Real Tenure?

Here is something I may have posted before but probably good to read again in light of recent discussions on tenure and job security. For the record, my institution is actually seeing record enrollments and we have a new president who seems to understand what the college needs and is willing to go after it. The college is also now ranked with top-tier liberal arts schools (for whatever that is worth) so I temper my recent criticisms with some good news. Nevertheless, I refuse to get comfortable in this age of budget cuts. I reread this article today: http://chronicle.com/article/Real-Tenure-Is-Portable/44851

Perils of going up for tenure

A "colleague" sandbagged me in his letter. Not unexpected in this case, but still annoying. I wouldn't mind so much, but this guy has a habit of calling me unprofessional while trashing me to students. I of course cannot respond in kind because that would be --- wait for it -- unprofessional, not to mention childish. How does one appropriately respond to insane, petty childishness in others without appearing to be insane, petty and childish himself?

Furloughs again

At least you all in the CSU are not working for less pay. You actually are getting mandatory days off so they don't have to pay you. Correct?

More for less?

This year and probably in coming years I am making less money than in previous years. When employees make less money morale tends to drop and consequently their productivity drops too. The one question I am asking myself this year is: Am I working more or as much as last year? A positive answer should give pause. Should I really work more or harder or the same if I'm earning less money? Maybe I should make different priorities? Maybe I should spend more time with my family, work on the house (which is the one asset that still has value at least for me) focus more rigorously on research and less on, heaven forbid, dare I say it--OK, I'll say it hushed tones--teaching or advising. Certainly I can take less time on committee work. But then again maybe this is the message in this economy and in the wake of the financial meltdown. To be fair, employers are struggling to balance their budgets too. It just seems that the "little guy" or "main street" has to bear the irresponsibility of a financial system that overleveraged itself, to put in mildly, and then gets bailed out because we can't function without them. To repeat Slavoj Zizek's recent query: What kind of society permits such blackmail?

For Zizek see Harper's Magazine, October 2009, "To Each According to His Greed" in the Readings section. It's online.

Golden Age?

My Hispanic Civ/Culture class just finished studying and discussing the Spanish Middle Ages. We are now into the so-called Spanish Golden Age. Maybe it's just me, but can anyone defend this label given the increased and ultimately absolute intolerance, fanaticism, more religious war, and economic mismanagement seen between 1500 and 1700? I understand the term may be more applicable to literature and fine arts, but I hardly see the relevance to political and social life. Is this still a valid term in critical circles? Is the term now Early Modern? The Middle Ages seem more golden than what immediately succeeded this period.

Furloughs etc.

Interesting situation out West. Here the college has suspended retiremement contributions resulting in a 5% pay cut. Other colleges and corporations have taken identical measures to balance budgets. I took a quick glance at the MLA job list last night. At the moment there are about 75 postings in Spanish. If memory serves, there were at least twice that many last year at this time. More listings will trickle in, but I'll be surprised if there are more than half as many as there has been in recent years. The list usually reaches a couple hundred postings.

Furloughs

For those of you not happily employed by the State of California, the word "furlough" may bring up images of soldiers on leave. In my case, it's professors on leave. We have two furlough days this month: the Friday before and the Tuesday after Labor Day. For me that works out to one instructional day and one non-instructional day.

In addition to four fixed furlough days throughout the semester, we're expected to choose another five, for a total of nine. There is something of a furor among the professoriat about whether we should be taking furloughs on instructional days (to make some sort of political point) or non-instructional days (so as not to harm students any further than they are already being harmed).

When I said I'm taking all of my non-fixed furlough days on non-instructional days, I was told "that's just what they want you to do." They (presumably, the nefarious powers that be) apparently are counting on the good will of professors who are unwilling to completely eviscerate their classes. On the other hand, by taking furloughs on non-instructional days, I'm not really taking days off, since I use those days for prepping.

At the UC, meanwhile, professors have been told that all of their furlough days will have to be non-instructional.

For those of my colleagues in the CSU system, what's your plan?