most forgettable, rubber-stamp stage of the process. An asterisk in a footnote on the last page of the meeting agenda.
Not just a chilling effect, this is an abuse of power and trust [Irony: noted.] by someone looking at any crack they can wedge themselves into in order to exert undue influence for personal benefit rather than the university they are charged with maximizing the potential of.
And I guaran-damn-tee you going out of one's way in such a ridiculously petulant, puerile, and unprecedented fashion to deny tenure of a Pulitzer Prize-winning Genius Grant awardee does not maximize UNC's potential or prestige.
Turning around and raising a giant middle finger to these power-drunk, goblinesque, wannabe tin-pot dictators by granting Hannah-Jones the relevant chair position regardless certainly does, though. Way to Streisand Effect yourselves with this teachable moment about the insidiousness of institutionalized levers of racism, guys. I hope the students write tons of papers and create a million projects, one of which ultimately takes dangerous toys away from irresponsible children.
posted by Arson Lupine at 12:25 PM on May 20, 2021 [50 favorites]
However, I cannot overstate the absurdity of this. All of the difficult work regarding tenure is done within the academic department, and she was overwhelmingly approved and beyond all that stuff. The Board intervened in what is normally the most forgettable, rubber-stamp stage of the process. An asterisk in a footnote on the last page of the meeting agenda.
Not just a chilling effect, this is an abuse of power and trust [Irony: noted.] by someone looking at any crack they can wedge themselves into in order to exert undue influence for personal benefit rather than the university they are charged with maximizing the potential of.
And I guaran-damn-tee you going out of one's way in such a ridiculously petulant, puerile, and unprecedented fashion to deny tenure of a Pulitzer Prize-winning Genius Grant awardee does not maximize UNC's potential or prestige.
Turning around and raising a giant middle finger to these power-drunk, goblinesque, wannabe tin-pot dictators by granting Hannah-Jones the relevant chair position regardless certainly does, though. Way to Streisand Effect yourselves with this teachable moment about the insidiousness of institutionalized levers of racism, guys. I hope the students write tons of papers and create a million projects, one of which ultimately takes dangerous toys away from irresponsible children.
posted by Arson Lupine at 12:25 PM on May 20, 2021 [50 favorites]
> Hopefully she'll be recruited by an institution less interested in groveling to fascists.
One of my fears is that there are going to be fewer and fewer of these every year.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:28 PM on May 20, 2021 [13 favorites]
One of my fears is that there are going to be fewer and fewer of these every year.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:28 PM on May 20, 2021 [13 favorites]
And I guaran-damn-tee you going out of one's way in such a ridiculously petulant, puerile, and unprecedented fashion to deny tenure of a Pulitzer Prize-winning Genius Grant awardee does not maximize UNC's potential or prestige.
Hopefully a death notice for their ability to recruit talented scholars of color and left academics in the future. They've made it very clear whose side they're on, and whose careers they will support.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:29 PM on May 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
Hopefully a death notice for their ability to recruit talented scholars of color and left academics in the future. They've made it very clear whose side they're on, and whose careers they will support.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:29 PM on May 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
She's also an alumna of UNC:
>>She graduated from the University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media with a master's degree in 2003, where she was a Roy H. Park Fellow. [Wikipedia]
Makes it a bit more of a slap in the face to her and her colleagues.
posted by Wilbefort at 12:32 PM on May 20, 2021 [13 favorites]
>>She graduated from the University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media with a master's degree in 2003, where she was a Roy H. Park Fellow. [Wikipedia]
Makes it a bit more of a slap in the face to her and her colleagues.
posted by Wilbefort at 12:32 PM on May 20, 2021 [13 favorites]
Recently a friend of mine, whose name many Mefites will likely recognize, has decided to leave their tenured, endowed, etc., etc., prestigious position at a public university in a state where the GOP's meddling in their public institutions has been intolerable. I didn't inquire as to their reasons for leaving, but I'm fairly sure it was directly due to the politically motivated meddling.
Red state public universities are going to end up public versions of Liberty University or Oral Roberts University. Nobody respects a Liberty or Oral Roberts degree except for the anti-intellectual right wing who sees the schools as nothing more than a political pipeline diploma mill.
I know I won't be giving much credence to red state public universities much longer because of their ginned-up war on "indoctrination" -- namely, their opposition to people actually learning the facts of our history.
posted by tclark at 12:32 PM on May 20, 2021 [19 favorites]
Red state public universities are going to end up public versions of Liberty University or Oral Roberts University. Nobody respects a Liberty or Oral Roberts degree except for the anti-intellectual right wing who sees the schools as nothing more than a political pipeline diploma mill.
