I smell trouble (with tenure)

It’s rare that I blog about something that happens at Ithaca, but this issue raises a string of questions those involved in tenure review across the country will have to address — or, in some cases more immediate than others, answer.

The Chronicle of Higher Education and the Ithacan reported late last week that an assistant professor at Ithaca College, Margo Ramlal-Nanoke, hired a law firm to confront the college’s administration and board of trustees about her tenure.

Ramlal-Nanoke, a native of India who grew up in the Carribean, teaches classes about global race, ethnic relations and women in the third world. She also advises the student group Students for a Just Peace, which supports human rights and is against the occupation of the Palestinian territories, according to the group’s online listing.

In a letter sent to the college’s board of trustees, Ramlal- Nanoke and her law firm alleged her tenure review was “influenced by blatant political lobbying against her based on her teachings on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

The situation revisits two questions that have plagued a handful of campuses during the past year: What constitutes academic freedom, and what role does it, and the influence of outside groups and organizations, play in granting tenure?

There are plenty of colleges that have academic freedom and freedom of speech in their mission statements. But where these colleges and universities seem to struggle is how exactly to put that into practice.

The lawyers representing Nanoke were involved in a similar tenure case of a political science professor from DePaul University last year. That also centered around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ended with a settlement and that professor’s resignation.

The professor, Norman G. Finkelstein, caught heat for his writings on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and something he called the “Holocaust industry.” Ramlal-Nanoke’s lawyer, Lynne Bernabei, wrote in the letter to Ithaca’s board of trustees that her client was neither “pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, but many of the countries and societies she writes about are supportive of something other than Israeli policy.”

Columbia University has had its own share of tenure trouble. It’s in the midst of a two-year tenure review of Joseph Massad, a Palestinian-American scholar and associate professor of Arab politics in the university’s department of Middle East and Asian languages and culture.

A Chronicle of Higher Education article consulted professors who said Columbia’s tenure board voted “narrowly in favor” of Massad’s tenure, which the provost, Alan Brinkley ,then denied. Supporters of Massad recently convinced the provost to review his tenure, so the professor will get a second shot.

Joseph Massad’s writings and research on addressing “Zionism as the new anti-Semitism” and “encouraging the violent dismantling of “Jewish society in Israel”” have appeared in places like New Politics and the Journal of Palestine Studies. He has many supporters, but many people at Columbia, including students and faculty, think Massad is using his professorship as a mouthpiece instead of as a “venue for scholarship and inquiry.”

At Columbia’s sister school, Barnard College, Nadia Abu El-Haj, an assistant professor of anthropology, came up for tenure, which launched a debate about the merit of her academic research. According to a chronicle article about El-Haj’s tenure, Paula R. Stern, a Barnard alumna, posted an open letter on the site Petition Online calling Abu El-Haj a scholar of “demonstrably inferior caliber” and urging Barnard to reject her tenure bid.

In a book published in 2001, El-Haj asserted Israeli archaeologists searched for an ancient Jewish presence to help build the case for a Jewish state. She also wrote that in these quests, Israelis sometimes used bulldozers, and in the process, destroyed remains of other cultures.

El-Haj’s legitimacy was questioned because her critics said she, as a Palestinian, was not qualified to analyze Jewish scholars, especially as a scholar not fluent in Hebrew.

All of the cases mentioned in this post revolve around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I find it hard to believe that a professor be so publicly scrutinized if he or she were publishing new research on relationships involving the Russia’s relationship with Georgia, or America’s relationship with China. What seems to be missing from all of these cases is a consistent way to determine what place political beliefs should play in classrooms, and to what extent they can damage a professor up for tenure.

As if all this wasn’t enough for Ithaca College to handle, another one of its own tenure cases was exhumed in the New York Times earlier this week in an article titled (get this) “Judgment Day.”

Part of the article was an account from Carolyn Byerly, a former journalism professor who sued the college for sex discrimination in 2001 because her tenure was denied on the basis of student evaluations, she said , which her department and dean said reflected an inability to meet the standard of excellence for teaching. Byerly said her focus “on how race, gender and sexual orientation are handled by the media led students to deny her chance for tenure.”

The basis for her tenure denial, she said, was only 43 negative evaluations “full of gender bias: out of several hundred positive ones.”

Byerly lost her case on summary judgment, and when she appealed, she was denied.

It seems like Ithaca College is on the edge of its own “judgment day.” And if Ramlal-Nankoe takes the college to court, it could be interesting to see if Byerly’s case comes into play.

