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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 . . .
Bloggie is always glad to consider submissions to this blog. If you have something that you wish posted please send it to:
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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.
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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." |
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12 comments:
Congressional Earmarks are an effective means of funding university-based research and supporting the existing faculty research. Additionally, earmarks enable faculty to develop new (usually related) projects and enhance/strengthen existing academic programs and support their students. Indeed, the monies support and enhance graduate education in ways that more competitive programs do not and cannot (think tuition reimbursement as many programs have insufficient budget resources to assist with tuition). The key is that earmarks have to meaningfully enhance and augment the strengths of an institution and/or reflect the scale/scope/potential of existing activities. This is a non-issue as earmarks assist all academic units in direct and indirect ways. Indeed, I would guess that a great deal of discretionary budget resources that are made available to depts to assist/supplement with extra-ordinary travel, hosting conferences, end of year purchases, and so on are likely derived from F&A cost recovery. I would hope that this forum keep its eye on the ball--which is a failed leader (aka Jacobs).
Concerned Alum
Sorry, earmarks are pork. By definition this stuff is waste. Real research gets funded by the NSF and NIH.
Just because Marcy has made herself the heiress of John Murtha and the money is being laundered through UT does not make it magically productive. Think of the Murtha related corruption. Where is this loot going after it gets through UT's and its patrons' hands? If you think it circulates around Toledo providing jobs...very naive.
Yr humble & obt servt
John Dickinson.
The whole question about whether UT should or should not receive earmarks is fraught with perils.
Please keep in mind that earmarks are tax dollars. If there are earmarks, then there necessarily will have to be taxes or debt or both! Economists are concerned that the debt burden of the United States has grown too large. The debt of a country, according a recent article in the Economist Magazine is a Ponzi scheme based on the growth of the population and its output of the country. In the United States, the debt has now grown much faster than either the population or the national output and this has Economists very worried.
Similarly, increased taxes are a disincentive to personal and corporate wealth creation. President's Reagan's success is that he was able to encourage business investment by lower the tax rates in the United States. But that is clearly not possible considering the expenditures that the United States is making at this time. Therefore, Congress was entirely correct in trying to limit earmarks in the budgeting process as earmarks contributed to the national debt.
Have earmarks helped UT? Definitely yes in a short term perspective. Equipment was bought, laboratories built and students funded. But this is a short sighted outlook on the problem.
Earmarks were needed because UT's reputation as a research university limited its effectiveness in the competitive granting process. Furthermore, the agencies that were committed by Congress to provide the earmark dollars to UT were not always happy to do so nor were they necessarily happy with the results that they received for the moneys provided. If the agency is not happy with the results of this process, then it certainly will not be willing to consider UT a viable research facility when making decisions when the competitive proposals are considered. The question about whether earmarks help UT's reputation is clearly not answered favorably amongst either peer institutions or amongst the funding agencies.
In addition, when UT uses earmark money to bring in research faculty and build facilities and the earmarks do not continue, then UT has to provide budget from its operating budget to provide salaries and perform the maintenance and upkeep that the new equipment and laboratories need. In the long term, this costs the future students of UT who provide the greatest part of the operating budget through their tuition dollars.
Earmarks not necessarily good for UT and they definitely are not good for our nation. Too many tax dollars have been wasted pursuing pet projects when such projects could withstand the scrutiny of peer review. And I cannot regard the recent publications regarding skirting earmark rules as being good press for UT.
But I do agree with the first commenter: our "eye on the ball" should be inability of the Jacob's Administration to successfully lead the University of Toledo.
The issue of earmarks is a political concern and not an academic one. To swear off earmarks would be to reduce the competitiveness of UT. Indeed, earmarks are used to attract/retain the specific faculty who will obtain NSF and NIH grants in the future, as well as build infrastructure and capacity that are unlikely to be funded by a single agency through the competitive process (the monies are too small). The issue of others declining various partnerships is likely the result of fit and/or a lack of capacity (i.e., fully engaged researchers). Based on the article, the specific projects outlined appear to be consistent with the strategic direction of the university (i.e., alternative energy). Additionally, these emerging partnerships are analogous to SBIR awards. While the paper sees the new policy as creating a loop hole, the reality is that it has expanded opportunities for universities. With respect to the competitive v. non-competitive nature of earmarks, I know of very few active researchers who do not need bridge funding between grants and/or are automatically renewed. Indeed, the fund rates (and my experience as a reviewer and multiple grantee) at NSF strongly suggests a great deal of COMPETITIVE research goes unfunded. I have no concerns with attempts by UT and/or members of congress to attract resources to the region. Indeed, a failure to attract additional resources would be highly problematic.
