tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post3555745240691812883..comments2023-10-10T04:30:38.687-05:00Comments on Deo volente: Chancellor Cheng, the DE, and Freedom of InformationDave Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09100006856645294730noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-77666575964700114222011-12-19T11:06:13.177-06:002011-12-19T11:06:13.177-06:00I'm thankful for the thoughtful responses to t...I'm thankful for the thoughtful responses to this thread. There were some good points made.Lightsabernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-43481672094790053542011-12-15T00:03:30.535-06:002011-12-15T00:03:30.535-06:00[continued]
As for what a "corporate model&q...[continued]<br /><br />As for what a "corporate model" is, I think the problem is a matter of agreeing on a definition. To me a "corporate model" holds the purpose of the organization to be to make money. Under the corporate model, regardless of what any mission statement says, if there isn't a profit at the end of the year, the organization has failed. Whether internal paranoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01305552154248972937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-62826148006152822132011-12-14T23:54:11.959-06:002011-12-14T23:54:11.959-06:00Lightsaber (12/12 6:45 AM & 12/13 3:05 AM):
I...Lightsaber (12/12 6:45 AM & 12/13 3:05 AM):<br /><br />I haven't ignored your suggestion, but I have been busy. <br /><br />I think the university tried that idea in 2010. <a href="http://thesouthern.com/news/local/siu/article_787987be-5f14-11df-bc4b-001cc4c03286.html" rel="nofollow">Tuition was frozen, and fee increases were kept small</a>. Other universities were raising tuition. At theparanoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01305552154248972937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-88597436521200104932011-12-14T18:27:40.365-06:002011-12-14T18:27:40.365-06:00I attended one of the Dare2Learn workshops last Fr...I attended one of the Dare2Learn workshops last Friday. D2L is definitely an improvement over our current BlackBoard (which isn't really BlackBoard). It will take a bit of getting use to and is not all that intuitive. Which is to say, students and faculty will need some training on how to use it -- and that will happen as much in the classroom as in outside workshops. So, anticipate usingJonny Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04461895600346750968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-16941995004051020162011-12-14T17:53:17.142-06:002011-12-14T17:53:17.142-06:00This is the consensus of most reports on the subje...This is the consensus of most reports on the subject. It will take time, perhaps years, to find if there is an appropriate model that higher education can use. Many new drugs take years to be tested and refined before they go on the market and the same thing should be true for dubious educational innovations.So, this is not an "ad hominem" attack and you refuse to read the issue of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-26679023304976528022011-12-13T18:39:13.846-06:002011-12-13T18:39:13.846-06:002:14,
You do realize that technology could be use...2:14,<br /><br />You do realize that technology could be used to enhance the very virtues you say are important, right? Instead, you would rather launch ad hominem attacks, and likewise state that there is simply no innovative model of distance learning that could enhance the traditional learning model of a University. <br /><br />There is not any innovation out there? All distance learning is Lightsabernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-41034569218782768752011-12-13T14:14:46.461-06:002011-12-13T14:14:46.461-06:00An alternative plan that embraces the concept of D...An alternative plan that embraces the concept of DL and for-profit colleges that cheats students of a real education, places them in debt, and results in low graduation rates is no positive alternative, just an act of desperation. FYI, spending on sport has increaded recently by 121%. Why are books still in McLafferty? Why are there empty shelves in the Morris Library? Why is the academic Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-56620547151597055202011-12-13T03:05:41.797-06:002011-12-13T03:05:41.797-06:001:22
See, that's the problem. Instead of work...1:22<br /><br />See, that's the problem. Instead of working on finding a distance learning model that can serve people and better faculty, we close the door on all innovation. Why? <br /><br />As long as we're reliant on a crooked and corrupt state that is wholly a political entity, faculty and administration both will suffer the same fate. That fate is the unemployment line. The Lightsabernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-60428639551670231852011-12-12T13:22:19.514-06:002011-12-12T13:22:19.514-06:00Lightsaber, Did not the imposed contract firing fa...Lightsaber, Did not the imposed contract firing faculty with only 30 days notice drastically affect tenure and research as we know it? Nobody can engage in real research living under such insecurity and worrying about their jobs that may be eliminated at any moment at the whim of the Chancellor. Unfortunately, the corporate model followed by Cheng and Poshard is micro-management allowing no Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-90663974834027287082011-12-12T06:45:30.054-06:002011-12-12T06:45:30.054-06:005:23,
Do we really have to impugn motives without...5:23,<br /><br />Do we really have to impugn motives without citing evidence that the destruction of research is happening? Not all parts of the corporate model are bad. SIU is a University that is in great need of accountability and transparent leadership. Don't confuse this with a corporate model. This is not a corporate model, the model you cite is a political model in nature. The two Lightsabernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-81312259877869240122011-12-11T21:35:13.152-06:002011-12-11T21:35:13.152-06:00Beezer, thanks for the smart comments (which I'...Beezer, thanks for the smart comments (which I'll now try to disagree with, of course). <br /><br />I agree with much of what you say about differences between university faculty and those people in lines of work we more traditionally associate with unions. But the argument works both ways: if the administration treats us like machinists, then we may need a union to defend ourselves. WhetherDave Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09100006856645294730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-37555003105480426522011-12-11T17:23:29.727-06:002011-12-11T17:23:29.727-06:00Beezer, Chang and Poshard are out to destroy the v...Beezer, Chang and Poshard are out to destroy the very idea of a research university you believe in. I suggest you look at the latest issue of THOUGHT AND ACTION that deals with the corporate model being forced on to universities. This is the philosophy behind Cheng and Poshard's actions particularly involving the attack on tenure and the forced imposition of DL. The old idea of a research Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-39356636662179464532011-12-11T02:56:04.274-06:002011-12-11T02:56:04.274-06:00[continued…] However, for RU T/TT faculty, the col...