I know I won't be giving much credence to red state public universities much longer because of their ginned-up war on "indoctrination" -- namely, their opposition to people actually learning the facts of our history.
posted by tclark at 12:32 PM on May 20, 2021 [19 favorites]
I wish I was more surprised. I live in a super-liberal East Coast double-college town, spent most of my working life in academic administration, and I avoid right-wing spaces online like the plague for my own sanity, and I STILL hear so much white fragility whining about 1619. And the crowing about her not receiving tenure has been... well, it's not a good look for anyone calling themselves human.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:38 PM on May 20, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:38 PM on May 20, 2021 [11 favorites]
Let me make this distinction, the academics at the university want tenure for this award winning professor. Then the non-academic administration stepped in at the final part of the process to prevent this. She still works at the university and will for the foreseeable future.
It's a bit much to call the university fascist bootlickers and wish their demise. This wasn't the academics, this was the admin. They made a political decision, it's not clear to me that that is or should be their role.
posted by adept256 at 12:39 PM on May 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
It's a bit much to call the university fascist bootlickers and wish their demise. This wasn't the academics, this was the admin. They made a political decision, it's not clear to me that that is or should be their role.
posted by adept256 at 12:39 PM on May 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
It's a bit much to call the university fascist bootlickers and wish their demise. This wasn't the academics, this was the admin. They made a political decision, it's not clear to me that that is or should be their role.Probably worth noting that staff, faculty, and students have been clashing with administration quite a bit in the last few years over white supremacy. The student paper even published an expose about the deal to make payments to Confederates for the maintenance of Silent Sam, and they won the suit over it.
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 12:55 PM on May 20, 2021 [30 favorites]
As an ex-trainee historian, I keep thinking about how different the reception would've been for her work if she'd been a white man. It would've attracted criticism and debate, no doubt; maybe it wouldn't have been taken up long-term as a useful historiographical frame; but none of this "YOU'RE DESTROYING THE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA, YOU LYING INCOMPETENT!!!!!!" nonsense I've seen directed at her. And now this.
posted by praemunire at 1:10 PM on May 20, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 1:10 PM on May 20, 2021 [9 favorites]
This political climate has a flavor of McCarthyism, with “critical race theory” standing in for “communism”.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:16 PM on May 20, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by mr_roboto at 1:16 PM on May 20, 2021 [10 favorites]
Hopefully a death notice for their ability to recruit talented scholars of color and left academics in the future. They've made it very clear whose side they're on, and whose careers they will support.
OTOH, Steve Bannon's fascist gladiator academy is still looking for a home...
posted by acb at 1:25 PM on May 20, 2021
OTOH, Steve Bannon's fascist gladiator academy is still looking for a home...
posted by acb at 1:25 PM on May 20, 2021
Faculty in particular have spent over a century working as hard as they can to remove themselves from the the operations of colleges and universities so they can focus solely on teaching, scholarship, and scholarly service.
True of some faculty.
But remember that the majority of American faculty are not tenure track. They are either term appointees or adjuncts, meaning they tend to have much less in the way of governance power.
posted by doctornemo at 1:31 PM on May 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
True of some faculty.
But remember that the majority of American faculty are not tenure track. They are either term appointees or adjuncts, meaning they tend to have much less in the way of governance power.
posted by doctornemo at 1:31 PM on May 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
There is no way a university of the 21st century could be run without professional managers. The model people hark back to is the way that 19th century universities were run by faculty and the occasional admin assistant, but the the intrinsic and unavoidable logistical/legal/regulatory/financial complexity of a modern university is simply too high to be managed by nonspecialists.
The Board of Trustees of UNC is not the professional managers who handle the logistical/legal/regulatory/financial complexity of the university. They're a bunch of CEOs who are political appointees who meet 6 times a year to pretend like they run the university so that they can exert political control over the academy to make know-nothings happy. UNC has actual administrators who actually handle the real day-to-day complexities.
UNC BOT by-laws
The Board of Trustees of UNC is not the professional managers who handle the logistical/legal/regulatory/financial complexity of the university. They're a bunch of CEOs who are political appointees who meet 6 times a year to pretend like they run the university so that they can exert political control over the academy to make know-nothings happy. UNC has actual administrators who actually handle the real day-to-day complexities.
