tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764030643314768502024-03-07T20:21:40.935-08:00Free Academia at USaskFree Academiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459835520545993879noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876403064331476850.post-52389890834226217912014-03-18T21:31:00.001-07:002014-03-18T22:30:54.380-07:00Second open letter<br />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Second open letter
to the President of the University of Saskatchewan</span></span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">Dear
President Busch-Vishniac:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">We are
writing to express our concerns about the future of education at our
university, and the way students are treated by its administration. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">The 1995
University of Saskatchewan Act states: "The primary role of the university
is to provide post-secondary instruction and research in the humanities,
sciences, social sciences and other areas of human intellectual, cultural,
social and physical development." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">TransformUS
threatens the primary goal of our university because programs in all these
areas will be cut.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">Students and
faculty form the core of the university. But the TransformUS process and other
developments on campus have severely damaged their morale and have raised
serious questions in the community. The danger we see is that the diversity of
academic offerings will be cut drastically while tuition is raised to levels
that will exclude many from the access to higher education. Since 2009, students
have seen tuition increase by roughly 20%. Reduced diversity coupled with
reduced enrolment will ultimately result in a lack of well-educated, mature and
alert citizens in our community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">TransformUS
was sold to students with the argument that it is a tool to avoid tuition
hikes. But on March 10, exactly such a new hike has been announced. This shows
an appalling insensitivity of our university's administration towards already
worried and disappointed students and their parents. Students have been assured
that the latest increase is not an effort to balance the budget but rather an
effort to ensure high-quality education. It is absurd to paint tuition
increases in this light while simultaneously axing valuable and sought-after
programs at this university.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">Further, the
administration tries to assure students that they will be able to finish the
program they are in before it is phased out. We feel that we cannot rely on
this promise as there were programs in the past that were cut or
"transformed" abruptly without prior warning or any sort of
consultation with the students. And even when the students are able to finish
their program, they will end up with a degree from a program that no longer
exists, and will therefore have less value in the perception of potential
employers. Moreover, the way these programs were selected to be cut and the
rankings in the TaskForce reports often downright discredit them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">While there
is a lot of talk about "improving the student experience", the
reality is disappointing. TransformUS will further narrow down our choices,
which often are already poor. Reducing resources leads to larger class sizes,
jeopardized careers and shattered dreams. Shared services and other structural
changes are introduced without any consideration of the needs of students and
professors. Professors, burdened with ever more administrative work, have less
time for their students. In the past, our university served its students well
without recurring planning cycles and the determination of "university priorities".
What are university priorities if not student and faculty priorities? What good
is innovation when it dismantles already optimized structures for teaching and
learning? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">We are
worried not only for the present students, but also for future generations. Our
children and grandchildren should too receive a top education from a university
with traditional values of culture, knowledge and academic freedom.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;"> THIS IS OUR UNIVERSITY,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">which Walter
Murray called "the People's University". We demand that the courses
students wish to study are offered at our university. We demand that the
resources needed to enhance the student experience are left in the hands of the
education experts, that is, the departments and the professors who teach the
students. Finally, we demand that students will be actively and strongly
involved in all future decisions about academic programs and all other services
for students.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: red;"><b>To sign the letter (at any time), please go</b> </span><b><span style="color: red;">to</span> </b><a href="http://goo.gl/u8XBp9">goo.gl/u8XBp9 </a></div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b><span style="color: red;">To see the list of signatories, please go to</span> </b><a href="http://goo.gl/g2shb7">goo.gl/g2shb7</a><b><br /></b><br />
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<br /></div>
Free Academiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459835520545993879noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876403064331476850.post-13326215198104873422014-01-29T16:28:00.001-08:002014-03-18T22:34:28.803-07:00First open letter<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<b> IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO SIGN THIS LETTER!</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<b>To the contrary. The President has said that for her a letter with "only" 100 signatures has no weight. But now we have </b></div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<b> MORE THAN 370 SIGNATURES, </b></div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<b>and we are planning to do better - with your help!</b> <b>Let us show the President that she cannot cast aside this letter. Help us spread the letter!</b> The letter can be signed below.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">First <span style="line-height: 115%;">open letter
to the President of the University of Saskatchewan</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<br />
Dear President Busch-Vishniac:</div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
We
are writing to express our grave concern about the present state and
the future of our university, as a result of the TransformUS process.
