Graduation Stories

[Mike M (the other one)]

(05-21-2019, 08:21 PM)Dill Wrote: I think that is exactly it. You have difficulty understanding/imagining other kinds of organizational relationships.

So the inner workings of universities, the ideals and codes by which they work, are a mystery to you--though maybe not much longer as they continue adopting corporate (TQM)models of management, replace tenure with non-tenure tracks, become dependent upon corporate grants, and expand administration to the point they outnumber faculty.

If you are curious as to why your "employee" model doesn't (or shouldn't) apply to universities, recall the post above where I note that it is faculty, not administration, who decide who should be hired or promoted, what students should learn, and whether they have learned it.  It is the administration's job to make sure the classrooms are heated in winter, there are enough beds in the dorm, and the English dept. has funding for a Medievalist. It is NOT to police faculty/student politics.

And when administrations cross the line, it is the duty of faculty to step forward and hold their "employers" (lol) accountable. Make them step down, if necessary. Tenure was created to protect faculty from employers --private and public alike--who think THEY should run the university and faculty are simply employees. But faculty are custodians of knowledge and tradition, and to be protected as such.THEY are the university; they MAKE the university a university, not the administrators. Administrators come and go. And are not tenured.

Sure, you could not run the postal service this way, or a chain of fast food restaurants, or a branch of the military.  Because a university is different from churches, government institutions, the military, and business, different because its "employees" are tasked with teaching higher order knowledge and modes of inquiry, and to do so must have autonomy (non-interference) from those who do not know how to teach that knowledge or those modes, who don't know what's required. I.e., those you call "employers."

I understand all of this, and have no issues with peaceful protests in the appropriate time/place for one.

To me, commencement does not fall into that category. The reactions on that day are merely a reflection of the teachings at the school.

Maybe by saying it that way makes my POV make more sense?