UNC BOT by-laws
Section 3.01 – General Powers and Dutiesposted by hydropsyche at 1:33 PM on May 20, 2021 [29 favorites]
The Board of Trustees shall promote the sound development of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill within the functions prescribed for it, helping it to serve the people of the State in a way that will complement the activities of the other institutions and aiding it to perform at a high level of excellence in every area of endeavor. The Board of Trustees shall serve as advisor to the Board of Governors on matters pertaining to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and shall also serve as advisor to the Chancellor concerning the management and development of the institution.
LooseFilter: "... when people across the table don't really give a shit about any of things that I, as a teacher, consider foundational and essential."
I am a university staffer (IT) and I am also on the board of a couple of local organizations (but not .edu boards).
Many corporations appoint business people to their Board, which is fine. But higher ed and non-profits who emulate those choices have, indeed, forgotten what they're doing, and seal their own fate. If you appoint business people to run a non-profit, they will feel compelled to mold it to their own vision -- which is almost certainly antithetical to the university's core values.
Trouble is that staff and rank-and-file faculty aren't the people who appoint the Board. In other words, the population isn't represented by their governors, who seek to change the organization's look and values. Now where have I seen that before....?
posted by wenestvedt at 1:37 PM on May 20, 2021 [14 favorites]
I am a university staffer (IT) and I am also on the board of a couple of local organizations (but not .edu boards).
Many corporations appoint business people to their Board, which is fine. But higher ed and non-profits who emulate those choices have, indeed, forgotten what they're doing, and seal their own fate. If you appoint business people to run a non-profit, they will feel compelled to mold it to their own vision -- which is almost certainly antithetical to the university's core values.
Trouble is that staff and rank-and-file faculty aren't the people who appoint the Board. In other words, the population isn't represented by their governors, who seek to change the organization's look and values. Now where have I seen that before....?
posted by wenestvedt at 1:37 PM on May 20, 2021 [14 favorites]
A group of academic journalists protested this intervention.
posted by doctornemo at 1:45 PM on May 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 1:45 PM on May 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
Half of the members of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees are appoint by the UNC-System Board of Governors. This is the story of the Chair of the System Board of Governors.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:45 PM on May 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 1:45 PM on May 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
Hopefully a death notice for their ability to recruit talented scholars of color and left academics in the future.
Yes, you've correctly figured out what this is intended to do but it's not something that should be celebrated.
There is no way a university of the 21st century could be run without professional managers.
Boards of Trustees are rarely professional managers, at least not of higher education institutions.
posted by Candleman at 2:02 PM on May 20, 2021 [10 favorites]
Yes, you've correctly figured out what this is intended to do but it's not something that should be celebrated.
There is no way a university of the 21st century could be run without professional managers.
Boards of Trustees are rarely professional managers, at least not of higher education institutions.
posted by Candleman at 2:02 PM on May 20, 2021 [10 favorites]
maybe we should republish the 1619 project with the phrase 'I'm just asking questions' sprinkled in all over the place and see if the right wingers buy into it then.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:24 PM on May 20, 2021 [17 favorites]
posted by kaibutsu at 2:24 PM on May 20, 2021 [17 favorites]
iii) There is no way a university of the 21st century could be run without professional managers. The model people hark back to is the way that 19th century universities were run by faculty and the occasional admin assistant, but the the intrinsic and unavoidable logistical/legal/regulatory/financial complexity of a modern university is simply too high to be managed by nonspecialists.
I'd certainly believe the complexity of administration means that it requires the assistance of more than occasional specialists.
That's a distinct proposition from saying the *management* as in "university decision makers" need to be managerialists vs administration-minded faculty.
If there's a solid argument why accomplished faculty simply could not be effective in positions of administrative authority assisted by people who specialize in operations, law, and finance, then I haven't encountered it yet. Certainly there are business enterprises, some of university-comparable size, that are managed by people whose initial academic or professional specialties weren't explicitly managerial.
posted by weston at 2:32 PM on May 20, 2021 [5 favorites]
So, given Republicans’ vocal denouncements of “cancel culture” and constant concern about free speech being crushed on college campuses, they should be coming out in force to support Nikole Hannah-Jones, correct? Surely this represents a much greater threat to freedom of expression than a tiny student protest at an elite liberal arts school.
