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A MUST READ FOR ALL ACADEMICS! Now on Amazon Kindle. Click on Professor Goat above to be directed to the book.
DON'T BE A SHEEP
UT's Officially Disapproved Information Source and HISTORICAL ARCHIVE. The only source of truth, where Paradox Manifests: Hundreds of thousands of visits. Yet No One Admits to Reading It. Welcome to the "Grey Area" where "Unethical Utterances," i.e., criticisms of administrators, are commonplace. Make U.U. here where genuine civility still reigns, a.k.a., freedom......................... UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO'S EQUIVALENT TO RADIO FREE EUROPE
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NEW!!! Hard Eight by Professor Extreme
HARD EIGHT
Hard Eight: Auto-Ethnographic Essays on Academic Culture Featuring the End of the Arts & Sciences College, University of Toledo, 2010
Daily Koan
Should the newly discovered black hole be named in honor of UT BOT?
Swamp Bubble
Do you agree or disagree that University of Toledo suffers from administrative bloat?
How do you feel about the proposed UT Degree Guarantee program? (Reposted to allow more people to vote.)
How do you feel about the proposed UT Guarantee program?
How would you grade the overall performance of the Jacobs' administration on running the University of Toledo?
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
Bloggie applauds this perspicacious observer:
"The administration is in a panic mode to implement controversial and irreversible structural and curricular changes campus-wide by early February fiscal plan deadlines with only the vaguest notions of their impacts. The plan is, according to an interview with a top administrator published in the most recent Independent Collegian, to cast out many seeds and "see what grows." This experimental garden, as most senators articulated in many different ways, seems a costly recipe for disaster. Utter madness. Stay tuned."
Print Version of Dictionary of Academia Available on Amazon.com
The profound ruminations of the goaty Sage are now available in this 119 page satirical masterpiece. See: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1480292494/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B009RC0SJA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JV8N5BYAYY9WC9SJWD2
"Dictionary of Academia" Read it While it's Hot
A MUST READ FOR ALL ACADEMICS! Now on Amazon Kindle. Click on Professor Goat above to be directed to the book.
Comment of the Week
"This is that old tension between the corporate way of doing things and the academic way of doing things. In the corporate world, you sweep everything under the rug to make your b.s. as shiny, pleasing to the nose, and profitable as possible. In the academic world, you operate with a higher moral standard. Veritas and all that."
Comment of the Week of August 13
Re UT academic posers and hypocrites:
Have their checks calculated in units of postmodern theoretical currency and issued in photocopied legal tender notes signed by Walter Benjamin with a photo of Karl Marx and a seal stamped “In Derrida We Trust”.
Comment of the Era
Wow! Ain't that something.
-Anonymous
Comment of the Week
Mention goes to the the anonymous commentator of Feb 7, who, regarding UT President Llloyd Jacob's "Investing in Faculty" letter, stated: "If we could use the same criteria for 'investing in administrators' we could cut most of those positions."
Comments to HLC
Make sure you address your comments to HLC to the email address listed below in the "Higher Learning Commission Wants to Know" post. This may be the only chance you have to be heard. Bloggie hears that UT administration has discussed giving faculty "training" so that faculty members know how to "properly" talk to the HLC folks. How's that for stacking the deck? Does everyone get a little script to read? Make sure you practice before a mirror at being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Comment of the Week!
Definitely, the Comment of the Week award goes to Anonymous 12:14 pm, Dec 3, under the "Higher Learning Commission Needs to Know" posting by Diogenes. Pithy and pointed!
--Love,
Bloggie
MESSAGE OF THE DAY:
DON'T BE A SHEEP
Independent Collegian Article on Dicey Administrative Spending
IC reporter Casey Cheap looks at bow ties, apartments and movie tickets purchased by UT administrators at university/public expense. See
TO CONTACT BLOGGIE . . .
