[Vision2020] UI to Furlough Employees

[Art Deco]

RE: [Vision2020] UI to Furlough EmployeesNick,

In my years at the UI both as a student and later in the early 1990s teaching in the Math Department, the School of Business, and as your colleague in the Philosophy Department, my experience compels me to respectfully disagree with you.

I taught Finite Math, for example.  There were several sections of this class.  One was taught by the very conscientious tenured Bill Voxman who did an outstanding job.  Some of the other sections were taught other tenured faculty.  There were not just student complaints, but I had one of these tenured faculty when I was a math student here.  This faculty member was an atrocious teacher, and his attitude toward students was that if they didn't get the subject the way I taught it, tough, I'm not changing!

In the business school one very key class in an area where there was rapidly changing/advancing knowledge was being taught by a tenured faculty member using notes 10 years old; not only were the students being taught useless, out-of-date material, they were being harmed.  I talked to the department head about it; he agreed basically with my assessment but said there was nothing he could practically do about it given the circumstances.  

Also when I was teaching in the School of business, students were required to take a certain computer science course with which all of them had a difficult time if they had a particular instructress.  Many banded together to teach themselves.  I had observed this instructress in this class because in the previous semester she kept students in the class right before mine well after the bell and sometimes after the second bell.  She was an atrocious instructress, very abusive to students, and presented material which was in error.  She was later tenured without dissent.

When I taught Ethics, a multi-section class in the philosophy department, there was more than one tenured faculty whose teaching style and rate of success in this class was under constant criticism by students.  The attitude of these instructors here again was that if the students didn't get the way I taught it, tough, I'm not changing!

These kind of teachers need to change their attitudes and approaches or be sent on their way.  We are hired to teach.  That means that the students actually learn, and professionally this means that we continue to improve our methods and presentations so that student learning is maximized.  If student performance is poor in a class semester after semester, it is highly probable that it is not the students, but the instructor and his/her approach responsible for these results.  If no learning is taking place, no teaching is either.

I could give you many further examples from my student and teaching years.  Hence, if in all your years at the UI only one tenured faculty member was deemed incompetent to teach, that is more than a real condemnation of the tenure system; it is a mockery, and a monument to administrative blindness.

Like you, I don't trust some in the administration either.  I don't trust that all of them are always fair with faculty evaluations or evaluations of other administrators.  I don't trust them to look after student interests as a priority.  Unlike you, I don't completely trust tenured faculty to review themselves or candidates for tenure.  There is too much self-interest at stake.

The entire system needs to be reformed and to be replaced so that the fundamental goals of the university are accomplished with maximal effectiveness and with fairness to all:  students, staff, and faculty alike.

I omitted two other reasons for dismissing faculty.  One is obsolescence of subject matter.  The other is that the importance of certain subjects become marginal in light of the changing world, the resources available to the university, and the attendant changes in the specific missions of the university.  The UI cannot be all things to all potential students.


Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gier, Nicholas 
  To: Art Deco ; Vision 2020 ; UI President ; Tom Trail ; Shirley Ringo ; Gary Schroeder 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 12:02 PM
  Subject: RE: [Vision2020] UI to Furlough Employees


  Hi Wayne:

  I don't see how eliminating tenure will save the UI any money.  It would, I submit, cause the UI a lot of grief, least of all in recruitment of new faculty members.  You think that you had some bad teachers; just wait until you see the applicants who send their credentials to institutions that don't have tenure.

  UI tenured faculty members can be terminated for professional incompetence. A post-tenure review process has been in place for over 30 years. I remember a physics professor who was judged incompetent by a post-tenure review panel, but the UI administration refused to follow through on the faculty recommendation.

  More recently faculty in the College of Engineering asked the Provost to set up a tenure review committee for Gary Maki at the research institute in Post Falls.  The Provost refused, and recently the UI was terribly embarrassed by the legal settlement for the two people Maki had harassed.

  The original post-tenure review policy contained provisions by which faculty members, department chairs, and deans could initiate the procedures.  Now only the Provost can do so, and I don't think this administration has done its job to police tenure.  Faculty go through a thorough third year review in their departments and another thorough review at 5 years.  After that their credentials are examined by two college committees where the dean and finally the provost can turn down faculty recommendations.

  With regard to a simple due process system, my 35-year experience handling faculty grievances on seven campuses (includes WSU) has been that university administrators have a very poor track record following their own procedures and honoring due process.  I simply don't trust them.

