Letter to Dean Pood - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jul 26, 2004

Letter to Dean Pood

Date: Jul 26, 2004

I just sent that letter to Dean Pood's email address, only to discover that he's been outa the country (doing British Studies in London) since June 9----JUNE 9!---and won't be back until early August. But the college rankings have only just now come out---that's 2 1/2 weeks that the decisions have been sitting on his or Denise's desk: does anyone else think this is peculiar, that he should wait until he's waaaaaay out of town before delivering the bad news?

Date: Jul 26, 2004

COAL will be the most penalized since COAL is the most outspoken (along with CBED). And Pood is hanging out in Great Britain. Sweet. It must take a lot of gutsy stupidity (brought on by Thames) to appear so obvious. Please, anyone, share these rankings with the Message Board if you can. Noel Polk, thank you for sharing your thoughts. What a mess.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

sorry noel--try july 9th. no different than harper leaving for vienna studies.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: noel polk
"I just sent that letter to Dean Pood's email address, only to discover that he's been outa the country (doing British Studies in London) since June 9----JUNE 9!---and won't be back until early August. But the college rankings have only just now come out---that's 2 1/2 weeks that the decisions have been sitting on his or Denise's desk: does anyone else think this is peculiar, that he should wait until he's waaaaaay out of town before delivering the bad news?"
If the dean did the rankings, the dean should deliver the rankings - and discuss the rankings face-to-face. And put the raionale for the rankings in writing - without the need for anyone to go thru the FOA route. What kind of operation is being run down there anyway? I'm so glad I'm still not a part of it.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

Hi Prof. Polk,

Are Pood's evals on a 4 point scale? Does this mean he gave you a gentlemen's "B?" Our dept. used to have five levels--this would put you at "C" level, yes?

Maybe you can do some extra credit. You could wash Pood's car or something.

No matter what grade Pood gives you, you will continue to be my hero.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

Noel, I think your letter is quite indicative as to why you received unfavorable results. What some of us here will not understand is why someone who is so bitter and unprofessional is still here causing trouble for the rest of us? Your poor attitude is surely reflected upon your students as well, which worries me a great deal. Of course, I know the real reason you are still here, but I cannot say it because I will get my IP blocked by the webmaster. I promise you though, as soon as I get tenure I will look you right in the eye and tell you how much you, and the trouble you are causing, will not be missed here.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Little Seeker
"Noel . . . . I promise you though, as soon as I get tenure I will look you right in the eye and tell you how much you, and the trouble you are causing, will not be missed here."

Little Seeker, it appears that you have, quite unintentionally I am sure, provided a rationalle for academic tenure that even Roy Klumb could understand. I gather from your response to Noel Polk that this must be your first and academic job. I trust that you have a future opportunity to latch on to a good university where there is free discourse of opinion. Such is the nature of a good university. Then, I suspect, you will appreciate the Noel Polks of this world.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Little Seeker
"Noel . . . .as soon as I get tenure I will look you right in the eye and tell you how much you, and the trouble you are causing, will not be missed here."

Little Seeker, I would like to add one more thing to my last response to your posting: When I was a kid growing up, I used to go to Friday night wrestling matches. At that time, I naively thought that those wrestlers really disliked each other. Then, after the match, my friend and I would go to a particular cafe across town for a footlong hotdog. But low and behold, sitting at one of the tables were those same two wrestlers, drinking a beer, waiting for their T-Bones or Porterhouses, and telling jokes. That is no unlike a good university. Faculty members, and especially the senior facuty members who have been around the block a time or two, are expected to share their opinions with others in the academic community. Sometimes those opinions sound LOUD. I recall the first time when I, at that time a new green-behind-the-ears Ph.D. in a truly great and respected department in my discipline, entered a faculty meeting where three full professors were engaging in verbal fisticuffs. I was stunned, much as I imagine you are stunned at some of the irrate comments you hear and read. But at 5:00 PM that afternoon, I saw those same three senior faculty members at the on-campus faculty club, in a manner similar to those Friday night professional wrestlers. Such is the nature of wrestling. Such is the nature of academics. Lighten up, please.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