Thoughts on Loans and Financial Aid

Sorry for the long delay in posting, even though I know I’m not the only one reeling from all the work that has to be submitted before finals week (something to do with that Dec. 25 final grade submission… Thanks Registrar!) A little something meta on the blogs: We have a new comments policy that our commenters should all be aware of, so acquaint yourself with it. Now onto the important stuff:

A wolf in (Oregon) duck’s clothing: There’s this loan group from Florida that’s gotten into a lot of trouble from New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo. He’s investigated a bunch of other loan companies earlier this year for their dubious actions, which include cash for friend referrals and signups, but the most recent group, Student Financial Services, has been using team names, logos and mascots for their marketing to students.

Apparently not all universities keep the rights to their mascots, but have them through an intermediary group, so that’s how this loan company was able to use the marks (maybe that’s how Washburn University got an eerily similar logo to U. of Wisconsin?).? The Times reported that at least 17 have since suspended their arrangements with the group, and the Chronicle is reporting that the remainder, 63 in total, are also cutting their ties. Cuomo is also reportedly was working with the company to make an agreement so they don’t have to pay a penalty ? instead, they’ll have a code of conduct developed by the attorney general’s office.

Recapping other loan stuff: Munzer got to it earlier this week, but this Harvard financial aid thing is only the latest in universities taking financial aid into their own hands. In the middle of last month, the Chronicle (pay-walled) reported on three colleges in the Northeast that are doing away with loans for students. Williams College is getting rid of loans entirely from its financial aid packages, and Colby and Wesleyan are doing similar things to reduce their burdens.

The Harvard situation is merely an extension of their 2004 initiative to help those coming from lower economic backgrounds in staying in college. It’s a wonderful idea, and while I question the need for such deep discounts to the children of six-figure breadwinners, solving the cost problem is an issue the industry needs to answer ? and they’ve been terrible about doing so.

There are good reasons why college costs so much, especially here (something about the first major capital campaign in a 116-year history…). Some colleges, like Williams, are doing smart things. Even at Ithaca, students rise the the occasion, such as the HEOP program with Lobby Day [disclosure: I worked for Academic Enrichment Services last year]. When students get into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt when they graduate with degrees in English or Outdoor Adventure Leadership, it’s a pretty scary situation. Or, they don’t even make it past their first semester here. And when college seems to be the prerequisite and no longer an honor, it needs to become more affordable.

Something completely different: Can Antioch stop losing steam? There’s now a plan being set in motion to separate Antioch College from the associated university system to address the many issues that plague the institution. At first glance it sounds like a terrible idea, considering that the whole system started with the undergrad program. While I’m sure the Antioch College Continuation Corporation would have the college’s best interests at heart, especially with some very passionate people ? who wouldn’t give money when the agreement to save Antioch was penned last month ?? it moves the burden off the current administration of the Antioch in a dangerous way. Furthermore, it doesn’t help that as of Tuesday, the payment agreement made last month is no longer in effect [via Chronicle]. And what’s worse, if the transfer does happen, it’s most likely the school will have to get accreditation, since it won’t be the old Antioch.

Roundup: Cornell’s obsession with anal sex

anal sex protestersI don’t know how we missed this: On Nov. 16 Cornell University LGBT groups held an “informative and educational” presentation about everyone’s favorite sexual act, anal sex, in part to dispel myths and inform the general populace about all their humping options. The college Republicans, predictably, were there to protest the sponsoring groups and visiting “sexpert” Tristan Taormino who they said were “teaching people about an act that we believe is not morally right,” according to one protester. Taormino graciously thanked the Republicans for publicizing the event before she gave her talk. Watch the video until the end to see a snarky anal sex supporter tell the protesters to “go ahead and hold your sign up!”

Why can’t we have this in the U.S.?: Japan, that country of innovators which brought us Hello Kitty and the cell phone doodad leash, have unleashed yet another technological break through that’s sure to prevent them from ever interacting with each other in real life ever again. It’s a lecture class held entirely on a cell phone. But how does it work? PowerPoint slides pop up as the professor’s voice plays out of your phone’s speakers, which I guess is a great way to absorb information. Unfortunately, the downloadable classes don’t come with a “text your girlfriend in class and annoy your teacher” button. I’m heartbroken.

Now we’ll be able to better understand the epithets they shout at us while we destroy their way of life in a costly war of attrition: According to a report by the Modern Language Association (those lovely people who brought us MLA citation style) enrollments in foreign language courses are up 13 percent since 2002. Even better news: the study of the Arabic language has rocketed up 127 percent in five years. The number of students taking Chinese language classes were up 51 percent, and Korean language classes were up 37 percent. This makes me a little happier than I was ten minutes ago. Maybe the next generation will be a little more worldly than the one that’s currently in power. Or at least we’ll have better CIA agents.