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"Never waste a good pandemic." - James White, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, #CUBoulder
I've been limiting my twitter time lately, but am dropping back in to support my community at CU and draw attention to this rage-inducing but unsurprising turn of events at CU 1/ https://twitter.com/usernameRL/status/1334894914983739393
I've been limiting my twitter time lately, but am dropping back in to support my community at CU and draw attention to this rage-inducing but unsurprising turn of events at CU 1/ https://twitter.com/usernameRL/status/1334894914983739393
While the cuts to TT faculty are not uncommon in R1 institutions at the moment (CU CAS *hopes* to replace 50 TT with 25 instructors), the cavalier attitude by the administration about what that will mean for students, for the quality of research, and most importantly for 2/
shared governance is shocking. (sidenote: CU President Mark Kennedy's public remarks that CU faces a "Trail of Tears" if we don't expand online education in the future, could have been avoided if shared governance had been taken seriously before his confirmation) 3/
As @usernameRL points out, these sort of cuts don't bode well for the institution's support of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity. As an Indigenous student I can confidently say one of the things that has gotten me through higher ed 3/
has been the support I've received from TT professors who have the time to mentor me, the power to support me, and the connections to help me network. Instructors and adjuncts teaching 4/4 or 5/5 with no research support often have the desire to help students but not the time 4/
power, or infrastructure to do so. According to this article and the email sent out to the CU community this transition from TT faculty to instructors and adjuncts will create more "flexibility" in the budget and allow for greater support for remaining "mid-career" TT faculty, 5/
When pushed about whether or not it is a good idea to be relying on short term hiring-and-firing of instructors and adjuncts: 6/
"White told Inside Higher Ed that his plan is not about hiring non-tenure-track instructors just to terminate them at the next recession. Financial flexibility would instead come from the faculty support funds, which could be suspended as needed." 7/
This plan does not seem indicative of the previous commitment to support remaining mid-career TT faculty. Ultimately we all know that the budget flexibility will come from the unethical treatment of adjuncts and instructors, and that even despite this 8/
programs will likely be cut. This @insidehighered article by Colleen Flaherty cites experts who say as much. Again, I am not surprised by this decision and I know that other institutions will make or already have made similar decisions, but its the cheek (and maybe even glee!) 9/
of the people making the decision here at CU that feels so much more crushing.
"Never waste a good pandemic." James White, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, CU Boulder
"Never waste a good pandemic." James White, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, CU Boulder
