Tag Archives: Faculty

Contract Fight at U. of Hawaii Knocks Down Faculty Morale

Posted on January 11, 2010 by | Comments Off on Contract Fight at U. of Hawaii Knocks Down Faculty Morale

The Chronicle: Contract Fight at U. of Hawaii Knocks Down Faculty Morale
Disheartened by a pay cut that they say violates their agreement, some professors look for jobs elsewhere

Discouraged by stalled contract negotiations and their employer’s decision last month to cut their pay, faculty members at the University of Hawaii made their way back to class this week. Although talks are slated to resume, their future is hazy. A few professors—set on leaving the system and its troubles behind—are poised to look for work elsewhere in a job market that is grim for most.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Contract Fight at U. of Hawaii Knocks Down Faculty Morale

Posted in Campaigns & Contracts, Unions

Tagged , , , ,

Bucknell professor gets death sentence from Ethiopia

Posted on December 23, 2009 by | Comments Off on Bucknell professor gets death sentence from Ethiopia

Philadelphia Inquirer: Bucknell professor gets death sentence from Ethiopia

A Bucknell University professor was sentenced yesterday to death in absentia by an Ethiopian court that convicted him of plotting to assassinate government officials.

Berhanu Nega, of Lewisburg, an associate professor of economics at the Union County school, was one of five people to receive death sentences for planning the attack in 2005 when nearly 200 people were killed in postelection violence.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Bucknell professor gets death sentence from Ethiopia

Posted in Legal issues

Tagged , , , ,

Faculty Speech Rights Rejected

Posted on December 23, 2009 by | Comments Off on Faculty Speech Rights Rejected

Inside Higher Ed: Faculty Speech Rights Rejected

A bitter dispute over a tenured professor fired by Idaho State University has become the latest case in which a court has suggested that faculty members at public colleges and universities do not have First Amendment protection when criticizing their administrations.

While the individual case of Habib Sadid continues to be much debated at the university, the way the judge ruled in the case has advocates for faculty members concerned.

The language in the decision “eviscerates the identity and role that a faculty member plays” in public higher education, said Rachel Levinson, senior counsel for the American Association of University Professors. The decision applies to a higher education context several court cases that the AAUP believes should not be applied to higher education, and one case involving higher education that the AAUP believes was wrongly decided because of reliance on the other cases. In many respects, the ruling in Sadid represents an extreme form of a legal pattern the AAUP recently warned was eroding faculty rights at public colleges.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Faculty Speech Rights Rejected

Posted in Free speech

Tagged , ,

Binghamton University killing: Al-Zahrani asked about a transfer 30 minutes before stabbing

Posted on December 7, 2009 by | Comments Off on Binghamton University killing: Al-Zahrani asked about a transfer 30 minutes before stabbing

Press & Sun-Bulletin: Binghamton University killing: 46-year-old grad student charged in professor’s death

Less than 30 minutes before he allegedly stabbed Binghamton University professor Richard Antoun to death on Friday, Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani approached professor Joshua Price to complain of financial troubles and inquire about transferring into the doctoral program that Price directs.

Al-Zahrani, a 46-year-old post-graduate student in the anthropology department, had met with Price once or twice before, Price said, the first time on the afternoon of Nov. 10.

The New York Times: Binghamton Student Says He Warned Officials

VESTAL, N.Y. — In this small upstate college town, there were many who tried to comprehend how a popular 77-year-old professor who championed antiwar philosophies would have come to such a violent end: stabbed to death in his office on Friday, by, the police said, a graduate student whom he knew.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Binghamton University killing: Al-Zahrani asked about a transfer 30 minutes before stabbing

Posted in Crime

Tagged , , , ,

Williams fires accused professor

Posted on November 17, 2009 by | Comments Off on Williams fires accused professor

Berkshire Eagle: Williams fires accused professor

WILLIAMSTOWN — A Williams College visiting professor, who pleaded guilty to charges of fraud in federal court last week, has been terminated from the college.

In a letter to the Williams College community, Interim President William Wagner said Bernard Moore’s employment with the college ended as of Monday.

He further stated, “We have found no evidence of serious misuse on his part of college resources.”

Moore, 51, whose real name is Ernest B. Moore, was the college’s W. Ford Schumann ‘50 visiting assistant professor in Democratic Studies, and was in his second year at Williams College.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Williams fires accused professor

Posted in Faculty

Tagged , , , ,

News Analysis: Converting Adjuncts to the Tenure Track Is More Easily Discussed Than Done

Posted on November 9, 2009 by | Comments Off on News Analysis: Converting Adjuncts to the Tenure Track Is More Easily Discussed Than Done

The Chronicle: News Analysis: Converting Adjuncts to the Tenure Track Is More Easily Discussed Than Done

By Audrey Williams June

The rationale behind the American Association of University Professors’ recent report urging colleges to convert adjunct faculty members to the tenure track is simple: The faculty is falling apart. The time to do something about it is now.