It appears that Little Seeker is aptly named. Obviously he/she has sought little knowledge about academia. Professor Polk has what SFT talks about wanting for USM, a national reputation. Being nationally known has its drawbacks, mostly envy of others while being the target of attacks by under achievers (slugs). What faculty such as Little Seeker do not appreciate is that it takes someone with clout (national reputation) to stand up to bad administrators. Since the preponderance of administrators at USM are not stellar, a faculty member like Professor Polk or Professor Stringer are even more valuable to the rest of the faculty. Without such faculty, USM will sink to the level of many of the directional universities in our neighboring states. What also is not recognized is that the entire cadre of administrators at USM have very dubious academic credentials and would not pass the normal promotional to full hurdle at USM (the exception is SFT). When administrators have faculty with a national reputation, such faculty constitute a threat both to their management and their egos. Little seeker should expend more time trying to emulate the performance of Professor Polk and less time making sophomoric comments that give himher away as being a lightweight.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Cossack
"Little seeker should expend more time trying to emulate the performance of Professor Polk and less time making sophomoric comments that give himher away as being a lightweight. "

Cossack is quite right, LS. Your comments do make you come across as a lightweight. If you talk like that in "real life," the wiser and experienced might tend to label you as such.

Gnomeenclature

Date: Jul 26, 2004

I think everyone is doing Little Seeker an unwarranted favor by taking (his? her?) claim to be a faculty member at face value.

It appears that Pood has learned to play the administrative game, as it is played at USM.

Robert Campbell

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Cossack
" Since the preponderance of administrators at USM are not stellar, a faculty member like Professor Polk or Professor Stringer are even more valuable to the rest of the faculty."

Polk and Stringer? Yes. Definitely. But don't forget Glamser who was very vocal and forceful in trying to combat the rampant grade inflation at USM (e.g., a 3.0 GPA puts you in the bottom half of your class).

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Little Seeker
"I promise you though, as soon as I get tenure I will look you right in the eye and tell you how much you, and the trouble you are causing, will not be missed here."

Someone correct me if I am in error, but it is my understanding that there are no untenured tenure track faculty in the English department until new hires arrive in the fall. Therefore, I must wonder how Little Seeker could be knowledgeable about the value of Noel Polk's professional performance.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: noel polk
"Please know that I will appeal the ranking you gave me. I also respectfully ask that you make public the list of people who got ranked 3.0 or above (3.0 was my composite score after 3.0 in all three categories), and declare your reasons for giving them. We all have a right to know what standards you used in making your judgments. I will file an FOIA form if I think that you have penalized me for telling you things you haven't wanted to hear, but I hope you will comply; that will make life simpler for both of us. "

Noel, if one of your students wrote you an email and asked why did you give me a C in your class and I want the names of everyone you gave a C or higher to along with a justification of why you gave that grade, oh and by the way I am going to appeal that grade...what would you say to that student?

Date: Jul 26, 2004

Second Request: Please do not confuse Little Seeker with Little Sister. We are not the same. Little Seeker's comments have appeared on this board previously, and they have always embarrassed me. I am, therefore, changing pseudonyms. Little Sister's jersey is now retired.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: asdf
" Noel, if one of your students wrote you an email and asked why did you give me a C in your class and I want the names of everyone you gave a C or higher to along with a justification of why you gave that grade, oh and by the way I am going to appeal that grade...what would you say to that student?"

asdf, have you not made yourself conversant with the USM grade appeal process? a grade appeals system at a university is about as common as chicken is at KFC.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by: noel polk
"Please know that I will appeal the ranking you gave me. "

KFC, I realize that grade appeals are very common...evidently, asking that your evaluation be appealed is just as common. I'm sure the dean will have the same response to Noel as I or you would to a student telling you that he/she was going to appeal a grade.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: asdf
"I'm sure the dean will have the same response to Noel as I or you would to a student telling you that he/she was going to appeal a grade."

Why would a dean be making such judgments in the first place? That's the job of the department chair, or whatever governance system was selected by that particular department. I can see a dean making a few minor modifications of the departmental recommendations, but only after consulting with the appropriate departmental governance person/group & explaining the basis for his/her modifications. Didn't you hear the old South Mississippi saying "A dean who uses himself as his chair has a fool as his chair,"

Date: Jul 26, 2004

I cannot respond to everyone separately, so here are some final thoughts.

To the contrary:

I certainly did read Noel’s entire, self-engulfed letter before I replied. I actually admire him for not remaining behind a cloak of anonymity. Just as soon as my tenure comes through, I am going to send Thames and the IHL a letter or two myself. Of course, I will not broadcast the content here or in the local news.

My problem is with the way he is delivering and expressing his message. He is showing off. The only place he can come in order to get heard is either here or in the letters section of some country-town newspaper. His personal problems should not be forced upon me or any of the incoming faculty.

