VLS Tenure Controversy

[BoSoxGal]

Guin, curious as to your thoughts on this? A former GULC classmate and dear friend did her final year at VLS and just posted this piece on her FB. It’s quite a step away from the norm; I wonder how it will pan out?

SOUTH ROYALTON — Almost three weeks after 75 percent of tenure faculty were stripped of tenure July 1, Vermont Law School is left with a culture of fear and uncertainty.

As of Wednesday, the administration still had not told faculty, students or staff who had tenure at the school and who didn’t. The secrecy had caused confusion among students, alumni and those faculty who remained.

“People are pretty demoralized,” said professor Susan Apel.

Apel, a tenured professor who taught courses on family and gender law at VLS for 36 years, retired July 1, following a buyout agreement five years ago. She became a professor emeritus July 1, but retains an office on campus.

Some are sad professors will no longer have tenure, she said, while those who continue teaching are anxious.

“I think they’re very nervous about their own status,” said Apel. “They don’t know what could happen to them next.”

Faculty were informed they no longer had tenure in private meetings with VLS President Tom McHenry and Academic Dean Sean Nolan. In the meetings, faculty were presented options for continuing at VLS without tenure or leaving July 1.

But McHenry did not explain the decision in a memo to the Vermont Law School community Tuesday. Nor did he divulge who had tenure, citing confidentiality.

The campus of Vermont Law School in South Royalton. File photo by Roger Crowley/for VTDigger
Tenured faculty who stayed were required to sign non-disclosure agreements, preventing them from speaking about the status of their positions and prohibiting them from making negative remarks about the school or administration. Some argued that the agreement violated academic freedom.

McHenry said the non-disclosure agreement was a standard contract used by many employers.

Email exchanges between faculty and administration obtained by VTDigger, demonstrate a culture of fear at Vermont Law School.

Professor Peter Teachout, the former chair of the Tenure and Retention Committee, who lost tenure July 1, urged President Tom McHenry to reconsider the non-disclosure agreement, which allows faculty to only speak with their spouses.

“Imposing this enforced yoke of silence … makes no sense at all and contributes to the pathological atmosphere of fear and secrecy that permeates the campus environment at Vermont Law School,” Teachout wrote in a June 29 email.

Anita Levy, the director of the American Association of University Professors, says the administration “grossly” departed from the association’s standards when it eliminated tenure and “the protections of academic freedom.”

Donna Young, a board member for the American Association of University Professors, encouraged officials to share a letter Levy wrote last month to the Vermont Law School’s Tenure and Retention Committee with the law school community.

John Echeverria, Vermont Law School professor. Courtesy photo
Professor John Echeverria took issue with that suggested disclosure. “I think AAUP’s task is at an end,” Echeverria wrote. “I ask that you and your AAUP colleagues stand down from any more work on this matter, including any and all steps to spread the word about this matter within the academy.”

Teachout plans to stay at VLS without tenure. He said he has remained in contact with McHenry and even had a beer with him recently. Teachout urged McHenry to be transparent.

“He wants to restore a positive narrative,” said Teachout. “I said (to him) it’s really important in doing so that he be completely forthcoming and not gloss over … the decisions that were made.”

In a memo issued on Tuesday, McHenry wrote that the cuts were necessary to ensure students would receive the best education possible.

“I assure you that Vermont Law School remains committed to academic freedom and excellence, and that all of our professors — tenured, contract, and adjunct — can speak their mind and teach about what they believe,” McHenry said.

McHenry said his door was open and anyone could speak to him or even join him for weekly hikes this summer. He also planned to have weekly open house meetings.

The letter, however, didn’t allay fears at the law school.

“The students are concerned — is the law school still going to be here tomorrow?” Teachout said.

Some say the school’s reputation as the leading environmental law school in the country could be in jeopardy.

“I would have some serious questions of how it plans to deliver a quality education at this point,” said Young, a professor at Albany Law School. “The administration and board have really made a very unusual decision. I think it’s pretty unprecedented.”

Young was concerned that Vermont Law School’s actions could set a precedent for other law schools facing financial crisis. “I’m very concerned that tenure means virtually nothing right now — no one is really protected with tenure rights,” she said.

The law school could be at risk of losing its accreditation status with the American Bar Association, which requires every law school to follow principles of academic freedom and a system of tenure, Young said.

Barry Currier, a managing director of the ABA section of legal education and admissions, said the ABA council considers violations of the standards on a case-by-case basis, he said, and matters related to accreditation of a law schools are confidential.