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Letter and Petition from Foreign Languages Faculty Member
A couple weeks ago, at the beginning of summer break, we in the Department of Foreign Languages were informed that our secretary's position was being eliminated and that while she will not lose her job (she'll be transferred), that position is not to be filled. We apparently will be expected to do our own jobs plus what we can of the secretary's. That is clearly not acceptable, and so one of the steps we in FL are taking against it is an online petition now available for any who want to (including those who for whatever reason--not a registered Ohio voter, not a US citizen, etc.--cannot sign the petition against SB5), to read and sign.
I know not everyone on the blog will be interested in this; I'm not asking anyone who doesn't want to, to sign or even read the petition. I do think that there are many who would be interested and would want to sign it--if they knew about it.
It's scary to post this under my own name; I'm as afraid as anyone of repercussions. But this is simply too important to keep quiet on, and we have to do something! FL is not the first department that this has happened to, and it's almost certain not to be the last if we don't speak up in a way that the administration will hear us and in a way that makes clear that other people are seeing that it's going on.
Here's the link to the online petition:For those who can make it, there will also be an informational meeting--including lunch and petition-signing--next Friday, May 27 in FH 2420, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
I know not everyone on the blog will be interested in this; I'm not asking anyone who doesn't want to, to sign or even read the petition. I do think that there are many who would be interested and would want to sign it--if they knew about it.
It's scary to post this under my own name; I'm as afraid as anyone of repercussions. But this is simply too important to keep quiet on, and we have to do something! FL is not the first department that this has happened to, and it's almost certain not to be the last if we don't speak up in a way that the administration will hear us and in a way that makes clear that other people are seeing that it's going on.
Here's the link to the online petition:For those who can make it, there will also be an informational meeting--including lunch and petition-signing--next Friday, May 27 in FH 2420, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Katherine Best
Wave of the Future or Merely Sometime Later This Week?
The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a deeply fascinating article called, "When to Dissolve a Faculty Senate." Apparently this is any time that it becomes "adversarial" to administration.
The online comments to the article are priceless.
Nemeth on Mammon in IC
David Nemeth's most recent tour-de-force
Professor Nemeth has another fabulous and timely article in the new and increasingly wonderful Independent Collegian. See http://www.independentcollegian.com/forum/the-kraken-attacks-1.2340091
Nemeth Does it Again
See the forum article in The Independent Collegian at:
Nemeth's New Article in Collegian
The Independent Collegian has run another of Professor Nemeth's fine and provocative articles in its latest edition. This one discusses the double-talk by mouthpieces for the current UT administration concerning the effects of and reasons behind so-called strategic reorganization. Make sure you get the latest version of Newspeak 5.1 if you want to decode what UT administrators are really saying.
UT Ranks 13th Nationally on Administrative Bloat
See Appendix B of the Administrative Bloat report posted on 8/28 for evidence, but UT now has a higher proportion of administrators to students than all but 12 public universities in America. President Jacobs has finally put University of Toledo in the top tier. With Strategic Organization he may be aiming for number one.
This Blog is a free and independent information source. Contributions and comments are welcome. Contact: ASCBloggie@gmail.com WARNING AND DISCLAIMER !!!! This blog is entirely non-official!! People may express opinion here, exercising freedom of speech and association.
Recent Letters from The Blade
Jacobs' arrogance is astonishing
Recently, President Lloyd Jacobs of the University of Toledo stated that bonuses were justified because his administrators "took all the risks."
As a professor at UT, I am outraged that President Jacobs claims that administrators take all of the risks. What risks do they take that the other faculty and staffs on campus do not?
Administrators are protected by state and federal employment laws and by their contracts.
When ex-President Vik Kapoor was terminated, he remained a professor with a salary near what he was paid as president.
As president emeritus, Dan Johnson retained a salary greater than his pay as president.
In the recent layoffs, exceptionally few administrators were terminated. It seems to me that low-level personnel at UT have far more risks because the greater proportion of the layoffs have come from their ranks. And they did not have continuing salaries.
President Jacobs' answer to questions on two occasions regarding relinquishing part of his bonus was to the effect that he earned his bonuses and what he did with them was his business.
Administrators do not risk their personal money in their duties: they use taxpayer money and funds collected through donations and grants to the university.
Administrators take home salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and then add bonuses for longevity and whatever else the president decides is fitting for their contracts.
