From dhammond@email.unc.edu Mon Apr 10 23:27:11 2006 Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:23:32 -0400 From: dhammond@email.unc.edu To: Andrew J Perrin Subject: Re: Request for Information from Candidates for Faculty Office Quoting Andrew J Perrin : > To Whom it May Concern - > > I am writing to you as a candidate for Faculty Chair, Faculty Council, > or another important elected office. I realize this is a busy time, > but I and some other concerned faculty would like to learn more about > the candidates' ideas on several important issues before we vote. I > would very much appreciate it if you could provide responses to the > questions below. Feel free to add more ideas or information as you > like. I will forward your responses on to other interested faculty, > and I will also post them to an informal website for the purpose at > http://perrin.socsci.unc.edu/fg . > > Thank you in advance for your time. Since balloting begins this > Wednesday (April 12), I would prefer to receive your response by > then. If, however, you can't make that time, I'll be happy to post and > forward your ideas whenever you can get them to me. > > 1.) To what extent to you believe faculty interests differ from those > of administrators? > > I think they are almost totally at odds, Faculty who thrive within > the University structure seem to be those who best play "the game" as > it it set forth by the administration, publicizing themselves, making > the right contacts, etc. I suspect most facaulty are susceptible to > that lure. But what we, as a faculty community, need to do, is to > care about who we really are, and about each other, and about the > lives we have committed to this campus, and to try to navigate the > needs we have within the hierarchy. I am not at all convinced thgat > quality, as oppeosed to visibility and publicity, is given due > credence at UNC. 2.) How should we maintain academic integrity in > the face of > increasing financial pressures? > > Wwe should argue for integrity when that is the real issue and for > financial considerationbs when THAT is the issue, and NEVER > compromise by trying to play both cards at the same time. Playing > multiple cards simulatnesouly is what has made American, State, and > Univsersity pooitics such a mess, totally lacking in any central, > organizing inegrity. > I will be unpopular on this issue. The current guidelines on > post-tenure review are brutal, while there are NO standards for > guidelines on non-tenure-track appointments, which are whimsical and > unstrudtured. This is just plain wrong and inapproporaite at a major > research university. Clear and well-sturctured guide3lines at all > levels of appointment are essential. Otherwise, although it may seem > incredibly seducitve to people who just might get a temporary > appoinrmtnet, SOMEONE is going to be MISATREATED (I am trying to find > a polite word fore the purposes of this response), and thaqt means > that ALL workers are being abused by the system that is in place. > "Right to work" also means "right to be abused." It's time for North > Crolina to grow beyond this if it intends this to be a natioally > bompetitive campus. > > 3.) What are your views on increasing inequalities within the faculty > based on, for example, tenure-track vs. fixed term appointments and > differing salary levels? > > I think I have explained this above, but I wioll restate that it is > my strong feeling that the guidelines for non-tenure-track > appointments currently seem to FAVOR non-tenure-track faculty, while > at the same time offfering them little in return. I think this is, > baically, dishonest, and needs to be addressed. 4.) How would you respond on behalf of the faculty if you found out > that administrators had circumvented serious faculty consultation to > pursue major outside funding for a controversial new curriculum? > I would scream my head off, knowing also, based on twenty-onhe years of experience here, that it would do no good. I would also solicit response from the faculty, also knowing, after twenty-one yesrs, that the vast majority would proetect their personal intersets and not take a committed stance. > > > 5.) Would you prefer to see a faculty governance system that is > focused on prominent University issues (e.g., academic freedom and > educational policy) or one that is more focused on faculty's specific > needs (e.g., benefits and salary)? Or, alternatively, how would you > seek to balance the two? > > I would like to see every meeting equally divided between addressing > both issues. I am tired of the faculty being askied to selflessley > address issues of moral/humanitarian concern, and then being cheated > as membersof the community striving to address those issues. Once again, thank you for your time. > > Very best wishes, > Andrew Perrin > > -Thank you, Andres, David Hammond--------------------------------------------------------------------- > Andrew J Perrin - andrew_perrin@unc.edu - http://perrin.socsci.unc.edu > Assistant Professor of Sociology; Book Review Editor, _Social Forces_ > University of North Carolina - CB#3210, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3210 USA > New Book: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/178592.ctl > >