Always nice to hear from you, Anne.  You are a person of consistent rational integrity and good will.

hi there, Baldwin--

Thought I might hear from you, having seen some of your other posts . . .

You're right about "whole" with respect to individuals, and believe me I have no illusions that the people we have not been able to hire or to retain are ok.  I should have been clearer: the structure of the University is still intact, and this seems important to me not out of some abstract principle, but because I want to see those people and others like them re-employed or hired when things swing up again.  I can add more adjunct teachers again if we still have composition.  I can't if we don't.

I should add that in my department--and I'm not alone at UNCG--tenured faculty are teaching additional sections, while those still on the tenure-track have their original course load protected.  Lecturers (our adjuncts) and TT/tenured faculty are teaching the same number of seats per section--up from what it was a year ago, but the load is not inequitably distributed and, luckily not (yet) impossible.  The lower division courses that adjuncts taught have been distributed to tenured people, not untenured.  I'm teaching an extra course, as are most department heads; deans are teaching, the chancellor is teaching, etc.

And in my department, and I admit this is fairly rare, I don't have unproductive tenured professors:  they're publishing and teaching standard or higher loads, and/or carrying administrative duties.  So I don't think it's wise to make that assumption about any given department.

I tell you all this not to gloat, but because it's important to know that things can be done in better ways: even when the money is gone, decisions can be made that continue to let people feel they are as fairly treated as is possible, and that there's hope for the future.  Those decisions can be transparently made, too:  we have had continuous reports and input since November, and our Dean and Provost have encouraged the transparent relation of our situation to our faculty and students, as well as administrators working with their faculty to plan the cuts together.  It has not been perfect here, but I believe it's what's called "best practices."

And you know what?  Morale is holding up pretty well.  What we've been doing isn't just ethical, it's functional. The damage is bad and no one can or should deny the cost to  individuals and programs (and I regret if it sounded like I was doing that). But we have a sense of common cause and of future possibility--not much comfort at the moment, perhaps, but essential for a healthy recovery.

I know what good folks you've got there.  Best wishes for coming through this present crisis--
Anne

Anne,

I don't know all of the details, but forty-five years ago I heard from a very reliable authority that, in lieu of eliminating positions during the Great Depression, the faculty members at UNC Greensboro elected to take an across-the-board salary cut as a means of coping with the serious financial problems the school was encountering during that era.

First Ant

hi First Ant, and all--

I wouldn't be surprised.  Greensboro still has a good deal of that "all pulling together" spirit.  I didn't know anything but the name when I applied here, and I feel lucky to be where I am.  Fingers crossed that the old spirit prevails here, and spreads!

Friends, I'll check back in next week to see what's up.  Good luck--

cheers,
Anne