Concerned Alum
some earmarks are good, some are silly. the problem is that the judgment of good or bad is purely political and always tied to some OTHER totally unrelated legislation. for example, i think earmarks for alternative energy research is ultimately good for the nation- but the funding should be peer reviewed and passed as an independent bill. that will never happen, because politicians and parties today are much more interested in re-election than in saving the nation and preserving an educated democracy. so, i think marcy does what she can.
My concern is that our sleazy administrators will put these earmarks to questionable uses--benefiting themselves and their buddies--while the College is starved.
The real question to be asked is this:
Could the University of Toledo attract funding for alternative energy if they had to compete with other universities and their proposals were peer reviewed?
If they can, why haven’t they done so?
If the University of Toledo cannot attract funding through a competitive process, why should their proposals be provided with federal tax dollars?
Did you ever think that if earmarks did not exist, the budget for granting agencies might be larger for competitive research if the research was needed? I remember back in the 80’s when I had to channel $25 million to a state university from my budget as a laboratory director for computational facilities that clearly did not support my unit’s mission in order to meet the whims of a powerful Senator. My year to year budget did not change much but I clearly had less funding to support the competitive projects we were set up to support and less funding to investigate the problems that we had responsibility to solve.
I too am a multi-NSF grantee; I too am a regular NSF Panel Member and Reviewer; I also have received competitive funding from other agencies and have recognition awards from those agencies for the research that I performed on their behalf. Earmarks are destructive to fostering high quality research by allowing funds to be diverted to projects with relatively low worth and low probability of producing results that are needed or will be used in the future. The SCI provides a data point to support this: the difference in SCI numbers between projects that were peer reviewed and earmark projects is striking. The easiest way to see this is to take papers with very high citation ratings and to trace them back to their funding source. Many of these papers will give you acknowledgements which make the process easier.
The concept that you will attract top quality researchers by having earmarks is utterly false. There are many reasons why people chose to work where they work including location, position availability, potential for advancement and salary.
The graduates of the top quality programs and the best researchers know where to look if they want to continue their careers as researchers and it is not at a university which is primarily supported by earmarks. The people that earmarks attract are the “want to be’s”. They could not get funding on their own but they are willing to spend you money. It may be possible to find someone who because of other factors that is also a high quality researcher. I will guarantee you: it will be these other factors that will have attracted the individual, not the earmark.
UT's solar efforts have gotten all sorta of grants from the NSF, Depts of Energy and DoE, the EDA and other places.
Also, no one seems to have mentioned that these are proposed earmarks and that nothing has been granted. You're talking about it like all these are a done deal.
Also, I'm disappointed to see people attacking our colleagues in physics simply because the dislike Jacobs. I think it's possible to be against Jacobs without having to accuse fellow faculty of poor research, especially when it seems obvious they do very well getting competitive grants.
I am not attacking my colleagues in Physics, Engineering or Medicine. But I am trying to tell the story honestly rather than from the hype that passes for facts on this campus. I am certain that there may be some good researchers in these areas. But earmarks are not the way to doing good research for variety of reasons that I presented above.
To Anon at 10:23
The physics "faculty" in question are only faculty in name. They are more concerned with spining their research off into their own companies than they are teaching, advising, serving the UT community, or saving the world.
They don't give a damn about the College or the University.
It is about time we stop walking on egg shells and tell it the way it is.
-K/F
Read this: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Amid-Layoffs-Some-Officials-Earn-Big-Bucks-98522549.html
Undoubtedly they will say, "You MUST PAY TO KEEP GOOD PEOPLE!"
What's going on at UT is part of a nation-wide epidemic of good-old-boy clubs washing each other's hands and scratching each other's back. Whether in private corporations or public or quasi-public institutions it is obvious that he who controls the gold makes the rules and invariably they make those rules out to mean they are worth more and more.
Wish someone would look into connecting all the dots between Ohio boards of trustees, presidents, administrators, and businesses who have been milking the state's teets dry for their own benefit.
Wait, I thought this was a unique problem to UT...
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