I haven’t blogged in almost a year, and that’s because I occasionally forget this is here. Almost a year ago, I posted my gratitude that I had reached full professor at CSU. A few weeks ago, after months of administration creating a retrenchment policy that let them go after whoever they wanted, no regard to tenure (the state is killing it this summer, basically) or rank. There were announced days where a select number (no clue how many at the time) of faculty would be let go. Then they changed their minds on when and let us suffer for a weekend.
They let us know later in the day, by email, and there were 6 of us from English (half of us), 3 chemistry, 3 from art, and 4 from music, if I remember correctly. They were announcing programs being cut but didn’t let anyone go from those areas. And I was one of the first to know I’d be in the retrenched group. I will finish my first year as a full professor, then I’ll be unemployed. I’m paid through the summer, but when September arrives, there will be no job and no insurance.
But let me one-up my rank by saying one of the art professors, who was going up for full, got her notification from the senate promotion committee that she was successful at that level (it’s important but not the deciding factor). Three days later, she got the retrenchment letter.
The faculty are all in shock. People don’t know what to say to the laid off (is that the proper term?), but we muddle through. I hear a number of us saying the building is a ghost town. We’re finishing out the term and being paid while looking for work, and the academic hiring for the fall mostly ended before we got our notices.
Is the university at fault? Sort of. But this is because Ohio passed what has been known for years now as SB1 when it finally passed. The only good part of that bill was to make colleges teach a civics course. The numbers of faculty in comparison to student majors should be in parity, but (for instance) too few English majors means we get rid of English professors. There are so many of us because we’re almost all teaching Composition classes (I’ve taught 2-3 per semester for YEARS), but the administration says that doesn’t matter. We’ll hire adjuncts with our ridiculously low pay and “in the country” location to replace the English faculty. They fired both of the creative writing professors, so that minor is rudderless. I’ve run readings for students for years, so that ends under my watch (not sure anyone will take it up, since the creative writing folks are walking out.
So anyway, a lot of this is the state, but faculty are very critical of how the administration handled it. And now Ohio is trying to pass a more aggressive education bill that will go after us even more. This is a grim sign of Ohio’s Republican-controlled opinion of education.
Oddly enough, though, the governor loves us and is apparently intervening to rebuild/renovate Wesley Hall over the summer.
Anyway, I am not completely tied down to academia. Give an old man a shout if you know of anything in the region that pays well. I’m on a limited timetable (months) to find something.
Bill Abbott, poet, web page 