[continued…] However, for RU T/TT faculty, the collateral damage goes much wider. For many, it is already bad enough that (innocent) students are negatively affected too—and thus feel that they could never strike in good conscience. [Certainly that’s how I felt about my students, although for myself I would never rule anything like that 100% out – a true existential threat to the university or beezernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-16590074820168187592011-12-11T02:50:06.980-06:002011-12-11T02:50:06.980-06:00While my situation does not share the same life-an...While my situation does not share the same life-and-death consequences of Kim’s, she raises an interesting point: how can anyone who knows that they will never strike be in the union (at least, without feeling like a hypocrite)?<br /><br />I know that a number of people don't like the FA because of what they perceive as stances, personalities, agendas, etc. that are unique to the FA beezernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-31434884531983990652011-12-11T01:25:00.813-06:002011-12-11T01:25:00.813-06:00@ 9:53 -- I would just settle for the vote! I wou...@ 9:53 -- I would just settle for the vote! I would vote to decertify, but would accept the will of the faculty (and would then join of 50+% affirm their desire to keep the FA as-is). <br /><br />However, in order to get the fence-sitters off the fence (we all seem to be continuing our best efforts to divine what it is they want for their representation--often projecting our own desires...), beezernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-78307737890814588252011-12-10T21:53:11.441-06:002011-12-10T21:53:11.441-06:00So it seems that there are at least 300 Faculty wh...So it seems that there are at least 300 Faculty who support or are members of the FA; the FSN crowd have a long way to go with their 162 before they reach 300. And even if they get the 200, they still have to win the decertification vote.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-54734217477715890672011-12-09T19:05:47.210-06:002011-12-09T19:05:47.210-06:00Jim,
Dave already has two different places on the...Jim,<br /><br />Dave already has two different places on the page where he asks people to use their names or at least a pseudonym. One is directly above the comment box, and the other is over in the right panel. He also jumps in when things get heated and points out that most of the heat comes from that self-contradictory person named Anonymous. <br /><br />What more do you want Dave to do?paranoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01305552154248972937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-68359558646793319812011-12-09T18:29:20.898-06:002011-12-09T18:29:20.898-06:00The last data I know of is 275/650, I personally k...The last data I know of is 275/650, I personally know of 3 people who have since joined. So perhaps 285/650 now. Its not perfect, but its a significant %. Afterall American Presidents are often elected with a lot less of a %. <br /><br />Its hard to gauge the support that the FA has amongst the Faculty, I would guess between 50-60%.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-42942214025615830252011-12-09T18:20:36.438-06:002011-12-09T18:20:36.438-06:00Anon 5:50
Forgot to answer your question. I beli...Anon 5:50<br /><br />Forgot to answer your question. I believe 162 people signed the cards. <br /><br />KimKim Asner-Selfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-64584320427567376042011-12-09T18:16:03.906-06:002011-12-09T18:16:03.906-06:00Anon 5:50
Sounds like you have access to informat...Anon 5:50<br /><br />Sounds like you have access to information that I don't have. My info must be out of date. How many members does the FA actually have? <br /><br />In terms of the reasons why people do not join the FA, you find my statement offensive. I actually agree with you. I can't make the statement that they all have the negative reasons for not joining. Nor, I would say, Kim Asner-Selfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-26612391846405561322011-12-09T17:50:40.634-06:002011-12-09T17:50:40.634-06:00Kim:
your 67% `who choose over and over again no...Kim: <br /><br />your 67% `who choose over and over again not to join' is a very numerically inaccurate statement:<br /><br />Here are a few numbers: <br /><br />The current FA membership is 44% of Faculty, so 56% haven't joined, not your 67% `who choose over and over again not to join'. The 11% difference, is quite a lot of people, 65/70 Faculty. <br /><br />Many faculty (especiallyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-3180857222421015062011-12-09T15:38:12.846-06:002011-12-09T15:38:12.846-06:00Jim,
Good idea. I like it when I can read lights...Jim,<br /><br />Good idea. I like it when I can read lightsaber, beezer, and other peoples' comments by their nicks. <br /><br />KimKim Asner-Selfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-34902387934966259562011-12-09T15:35:21.548-06:002011-12-09T15:35:21.548-06:00Anon 2:34
I am really bummed, but not surprised, ...Anon 2:34<br /><br />I am really bummed, but not surprised, to hear about you having been hurt by administrators. I've heard of intimidation from both administrators and FA members, and it is patently wrong in both cases. And I also would not post under my name if I felt I would be bullied. It was extremely hard to get help when I was being bullied as an assistant professor (absolutely Kim Asner-Selfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-7331529915923780142011-12-09T15:32:09.177-06:002011-12-09T15:32:09.177-06:00Dave, you should encourage posters to at least pos...Dave, you should encourage posters to at least post under some sort of identifier. It would be easier to keep track of personalities. Monikers might be something like, "Happy FA member," or "Rita's Pet," or "The ghost of Henry Shryock." People would be free to post their true feelings without fear of reprisal, not that there would be any, and we can all get toJim Daviesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3492014659405332380.post-50501013657996714752011-12-09T15:14:45.317-06:002011-12-09T15:14:45.317-06:00Kim,
Thanks for another thoughtful comment.
One...Kim,<br /><br />Thanks for another thoughtful comment. <br /><br />One question. I agree with the basic logic of your post--if one would not strike under any circumstances, it makes sense not to support a union in a state where unions can strike (though I know some curious exceptions to this rule). But you have a special reason for not striking, reasons I think we'd all understand--not Dave Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09100006856645294730noreply@blogger.com