However, the lower-level personnel have much lower salaries and no such bonuses. Where is the risk?
It seems to me that these bonuses are convoluted: The lower-level personnel are taking the greater risks with no bonuses while the administrators with very rewarding jobs with little risk receive large bonuses.
Am I missing something here?
WALTER W. OLSON,
Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing
Engineering,
University of Toledo
It's the same old, same old at UT
I could hardly believe the arrogance of Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, president of the University of Toledo, when a reporter asked if he would be willing to forgo his bonus in light of the layoffs, raise in tuition, etc.
His comment was that he worked for it. Is that to say that the ones being laid off did not work for their pay?
All I can say is, business as usual at UT. Some things never change.
SANDY FLICK
Rose Acres Drive
UT also has checks, balances
In response to letter titled "Professors must focus on teaching," I would like to point out that the University of Toledo operates on the basis of shared governance.
This means that faculty members participate in the administration of the university.
A focus on teaching requires faculty to address administrative issues such as policies, procedures, and yes, finances, because these all affect classroom outcomes. A university with solid and equitable finances benefits everyone, including and especially the students. Just as the U.S. government is constituted to have checks and balances, so is our university government.
The UT-AAUP is one of those checks against UT administrators who most recently have displayed more concern for their own profit rather than a concern for the common good.
LINDA M. ROUILLARD,
Associate Professor
of French,
University of Toledo
Quote of the Year (so far)
The following is excerpted from the recent UT AAUP newsletter concerning the official university response to news of the bonus scandal:
. . . . Either Jacobs is misleading the media or he has misled the Board of Trustees. President Jacobs objected to "the general tone" of the UT-AAUP Newsletter. Many persons on this campus object to the "general tone" of the Jacobs Administration. During his tenure as President, he has introduced an administrative culture of fear and intimidation. . . . A point of logic must be raised here, with all respect to UT AAUP, the conclusions that President Jacobs has (1) misled the media and (2) the Board of Trustees are not mutually exclusive. Both would seem likely given his considerable talent at spinning "visions." |
How to Contribute
The Blog is now under new management, a consortium of ASC faculty who pooled their longevity bonuses to purchase it from its original owners. Your comments are still welcome but look for some changes. Contact: ASCBloggie@gmail.com. Your contributions might include new posts, images, comments to existing articles/posts, concerns about process and substance at UT's College of Arts & Sciences. This blog is entirely non-official, for which you can be thankful, unless you enjoy reading self-serving bureaucratic propaganda, and is intended as a discussion and commentary forum for UT A&S faculty and community.
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A blog is a blog is a blog. Information, comments and opinions found here don't represent official views, instead they represent truthful and sincere ones. If you want the official line on things go elsewhere. This is a discussion and comment page. You may even read things here that you disagree with, and then, maybe not.
ASCBloggie
17 comments:
Better yet: "Rats! I broke a nail denying all those sabbatical requests!"
too bad this isn't facebook...I would "like" this image
Just when I thought I was out...
Here's the clip of Sil from The Sopranos doing his Michael Corleone imitation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q83tbRYQQas&feature=related
And did you hear about the new $150,000 longevity bonus for Jacobs? Wow, I mean wow! I bet when he becomes 100 years old, we will have to add three zeroes to the bonus...
The Toledo Blade didn't even cover yesterday's important 11 o'clock events. What a sad thing the former Pulitzer Prize paper has become -- a shill for Jacobs.
Did the other candidates back out? Who knows about the provost selection decision making? Anyone know why this decision? DId the others learn to much about the Glorious Leader?
The Gang of 12, Pryor and other elite insider schmoozers can now all breathe a sigh of relief and put their careers on cruise control - with guaranteed jobs and raises and promotions and bonuses and benefits (for themselves and their significant others) for the forseeable future.
And all they have to do is all keep chanting in unison ONE OF US. ONE OF US.
Too bad for the rest of us poor suckers left to fend for ourselves in the squalor and mayhem outside the executive suites.