If Vermont Law School is in violation, the ABA will investigate and could take away accreditation, said Young.

“That’s an enormous consequence,” said Young.

University of Houston Law Center professor Michael Olivas was troubled Vermont Law School never declared financial exigency, a first step in the procedures recommended by AAUP when tenure is in jeopardy.

Olivas is the former president of the Association of American Law Schools and a former board member of the American Bar Association. He is concerned about VLS’s international reputation and its ability to attract students and faculty.

“It’s a death spiral once it starts happening,” Olivas said, speaking generally. “It starts to have immediate applications — like your best faculty start looking elsewhere, your best students start looking elsewhere.”

McHenry wrote in a statement to VTDigger Tuesday evening that “The programmatic restructuring is not an attack on tenure or on academic freedom.”

He said some faculty members agreed to make voluntary commitments and salary reductions before July 1, but those voluntary offers “were not sufficient to deliver the necessary cost savings.”

He said he held open faculty meetings to solicit feedback and administration used the feedback in its decision-making process.

“I don’t think the actions we’ve taken have damaged the school’s reputation,” he said.

McHenry became president of the law school last year. He said he was aware of the financial challenges when he began and the school is now “in a much stronger financial position.”

“There’s not the slightest chance this school will close down,” he said.

Vermont Law School is not bound by AAUP standards, he said, and the letter from AAUP was merely Levy’s “opinion.”

McHenry said the school faced “tremendous” financial challenges.The administration renegotiated contracts with both tenure and non-tenure faculty and the changes will save Vermont Law School $1 million next year — about the amount of the school’s ongoing debt, he said.

The school will offer about 60 environmental law classes next year in addition to a new master’s degree in restorative justice. “We’re pleased with the results,” he said.

About 180 new JD students are expected to arrive this fall — the highest enrollment the JD program in recent years.

Rick Johnson, a 1997 graduate and a board member of the VLS Alumni Association since 2003, is confident in the school’s future. “The law school is now back on secure financial footing,” he said.

Dan Richardson
Dan Richardson. Courtesy photo.
Others have doubts. Dan Richardson, an alum and former president of the Vermont Bar Association, said the change to tenure at Vermont Law School is “a risky decision.”

“When a decision like this is made, you hope that it’s been thought through thoroughly,” Richardson said.

Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill, a former adjunct professor at VLS, was concerned about the economic impact on the South Royalton community.

“For the people who live in Royalton and rely on the law school for their livelihood, I hope that this process leads to long-term financial health,” Cahill said.

[liberty]

There should be no tenure anywhere in the united states. Why, not because of financial concerns but because there is no academic free. One is only free to agree with the left wing line or get attached and intimidated by a mob of left wing fascist thugs. look at what happen at Evergreen State College. The school had to buy out this fucking left wing racist slut bitch in order to get rid of her. If you don’t have tenure you can get rid of trouble maker by just firing them.

While Republicans have the majority they should pass a law to abolish tenure. Democrats would never do because they would want to protect their fascist thugs.


If you want to see the video mentioned in the piece go to the link; I can’t post them.

https://theralphretort.com/meet-the-rac ... college-st 01017/

Meet Naima Lowe, the Racist “Professor” Who Helped Radicalize Evergreen Students
by Ethan Ralph • Published June 1, 2017 • Updated June 1, 2017
Evergreen State College is a really fucking crazy place. I’m gonna honest: I’d never heard of this blight on society until last week. Now, it seems like there’s a new bit of cringe coming out of there every single day. In my last post, I talked about the Bret Weinstein stuff and how a fat, white LARPer there on campus seems to be one of the main radicals pushing the idea that he’s racist. But you don’t get young nutters like that without some pernicious professors around to guide them down the path of leftist lunacy. That leads me to today’s subject, Naima Lowe.

If you’re not familiar with Ms. Lowe, don’t feel to bad. Most learned people with more than 16 brain cells to rub together have never heard of this loser. She does cut quite a striking figure, though. The lack of intellectual heft is apparent after taking just one look at this woman of letters.
How did this astounding figure come onto my radar, you might ask? Well, someone tweeted me about it! How else do I get stories?! OK, there are at least a few other method, but that route is definitely one of the tried and true ones. Anyway, enough meta talk. Here’s what the person tweeted at me…
This video was originally shared on Twitter by Bret Weinstein’s brother, Eric. Here’s the caption…
Do meet Naima Lowe, race-baiting @EvergreenStCol Prof. who incited ‘white allies’ to ‘collect’ my anti-racist sister-in-law’s ‘racist ass’

