[iDC] Fwd:The Perfect Educational Storm

[Alexis Turner]

Having grown up in Houston + Before the Levees Broke + this news comes as no 
surprise.  My God, the thing that kills me most is that anyone seems so 
*surprised* about *any* of this, as though righteous indignation or surprise 
could change what New Orleans has been for hundreds of years.
-Alexis


On Tue, 9 Oct 2007, royston martin wrote:

::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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