This letter will present our opinion on this process and its results. We
know that we speak for many members of this public institution who are
deeply concerned that it is diverted from its true mission.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin: 0px;">
1)
It is the mission of every good university, including ours, that
programs align with the needs of education, information, culture and
knowledge. These values are superior to the "university priorities"
which were pushed through by administrators and do not adequately
represent the vision of the majority of faculty and the students, which
together compose the University.</div>
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2)
For centuries, academic programs and achievements have been judged by
peer review. This is the only procedure that can assess their quality
adequately. In their Principles, the U15 group explicitly endorses peer
review! But the results of the Systematic Program Review are bluntly
cast aside, apparently because they do not match what administrators
want to see. In contrast, TransformUS was not peer review. Most programs
had no peers in the Task Force. This is why apples are compared with
oranges, leading to false judgement. Moreover, the Task Force members
had only minutes to consider any single program. It is absurd to believe
that in this way, an informed recommendation can be made. We are sad
for our colleagues, well respected scholars, who were given such an
impossible task.</div>
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3)
Contrary to what you have repeatedly stated, the Dickeson model was not
adjusted to the reality of our university. There is no service teaching
in it, so there was none in our templates. It is also impossible to
assess the true costs of programs. When faculty had problems filling the
templates, they received advice from the Task Force leaders that
amounts to willful falsification (in particular, but not only, in the
case of service teaching). Therefore, the database is badly distorted,
and it is irresponsible to make this the base for any drastic decisions
which can have adverse effects for students and faculty. Moreover, "keep
with reduced resources" (quintile 3) is a contradiction in itself. Many
programs, already starved in the past years, will die when their
resources are reduced further. You said recently that all programs in
quintiles 3, 4 and 5 could see their resources reduced to zero. So you
are even willing to disregard the recommendation "keep" - why don't you
convey this message openly to all faculty?</div>
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4)
Contrary to what you have repeatedly stated, small programs are not
necessarily costly, but provide diversity and hence a service to
students. This is necessary for our society, and to offer the students
the value they are paying (a lot of money) for. In most cases small
programs share courses that exist anyway. Small programs are often also
elite programs which society needs and which belong to every good (in
particular, U15) university. The Task Force report shows a clear bias
against them, which you have called "boutique" programs. It is these
programs and the exceptionally talented students taking them who have
given this institution its reputation for nurturing excellence.</div>
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5)
A university is a complex organism, its structures have developed over a
long time. Trying to influence a complex organism with crude measures
never leads to improvement. Evaluation of the merits of academic
programs is not within the purview of administration. Administrators
have to care for the institution and support its main bodies, the
faculty and the students.</div>
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6)
TransformUS has damaged morale on campus. Successful researchers see
their programs recommended for reduced resources. Celebration of success
has become a lip service. Administrators have a responsibility for
their employees and their workplace. We are appalled by the inhumanity
of the "best practices" our administration has adopted. Low morale does
not support efficiency. We recommend the "Ant Story" for watching
(available on Youtube). The costs of the damage done are immeasurable.</div>
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7)
Faculty and staff are ever more burdened by "planning exercises" and
are thus distracted from their actual duties, teaching and research.
Both the "research intense" university and "improving the student
experience" have become a lip service of our administrators. Apart from
TransformUS, also curriculum mapping is forced upon us, something that
departments have always done on their own (but their efforts were cut
short by the ever recurring answer from the administrators: no
resources). Again, the cost of these activities that do not lead to true
improvement are immeasurable.</div>
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8)
Administration has not provided verifiable information about the size
and origin of the proclaimed debt. The truth seems to be that it stems
from the large projects pushed through by administrators as well as the
growth of administration itself, at the expense of the classical duties
of a university. In this time of crisis, even more such large projects
are forced upon us, with financial sustainability as doubtful as it
turned out to be already for the existing ones. Moreover, why are the
few costly and already rich</div>
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programs in quintile 1 even getting richer? We have noticed the puzzling statistical correlation between</div>
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these programs and the representation of their members on the Task Force.</div>
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9)
We call for open discourse and honest answers. Statements do not become
true by being repeated often. TransformUS has not been widely endorsed
by faculty, it was forced through Council. The public has been given the
impression that there were serious problems with our university and
that now it will be saved. The problems were forced upon this university
not by its faculty and not by its traditional structure. TransformUS
will not save this university which is about to lose its great potential
and its variety of programs and research offered for the benefit of the
province and the country.</div>
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10)
We call for transparency about the financial situation and about the
TransformUS process and how its results were achieved. We are led to the
conclusion that either administrators themselves do not know what
exactly the financial situation is, or that they are withholding
information from the public because of a hidden agenda. In addition to
the inadequacy of the TransformUS process, we are appalled by the
so-called "best practice" of forcing Task Force members to destroy notes
and other material that would give information about the details
leading to their results. Such practices are unacademic and don't have
any place in a university. (It is already sad enough that they have been
adopted elsewhere in our society.)</div>
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We
call on the administration to acknowledge the failure of the
TransformUS process due to its numerous well-documented deficiencies. We
ask for a new transparent and independent review process to uncover the
true origin and amount of the debt and develop academically defensible
solutions.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>To sign the letter (at any time), please go</b></span> to <a href="http://goo.gl/MPv9he" style="background-color: #ffffd3; border: 0px; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" tabindex="-1">goo.gl/MPv9he</a></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>To see the list of signatories, please go to</b></span> <a href="http://goo.gl/G6utyp" style="background-color: #ffffd3; border: 0px; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" tabindex="-1">goo.gl/G6utyp</a></div>
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<br />Free Academiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459835520545993879noreply@blogger.com59