She’s holding a little dog like an hors d’oeuvre and screaming how “this shit is literally going to kill me.” If anything kills this whale, it will be diabetes or dangerous spike in blood pressure due to this insane display.
The rest of this “scholar’s” work is about what you would expect. Here’s Thirty-Nine Questions for White People. It’s described thusly:

Forty-page, loose-leaf book, inked and type-set by hand. The emotional labor of talking to white people about racism transformed into a tangible object.
________________________________________
Of course an outfit like Salon put out a puff piece interview to braise its supposed brilliance…
And what I was realizing as the work was continuing was that a lot of the students — who were mostly white, in this particular class — hadn’t had a lot of experience with thinking about what whiteness meant. They kind of understood what it meant to say “discrimination or etc. is bad,” and they had a grasp on that as a concept, but they didn’t understand the extent to which they needed to sort of be interrogating their own relationships to race as white people.
Such art. Much wow.

Here’s another God-level “art project.” It’s called Richard Simmons ‘Til You Die, and it seems to be some kind of rebellion against getting her fat ass healthy. I’m not sure. You’ll have to visit Vimeo to see the first one.
This participatory performance attempts to destroy a Richard Simmons VHS tape by playing it over and over again. The piece has had several incarnations, most recently as part of The Missing Body in Lethbridge, AB.
________________________________________
How does a clown like this even have a job? Oh yea, I forgot. It’s academia, which is even more cancerous that the progtard blogosphere. And the even sadder thing is these people are paid by the state. Tax dollars fund this regressive retardation.

[Lord Jim]

I take it you wrapped up the project you were going to busy with early, lib...

[Joe Guy]

I think he overestimated how long it would take to drain and replace the water in his swimming pool...

[wesw]

get that drunk sombitch outta my koi pond.....

[liberty]

I take it you wrapped up the project you were going to busy with early, lib...

The work load didn’t develop as I expected. My team leader thinks we are doing too good a job.



Abolish tenure now.

[Bicycle Bill]

Abolish tenure now.

This statement brought to you by a guy who will, however, probably insist that a seniority policy in a workplace is a good idea.... and will push for it harder and argue for it louder the longer he lasts at whatever form of unskilled labor he performs.

-"BB"-

[Joe Guy]

If I were to guess, I would say that liberty’s job is hunting raccoons to use to make coonskin caps to sell at various regional Klan fundraisers.

[Lord Jim]

If I were to guess, I would say that liberty’s job is hunting raccoons to use to make coonskin caps to sell at various regional Klan fundraisers.

I don't think that's correct...

My information is that the Klan has outsourced its contract for coonskin caps to a Puerto Rican company...

[Long Run]

You would expect to see an erosion in quality professors with the elimination of tenure. If other schools do not follow, then they'll be at a big disadvantage. Given the competition for qualified students (as fewer under-grads are opting for law school), having highly regarded professors would seem to be a requirement for survival. Of course, it is common for bureaucrats to only consider costs and ignore the other side of the ledger.

[liberty]

If I were to guess, I would say that liberty’s job is hunting raccoons to use to make coonskin caps to sell at various regional Klan fundraisers.

Did you really think that would work?

People think it is a difficult job but is not. I have been doing it so long it gets boring. It very seldom takes me more than a couple minutes to diagnose the cause of a malfunction. And the maintenance reports for engineering is no big deal either. I basically use the same sentences over and over.

But the real problem is that raccoons bite. However, I sell the skins to communist not clansmen. If I had to depend on the Klan as a sells market I would starve to death. There is not enough KKK to support a starving mouse.

[Burning Petard]

Erosion of quality schools has been continuous for a long time. The quote way up at the top has the school administration justifying actions by "lots of businesses do it this way." The university is a profit center, like hospitals. [non-profit is the slick way to make lots of money today.] 'Vocation' is meaningless. If you don't like it--leave. We can fill your slot with 'adjunct professors' or even something off the internet. Liberty University is the model. These wonderful institutions produce graduates who demonstrate the profundity of our own Liberty who serves as a prototype for so many dominant trends in America today.

snailgate.

[Joe Guy]

However, I sell the skins to communist not clansmen. If I had to depend on the Klan as a sell market I would starve to death. There is not enough KKK to support a starving mouse.

You might want to set up a coonskin cap concession stand at Trump rallies. You could stick a MAGA button on the front of each cap. You'll make millions!

[MajGenl.Meade]

I basically the use same sentences over and over.