So I often read a column in the Washington Post that fact checks statements made by various politicians. It confirms the statements and then determines the veracity of those statements and then assigns a number of Pinocchios based on the level of deception. Four Pinocchios is essentially a “liar, liar, pants on fire” ranking. With that said I was curious at a memorandum that I received today notifying the university of the appointment of department chairpersons. This once tri-annual process is now an annual farce perpetrated by the unabashedly corrupt Watson administration on the university. At real universities, something the current incumbent has no experience of, the faculty of each department elect a chair person and that person is confirmed (or not) by the dean of the college. The chairs work for the deans. At Crony State, the chairs are hand picked by the president, a practice unheard of at other universities. So faculty go through the farce of electing a chair only to have in some occasions that decision overturned by an inept and failed president. To wit, please note the following memorandum.
There are two key pieces of information on this memo. The first is the date and the second is the first line of the memo. So let’s look at the second piece first. The sentence reads “I have reviewed the following department and dean recommendations for department chairperson/director.” That is pretty straightforward except that it is a lie. That leads to the second key piece of information. It is impossible for Angela Henderson to have reviewed a recommendation from my department that didn’t happen until June 23rd when my department met for its chair election. Thus a memo dated June 11th that states that a departmental recommendation was made for the person selected would be a lie and that would make that person making that statement a liar. I, like several of my colleagues in my department are curious whether the administration has developed the ability of precognition and knew 12 days in advance what the decision of the department was vis-a-vis the chairperson. Obviously not. Because in my department it was another faculty member who received the majority of the votes. The memo also states “... interviews with some of the candidates..” Why were any candidates interviewed by the Provost? The chairs don’t report to the Provost. Why weren’t all of the recommended faculty interviewed. Oh, because the decision was made prior to the faculty electing their peer, at least in my department. So not only was the process a ridiculous farce, but the administration made no pretense of adhering to the principles of shared governance inherent in this process. Thanks to Provost for putting in writing the continuing absurdity of this administration. And thanks to the Board of Trustees for allowing this farce to continue unabated for several years.
For your efforts,
Another interesting tidbit is that for one of the departments the interim chairperson is also the Dean of that college. That would appear to be a conflict of interest, at least in terms of personnel actions. Giving one person two bites at the personnel review apple seems to be unfair and could jeopardize the university should something untoward happen to a faculty member in a personnel action.
All in all, more shenanigans from the administration that put the B in buffoonery.
What other university in the U.S. has department chairs with one-year appointments? Ask your colleagues at other places and they will laugh at you. High schools have one-year appointments. CSU chair "elections" are a joke. Ward-boss Wayne Watson ignores the faculty and will put in whomever he wishes. If the faculty choice happens to coincide with his, great, if not, Watson's pick wins. We are an extension of the Chicago political machine and so even at the most ridiculous level of department chair, Watson follows the practice of “trade in jobs.” He has long been allowed by Anthony Young and the Board of Trustees to abuse the power of the president’s office to interfere in what were once faculty personnel and policy prerogatives. Why we even bother to continue with the fiction of chair “elections” is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteShared governance at CSU has ceased. We are not run like a university should be run. The “trade in jobs,” at every level at this university, is why CSU exists.
Your loyal readers totally agree:.individuals willing to lie and cover up created biggest problems. When a faculty member willingly lies and covers misconduct, CSU hands them out a chair position and eventually hands them out a shiny new "interim dean" title. Conflicts of interest define CSU crooks. Go into any southside church and every citizen knows this place is run like an unlicensed carnival with rides and departments held together by failed parts in contempt for lives and laws.
ReplyDeleteFederal court apparently accepted and is investigating violations of federal laws and positions when Carnival State refused to acknowledge election results for esteemed student leaders Willie and Britney. One would think disregarding faculty elections for chair is supplemental evidence of a hostile unfair workplace; and every person who's lied to abuse positions and their power needs to be named and held accountable.