So imagine my surprise when I arrived at the weekly, or at least scheduled weekly, Provost Council meeting and was greeted by the Chief Plagiarizing Officer, the interim provost herself Angela Henderson.
By way of background, I had been attending this meeting since 2007 at the invitation of the former Provost, Dr. Westbrooks as a faculty representative. Though we may not have always agreed, I realized that Dr. Westbrooks was the team captain for Team Faculty and I always did my best to support her. She was gracious and often appreciative of the perspective that I brought as a faculty member. She was genuinely interested in the faculty perspectives and concerns unlike the current placeholder who has no experience as a university faculty member, chair or dean. I have noticed the conduct of the meetings, when they are actually held, has changed. No longer are issues debated. It has become more of a coffee klatch with each person checking in with all the wonderful things happening in their area. What gets accomplished in a typical meeting with the CPO at the helm could be accomplished in a well written memo. The Potemkin Villageesque quality of the meetings is a type of surreality that can only be experienced at CSU. The Deans sit mute with nary a word of criticism of this pretender being the provost.
So today, I was "told" that I was no longer welcome at the Provost Council meeting. When I sought to get confirmation of that all I received was a slammed door in my face, likely by the CPO. Only those in the room would be able to attest that.
Apparently the CPO has not read either the UPI contract, referenced in a previous post, or the Board of Trustees regulations that say the Senate can't be dissolved. Sadly, her incompetence was fully on display and the retaliatory nature of her "communication" indicates the desperation of this failed administration.
I have never purported to see into the future and I PREDICT the Faculty Senate dissolution issue will not end well for Watson, Young, Henderson et.al. I imagine that there are many who are interested in the ongoing saga that is CSU. The faculty union and others will probably bring quite a bit of pressure to bear and I can't wait to hear the explanation given by Timid Tommy for this monumental screw up.
Stay tuned for the next episode.
I wonder what the upshot of all of this will be? Will the "provost" direct a stream of profanity your way as is her reported wont? Or perhaps, because she is such a timid soul she feels threatened by your presence. Might another trip to the Cook County Circuit Court for another ridiculous "order of protection" be in the offing? Since she makes no decisions without checking in with that "giant" upon whose shoulders she (and perhaps Anthony Young) stands, I guess it all depends on what he wants.
ReplyDeleteIt was really too bad that you were not allowed to attend. You might then have been able to point out all the "Kermit the frog" signs on a campus that is governed by officials who are very concerned with copyright/trademark violations.
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