Today at 3 p.m., Provost Debra Austin met with the faculty to give her state of the university address. When will this administration learn that disrupting faculty research, teaching and office hours in the middle of the day for a mundane Power Point presentation is not only insulting but a complete waste of good academic time?
During the August Faculty Planning week, Debra Austin was not prepared to address the state of the university and promised an email power point presentation within the week. Well it has been well over six weeks now and she pulls faculty out of class to inform them that the university is on the right track, student performance is improving, and blah, blah, blah. We all have read that the quality of the student body is declining exponentially.
Just this semester alone, a hand full of faculty has been accosted in the classroom and some have refused to return to the classroom for fear of their well-being. Sources say, Debra has been riding around with contracts for 50-60 employees in the trunk of her car and they have yet to be signed.
Finally, it is becoming abuntantly cleary that the FAMU SACS committee really needs a seasoned person, and our interim is secretly approaching individuals to come on board as consultants.
I heard new faculty at FAMU DRS haven't been paid this year at all and don't have signed contracts. I'm told their contracts are in Academic Affairs can RN look into this?
ReplyDeleteI think RN may have told us where those missing contracts are.
ReplyDeleteLord, have mercy, how much deeper can we sink? There's so much earth that can absorb us. Debra needs to go.
ReplyDeletewhy hasnt the story about professors getting accosted gotten more press? This is the first Ive heard of it. What schools?
ReplyDeletelord ha'mercy
ReplyDeletewhatever happened with them and diallo. seems kinda strange to me that she is no longer a part of the leadership team.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Mary Diallo was ever part of the leadership team under C&Co. After all, Mary's a real scholar and educator and very, very smart. Why on earth would Castell want her around?
ReplyDeleteThe reason we haven't heard about professors being accosted because it isn't happening. I'm sure when a professor snaps at a student, the student probably snaps back. The professors have to remember, they are dealing with grown men and women. If they are that fearful of going to work, submit the letter of resignation, and move on. I come to this site for my daily laughs, because it is as hilarious as the tabloids.
ReplyDeleteMy Chemistry teacher got into a shouting match with a student and the student pushed him. Maybe that's one of the examples RN is citing.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of tabloids, Debra and Cast-hell provide plenty of tabloid like fodder.
...lesson learned...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that Chemistry teacher won't get in a shouting match again with the student...and I'm sure the student won't push back if charges are pressed, or grades (F) are given even before the final! As a professor, don't be afraid to come to class, use your power of the red pen..get them where it hurts...You push me, I flunk you...
professors aren't suppose to do that...that's pettiness.
ReplyDeleteStudents earn their grades. true the pen is mightier than the sword ad it will write and write and write. But if a student earns an A they deserve an A.
The reason we haven't heard about professors being accosted because it isn't happening.
ReplyDeleteBullskit!!!! I was in a class and the students had to come to the rescue of a 112lb female professor, who being yelled at by a large male student who was shouting "I'll F you up!"
Anonymous said...The reason we haven't heard about professors being accosted because it isn't happening. I'm sure when a professor snaps at a student, the student probably snaps back. The professors have to remember, they are dealing with grown men and women. If they are that fearful of going to work, submit the letter of resignation, and move on. I come to this site for my daily laughs, because it is as hilarious as the tabloids. 9/27/2006 12:44 PM
ReplyDeleteOh yeah..., well you haven't heard about the threats CVB has received either, but does that make them any less real? Professors and adjuncts are verbally abuse and threatened on a regular basis. Even if it was one case, one case is too many. Debra Austin and the dean council are more than aware of the incidents that have occcured.
I would like to add that employees have been filed and reported to these incidents to the FAMU PD.
Unfortunately, the classroom is turning into a battleground and professors and adjuncts have no recourse but to leave the classroom to the heathens. At the slightest provocation, the prof or adjunct should get the hell out of there, because WE DON'T KNOW IF THESE "students" ARE PACKING/CARRYING.
