Scott Scarborough scores at Akron. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/05/university_of_akron_names_its.html
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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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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
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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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28 comments:
Excellent news! Maybe there's hope yet for our University of Toledo.
Here are some novel ideas for the board. Hire an academic at a modest salary to run the university. We can't afford anymore grandiose plans. We need someone who can improve what we have. This includes faculty and staff morale. Hire a qualified provost at an even more modest salary and eliminate some of the vice president roles as attrition occurs during the transition. This would save money on administration. Help the upper administrators by devolving enough power back down to deans so that they can actually do their jobs. Eliminate University Counsel because it adds a useless layer of governance. Sell the hospital and get out of the medical care business...except for educating students. Those things are risky ventures. Stop the risky ventures. Reconstitute the College of Arts and Sciences to save on administrative costs. Stop wasting money on every fad (business incubators, solar energy, the latest piece of technology...). Stop hiring consultants. Improve word of mouth advertising by improving the academic experience. Drop the concentrated focus on marketing UT when the product that we are offering is often marginal at best and poor at worst (Honors College, 4th rate med school, 3rd rate law school, social sciences/humanities/criminal justice woefully understaffed, mass faculty retirements...). Fix the product before you market it.
I totally subscribe to the ideas presented by anonymous 9, 2014 at 12:41 AM! Hopefully the board of trustees will be open minded and will finally do something really innovative: hire academics at modest salaries to run the university.
Scotty, we hardly knew ya ...
It is usually the President leaving first and the after a new President comes, the Senior Staff is either kept or asked to leave. Note the process underway here! Gold, now Scary and then Jake. No one is taking any chances. The rats will be far gone when the truth about what they have done to UT comes to light.
There may be hope. At least this may keep Jacobs from anointing one of his minions. Are there any other incompetent administrators around?
BTW, the med school is not 4th rate. MCAT scores and GPA's have it right in the middle of all schools.
The fact that Scott is leaving, that Gold has left and that Jacobs is on his way out are all cause for celebration. UT has the opportunity to reew itself---after it picks ups the mess made by these 3 and after we fix everything they have broken. I feel hopeful for the first time in a long time.
Anonymous 1241, i'd encourage you to come visit the law school before you disparage a program you appear to know nothing about. Not sure how the faculty of the colleges formerly known as a and s benefit from lodging criticisms of faculty in other programs.
35 million dollar deficit, financial and hospital scandals, 6 years of decreased enrollments, moral in the tank, faculty bailing.....why would they pick him? Anyway, explains his soft peddling of leadership at the commencement.
I agree. There is no need to use the disparaging term "3rd rate" when it is "ranked #140" by the USNews: the rankings of the "Best Law Schools for 2015" is easily accessible online. Say, why not hang a giant banner that reads "Best Again" on the College of Law building? It is not exactly a lie. I marvel at the similar banner that hangs on the Health Science Campus every time I drive by. Thanks, Larry, for all you do.
Thank you for the invitation. However, I did look up the US News and World Report rankings for both the law school and medical school before making the comment. UT Law was rated but not very highly while the medical school's rank was not reported. We could certainly argue about the validity of those rankings or call me out for bad behavior for because I name dropped those programs. Really though, that seems beside the point when there are very few programs at this university, including its flagship academic programs, that could not be significantly strengthened in terms of (at least one of these): resources, course availability, course offerings, number of faculty, faculty quality, curriculum, research productivity, teaching, and staffing/support. Strong programs would give us something to market and they often speak for themselves.
Has UT and any of its colleges ever ranked any other then average in any ranking system, ever? UT is an average mid size public university and the only ranking that really matters is how UT fairs in comparison to our institutional peers and immediate competitors. Also the State controls many aspects of how UT can operate: can not have regional campus, must be open enrollment, state funding cuts and tuition caps. Makes it pretty hard to make many advances with these controls and limited finances in place, regardless of President and Board (although I will agree they have not helped the current situation at all, having also contributed to the current state of UT.
#140 on US News is "first tier," according to the magazine's own dubious system of ranking (top 75% of ranked schools). So saying, "first tier law school" would be more accurate than "third rate" assuming you desire to credit US News for some level of accuracy in its ordinal rankings.
The Law school has done better in other rankings/measures.
http://www.utoledo.edu/law/news/2013/0909.html
http://www.utoledo.edu/law/news/2013/0322.html
But I think the law school, like nearly all programs on campus, would welcome more resources dedicated to improving academic quality and maintaining or enhancing affordability.
What is interesting is that the Akron faculty supported the selection of Scott as the new President at Akron - do they know something we do not or were they not made aware by faculty here at UT about how he has operated as Provost here?
To Anonymous 5:47,
Interesting but perhaps not accurate. In today’s Inside Higher Education the article “New Hurdles for Tressel” here
https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=avhg543cde0ce
is accompanied by one reader’s apparently informed and emphatic comment:
“The faculty union DID NOT endorse Mr. Tressel, nor any other candidate. For some reason, the union presidents felt the need to issue personal endorsements, and trust me, members of the faculty union are not happy with that decision. Oh, and the university budget deficit is not $11 million--it's a cooked number the admin floats to media just in time for negotiations, a number they manipulate by shifting reserves around.”
Apparently the BOT met with someone from the Attorney General's office again this afternoon in executive session.
