Crispy, yet demoralized.
Minimum a couple of weeks ago, I had put up a cryptic byline on my Facebook that intrigued several of my friends. At the time I had promised to elaborate more fully on this forum, but finals,preparing for a home inspection, and recovering from school burnout got in the way, so I am only now making good on my promise.
For some obvious reasons, I still have to maintain a certain level of online discretion regarding the matter - those of you who continue to be curious about the situation and wish to hear more explicit details can contact me privately.
Basically, what I was referring to was an incident reported to me by one of my classmates, who was an eyewitness. Apparently during their lunchbreak, they were the only student that chose to stay in the college building, instead of going elsewhere on campus to dine or conduct other business. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a majority of the faculty for this particular program burst forth from their offices, cheering and arm-waving, and proceeded to congregate in the commons area; where all of them began to either high-five or hug one another. The reason for all this festivity? The faculty had surreptiously organized a "vote of no confidence" survey against the director of the program, and they had just completed the collection of the online ballots, which concluded with a unanimous result to oust them. In the meantime, they had also prepared a statement to send to the university's administration. The real kicker? The director was still in the building.
It took several days to fully resolve, but eventually the director resigned, and an interim director has been installed. However, the resolution of this whole matter has left a really bad taste in my mouth; in many ways it has occurred at a time when I am questioning a lot of things, including the direction of my academic progress and career.
Why? Well, besides the obvious issues regarding the crappy economy and living in a region that obviously does not have any regard for education or the arts, there is the little nagging subject of integrity. Call me foolish or naive, but I thought it counted for something in this world. Trust me, I'm not a complete fool, and goodness knows I been privy to a lot of situations, especially workplaces, where folks who have committed outright illegal acts that could have jeopardized a business but were allowed to go off scott-free. Again why? Because it was seen as being the more financially- and propaganda-prudent thing to do. I also understand how potentially messy and ambiguous these scenarios can be - rarely are such matters isolated and individual, and if examined much more closely, the possiblity of collateral damage would be quite great - 1.) Due to adjacent personalities who either colluded with the perp, 2.)Were knowledgeable but kept their mouths shut because they didn't want to get "involved", or, 3.) Were ignorant because of their incompetence. It's usually much easier to uncover and enumerate the outrageously blameworthy than it is the true innocents.
But tell me, why at a time when education budgets are being slashed, and hardworking, decent folks who are out of work and trying to improve their chances for better employment by going to college (some of them accruing mounds of student debt along the way), did some over-educated racketeer not only instigate a few academically-questionable initiatives that students and faculty questioned, but may have committed some other purported improprietaries, and is not being made truly accountable for it? Shouldn't some examples be made for a change? Wouldn't some folks getting busted serve as a deterrent?
Again, I cannot go into detail here, but the intelligence I received was from a reliable source, and if only a fraction of what I was told is true, why is the person not only NOT being driven out of this state on a rail, but why are they even being allowed to be retained on the record as faculty? Sure, the whole administrative switcheroo could be interpreted as a humiliating step-down by some, but it's still a downgrade that is breezily explained away rather than a dismissal and/or criminal charge. It's infuriating enough to see faculty positions and programs be sacrificed while there are overpaid and worthless "consultants" on the university's payroll that can cover some of those expenses. When someone like this former director commits the actions alleged and are kept on, my head is ready to explode.
Combined with other factors, it makes me question the validity of this program, this university, and even some of the professional leadership that directs this field. Especially when they constantly lecture us on our duty and service to the public-at-large, and desirable attributes such as integrity and moral courage. What a crock.
Sure, I applaud the bold and decisive move that the faculty took. However, even with the jubilence I felt when I received the news, there was still a piece of me that was cautious and perhaps even cynical. Because I knew, from so many other incidents in so many diverse settings, that it was highly unlikely anything would come of it. That the offense would be handled in a so-called "positive" and low-key manner instead. However, this is not the only arena where I've witnessed this kind of duplicitous and spineless corruption and quite frankly folks, I'm sick to death of it.
For some obvious reasons, I still have to maintain a certain level of online discretion regarding the matter - those of you who continue to be curious about the situation and wish to hear more explicit details can contact me privately.
Basically, what I was referring to was an incident reported to me by one of my classmates, who was an eyewitness. Apparently during their lunchbreak, they were the only student that chose to stay in the college building, instead of going elsewhere on campus to dine or conduct other business. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a majority of the faculty for this particular program burst forth from their offices, cheering and arm-waving, and proceeded to congregate in the commons area; where all of them began to either high-five or hug one another. The reason for all this festivity? The faculty had surreptiously organized a "vote of no confidence" survey against the director of the program, and they had just completed the collection of the online ballots, which concluded with a unanimous result to oust them. In the meantime, they had also prepared a statement to send to the university's administration. The real kicker? The director was still in the building.
It took several days to fully resolve, but eventually the director resigned, and an interim director has been installed. However, the resolution of this whole matter has left a really bad taste in my mouth; in many ways it has occurred at a time when I am questioning a lot of things, including the direction of my academic progress and career.
Why? Well, besides the obvious issues regarding the crappy economy and living in a region that obviously does not have any regard for education or the arts, there is the little nagging subject of integrity. Call me foolish or naive, but I thought it counted for something in this world. Trust me, I'm not a complete fool, and goodness knows I been privy to a lot of situations, especially workplaces, where folks who have committed outright illegal acts that could have jeopardized a business but were allowed to go off scott-free. Again why? Because it was seen as being the more financially- and propaganda-prudent thing to do. I also understand how potentially messy and ambiguous these scenarios can be - rarely are such matters isolated and individual, and if examined much more closely, the possiblity of collateral damage would be quite great - 1.) Due to adjacent personalities who either colluded with the perp, 2.)Were knowledgeable but kept their mouths shut because they didn't want to get "involved", or, 3.) Were ignorant because of their incompetence. It's usually much easier to uncover and enumerate the outrageously blameworthy than it is the true innocents.
But tell me, why at a time when education budgets are being slashed, and hardworking, decent folks who are out of work and trying to improve their chances for better employment by going to college (some of them accruing mounds of student debt along the way), did some over-educated racketeer not only instigate a few academically-questionable initiatives that students and faculty questioned, but may have committed some other purported improprietaries, and is not being made truly accountable for it? Shouldn't some examples be made for a change? Wouldn't some folks getting busted serve as a deterrent?
Again, I cannot go into detail here, but the intelligence I received was from a reliable source, and if only a fraction of what I was told is true, why is the person not only NOT being driven out of this state on a rail, but why are they even being allowed to be retained on the record as faculty? Sure, the whole administrative switcheroo could be interpreted as a humiliating step-down by some, but it's still a downgrade that is breezily explained away rather than a dismissal and/or criminal charge. It's infuriating enough to see faculty positions and programs be sacrificed while there are overpaid and worthless "consultants" on the university's payroll that can cover some of those expenses. When someone like this former director commits the actions alleged and are kept on, my head is ready to explode.
Combined with other factors, it makes me question the validity of this program, this university, and even some of the professional leadership that directs this field. Especially when they constantly lecture us on our duty and service to the public-at-large, and desirable attributes such as integrity and moral courage. What a crock.
Sure, I applaud the bold and decisive move that the faculty took. However, even with the jubilence I felt when I received the news, there was still a piece of me that was cautious and perhaps even cynical. Because I knew, from so many other incidents in so many diverse settings, that it was highly unlikely anything would come of it. That the offense would be handled in a so-called "positive" and low-key manner instead. However, this is not the only arena where I've witnessed this kind of duplicitous and spineless corruption and quite frankly folks, I'm sick to death of it.