I can honestly say that if I think a student is about to become disruptive in my classroom, I am out of there and the lecture material will not be covered during the next class. I am there to teach not patrol.
lol...this sounds like some hearsay if I have ever heard it! When was the last time some of you actually ATTENDED a class at FAMU? It is true that the caliber of students have declined in the past few years, but you guys are making it sound like it is a war zone in the classrooms! As a RECENT graduate, I can attest that this is NOT the case! I agree with the earlier post that, believe it or not, Professors are NOT being accosted on a routinely basis! There will always be an exception, but it is an exception to the rule, not the norm!
ReplyDelete"professors aren't suppose to do that...that's pettiness"
ReplyDeleteTrust, there are professors who haven't been accosted, and are flunking students who show up to class every day, pass tests, homework assignments, etc. just because they don't like them.
Sorry, but it is the truth.
I'm confused about the GPA of incoming students.
ReplyDeleteAustin today said these were the incoming Grade Point Averages of the past 3 freshman classes:
Fall 04 3.13
Fall 05 3.04
Fall 06 3.01
But if 40% or 50% of that incoming class is "special admission" (can anybody verify those figures?) meaning they do not meet the minimum standards for admission, how can the average GPA be so high?
Are the special admission students' averages calculated in these averages? Or are they left out?
And with the huge and growing number of freshman-aged students out there, why have FAMU enrollments fallen?
I don't know about the special admit stats, but I think SAT/ACT scores figure in. They have fallen, too. But in answer to your question, "And with the huge and growing number of freshman-aged students out there, why have FAMU enrollments fallen?" the answer is that more and more students with the option of attending another institution are doing so. And because our freshman are generally weaker academically, fewer of them make it into their sophomore years. That's why the fall off in enrollment is mostly in 2nd year. What's the solution? New leadership, effective recruitment, money for scholarships rather than for crony-consultants and administrative office redecoration.
ReplyDeleteOrlando Sentinel EDITORIAL
ReplyDeleteNurturing gone too far
Our position: FAMU is right to reject students who haven't paid their tuition.
Posted September 28, 2006
Florida A&M University long has aimed to provide quality higher education to students who otherwise might not have had access to such.
But in its efforts to nurture and provide a compassionate learning environment, FAMU became too lenient and jeopardized its financial stability.
Now interim President Castell Bryant is taking difficult but necessary steps to rectify the situation. She turned away more than 1,000 students this fall for failing to pay tuition and fees. Some had not paid for several semesters, and the problem sunk the university $5 million in debt.
That, along with other examples of financial mismanagement -- including a 2004 audit report released this summer that said the school failed to pay vendors, kept shoddy records and used no-bid contracts -- put the institution in dire straits.
Turning away delinquent students was an unpopular decision, but it was the right thing to do.
Lenders and financial counselors were brought on campus to help students get their accounts caught up, but until that happens it would be wrong for them to remain enrolled.
That would be unfair to taxpayers who help support FAMU and to those students who work, save, borrow and do whatever else it takes to pay their bills on time.
FAMU is the only state college or university that routinely has allowed students to skip out on payments and still stick around taking classes. It's not tolerated on other Florida campuses and for good reason. The same rules should apply to FAMU.
So.., when faced with a problem.., cast it away to the consultants??
ReplyDeleteWhy not apply the real solution as a major component in your RETENTION PLAN cvb? When they stay too long, you got a problem. At least they're there. You can't seem to retain them, we already knew that you didn't know how to recruit them.*** I'm ready to get on the bus! And they think that they're gonna steal a few more years for CVB in the NEXT contract. But I'm tellin' you to look out for Debbie and/or Adam Herbert. Time to clean house right now in the BOTraitors! How a half ass BOT gonna hire appropriate administration. Have you seen their credentials? UNSATISFACTORY MOSTLY.
To: Anon, 8:32...
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean,
"If the faculty is required to teach four classes," hell, the faculty ALREADY teaches four classes. Have been and will mot likely continue doing so. Ask me how I know: I'm a faculty member and have been for well over a decade. In fact, Im entering my 12 year at the university. Now, Debra Austin is proposing that faculty teach FIVE classes. The woman is mad, mad, I tell you. Well, she comes from a community college, so what th4e hell do you expect? The shit is so damn unreal at the university until everyday I come home I just want to break down and cry. Sometimes I do, but then I look around and realize that I have a mfing mortgage and then I find a mfing tissue and dry my damn eyes and keep rolling.