Sickening

This isn't about my teaching, or pedagogy. It's about the new administration's treatment of faculty. Bruce just got word that all of the people who were on "temporary" lines are being let go: that's five very dedicated, hard-working, smart, qualified, talented professors in the English department alone. Not only are their positions being eliminated, the decision was made TODAY--effectively preventing them from any chance of finding good work elsewhere. Two of them have been here for two years and--up until this new administration--would have had every assurance that their lines would be converted to probationary tenure track after two years. We're heart sick on their behalf, and beyond enraged. I don't know what's going to happen, what avenues of fight are open to us, how we can counteract this contemptuous, despicable behavior on the part of the powers that be, but whatever is done, I'm happy to be on the front lines. We're having an end-of-semester departmental party today, and I can only imagine what the tone of that event will be: anything but celebratory. I'm tempted to go dressed all in black. Jesus, this is just fucking awful.

If any of my students are reading this, please write letters to the administration telling them that you value being taught by full-time faculty who have a commitment to you and to the school. Adjuncts are often wonderful professors, don't get me wrong: many of them are better than some of our full-time faculty. But the nature of adjuncting is that one must cobble together a living from far too many disparate positions, which necessarily limits one's time and focus on our campus and students specifically. And yet this administration wants to get rid of more full-time faculty--all of us, I think, if they could--despite the fact that we literally cannot find qualified adjuncts. But the administration doesn't care about "qualified"--or about quality of instruction. They care about two things: their own power, and money. Period. Students, if you care about your education, complain--and get your parents to complain. Loudly. You might be listened to. Faculty are not.