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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Troika




Buzz. Buzz. 

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two askew.

Anonymous said...

If Jacobs has his way, this university will shut its doors on the day he retires in 2016.But what if he were made to retire before then...? What if the BOT suddenly woke up and realized the destruction they allowed on their watch? What if they said "Enough!" and fired him for his incompetence?What if the faculty woke up and voted no-confidence in the president and the BOT?

Anonymous said...

Official workplace evaluation of UT President Lloyd Jacobs:

Hard to resist. And timely!

Due Friday, March 29th:

http://intranet.utoledo.edu/adminreview/

Anonymous said...

Hold your horses with that evaluation!

The UTAAUP evaluation call went out to subscriber emails this weekend. I could not escape the possibility that the evaluations can be traced to the individual faculty through their UTAD ID. This not confidential enough since IT (and its overpaid CIO) works for (and loyal to) the president, and will turn over such data in a heartbeat to UT administration.

1. You log in with your UTAD ID
2. Get a code associated with your UTAD ID
3. that code goes on the evaluation.

A database query can match each response with a name...a simple chore for IT. Before you know, the UT administration will hunt the most vulnerable victims (non-tenured, tenured-track) down.

Can this be set up on a UT-neutral site like survey monkey? UT-AAUP to supply its members with a code (so it is not public, but cannot be linked by IT to names via UTAD).

And what's up with this tight deadline?

On behalf of the concerned, suspicious, and the so-not-fooled UT faculty.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous 2:20

Nice try but we are on to you. The survey will proceed. Jacobs will be deservedly skewered, roasted and devoured by his own misbegotten ambitions.

Anonymous said...

"Nice try but we are on to you. The survey will proceed. Jacobs will be deservedly skewered, roasted and devoured by his own misbegotten ambitions"

To Anon. of 6:17 AM:

Sorry, I do not know what you are thinking, but this is not UT Administration trying to divide with paranoia and scare tactics. I issues a sober warning. If you do not understand how databases work, just listen. There is NO anonymity in these surveys because your identity can be established through the code.

Surely, Jacobs and the GoonSquad must be taken down as you say, but do not give them ammunition to target individuals. The UTAD account is their tool, hence the warning at last the UT-AAUP meeting NOT to use UT computers for certain purposes at work. Were you there???

Surely, the UT-AAUP could have come up with a different instrument (same questions, that's fine) on a UT-neutral domain, issue the codes to members who want to fill out and really speak up. The UTAD system is the Big Brother, and IT will(!) identify survey participants just to keep their jobs (and the bonus, in case of the CIO). If you thought the HLC evaluation was bogus, there is no reason to trust this survey.

Let's set it up on an external server with UT-AAUP/CWA/etc. managing it with an external mediator who can ask the UT unions to verify the results per input, and then turn it over without filtering (which the UTAD system can do if they manipulate the data). The data should be published on Google Docs so that the interpretations are based on true raw data.

Surely, we all want Jacobs "skewered, roasted and devoured by his own misbegotten ambitions" no doubt, but let's give everyone a fair opportunity to do that without fear of reprisal. Those with positive opinion of Jacobs will still have the same opportunity to do that on a neutral survey, and their voice will be heard and their votes counted.

Fill out that survey if you feel you are not vulnerable, but some will be targets of witch hunt by UT administration.

UT-AAUP should advise!

Anonymous said...

The environment in which the UT Admins, BOT, and faculty exist is toxic and has been so for some years. Former A&S Dean Li, for example. It was revealed thru emails that VKII wanted to fire Li well before faculty in A&S started publicly 'no confidence voting' him. Once faculty got publicly involved, VKII closed ranks and it became an us v them issue. The same thing will happen here with the Senate evaluation and/or a faculty no confidence vote. VKII will use either or both as proof to the BOT of the difficulties he's facing effecting their agenda and argue he needs an even bigger free hand to get the job done. VKII is not operating in a vacuum - the changes he is pushing come from a higher source. In most ways he is a puppet to a trend in academics that started some years ago once powers that be realized they could use the 'economic downturn' to reshape universities. Their mantra has become 'taxpayer, taxpayer' every time someone questions their funding reductions or the eliminations of programs. (If you watched a recent VKII video of a roundtable with the LLSS dean and a faculty member you heard him recite this mantra: do taxpayers want to support... is his rebuttal to every dissenting argument.

Anonymous said...

I hope we all value TRUTH enough to say what we think on the evaluations of Jacobs, even if they could possibly be used against us. We have the moral high ground here.

Anonymous said...

Say what you will about Jacobs & Co. - it's not all simply a one-sided conspiracy.

There are many very real, valid, important and in many respects inescapable reasons - academic, economic and political - for the dramatic changes taking place at UT and in academia in general.

Here's a brief clip discussing some of the political reasons and illustrating how university faculty (primarily in the liberal arts) have in many respects brought this cataclysmic paradigm shift upon themselves through their own arrogance, complacency, excess and absurdity over a long period of time - despite continued internal and external criticism and warning:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2253299425001/political-corruption-on-college-campuses/?playlist_id=1621774019001

Anonymous said...

"I hope we all value TRUTH enough to say what we think on the evaluations of Jacobs, even if they could possibly be used against us. We have the moral high ground here."

Yes, we do have TRUTH on our side and continue to hold the high moral ground, except that the statements will not have a chance of seeing the daylight because they will be buried in the UTAD system. Do you think, Jacobs and his CIO sidekick will think for a second and reconcile with the kind of TRUTH that might send them packing for a new job? Don't be naive, friend!

The same energy should be concentrated on providing a UT-neutral venue for the evaluation.

Again, UT-AAUP and the other UT unions need to look for another evaluation instrument: one that will allow faculty to view the results. We cannot shield Jacobs, Gold, Scarborough, etc. from the harsh criticism that they've got coming to them. The process needs to be transparent.

Anonymous said...

That video is a load of horseshit. And the piling on starts at the beginning: The University of California DID NOT donate any money to Obama. What they did was compile a list of donors who work at the university, graduated from the university, are in an extended family with a family member affiliated with the university. The same is true for all the other "statistics" that video throws up to support the conclusion campuses are brainwashing students. Complete and utter nonsense. Here's the video's conclusion: young people voted overwhelmingly for Obama- why you ask? because they have been brainwashed by their universities. If it was shown on the comedy network I would have been laughing out loud. As it was it was on a "news" network (you can guess which one). Pathetic. And you know why I looked past the dumb ass statistics the video led with? Because I was trained at a university to check facts figures and arguments people feed me as gospel.

Anonymous said...

The Administrative review surveys are not conducted by UT AUUP but by UT Faculty Senate and they have explained how the process does not link the utad id to the code to access the survey. If you have questions or concerns regarding the surveys contact the leadership of the Faculty Senate not UT AAUP or expect those answers here.

Anonymous said...

for god's sake, develop some balls and speak the truth. no-one invented the freedom of speech principle too cover personal reports of idiots. If you cannot report one (or more idiots) in your life, then you do not deseve respect for that life. R/J.

Anonymous said...

Dear Faculty when the postmortem of this administration comes, please remember that you failed in your support of human dignity at the expense of your own security. JP

Anonymous said...

Someone gets it!

http://www.independentcollegian.com/letter-to-the-editor-don-t-let-corporate-masters-destroy-ut-1.2819557