Although the faculty member did engage in some questionable practices, i . e., missing faculty meetings because being away attending local Board of Ed conclaves (I assume she did not report in advance the engagement), the issue that shines through, and maybe at the center of the conflict is the old collegiality thing. As this AAUP document spells out, “Understood in this way, collegiality is not a distinct capacity to be assessed independently of the traditional triumvirate of teaching, scholarship, and service. Evaluation in these three areas will encompass the contributions that the virtue of collegiality may pertinently add to a faculty member’s career. The current tendency to isolate collegiality as a distinct dimension of evaluation, however, poses several dangers. Historically, “ *collegiality” has not infrequently been associated with ensuring homogeneity and hence with practices that exclude persons on the basis of their difference from a perceived norm. [my bolds]* The invocation of “collegiality” may also threaten academic freedom. In the heat of important decisions regarding promotion or tenure, as well as other matters involving such traditional areas of faculty responsibility as curriculum or academic hiring, collegiality may be confused with the expectation that a faculty member display “enthusiasm” or “dedication,” evince “a constructive attitude” that will “foster harmony,” or display an excessive deference to administrative or faculty decisions where these may require reasoned discussion. Such expectations are flatly contrary to elementary principles of academic freedom, which protect a faculty member’s right to dissent from the judgments of colleagues and administrators.” https://www.aaup.org/file/AAUP%20Collegiality%20report.pdf
This provision for granting tenure might have been eliminated, or was never implemented formally at this college, but maybe is part of the department’s faculty culture. My hunch? The faculty failed to kiss some rings and that pissed them off. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#4319): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/4319 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/78828065/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