  Nick Gier, President, Higher Education Council, Idaho Federation of Teachers


  -----Original Message-----
  From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com on behalf of Art Deco
  Sent: Wed 3/3/2010 11:31 AM
  To: Vision 2020; UI President; Tom Trail; Shirley Ringo; Gary Schroeder
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] UI to Furlough Employees

  Response to Mo Hendrickson's request (see below):

  Here are outlines of three ideas than could save the UI a lot of money, and at the same time iimprove student performance:

  1.    Video Classes

  2.    Refundable Performance Deposits

  3.    Replace Tenure with Guaranteed Due Process


  1.    Video Classes

  This is not a new idea.  Such things have been happening at some major universities with effective results since the late 1950s.

  For some classes, like science and math classes, the best instructor based on effective instructional performance is chosen.  In the first semester/year of classes with sections, the earliest morning class is taught by this instructor.  The class is videotaped.  All the rest of the sections see the videotape, monitored by TAs.  If the videotape is of suffficient quality and new advancements in the field do not render it obsolete, the tape may be used for suceeding semesters without the need for retaping.  Likewaise, single section classes could be taped for use in succeeding semesters.

  Obviously, this will not work for all classes as they are now taught, for example, Creative Writing, Intro to Philosophy, most graduate level courses, etc.  It has worked well for intro/lower level science and math clases with lab/recitation elements.  It can work well for classes like English Comp where lab/recitation/practice writing elements are added/subsituted for some of the lecture periods.

  After video class program is implemented, there are a large salary savings possible since not as many faculty are needed.  In addition, educational quality is frequently improved.

  Again this is not a new idea.  The university ought research other large universities where such programs have been successful.


  2.    Refundable Performance Deposits.

  Student fees/tuition only cover a small part of the cost of higher education (10% - 15%?).  Taxpayers, endowments, grant providers, other contributors provide the rest.  Given this cost to others, it is not unreasonable to expect students to put forth their best efforts to learn what is offered to them.

  Hence, in addition to each semester's normal fees/tuition each student should be required to put up a performance deposit -- $500?, $1,000?

  If the student performs satisfactorily, say passes all courses, and has a certain minimum GPA, then they get their deposit back, else not.

  Of course, such a system would need to be fine tuned to take into account illnesses, family tragedies, background, and other unpredictable events/circumstances that might keep a well intentioned student from making the grade.


  3.    Replace Tenure with Guaranteed Due Process.

  Tenure was originally instituted basically to preserve academic freedom and expression.  In operation it frequently does not achieve this goal, but may be counterproductive to such achievement. 

  Simply stated, the hoops and accomadations that have to met to gain approval of existing tenured faculty with their personalities, insecurities, prejudices, other idiosyncracies often surpress new, useful, original, controversial, etc ideas and result in the denial of tenure especially if the ideas of the candidate are not in accord with those of the existing tenured faculty, has angered one or more tenured faculty, or has less than stellar personal relation skills.

  After a probationary period no one should lose their job except for failure to meet performance standards, unethical/criminal behavior, or financial exigency.

  We've all had them:  professors/instructors whose teaching skills are horrible, who have retired on the job, and/or whose so-called research is at best cream puffery, and at worst nearly worthless garbage.  There needs to be a way of getting these ineffective performers off the payroll.  There needs to be a gaurantted due process system where they are encouraged to correct their performance,  bring it to an acceptable level, and their failure to do so would result in termination.

  This is more or less the practice outside the university system.  Such a system would insure academic freedom without forcing the university to carry substandard performing baggage.


  Wayne A. Fox
  1009 Karen Lane
  PO Box 9421
  Moscow, ID  83843

  waf at moscow.com
  208 882-7975



  _____
  On Mar 2, 2010, at 2:45 PM, Mo Hendrickson wrote:


    I have been wanting to ask folks this question for a LONG time....How would you solve the financial problems at UI?  You all are great at criticizing and griping about the decisions that are being made, but I have yet to hear from any one of you a better way.  Yes, it sucks that people are going to be required to take furloughs, yes it sucks that programs are being merged and so on and so on and so on.  But guess what the economy is in the shits, the state is taking money away from everything including higher ed, and the university has to do something. 

    So please, all of you who are so wise and all knowing how would you solve the problem?  Without laying the administration off, that won't solve a thing. 



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