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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Grains of Truth

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

is it true that many of the tenure candidates were never actually interviewed by Jacobs?

Anonymous said...

One of those snakes is wearing a bow tie.

Anonymous said...

Tuesday at Faculty Senate, I thought I heard Scarborough say that he did not anticipate a furlough for next year when asked if furloughs were being considered in the budget. But I have it from a fairly reliable source that they are putting a furlough package into the budget. She would not tell me the details but she inferred that it was more than one day. Our senior administrators are so disingenuous: why can't they tell the truth?

Anonymous said...

You guys teach finance some of you. Are you really so incapable of figuring out the most basic and straightforward facts? Yours is supposed to be the college of critical thinking and you're as helpless as children unable to understand where the ball goes when it's behind mommy's back.

The admin has been saying for almost a year they have a furlough package in place for if they need it. Your insistence that your two pieces of information are mutually exclusive is intellectually moronic and dishonest and what do you care? You've guaranteed PSA, CWA and other workers have to take more furloughs because you're too important to take a furlough despite working 8 months a year for $80,000 bucks.

Anonymous said...

I think the high level administrators are the most useless around UT--they spend money but do not make it. Furlough Jacobs, the CAS Dean,Provost Hagget, Scarborough, and a dozen others at the level for half the year. They will (1) do less damage to the University that way, and (2) save more money than you would by laying off thirty workers or faculty. (3) Plus no one will miss them.

Anonymous said...

reameyTo the commenter that said “Your insistence that your two pieces of information are mutually exclusive is intellectually moronic and dishonest and what do you care?”


Let put this in turns that you will understand with a little story:


Let say: you, your brother and your two cousins were given a pie to divide and eat. Now, there is plenty of pie for all of you to eat and be happy. But someone has to cut the pie. You trust your brother and one of the cousins. But the other cousin seems a bit shady. So you suggest that your brother cut the pie. But your brother really doesn’t want to do it and the shady one says that he can do it. You are not happy but for family piece, I will let him do if he promises to give us equal sized pieces. So shady cuts the pie: you get a 1/6th, your brother gets a 1/6th and your good cousin gets a 1/6th. And shady keeps half of the pie. You all got equal shares: are you happy? Are you just going to shut up and take it? Are going to let Shady cut the next pie and the one after that too?


That is almost identical to the process here at UT. Every year, the revenues at the University have gone up more than the salaries of the faculty and staff. The funds are more than enough to cover the costs of the university which are expended for teaching students. Check it out: it is a matter of public record.

Yet every year we are told that we need to take budget cuts. Why? Look at the growth in number of consultants on the university, the increase in debt of the university, the disbursements to non academic entities such as STIE ($10M I think was the number the Board passed a couple of years ago???) and the funding of pet projects of the administration such as a new energy school when the activities that it is supposed to be doing are already been done in both A&S and Engineering! So you get a smaller piece of the pie and they want still more. Then they lie about it in public meetings.

How is being upset about it intellectually dishonest and moronic? Would you rather we just ignore it? After all, are we just employees with no “skin in the game?” I am not attacking you but “wake up!” Your job as well as mine is on the line and it is not just about a few furlough days. Both of us will be without jobs if they keep spending money the way that they do.

Anonymous said...

Several points: As you point out, the administration took out money for UTIE a few years ago. They aren't taking $10 million out each year, they did it once. Now you are of course free to say that's good or bad, but to say that that is a continual budget issue that is every year zapping money from instruction is intellectually dishonest: it happened one year only.

The new school that you are disparaging will bring in current professors from A&S and Engineering. The million dollars you're complaining about being allocated for that school: it's going to recruit three new faculty and pay for their start-up fees, it isn't like the people currently doing solar research now will be excluded. To suggest otherwise is intellectually dishonest.

The reason you all think the admin is lying in public meetings is because very few of you have an understanding of the way UT works and those who actually come and sit in board meetings aren't the ones yelling and screaming cause, even if they disagree, they do understand how the budget process works. Yet because they understand, you all call them heretics and admin puppets.

You folks can have your "Tea-Party" type rallies on this page and elsewhere, but the adults have to address real concerns, like aligning UT with the state's strategic plan that calls on Universities to be strong economic development players. You're able to roll your eyes at the politicians, the admin has to work with them. But by all means keep complaining that faculty work too hard and are treated poorly. So long as the people (and therefore the politicians) think you all work 30-hour weeks, 4 days a week and 8-9 months a year, they'll never listen to you and will praise the admin for cracking down. If you all don't change the way you communicate you'll fine tenure and other faculty "rights" being dismantled to the sounds of cheers.

I don't want that to happen, but with the ass-backward way you all make your case, it will be hard to stop it.

Brian, in the likely event you don't post this, maybe just e-mail it to Poster # 6.

Anonymous said...

"very few of you have an understanding of the way UT works "

AMEN!

There is no transparency here.

Anonymous said...

So because of your ignorance and unwillingness to learn new things the admin is not transparent?

Do you need the admin to come to every prof, knock on their door (just kidding, faculty are rarely in their offices) and alert you to every decision?

Do you think you have no responsibility in finding out information? Several faculty attend board meetings and they would often have answers to the "rhetorical" questions you think you're asking.

By your definition faculty aren't transparent because students have to try in class to be able to learn. That's a mindless response, 7:16.

Anonymous said...

“Do you think you have no responsibility in finding out information? Several faculty attend board meetings and they would often have answers to the "rhetorical" questions you think you're asking.”


I too attend the BOT meetings. They are not a font of information: it seems that the Medical School and Hospital dominate most BOT meetings and very little is said that is enlightening about the Main Campus. I don’t have the answers and neither do my fellow faculty attendees.


When I ask questions of my Chair or Dean: they say they need to get the answers form the Provost or the President. Apparently, they are not allowed to make independent decisions. When I attend the Faculty Senate Meetings, I get lies from the Upper Administration. By the way, where are the Blue Books that the administration promised to publish for last year? When I complain about it, I am “intellectually dishonest” by your recrimination.


Since you are an apparent cognoscenti, perhaps you can explain the following statements:
“School of Solar and Advanced Renewable Energy – As the renewable energy field is
changing rapidly the University will be educating students for jobs not created yet and
preparing them for a changing economy. The new school will consist of faculty members
from multiple disciplines, including physics, chemistry, engineering and business. A
group of deans and faculty members are working out the details, including the types of
degrees the school will offer and the number of students it will accept.” taken from the audit report.


I am particularly struck by the statement “educating students for jobs not created yet” Will these jobs ever be created? What assurances have you that they will be? What degrees will they offer? I have been asking these questions for a while and still do not have an answer. I don’t think these would be classified as rhetorical in any sense.


Here is another: please explain


“Science, Technology & Innovation Enterprises, Inc – perform the following kinds of
economic development activities: develop a Research Institute to conduct applied
research, continue investment and support of UT’s incubation and commercialization
efforts through foundation and grant support, use prudent investment in UT spin-offs and
other economic development opportunities to generate funds with which to sustain the
broad range of UT’s economic development efforts and recruit and attract innovation
enterprises to Toledo.” also taken from the audit report.


Exactly what does the statement “through foundation and grant support” mean? Apparently, they received $5 million dollars in Foundation support last year after receiving $10M from the general budget… what do they have to show for it? Is this expected to continue into future years? Have they generated any funds? No one seems able to tell me.


The audit report also says, “Most higher education institutions including the University are faced with significant issues that are causing financial pressures. These issues include increases in energy costs, rising health care costs, the aging of university facilities, high cost of capital to develop high tech facilities, and insuring compliance with governmental regulations including environmental issues.”


If that is so, then why should we continue to expend the University funding for either the STIE or Alternative Energy School which clearly are not germane to the university and for which no one seems to state that they have accomplished anything significant.


“just kidding, faculty are rarely in their offices” Oh really? When have you come to my office when I was not there? Maybe when I go to the Faculty Senate or one of the committees that I need for my service content of my workload? Maybe when I am in my laboratory doing my research that is needed for the research component? Or maybe on Saturdays; wait… I am in there on Saturdays.