Reality check 101. Jacobs hasn't been fired publicly and it's entirely possible he is leaving for health reasons. Anything that's been happening behind closed BOT doors has, thus far, remained there. His minions, far from being the professional losers described here, are going off to bigger and higher paying jobs, and by their advancements professionally getting the last laugh. The BOT and Columbus remain the same, with the distinct possibility of a Columbus mandated workload looming. And Toledo remains nothing but the sideshow of a sideshow in the greater struggle occurring nationally over the future and makeup of American public universities.
Pretty much sums-up what we're dealing with in the BOT.
http://swampbubbles.com/20140508/ut-board-rivals-board-elections-incompetence
Yes Anonymous 7:25, as it is entirely possible that monkeys in tutus will be flying out of Larry Burns' butt before long. The record shows that academic quality at the University of Toledo was uphill but consistently improving until Jacobs Inc. arrived on the scene, triggering eight long years of reversal of fortune. Now the glass is again half full and its heady brew can be on the rise once more. The two notorious legacies of gross maladministration by Jacobs Inc. will be 1) the infamous and unpopular logo switch and 2) the vindictive and systematic destruction of Arts and Science College. Both shameful events can be reversed now that Jacobs Inc. is kaput (kapoor?). UT is on the road to recovery. Rejoice!
The logo switch? That's your example of the notorious legacy of gross maladministration? And isn't Larry in charge of the logo? You guys make me sad
Right about Arts and Sciences. Logo? Not so much. There's still the University seal.
UT needs to hire a president that the faculty respect.
I liked the old logo, but that hardly makes the top two. Jacobs's support for Senate Bill 5 should definitely be in there.
I was opposed to the breakup of Arts and Science, but now I would be equally opposed to merging the various colleges. UT needs stability not more change. Whatever we would gain by merging the colleges would be more than offset by the chaos yet another reorganization would create.
examples of maladministration are so numerous that I will not hold any citations against anyone. Anonymous 7:25 is perceptive, not "only in academia" but "especially in academia, losers tend to go on to better things, but UT still needs new leadership to bring it back to an earlier level of "poised-for-respect". the elements of such an effort are clear: reduce cost and arrogance of administration; restore pride and respect to faculty and front-line staff; recognize that cost drivers in higher education and STEM-of-nothing emphasis is miss-guided.
UT also needs to hire a president who respects the faculty
The beauty of this blog is that it archives for the uninformed and the conveniently forgetful all past debates about University of Toledo issues involving maladministration deemed significant by our main campus faculty and others concerned with the downward spiral of the UT academic mission under Jacobs Inc.
Take the notorious logo switch for example. It was anything but trivial if you are mindful of the devious use of the power of propaganda in the hands of tyrants.
On November 28, 2009, in this blog, Mr. Jeff Odelot wrote in earnest:
"In order to restore faith in our academic community, the entire University of Toledo community needs to take back our official university seal. This seal is the emblem that you see in the middle of Centennial Mall, in the 3rd floor hall of University Hall, or at UT events such as graduation (perhaps the blog monitor might post a picture of our seal for all to see?) Currently, this seal is reserved strictly for presidential use at the University, an abhorrent abuse of power in my humble opinion.
This great seal, UT's rococo and romantic emblem of academia, is a beautiful representation of what university education should stand for. The seal's use of Old Spanish --Coadyuvando El Presente, Formando El Porvenir--is unique among America's major universities. The seal's very use of an archaic language ascribes a certain value and beauty to the prospect of liberal education -- what economic worth does the knowledge of old Spanish bring to 21st century America? Absolutely nothing.
But with knowledge of Old Spanish, one can begin to see the bigger picture of our world. Questions begin to flow "Why is our motto in Spanish?", "What is Toledo's relationship to Spain?". The questions originating from our seal don't stop with Spain, but are ever increasing in scope. “Why have universities?”, “What is our mission in the world” Are not questions the basis of an academic community?
Therefore, I believe a formal return of the seal to the university community will help bring UT out of its current nebulous malaise. I am not asking for the president to give up his office's use of the seal; no, I am simply asking for the democratic return of the seal for the entire community's use."
I'm looking at the opening remarks of the March 25 Faculty Senate meeting. Can we have Linda Rouillard replace Jacobs? We need someone with the right vision for this place.
The highlights of Linda's opening remarks are powerful, eloquent and a clear call for immediate faculty action:
"Shortly before that meeting, it was announced that Dr. Jacobs will step down as President in June 2015, a year before his current contract extension ends. I speak now not as FS president, but as a 13-year member of this community.
This is the lowest point I’ve seen at UT: in terms of morale, enrollment, and academics. The Jacobs’ leadership has shown a decided lack of integrity, a disregard for academics, a disdain for faculty, and a willingness to treat students as cash cows.
This leadership adopts fads rather than research and evaluate methodologies, or invest in full-time faculty and faculty development. This leadership believes in no administrator left behind. Its chronic re-organization of the institution has provided window dressing resulting in damage to academic programs and to our reputation. Regular budget shortfalls are followed by stellar spending, the SIM center, paid for out of institutional reserves recently being the most egregious.
While we, as faculty dedicated to our students and to our profession, work to assure responsible stewardship of our university, this president has stifled the vaulty voice at every turn.
It is time re-assert the faculty role and responsibilities in program development rather thans allow administration to organize academic programs in the shadows in an effort to find the wealthiest students.
It is time to re-assert the faculty role and responsibilities in financial and budgetary decisions. It is time for faculty to have direct two-way communication with the Board of Trustees. It is time for full disclosure."
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