AAUP Petition to Reinstate CT+CR and abide by agreed upon hiring practices
(This petition was initiated prior to the Change.org petition, and was circulates to faculty distribution groups. It is shared here for informational purposes, although faculty are welcome sign)
I am writing prior to the start of classes because of the recent action by the school’s President, Don Tuski. You may or may not have heard, but this week the CRCT [sic] program was suspended and Anne Marie and Barry were let go. I am greatly concerned because both of these actions were taken without consultation with faculty. One of my main goals this year as Faculty Senate President is to help develop a strong shared governance system at PNCA and this action goes against that principle. Therefore, I am asking you to seriously consider signing the [below] petition (which was written by the AAUP officers which include myself, Stephen Slappe, Joan Handwerg, Mallory Pratt and Daniela Molnar) that will be delivered to the President and the Board on Monday. Quick action is necessary if there is any hope of retaining CRCT for this year.
The petition also includes a statement concerning the scheduling of part-time faculty. A system was developed with Casey Mills and faculty to ensure senior part-time faculty would be given preference for classes, but unfortunately, this policy was not followed. To that end, we are asking that this policy is followed for the spring 2017 scheduling.
It is important that we all stand together to support one another so I hope you seriously consider signing this document. I am serious about my desire to lead the charge of shared governance and I see this document as a step in that direction.
Because time is of the essence and there is no way to have each of you sign in person we will accept an affirmative email response as permission to add your name to the signature list. [email: sschoolmaster(at)pnca.edu]
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Petition from AAUP Advocacy Chapter of PNCA
In recognition of the events and decisions described herein, we the undersigned request immediate action from the Administration and Board of Governors of PNCA:
On Monday, August 15, 2016 without any consultation with any faculty body or governance structure, the Administration of PNCA unilaterally suspended a graduate program at PNCA and terminated the employment of the long standing full-time faculty members who developed and administer that program. This is despite the fact that the program has maintained sufficient enrollment to be profitable in the past, and a full cohort of students has been accepted for Fall 2016.
Additionally, during the Spring 2016 semester, the Interim President and Academic Dean agreed to a process to redress scheduling inequities in the Fall 2016 semester schedule, in specific, to make schedule adjustments in accordance with the principle, affirmed by the Faculty Senate, of prioritizing class offers to part-time faculty who are long-term, vetted and invested in the College. The net result of schedule alterations, however, has been that several part-time faculty that requested redress have Fall term schedules that are not in accordance with this principle, while other course assignments are in direct contradiction to this principle.
We the undersigned strongly urge the immediate reinstatement of the Critical Theory + Creative Research (CTCR) Masters Program for the 2016-2017 academic year with all faculty members who were scheduled to teach and direct the program including, but not limited to Anne-Marie Oliver, Barry Sanders, Joan Handwerg, Marie-Pierre Hasne, and Ellen Lesperance. This action should be taken such that the applicants who have been accepted to the program experience no interruption of their participation in the program and begin on August 29th, 2016. We believe failure to do so will result in long-term damage to the reputation of the institution with negative consequences that affect the entire PNCA community.
We also demand that the schedule for Spring 2017 adhere to the previously agreed upon priorities by scheduling long-term, vetted,and invested part-time faculty. These faculty should be given first right of refusal to classes that they are qualified to teach/have taught in the past. This process should be completed by October 1, 2016.