It’s a clarion call that scholarly associations, unions, lawmakers, and even some administrators have sounded for years, all the while pushing in various ways to reverse a trend that threatens to turn the professoriate into an oasis of faculty members with tenure surrounded by adjuncts with poor pay, no academic freedom, and no job security.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on News Analysis: Converting Adjuncts to the Tenure Track Is More Easily Discussed Than Done

Posted in Contingent labor, Faculty

Tagged , ,

FIJI-AUSTRALIA: Academic deported for criticisms

Posted on November 8, 2009 by | Comments Off on FIJI-AUSTRALIA: Academic deported for criticisms

World University News: FIJI-AUSTRALIA: Academic deported for criticisms

An Australian National University academic Professor Brij Lal was arrested and then deported from Fiji last Thursday after criticising the military regime during media interviews. Lal teaches at the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and, although born in Fiji, he has Australian citizenship, is an expert on Fiji politics and helped draft the country’s constitution in 1997.

He was arrested at his home in Fiji’s capital Suva, held for an hour and interrogated then told to leave the country within 24 hours “or else”. Lal had been living in Suva since August and was writing a book on the island nation’s poor.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on FIJI-AUSTRALIA: Academic deported for criticisms

Posted in Academic freedom, Faculty, Free speech

Tagged , , , ,

When Is a Suspension Not a Suspension?

Posted on November 2, 2009 by | Comments Off on When Is a Suspension Not a Suspension?

Inside Higher Ed: When Is a Suspension Not a Suspension?

Officials at Southwestern College, a community college outside San Diego, moved Friday to explain why three faculty members have been barred from teaching or stepping foot on the campus for more than a week, but the answers aren’t quelling faculty anger.

The college has been facing scrutiny over its action against four professors (one of whom was soon permitted to resume teaching) the day after a student-organized campus protest against budget cuts, and about how the administration has responded to them. While the college didn’t explain why it barred the professors — including the president of the faculty union — from the campus, officials denied that the move had anything to do with the protest.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on When Is a Suspension Not a Suspension?

Posted in Budgets & Funding, Protests, Working conditions

Tagged , , , , ,

Whither art: vanity is killing social sciences and the humanities

Posted on October 29, 2009 by | Comments Off on Whither art: vanity is killing social sciences and the humanities

Times Higher Education: Whither art: vanity is killing social sciences and the humanities

Conference hears that scholarly narcissism is leading disciplines to ruin. Matthew Reisz writes

“Academic narcissism” and a focus on self-promotion over scholarly substance are being blamed for bringing the humanities and the social sciences to the brink.

At a conference on the future of the disciplines held in Brussels last week, scholars warned that they were on a self-destructive course.

One of those to sound the alarm was Sasa Bozic, associate professor of sociology at the University of Zadar, Croatia, who accused his peers of displaying narcissistic traits.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Whither art: vanity is killing social sciences and the humanities

Posted in Academics

Tagged , ,

Australia facing academic exodus: study

Posted on October 2, 2009 by | Comments Off on Australia facing academic exodus: study

ABC News: Australia facing academic exodus: study
Australia could be starved of academics, with claims our boffins are overworked and underpaid.

A study by Melbourne University reveals a quarter of the country’s senior academics will retire over the next five years, and 5,000 academics over the next decade.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Australia facing academic exodus: study

Posted in Faculty

Tagged , , ,

Book review: Professing to Learn: Creating Tenured Lives and Careers in the American Research University

Posted on September 30, 2009 by | Comments Off on Book review: Professing to Learn: Creating Tenured Lives and Careers in the American Research University

Education Review:
Neumann, Anna. (2009). Professing to Learn: Creating Tenured Lives and Careers in the American Research University. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Univ Press.

Reviewed by Kathleen E. Fite, Texas State Univ-San Marcos.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Book review: Professing to Learn: Creating Tenured Lives and Careers in the American Research University

Posted in Academics, Faculty

Tagged , , ,

Retired profs offer to teach for free

Posted on September 23, 2009 by | Comments Off on Retired profs offer to teach for free

News & Observer: Retired profs offer aid

CHAPEL HILL — In February, an association of retired UNC-Chapel Hill professors sought to help ease daunting budget cuts by offering to jump back into teaching, free of charge.