Once again, the Republican Party is nothing but layers and layers of projection over a core of white supremacy.
posted by ActionPopulated at 3:08 PM on May 20, 2021 [21 favorites]
Once again, the Republican Party is nothing but layers and layers of projection over a core of white supremacy.
posted by ActionPopulated at 3:08 PM on May 20, 2021 [21 favorites]
However, I cannot overstate the absurdity of this. All of the difficult work regarding tenure is done within the academic department, and she was overwhelmingly approved and beyond all that stuff. The Board intervened in what is normally the most forgettable, rubber-stamp stage of the process. An asterisk in a footnote on the last page of the meeting agenda.I just realized the parallel between this and what the 1/6 insurrectionists were trying to accomplish. Congress, and Pence, certifying the Electoral College vote should also have been the most forgettable, rubber-stamp stage of the process, an asterisk in a footnote on the last page.
posted by Schmucko at 3:16 PM on May 20, 2021 [20 favorites]
Conservatives' problem with cancel culture is not that freeze peach is being denied, it's that it violates hierarchy. In the conservative view, those above in the hierarchy (in terms of race, class, social standing, or economic position) have every right, and indeed a prerogative, to bring consequences to bear on those below them who step out of line, but consequences for someone abusing someone below them are a blasphemous violation of the natural order of things.
posted by acb at 3:20 PM on May 20, 2021 [30 favorites]
posted by acb at 3:20 PM on May 20, 2021 [30 favorites]
If there's a solid argument why accomplished faculty simply could not be effective in positions of administrative authority assisted by people who specialize in operations, law, and finance, then I haven't encountered it yet
Unless I missed a comment here, you are describing academic administration at the dean/ provost level. This outrage was committed by the board of trustees, political appointments that are baked into an institution's charter at the pleasure of state government.
Not saying it's a good thing, but it's much more complicated than just getting the right professors on a committee.
posted by Think_Long at 3:31 PM on May 20, 2021 [10 favorites]
Unless I missed a comment here, you are describing academic administration at the dean/ provost level. This outrage was committed by the board of trustees, political appointments that are baked into an institution's charter at the pleasure of state government.
Not saying it's a good thing, but it's much more complicated than just getting the right professors on a committee.
posted by Think_Long at 3:31 PM on May 20, 2021 [10 favorites]
I am a faculty librarian at a medium public regional in the Midwest, and what astounds me about the state of academia is how much the economic and racial inequalities of the country are written all over higher ed. I often say that academia is better at capitalism than corporate America.
You have huge swathes of teaching being done by adjuncts or term positions, tenure stream positions are vanishing and when they do exist even rock star level credentials (see Nikole Hannah-Jones) aren't enough to even get you across the finish line if you're too "controversial", rank and file academic staff like departmental secretaries are a vanishing species and the ones who are left are some of the most overworked people in the university, most research libraries have never recovered their staffing cuts since the 2008 recession, janitorial staff is getting outsourced, and yet every month it seems like another Vice Assistant Provost of Strategic Innovation Directions gets hired making at least $300k.
When University of Akron began firing its unionized and tenured faculty last year, that was a huge wake up call to me. I'm early career, just got tenure a few years ago, and really want to spend the rest of my working years in higher ed. But I also feel like I would be a fool to not prepare a backup plan because honestly higher ed feels like the Titanic.
posted by mostly vowels at 5:07 PM on May 20, 2021 [31 favorites]
You have huge swathes of teaching being done by adjuncts or term positions, tenure stream positions are vanishing and when they do exist even rock star level credentials (see Nikole Hannah-Jones) aren't enough to even get you across the finish line if you're too "controversial", rank and file academic staff like departmental secretaries are a vanishing species and the ones who are left are some of the most overworked people in the university, most research libraries have never recovered their staffing cuts since the 2008 recession, janitorial staff is getting outsourced, and yet every month it seems like another Vice Assistant Provost of Strategic Innovation Directions gets hired making at least $300k.
When University of Akron began firing its unionized and tenured faculty last year, that was a huge wake up call to me. I'm early career, just got tenure a few years ago, and really want to spend the rest of my working years in higher ed. But I also feel like I would be a fool to not prepare a backup plan because honestly higher ed feels like the Titanic.
posted by mostly vowels at 5:07 PM on May 20, 2021 [31 favorites]
Going off-topic is something we try to avoid, yet I hope an exception is allowed to welcome TheKaijuCommuter. I hope you like it here.
posted by adept256 at 9:21 PM on May 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 9:21 PM on May 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
Many thanks! Always happy to weigh in on threads about big monsters, transportation, or UNC.
