USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: If you aim to be a college administrator...caution

Thank you very much, SIR Toyin! You are 100% correct! Some of us, as retirees, emeritus/emerita, etc.,

can do as well as say a lot and get away with it!! Not so for those at the mercy of Tenure and Promotion 

mechanisms.

At Indiana University and other campuses, by seniority, I had the privilege of serving on Promotion 

and Tenure Committees, on which all colleagues did try to be fair. Yet, with some individual committee 

members, they tried to revisit what applicants either stood for or said as junior faculty members. On 

one campus, for example, some committee members made it abundantly clear that "Tenure" meant

that we were asking if we wanted to "live with forever" on that campus the one being assessed (the 

applicant). "For me, it is like marriage," a very old male White Tenure Committee colleague, with his 

aged and obviously mischievous face, thundered. "Really?" I whispered in amazement, but with 

some innocence. It even gets nastier in the limited job market, hence what one writes or says (on

TV, Radio, etc.) can come back to be hurtful.

Yes, there is a freedom of speech in a democracy but, sometimes, not so free on campuses. As

a result, a word to the wise is always enough or sufficient.

A.B. Assensoh.

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 4:31 AM
To: dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [External] USA Africa Dialogue Series - If you aim to be a college administrator...caution

 

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Great ones:

 

If you have a desire to be an administrator, exercise caution on what you post in public, including on Facebook.

We have a third case of an applicant for a senior administrative position whose statements are used against him. He is a member of our distinguished list.

 

I am a regular professor, close to the end of my career, which gives me liberty, like Ken, to say many things. Even then, I flourish in private. My core issues are expressed in private; even then, I have been betrayed twice. There is a popular quote, and I don't know his author:

If they don't claim you in public, don't let them have you in private.

 

TF

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