The response from the university, they say, has been underwhelming.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Retired profs offer to teach for free

Posted in Budgets & Funding

Tagged , ,

Purge of Iranian Universities Is Feared

Posted on September 7, 2009 by | Comments Off on Purge of Iranian Universities Is Feared

The New York Times: Purge of Iranian Universities Is Feared

CAIRO — As Iran’s universities prepare to start classes this month, there is growing concern within the academic community that the government will purge political and social science departments of professors and curriculums deemed “un-Islamic,” according to academics and political analysts inside and outside Iran.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Purge of Iranian Universities Is Feared

Posted in Academic freedom

Tagged , , , ,

Ontario: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Posted on July 28, 2009 by | Comments Off on Ontario: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Canadian Press: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Hassan Diab, who denies involvement in a fatal Paris synagogue bombing, returns to job while awaiting extradition hearing

An Ottawa university professor accused of playing a role in a deadly Paris bombing nearly three decades ago and currently awaiting an extradition hearing is back teaching at Carleton University.

Hassan Diab, 55, is teaching a part-time introduction to sociology summer course every Tuesday and Thursday for a few weeks, according to the university.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Ontario: Man wanted in France teaching at Carleton

Posted in Legal issues

Tagged , , , , ,

Return of the Professor

Posted on July 28, 2009 by | Comments Off on Return of the Professor

Inside Higher Ed: Return of the Professor

Stephen D. Marlowe, the Edison Community College professor whose recent contract-violating layoff outraged faculty members, has been reinstated. Despite the victory, Marlowe and local union leaders express lingering dissatisfaction with the leadership of Kenneth A. Yowell, the institution’s president.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Return of the Professor

Posted in Faculty

Tagged , , ,

France’s Professors Vow to Continue Fight Against Reform Efforts

Posted on July 28, 2009 by | Comments Off on France’s Professors Vow to Continue Fight Against Reform Efforts

The Chronicle: France’s Professors Vow to Continue Fight Against Reform Efforts

Spray-painted banners fluttering in the windows of a central Paris building proclaim that “universities are not an enterprise” and “knowledge is not merchandise.”

A shadowy figure on a Metro platform darts forward to affix rainbow-tinted stickers to a departing train, protesting against government higher-education reforms and warning that they will cost institutions their independence.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on France’s Professors Vow to Continue Fight Against Reform Efforts

Posted in Protests

Tagged , , ,

Prof Fired for Depositing Student Payments in His Account

Posted on July 25, 2009 by | Comments Off on Prof Fired for Depositing Student Payments in His Account

News-Press: FGCU professor’s second penalty is firing
Deposited school’s checks, FGCU says

The same FGCU associate professor suspended for touching a mannequin in a sexual manner has been fired for depositing university checks into his personal bank account.

David Lounsbury, 56, was terminated July 14 after an internal audit found he collected cash and checks worth $15,210.

Lounsbury is accused of asking students to issue checks directly to him, or pay in cash, instead of FGCU for an interview and interrogation course.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Prof Fired for Depositing Student Payments in His Account

Posted in Faculty

Tagged , , ,

Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

Posted on July 13, 2009 by | Comments Off on Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

AP: Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

NEW YORK (AP) — An Iranian-American scholar whom Iran once accused of fomenting political unrest has been arrested by authorities there for the second time in two years, his family said Friday.

Security forces arrested Kian Tajbakhsh late Thursday, a family member told The Associated Press. The relative was in contact with Tajbakhsh’s wife, who witnessed the arrest in Tehran.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

Posted in Faculty, Free speech, Government

Tagged , , , ,

The Faculty of the Future

Posted on July 8, 2009 by | Comments Off on The Faculty of the Future

The Chronicle Review: The Faculty of the Future:
Leaner, Meaner, More Innovative, Less Secure

The faculty workplace has changed significantly in the last 20 years: More women, minority professors, and adjuncts have joined the professoriate. Information technology has led to new opportunities and expectations. The economic crisis has complicated long-term planning for scholars and institutions alike. We asked seven scholars from several fields and generations how they think the academic workplace — and, in particular, the job satisfaction and expectations of a faculty career — will change over the next 20 years.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on The Faculty of the Future

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

In Hard Times, Colleges Search for Ways to Trim the Faculty

Posted on June 30, 2009 by | Comments Off on In Hard Times, Colleges Search for Ways to Trim the Faculty

The Chronicle: In Hard Times, Colleges Search for Ways to Trim the Faculty

Why Certain Departments Fall Under the Budget Ax

The Jones Theatre at Washington State University is getting a $500,000 face-lift this summer. A construction crew has already ripped out its 500 orange and blue seats and is replacing them with new ones covered in a wine-colored fabric. The theater’s walls are being painted a light beige, and a new set of black velour curtains will grace the stage.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on In Hard Times, Colleges Search for Ways to Trim the Faculty

Posted in Budgets & Funding

Tagged , , , ,