By the way, here's an article from the Daily Tarheel about the protests yesterday.
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 5:29 AM on May 21, 2021 [10 favorites]
By the way, here's an article from the Daily Tarheel about the protests yesterday.
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 5:29 AM on May 21, 2021 [10 favorites]
So, given Republicans’ vocal denouncements of “cancel culture” and constant concern about free speech being crushed on college campuses, they should be coming out in force to support Nikole Hannah-Jones, correct? Surely this represents a much greater threat to freedom of expression than a tiny student protest at an elite liberal arts school.
Once again, the Republican Party is nothing but layers and layers of projection over a core of white supremacy.
Not to mention a bottomless well of bad faith.
posted by Gelatin at 8:08 AM on May 21, 2021 [7 favorites]
Once again, the Republican Party is nothing but layers and layers of projection over a core of white supremacy.
Not to mention a bottomless well of bad faith.
posted by Gelatin at 8:08 AM on May 21, 2021 [7 favorites]
Conservatives' problem with cancel culture is not that freeze peach is being denied, it's that it violates hierarchy. In the conservative view, those above in the hierarchy (in terms of race, class, social standing, or economic position) have every right, and indeed a prerogative, to bring consequences to bear on those below them who step out of line, but consequences for someone abusing someone below them are a blasphemous violation of the natural order of things.
...and this is why. Conservatives absolutely believe this, but David Brooks can't sell it to PBS viewers, NPR listeners, and NYT readers. They have to at least to pretend to believe in democracy and that the system is a meritocracy, because many people rightly reject a hereditary oligarchy as un-American. From this fundamental lie -- having to pretend they believe in something other than they obviously do because what they do doesn't sell -- so many others flow.
And lying to people is inherently uncivil, no matter how polite a tone one may use to do it.
posted by Gelatin at 8:20 AM on May 21, 2021 [7 favorites]
...and this is why. Conservatives absolutely believe this, but David Brooks can't sell it to PBS viewers, NPR listeners, and NYT readers. They have to at least to pretend to believe in democracy and that the system is a meritocracy, because many people rightly reject a hereditary oligarchy as un-American. From this fundamental lie -- having to pretend they believe in something other than they obviously do because what they do doesn't sell -- so many others flow.
And lying to people is inherently uncivil, no matter how polite a tone one may use to do it.
posted by Gelatin at 8:20 AM on May 21, 2021 [7 favorites]
I know I won't be giving much credence to red state public universities
This kind of prejudice is goofy, considering this situation. The Union would not have won the war with the attitude that those of us subject to confederate/fascist legislatures are unworthy of consideration.
posted by eustatic at 2:36 PM on May 21, 2021 [4 favorites]
This kind of prejudice is goofy, considering this situation. The Union would not have won the war with the attitude that those of us subject to confederate/fascist legislatures are unworthy of consideration.
posted by eustatic at 2:36 PM on May 21, 2021 [4 favorites]
>>Faculty in particular have spent over a century working as hard as they can to remove themselves from the the operations of colleges and universities so they can focus solely on teaching, scholarship, and scholarly service.
>True of some faculty. But remember that the majority of American faculty are not tenure track. They are either term appointees or adjuncts, meaning they tend to have much less in the way of governance power.
I have no idea how common my situation is, but I am a faculty member on a yearly contract. In order to make myself more indispensable, and reduce some of the precarity of my position, I stepped into administrative service roles that the tenure-track faculty were... well, not doing well. I mean even administrative things that the faculty really really ought to care about, like how our curricular requirements work.
posted by secretseasons at 9:24 AM on May 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
>True of some faculty. But remember that the majority of American faculty are not tenure track. They are either term appointees or adjuncts, meaning they tend to have much less in the way of governance power.
I have no idea how common my situation is, but I am a faculty member on a yearly contract. In order to make myself more indispensable, and reduce some of the precarity of my position, I stepped into administrative service roles that the tenure-track faculty were... well, not doing well. I mean even administrative things that the faculty really really ought to care about, like how our curricular requirements work.
posted by secretseasons at 9:24 AM on May 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
I often say that academia is better at capitalism than corporate America.
Everyone I know who has left academia for industry has reported rapid improvements in their mental health and reductions in stress, not to mention the increases in pay. Universities have become corporatized beyond even corporations.
