Year End

As the semester winds (wines? whines?) to a close the good Dr. Tinkle has a few observations.
1. Arthur C. Clarke was right, "The future isn't what it used to be." Neither is our university.
2. Administrators live at one university, faculty in A & S live in another.
3. An administrator is always going to say there is no money to do what you want or need to do. They will spend it on what they want and think they need to do.
4. Administrators believe in words like efficiency, calculabilty and control. Faculty believe in quality. So, unless the administrator has spent a great deal of time in the faculty's world, he/she will have no real empathy for what we do. They might speak of quality, but will then turn around and hire visitors because they are "inexpensive" alternatives to tenure or tenure track, faculty. Hiring highly qualified lecturers becomes suspect. Visitors give administrators control over resources because the department has to return every year (or three at the most) and plead for resources. If the department has a history of bad behavior, the spot may be lost. Scott Scarborough has become god of the exchequer. He decides what resources you really need.
His decision will not be based on the quality of the educational experience you wish to provide. It will be based on the priorities of the administration. Quite frankly those priorities don't include us.