IT"S 2011??!! When the hell did THAT happen? Let the RANT begin!

   My New Year's resolution was to post to my blog at least once a week.... and it is now February 10.  So much for that.  My One-Month-Into-The -New-Year resolution is to post to my blog at least once a week...


   So, let me start with a rant.   Or two.


 Part one:  Bull-shit advertising. 
   I think everyone in the country should boycott and chastise Groupon until they pull those hideously offensive anti-environmental ads off the air.  The whales are facing extinction- let's party!  The Amazon is being deforested- let's get a bikini wax!  Shame on everyone involved.  Who thought this was funny?


   Now, mini Darth Vader turning on the car with the Force (and a little help from Dad)- THAT'S funny!


Part two.   Higher Education in Tennessee.
    Dedicated, educated instructors and professors in Tennessee have gone without raises, cost of living increases, or any sort of monetary improvement in their salaries for FIVE YEARS, and have been told they can expect none any time soon.  Administrators, of course, have not had to suffer the same economic fate because, as you know, schools NEED administrators but can get along just fine without teachers.


   And NOW there is talk about abolishing tenure.  Most of the population would probably agree with that action because they have been deliberately and historically misled about what tenure really is.  It is NOT a guarantee of employment.  It IS a guarantee that teachers cannot be fired on a whim without due process. 


This from Wikipedia:  "Academic tenure is primarily intended to guarantee the right to academic freedom: it protects teachers and researchers when they dissent from prevailing opinion, openly disagree with authorities of any sort, or spend time on unfashionable topics. Thus academic tenure is similar to the lifetime tenure that protects some judges from external pressure. Without job security, the scholarly community as a whole might favor "safe" lines of inquiry. The intent of tenure is to allow original ideas to be more likely to arise, by giving scholars the intellectual autonomy to investigate the problems and solutions about which they are most passionate, and to report their honest conclusions. In economies where higher education is provided by the private sector, tenure also has the effect of helping to ensure the integrity of the grading system. Without tenure, professors could be pressured by administrators to issue higher grades for attracting and keeping a greater number of students."




Higher education is theoretically based on the concept of SHARED GOVERNANCE, which means that administrators and faculty are equal shareholders in the mission of the school, and have shared rights and responsibilities regarding curriculum and the distribution of resources.


 The reality is that cynical lip service is given to shared governance by administrators.  Faculty are involved in decision making to this extent - faculty are required to serve on committees (Financial Aid, Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Budget, etc.),  required to attend discipline meetings, department meetings, Faculty Fora and Faculty Orientations, without any additional remuneration for the hours they spend in these activities.   The presence of faculty on committees is touted as evidence of shared governance- but if one voice can consistently drown out all others, what, exactly, is being shared except time and space?


   So, think about this.  You, in your job.  You haven't had a raise in five years.  Gas prices, food prices, utility costs have all gone up.  The value of the dollar has gone down.  You are not living at the same level you were living five years ago, you have lost ground.  You are not appreciated and you know it.  When you ask for a raise, you hear "You're lucky to have a job".  How long would it take you to start looking for a better job? 


So why don't educators go do something else?


They think that what they are doing is important.  Too bad Tennessee doesn't.