I'll just add that, if they don't already know, even TT faculty should be waking up to the fact that in terms of class interests, they have a lot more in common with adjuncts than they do with upper administration. To give you another chilling recent example, a tenured faculty member was recently fired, without a hearing, for speaking out against sexual harassment and anti-Semitism on the part of board members and the president. Linfield University described his speaking out as "insubordinate."
posted by en forme de poire at 12:38 PM on May 22, 2021 [6 favorites]
Everyone I know who has left academia for industry has reported rapid improvements in their mental health and reductions in stress, not to mention the increases in pay. Universities have become corporatized beyond even corporations.
I'll just add that, if they don't already know, even TT faculty should be waking up to the fact that in terms of class interests, they have a lot more in common with adjuncts than they do with upper administration. To give you another chilling recent example, a tenured faculty member was recently fired, without a hearing, for speaking out against sexual harassment and anti-Semitism on the part of board members and the president. Linfield University described his speaking out as "insubordinate."
posted by en forme de poire at 12:38 PM on May 22, 2021 [6 favorites]
> and yet every month it seems like another Vice Assistant Provost of Strategic Innovation Directions gets hired making at least $300k.
Sounds like the direction management of my public library wants to take it in; their ideal library system seemingly consists of nothing but managers and patrons (and one person per building paid minimum wage to do all the maintenance and custodial work). Ideally, the patrons would also be done away with in favour of more managers - as their existence complicates the process of generating endless Five-Year Plans which take four and a half years to draft and then are set aside because it's time for a new Strategic Impact Synergy Innovation Roadmap - but for the time being this is probably unrealistic.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:43 AM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Sounds like the direction management of my public library wants to take it in; their ideal library system seemingly consists of nothing but managers and patrons (and one person per building paid minimum wage to do all the maintenance and custodial work). Ideally, the patrons would also be done away with in favour of more managers - as their existence complicates the process of generating endless Five-Year Plans which take four and a half years to draft and then are set aside because it's time for a new Strategic Impact Synergy Innovation Roadmap - but for the time being this is probably unrealistic.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:43 AM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
We Stand in Solidarity With Nikole Hannah-Jones
We decry this rising tide of suppression and the threat to academic freedom that it embodies. Some of us will call upon our university administrators, public school superintendents, principals, teachers, and faculty unions and senates to issue statements of support for the freedom of ideas in the classroom. Others of us will urge philanthropic foundations to look twice at state institutions that betray that freedom. The artists, performers, and speakers below may decline invitations from institutions that suppress free thought about racism and its historical roots. We will take our views with us to the ballot box and hold local, state and national politicians accountable to the free exchange of ideas and academic freedom. We, our children, young scholars, and our country deserve no less.posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 9:07 AM on May 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
We will cheer Nikole Hannah-Jones on when she steps into her classroom at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill this fall. But we will not turn away from the regrettable circumstances under which she will do so. The University’s Board of Trustees has failed to uphold the first order values of academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas. And too many lawmakers have wrongly deemed it their role to reach into classrooms and tell educators what to teach and how to teach it.
Here, in 2021, we urge you and one another to resist.
I stepped into administrative service roles that the tenure-track faculty were... well, not doing well. I mean even administrative things that the faculty really really ought to care about, like how our curricular requirements work.
Tenure-track faculty don't care about this stuff because they have no incentive to care about it. They care about the things that they're rewarded for: publishing and grant writing. It's infuriating.
posted by mr_roboto at 10:26 AM on May 25, 2021
Tenure-track faculty don't care about this stuff because they have no incentive to care about it. They care about the things that they're rewarded for: publishing and grant writing. It's infuriating.
posted by mr_roboto at 10:26 AM on May 25, 2021
Nikole Hannah-Jones, a Mega-Donor, and the Future of Journalism
It turns out the large donor who got the UNC journalism school named after him specifically targeted Hannah-Jones in emails to the school.
It turns out the large donor who got the UNC journalism school named after him specifically targeted Hannah-Jones in emails to the school.
“We can’t have donors influencing decisions like this,” said one trustee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We also don’t want to poke them and have them withdraw their contribution.”posted by hydropsyche at 4:22 AM on May 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
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This is not the only recent political incursion into the academic life of the University; look up the Pope Foundation; I'd not be surprised if they were involved.
So that's what the UNC-CH Chancellor has to deal with. If he was right to make the deal he made, or not, is a separate issue, of course.
posted by thelonius at 10:33 AM on May 20, 2021 [6 favorites]