[PEN-L:2396] A new Threat on the Horizen -Post Tenure Review

[Rodney Coates <coatesrd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I thought this would be of interest to pen-l.

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Just when you thought it was safe to come into the office (you know
just after you've been granted tenure) bureaucratic specialists
(b.s'ers for short) find a way to screw up your day.  In a not too
distant place (UK-Lexington, KY), not to long ago (hell its happening
now) Richard Edwards (Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences) stated
that he felt like "Daniel in the lion;'s den" when a panel of AAUP
opposed his proposal for post-tenure review.

Edwads plan, if approved would allow for the review of tenured faculty
members who have received two consequtive below-average reviews.
After the post-tenure review, a plan for improvement would be
initiated to bring the faculty member back into full productivity.  In
five yers the faculty member would be reassessed, and if the
evaluation is not better, dismissal procedures would begin.    Edwards
insisted that the review proosal is a sign of institutional failure,
and he insisted that it was a needed step to ensure that all faculty
members were working at full capacity.

Now is there any one out there who has any doubts who will be deemed
not "working at full capacity"..

This is a not so subtle ploy to hold a knife over the heads of those
who have spent the better part of their academic career trying to
reach the point of job security.  And consider, that blacks and women
have only recently began to make an entry into the tenured ranks, will
this not become another "last hired.,..first fired"
situation...concern needs to be raised...it starts in Kentucky, where
will it end...later...and I still be me...rodney c...