So now the BOT has approved not only extending Jake's contract--unanimously, and is talking about a raise!--and increasing faculty teaching load and other responsibilities. Essential staff continue to be cut; wording in yesterday's (Tuesday's) Blade article seems to indicate that may soon include faculty as well. The provost who was retiring (or being retired?) isn't. The LLSS Council (and, earlier, A&S Council) has no confidence in Jake, but also no guts to say it officiaLly. The unions' press conference is denied access to its venue and is forced to move. I'm not laughing. I don't see any light at the end of UT's tunnel anymore.
An edited comment . . .
Send in the clowns… It seems only natural that those renowned for the mediocrity of their academic disciplines, careers and departments would rise to the top of the mediocracy. “
And where are the clowns? Send in the clowns. Don’t bother, they’re here…”
By Anonymous on Dedicated to the "New" Provost at 8:12 AM
The circle will stop only when somebody goes to jail...
The budget presented to the Board shows an increase in revenue of $10,000,000 yet they asked for cuts of $30+ million? Investment income last year was $2,000,000 and this year only $140,000? What happended to the principal that those incomes cam from?
Where is the money going?
When is the administration going to have show accountability to the tax payers of this state?
Me thinks, only when somebody finally goes to jail!
Re Blade shilling
This ASC blog is essentially the only local outlet for some real uncensored, behind the scenes information and dissent on the UT campus (though the IC also often does an admirable job – and say what you will about WSPD talk radio – at least they operate independently of the Blade Overlords in covering serious education issues).
Not that everything that appears on the ASC blog is necessarily correct, but apparently the only local mention of the looming $1 trillion student loan debt – which is a HUGE news item for anyone with a lick of understanding about economics and higher ed – has been here on this blog!
All other local media outlets (print and broadcast) basically just regurgitate UT upper administration press releases and PR pieces – and solicit UT advertising…
No journalistic conflict of interest there…
The ASC blog has served well as one of the few places those in the know at UT can speak out without fear of retribution and where you can find out what all the insider elite schmoozers and players are really up to.
No wonder some on campus tried to move heaven and earth to have this blog censored and shut down.
The real test of true First Amendment free speech advocacy is one’s willingness to stand up for the free speech rights of those with whom one disagrees.
But ideologues care only about THEIR free speech – not yours or mine.
Re Jail Circle
Why not draw up a set of specific financial questions and present them to Jacobs in advance with a formal request from faculty representatives that the questions be systematically answered at the next Town Hall meeting, or in some other appropriate context?
FYI: ———— Blade ombudsman Jack Lessenberry wants to respond to reader questions about fairness and accuracy in the way this newspaper covers the news. Call 1-888-746-8610 or e-mail OM-BLADE@aol.com anytime.
Anon. 5/18/7:02 am: Yeah, they can go on cruise control--then leave the corpse of UT behind when they find something somewhere else they think is better.
Anon. 5/18/9:19 am: Wasn't it Al Capone who killed (or ordered killed) so many people, but finally got caught--and sent to prison--for income-tax evasion? One of those gangsters did.
Anon. 5/19/1:22 am: Contacting Lessenberry is probably a good idea. How about letters to the editor as well? My concerns are, without public access, no one in general is going to know that important area news has been wihheld from them, and what's going to stop Lessenberry from
somehow avoiding dealing with anything we tell him? (He does work for The Blade, after all.)
By the way, I also have seen nothing about Tuesday's rally on the UT Update, and on today's UT Update comes the news that Jake is cancelling next week's Town Hall meeting (main campus). None of this is really surprising.
He's back! Dan Johnson returns. How did we ever get along without him?
Johnson back?
Where? When? Why?
Please elaborate.
Let's just say that Dan Johnson has been "recalled to duty" by those notorious BOT crackpots that dreamed up this convoluted neo-fascist scam to wrest the college classrooms away forever from the free-thinking liberal (arts) professoriate.
Dan will now be the lone high administrator at UT with any measure of crebility left on the dusty Trust-O-Meter.
The BOT is praying that Charming Dan can somehow cast his spell over the HLC accreditation team now swarming toward UT on the horizon.
Achieving that, Dan can expect to be awarded still another golden parachute as he hands this campus back to the goons and gits out of town till the phone rings again.
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