[iDC] Fwd:The Perfect Educational Storm

[royston martin]

Watching Spike Lee's recounting of the injustices heaped on the people of
New Orleans in the documentary + When the Levees Broke + this news comes
as no surprise.

Royston Martin - University of Wales


i haven't looked at the report yet, but this looked like something of
> interest to those in US academia here...
> best,
> ryan
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> A few months ago, the AAUP reported to its members on the results of
the largest investigation we have undertaken in half a century. We were
faced with fundamental violations of academic freedom and tenure not
just at one school but across an entire region. Under the cover of
unsubstantiated declarations of various versions of financial exigency,
university administrators at five institutions engaged in a ?nearly
universal departure from (or in some cases complete abandonment of)
personnel and other policies.? It has been called the storm after the
storm, or the perfect academic storm. I am referring to the
aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina on
>> universities in the New Orleans area.
>> Many tenured faculty were fired with scant notice, no meaningful due
process, no stated reasons, and no appeal save to the very
>> administrators who released them. Faculty were not consulted about
these actions or given an opportunity to suggest alternatives. Some
found out they had already been taken off payroll and health care.
Departments and programs were closed without appropriate review. While
a number of institutions had suffered serious damage from the
hurricane, we found no justification for this wholesale abandonment of
due process and shared governance. Indeed, as the report
>> eloquently declares, this is exactly the kind of challenge that
requires wide consultation and full participation by the faculty before
drastic actions are taken.
>> We believe all members of the higher education community need to know
the story of how the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina was
>> unnecessarily compounded by administrative fiat. That is why we are
sending this e-mail.
>> The report is a warning to all of us about how not to handle a
>> crisis, a warning as well about the dangers we face if our shared
governance guarantees are not strengthened. Four administrations were
censured at our annual meeting in June because of their post- Katrina
actions. Negotiations continue in order to gain justice for New Orleans
faculty and restore due process to the region.
>> The full report is available online.
> http://lyris.eresources.com:81/t/1138419/1947781/794/0/
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