Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Fire Shelby Thames -> Fire Shelby Thames -> Fire Shelby Thames -> Outing myself
Post Info TOPIC: Outing myself
Miles Long

Date:
Outing myself
Permalink Closed

Outing myself

My name is Ashley Morris. I attended USM as an undergrad and completed my studies in December 1985, with a B.S. degree in Computer Science, with a minor in music. I was also a member of the Pride drum line.

After several years in industry, I went back to USM for a MS degree in Computer Science. I graduated in August, 1995.

Currently, I am an assistant professor at the School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems of DePaul University.

I am up for tenure and promotion, and should find out in a couple of weeks. I was worried about reprisals, but now I feel that my tenure decision cannot be undermined.

I attended USM as an undergrad, and then 10 years later for a master's degree. After receiving my Ph.D. from another university and then working as an assistant prof at another university for 3 years, I had the opportunity to go to USM. After much banter back and forth, I had a verbal agreement with the chair of the department for a position.

When I received the offer letter, it did not include any compensation for moving (standard for USM), but also, it did not list the startup money that I had negotiated. Neither did it include 3 years credit for tenure and promotion, but only 2. I mentioned this error to the chair, but he said that I would get what we agreed. I said I needed that in writing.

So I moved my family to the 'burg, and continued my negotiations with the chair and dean to get a new offer letter that included the startup money and 3 years credit toward T&P. They not only refused, but they stated that I needed to trust them and their decisions. I told them that I did trust them, but I needed this in writing.

The semester started, and I went to the associate (assistant?) provost and told him of my quandry. I continued teaching classes. The assistant provost then called me in and told me that they could not give me such a letter, that I was besmirching the honor of the chair and dean. At that point (after the 2nd week of the semester) they removed me from teaching my classes. Finally, the provost called me in and showed me the CORRECTED offer letter that included the time toward T&P and the startup funds.

Too little, too late. Fortunately, I did not resign from my original position, and I am still at DePaul. I am fortunate to be at DePaul, and I have no desire to leave this institution.

To paraphrase Todd Snider: that place is a zoo, and I'd be stuck in the sideshow.


__________________
foot soldier

Date:
Permalink Closed

Dear Dr. Morris,

A mortifying tale--you didn't give us names or dates (perhaps on purpose?), so we can't tell under whose administration this happened. Those of us who have worked at other universities (or who are about to!), know how much of this university runs incredibly amateurishly. I do not mean to insult the faculty and staff members on this board (for whom I have great respect), but unfortunately after my years here, your story is (sadly), not surprising. It seems as if the only way one can get a USM administrator to behave in a decent manner is to threaten a lawsuit. I imagine there are schools and departments that do function well, or did before my time here (which hasn't been that long) but that has not been my experience. When these sorts of events happen, if one complains (even politely) the response is to shoot the messenger. And there is often no attempt to cover up the unethical behavoir--it is simply business as usual. Shelby is the extreme example of this. The danger is, that having him in power allows other administrators to follow his example, and the situation only grows worse. I have worked in several dysfunctional departments, but never any so openly and happily dysfunctional as USM.

I apologize if I have offended anyone. I have great respect for the faculty and staff--just not the administration. Many of us have been burned for simply trying to do a good job as it is perceived in most academic instutions.

__________________
Miles Long

Date:
Permalink Closed

Thanks for the words, foot soldier.

The thing is, I wanted to work at my alma mater, and I ignored the dysfunction when I could. When it became obvious that I had to trust the untrustable, I came face to face with the dysfunction, and walked away.

USM is indeed dysfunctional, but the faculty tend to persevere through the ineptitude of the administration because they WANT to be at USM. Most of the faculty can, indeed, get better paying jobs elsewhere. It is their desire to make a change in students' lives that keep them there.

However, with Shelboo upping teaching loads for everyone, the research output will drop. This may have the effect of making the faculty unemployable at any place (save teaching colleges), which is probably part of the plan.

__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Fire Shelby Thames -> Fire Shelby Thames -> Fire Shelby Thames -> Outing myself
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard