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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Performance Review of President Jacobs, Part 1 of 2 Parts

In this first of a two-part posting, Bloggie will include the front matter from the Faculty Senate's review such as the summary statistics. A second posting will contain the remaining 48 pages or so of comments that were also part of the review.








7 comments:

Anonymous said...

If we define negative as being the aforementioned categories and the remaining three categories as being positive and look at the percentages, what I find striking is that there are two negative assessments for every positive assessment in most categories.

The only real exception is that of diversity where the positives are a very narrow majority (50.8%) over the negatives with 10.9% of the respondents not making an assessment. It appears that the assessments are somewhat better in the categories of "Responsibility and Acoountibility", "Strategic Planning " and "Financial Management" although the negatives still are greater than the positives but less than 2:1 ratio.

Unknown said...

It would be instructive to have some kind of breakdown of the faculty performance review of Jacobs according to academic departments and disciplines – to determine whether the criticism of the UT Prez truly is reflecting broad-based faculty discontent, or if it is instead coming predominantly from certain more specific academic areas (e.g. A&S humanities and social science departments) – therefore possibly making the results more representative of pre-existing fault lines between faculty themselves.

Anonymous said...

I think it's funny your blog is running ads for DeVry.

Omar said...

Anonymous 10:41
You're beginning to catch on. You are now on the thresheld of postmodern perspicuity. Zoroxyz10 may attempt to interrogate and tattoo you there. Grab him as you leap into the Abyss.

Anonymous said...

A break down of responses from departments? If that comes about I would like to see how those departments due in the next budget cycle!

ALL faculty had the opportunity to fill out the survey and it is now clear that the vast majority are either afraid or apathetic to respond.

Unknown said...

Re Omar:

Spoken like a true postmodern obscurantist.

All people in all departments – government, corporate, higher Ed, whatever – regard themselves as indispensable.

But in higher Ed many disciplines and departments have been invented not for academic reasons but rather for purely political reasons (Women’s Studies, Africana Studies, Law and Social Thought etc.).

These pseudo-disciplines serve primarily not as academic programs but as offices of the International Ministry of Politically Correct Propaganda.

Even most traditional disciplines have been overrun by PC/PoMo insurgents, transforming what were once the noble and esteemed departments of English, History, Philosophy etc. – and the perhaps somewhat less traditionally esteemed departments of Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology etc. – as well as the College of Education, into little more than different appendages of the hydra-headed Über-Department of Relativist-Revisionist-Anti-Science-Politically-Correct-Marxist-Feminist-Postmodernist Theory – much to the horror of true teachers and scholars in these traditional disciplines.

Even the sciences (particularly Biology) and the professional schools (business, law, engineering?) have to a greater or lesser degree been infected with the PC brain virus.

The result has been the proliferation of discord and falsehood throughout academia and popular culture.

Though it seems professors of English, Philosophy, History etc. may finally be coming to their senses again and slowly exorcizing the demons of irrationalist PoMo lit crit, continental “philosophy,” revisionist PC history etc. – the damage has been done and it may be too little too late.

Science will survive and thrive because science corresponds to reality and science works. The only choice is whether we want to control our own destiny or have someone else control it.

As for the more nuanced and sublime humanities, it will be a sad day indeed if those entrusted with preserving history and culture and promoting and perpetuating great, art, music, literature and philosophy ultimately prove to have been the ones most instrumental in their destruction.

Anonymous said...

Are they friggin' out of their minds? The situation is hopeless!Here is what was publiszhed today at

http://utnews.utoledo.edu/index.php/06_14_2010/trustees-voice-strong-support-for-president-following-annual-review

Trustees voice strong support for president following annual review
By Jon Strunk : June 14th, 2010
With its annual assessment of the president finished, The University of Toledo Board of Trustees emphasized complete support for the president in an announcement to the UT community June 14.
Board Chair Olivia Summons said the trustees are “100 percent behind” UT President Lloyd Jacobs, his handling of the University’s sustainability during the last four years, and the ongoing development of local, regional, national and international partnerships.
“The University of Toledo is on the right strategic path and we are there in very large part due to the leadership of Lloyd Jacobs,” Summons said. “This board is grateful to Dr. Jacobs for his innovative thinking and recognition that UT has the potential to be more than we are today.”
Summons said she and incoming Board Chair Bill Fall told the president the trustees remain committed to a resolution passed Jan. 25 calling for the president to: “accelerate fundamental, transformational and sustainable change to elevate the stature of undergraduate and nonprofessional graduate programs during fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to create a vibrant institution thriving into the 21st century.”
Fall, who previously has served as chair of the Board’s Finance Committee, praised Jacobs for the University’s financial management and oversight, saying the trustees have “great confidence” in UT’s fiduciary strength, even in this time of difficult and challenging budget constraints.
Summons said it is important for Jacobs to continue assembling a strong senior leadership team, pointing to upcoming searches for a provost and deans in the colleges of Arts and Sciences and Law, the Judith Herb College of Education and the School of Solar and Advanced Renewable Energy.
Both Summons and Fall pointed to the need for improved communication with stakeholders inside and outside the University and asked Jacobs to examine current communication methods and consider enhancements.
Summons also said it is important for Jacobs to recognize that some feel he has a perceived allegiance to the Health Science Campus.
“While I believe the president has done an excellent job balancing issues across all campuses, it’s important to acknowledge that this impression exists and seek to alleviate these concerns,” she said.
Summons also thanked Faculty Senate for submitting to the Board for consideration an evaluation of the president. Jacobs’ evaluation, conducted by faculty members who returned surveys, included comments on his performance, many of which were critical.
“Change is never easy and that always creates some anxiety,” Summons said. “The comments the faculty gave us and those that came in from the Board’s survey were discussed with the president. Although the Board did not concur with all the comments, we did incorporate the constructive suggestions into our discussions with the president.”
“Looking back to where we were four years ago, the Board is pleased by where UT is today,” Summons said. “Whether the measure is student enrollment, community partnerships, external research funding, patient-care quality or an increasingly international reputation, this institution is on the right track and the leadership of President Jacobs is a primary reason why,” she said.