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Chronicles of a University’s Collapse

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Clarissa

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One of the most popular neoliberal tricks is making one person do the job that was formerly done by two or three people. The administration of my university announced that it will merge Foreign Languages and English to save on my Chair’s salary. From now on, the Chair of English will do for free the work I previously did for pay.

I’m entertained by this idea. My department teaches 10 languages and administers a large lab. There are contracts, scheduling, hiring, all sorts of things I manage. The idea that somebody outside of the department who has no idea how any of this works will be able to do my job in addition to her already full-time job is bizarre.

It doesn’t sadden me to leave Chairing a year earlier than I planned. It will mean a cut in pay but a lot more free time and an enjoyable experience seeing the administration make an idiot out of itself. I feel bad for the Chair of English but it’s on her if she agrees to this arrangement.

28 responses to “Chronicles of a University’s Collapse”

  1. Physpostdoc Avatar
    Physpostdoc

    I do not believe the chair of English department has a say/choice in the matter based on my own experience being an academician and also absolute dysfunction that you have described at your university.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. cliff arroyo Avatar
      cliff arroyo

      “I do not believe the chair of English department has a say/choice in the matter”

      There’s always a simple word: No.

      Like

      Reply
      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        If I were asked to do what she is asked, I’d immediately resign as Chair.

        Which is why I’m not asked. 😁

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
      2. Physpostdoc Avatar
        Physpostdoc

        She can say that and lose her job. My point is whoever is the English chair who stays will have to do it.

        just saying no will not save Clarissa’s job, for instance, if their misguided university administration has decided to fire full professors and eliminate departments

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Somebody definitely will have to do it, and that person is a sucker. I have compassion for them but it’s also kind of funny. This is a LOT of work that this poor person will have to do for free. Don’t tell me it isn’t funny.

          I have a meeting with the Chair of English tomorrow, and I’m planning to be as supportive and understanding as it’s humanly possible. She is in a really bad situation.

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          1. cliff arroyo Avatar
            cliff arroyo

            “Somebody definitely will have to do it”

            No.

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            Reply
            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              The union says that department mergers “are a reserved managerial right” and that’s one thing the union can do nothing about.

              Another problem is that zero colleagues at my department want to fight the merger. They think it’s a good thing. So for me to fight it alone, without the union support or any interest from the colleagues would need a powerful reason. And I’m not seeing one.

              I agree with you that, in principle, it could be done. But not by one person tilting quixotically at this crazy windmill.

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              1. cliff arroyo Avatar
                cliff arroyo

                “zero colleagues at my department want to fight the merger. They think it’s a good thing”

                May they enjoy the results.

                Liked by 1 person

              2. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                Right? I’m going on the job market but everybody else should absolutely get exactly what they wish.

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              3. el Avatar
                el

                \ “zero colleagues at my department want to fight the merger. They think it’s a good thing”

                Why would anyone at your department think that?

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              4. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                They think that our low enrollments will pass unnoticed in the context of a large department like English.

                Like

          2. cliff arroyo Avatar
            cliff arroyo

            “I have a meeting with the Chair of English tomorrow”

            I have a suspicion she’s going to ask you to keep doing the job (it not openly then there will be broad hints).

            Remmber the magic word: No.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply
            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              Oh, absolutely. The Dean’s Office will definitely expect me to work for free. I’m feeling entertained just thinking about it.

              You know me. There’s less than zero chance I’ll accommodate these bastards.

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              1. cliff arroyo Avatar
                cliff arroyo

                “zero chance I’ll accommodate these bastards”

                Offer to brief the dean on how to do your administrative tasks…

                Liked by 2 people

              2. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                I have a strong feeling that one of my colleagues will agree to do my job for free. Unfortunately.

                Like

        2. cliff arroyo Avatar
          cliff arroyo

          “My point is whoever is the English chair who stays will have to do it.”

          No.

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          1. Physpostdoc Avatar
            Physpostdoc

            You are neither in academia nor in the US but your zeal to parrot “No” in the subject you are scarcely qualified to comment on and appropriate every discussion on this blog at least provides comic relief in these dire times.

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            Reply
            1. cliff arroyo Avatar
              cliff arroyo

              “ou are neither in academia”

              Au contraire!

              “nor in the US”

              C’est vrai…

              And where I am, telling people ‘No.’ is a national sport.

              If administration makes stupid decisions and expects staff to pick up after their mess then ‘No.’ is a very good response.

              How else will they learn?

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              1. Avatar
                Anonymous

                One has to stay in the system and become powerful enough to weed out idiots. Stupidity combined with power is a dangerous combination and such people cannot be taught or remedied — they need to be eliminated.

                Like

    2. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      When the decision was made to merge Physics and Chemistry, the Chair of Chemistry was loudly and angrily opposed. Now parts of Chemistry are being cut even though it’s a very well-enrolled program. I’m not saying it’s retaliation but I’m also not saying it isn’t.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  2. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    One of the most popular neoliberal tricks is making one person do the job that was formerly done by two or three people.

    The second-most popular neoliberal trick is to make the about-to-be-fired people train their replacements in how to do their job.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    You say “The idea that somebody outside of the department who has no idea how any of this works will be able to do my job in addition to her already full-time job is bizarre.”

    I’m not in academia, so forgive me. Are the way English and Foreign Languages departments run in various universities that different?

    I completely agree with you about everything you’ve said about this so far, by the way.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I have 10 different languages while English has one. Their professors can, for instance, substitute each other in case of illness or travel. Mine can’t. I have ASL that needs a very special kind of classrooms. I have Fulbrighters that are selected and trained in ways that are very different from other faculty. I have proficiency language testing which is different in every language, has its own procedure and its own costs. I have community organizations that support some languages that need different things from me. I have a lab and several student workers.

      I came into Chairing after working for a decade in this department, and already knowing the environment. For somebody who’s used to the uniformity of one single major, one single language, and easily swappable faculty, this will be very hard to figure out.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        Oh, and let’s not forget Study Abroad equivalencies. Last week, for example, I was evaluating a course somebody took in Prague to see if it was equivalent to anything we taught. It’s easy after you’ve done it for years but for a fresh person, not so much.

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  4. cliff arroyo Avatar
    cliff arroyo

    “one of my colleagues will agree to do my job for fre”

    Hoping to save their job that way? That’s kind of sad….

    Like

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      No, they are mostly afraid that the Chair of English will schedule them to teach more than twice a week

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. cliff arroyo Avatar
        cliff arroyo

        “schedule them to teach more than twice a week”

        So many instructors there seem to hate to teach…. I don’t get it….

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          I know. Thankfully, it will not be my problem starting on July 1 this year.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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