Quote from: kaysixteen on March 15, 2024, 08:49:00 PMOk. Will you perhaps however consider replying to Stu, telling him about the inappropriateness of his request?
Quote from: apl68 on March 27, 2024, 06:14:11 AMMy ears have been hurting off and on for two days now. At the moment my right ear aches so much I can hardly concentrate on what I'm trying to do.
Quote from: spork on March 27, 2024, 05:11:36 AMBluffton University will "merge" with University of Findlay.
Quote from: selecter on March 26, 2024, 01:15:46 PMBirmingham-Southern.
https://www.al.com/educationlab/2024/03/birmingham-southern-college-will-close-may-31-as-loan-bill-fails-to-gain-support.html
Quote from: bio-nonymous on March 27, 2024, 06:45:41 AMI am a biomedical researcher, why would I have an astrophysics article sitting around waiting for this opportunity?
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on March 25, 2024, 07:24:23 PMQuote from: lightning on March 25, 2024, 07:24:56 AMThis is way too specific of an attack on governance, so I can't chalk it up to some broad ideological attack from the GOP and certainly not the MAGA wing of the GOP.
An attack on faculty such as this had to have come from someone with insider knowledge of how governance works and doesn't work in higher ed. It probably came from an administrator (or former administrator) who has the ear of state politicians.
Some higher-ed administrators (who knows--maybe a lot of them now) would gladly align themselves with an ideology that they disagree with, in order to limit the power of those pesky faculty members.
I don't know how you separate the ideologies in the Republican party.
This seems to me like a pretty typical conservative ploy to demonize faculty in some way, whether it comes from an insider explaining how faculty governance works or not. The supposed insider found a welcome ear in the Republican halls that they would not find in the Democrat halls. The dem governor will certainly veto this.
The public justification for the bill is financial mismanagement, which anyone with an inkling of university administration knows is not done at the professor level.
I cite these three paragraphs:QuoteThe impetus for this change is a bit of a mystery: House Bill 2735's prime sponsor, Republican representative Travis Grantham, has said it's related to financial issues at the University of Arizona, but it's unclear how. That financial crisis, brought on largely by the flagship university miscalculating its amount of cash on hand by millions, was caused by administrative issues—not by any problems with faculty power. Yet Grantham has stressed the need to reiterate the power of the University of Arizona president, in particular; faculty senate members have argued the bill would increase the president's power.
Grantham, who didn't respond to interview requests Friday, has made some critical comments about faculty members. He's told the Arizona Daily Star that University of Arizona faculty members "took control" of the university and that "the most left of the left" are "grabbing and clinging to power." He went on to say they should take civics classes because they don't understand the legislation, and that he doesn't know or care who caused the financial crisis on the campus.
HB 2735 is just one of multiple bills that GOP-controlled state legislatures have pushed this year that threaten to diminish faculty members' power and freedoms. Two weeks ago, Indiana's Republican governor signed legislation that could deny and revoke tenure for faculty members who don't foster enough "intellectual diversity" to satisfy their campus boards. Last week, Alabama's governor signed a ban on professors requiring course work that advocates for "divisive concepts". And earlier this year, Arizona Republicans proposed a "grade-challenge department" that could change professors' assigned grades for students who accuse them of political bias—though the legislature has yet to pass that bill.
How is this not pure partisan politics and propaganda?
QuoteThe legislation, nearing passage, would bolster the power of presidents and regents while reducing faculty members to merely "consulting" on governing, academic and personnel decisions.
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on March 25, 2024, 05:39:33 AMArizona GOP Bill Would Stifle Faculty Power in Governance
Lower Deck:QuoteThe legislation, nearing passage, would bolster the power of presidents and regents while reducing faculty members to merely "consulting" on governing, academic and personnel decisions.