He has the faculty email system he can use to discuss his problems in-house with all the other faculty who might be interested. However, getting his problems solved is not the true motive for his posts or his other actions. He is acting out of pure bitterness, and I am not the first person to notice this.

It is amusing but insulting that I am labeled a troll, that I am accused of “dividing and conquering” the troops, and that I am a member of the English Department. I am none of the above. This is not divide and conquer. This is just a difference of opinion. You will find that as new faculty come in, this difference of opinion is going to increase.

This is not about tenure. The fact that Noel and several of the other highly opinionated English faculty are still here is a testament that tenure is alive and well on this campus. And I assure the rest of you that no matter how new you think I am to academia, I will never act the way some of you are acting….NEVER.

And do not speak to me about freedom of speech on this board. One of my colleagues has told me that his/her IP has been blocked from this board. I have seen elsewhere on this board where another poster’s IP has been blocked. Again, as new faculty come aboard, I suspect you are going to find it increasingly burdensome to block all the IP’s.

Not to worry though. I assure you this will be my last post. Unlike some of you, I realize that my actions are not going to make a difference and they are certainly not going to help me later.

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Cossack
"Professor Polk has what SFT talks about wanting for USM, a national reputation. ....it takes someone with clout (national reputation) to stand up to bad administrators. Since the preponderance of administrators at USM are not stellar, a faculty member like Professor Polk or Professor Stringer are even more valuable to the rest of the faculty. "

Cossack, I agree with you wholeheartedly. This is an excellent point.

No Quarter!

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Little Seeker
You will find that as new faculty come in, this difference of opinion is going to increase.

I must agree with you on this point, Little Seeker: ". . . as new faculty come in, this difference in opinion is going to increase". I gather you mean that the new faculty members are going to adopt your position. That is likely to be true, because our experienced faculty members are being driven away. Their replacements are likely to be fresh out of graduate school with little or no meaningful academic experience. They will be honorable people, but new appointees must be nourised. By whom? The president? The dean? The other new Ph.D.'s? For them, it will be like being lost in NYC without a taxi, a map, or a guide. Except that it will much more disorganized than NYC. To whom will they turn?

Date: Jul 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Cossack
"What also is not recognized is that the entire cadre of administrators at USM have very dubious academic credentials and would not pass the normal promotional to full hurdle at USM (the exception is SFT). When administrators have faculty with a national reputation, such faculty constitute a threat both to their management and their egos. "

Thank you Cossack, for stating this so clearly. That's why the best faculty are leaving--they want to work where their efforts will be valued instead of completely unappreciated at best, and denigrated at worst. Faculty who really succeed outside of the immediate environment of USM are a threat to the small-minded.

By the way--walk into just about any bookstore and pick up a couple of editions of Faulkner. You're almost certain to find they've been edited by Noel Polk. It is clear that his over 25 years of contributions to the literary world mean absolutely NOTHING to Pood. This shows that Pood is . . . .not too smart.

Pood is, in fact, one of the reasons I left USM.

Date: Jul 27, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
"I think everyone is doing Little Seeker an unwarranted favor by taking (his? her?) claim to be a faculty member at face value. Robert Campbell"

Let’s not forget that about 40 faculty voted against the Senate in that action against Thames. It should not be a surprise that a few of them show up here from time to time.

Date: Jul 27, 2004

Just to jar the conversation off-course, I don't think the best administrators are necessarily the most accomplished academics. They absolutely MUST have risen through the system and gotten their credentials, but after that they should be the sort of people who gain satisfaction by the accomplishments of their faculty.

Little Seeker, if Dr. Polk's department head and dean were doing their jobs, Dr. Polk would be writing reviews and articles, not letters. Every minute he spends trying to right the wrongs of USM is a minute lost to literature. And if your administrations is doing its job, the famous of the university are faculty, not administration.

And no. I don't care whether or not he is "bitter". If he can write more clearly if he calls up his department head at home and dresses him down, then the department head should accomodate that. He needs to be whatever makes him productive.

Date: Jul 27, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Little Seeker
"I cannot respond to everyone separately, so here are some final thoughts. To the contrary: I certainly did read Noel’s entire, self-engulfed letter before I replied. I actually admire him for not remaining behind a cloak of anonymity. Just as soon as my tenure comes through, I am going to send Thames and the IHL a letter or two myself. Of course, I will not broadcast the content here or in the local news. My problem is with the way he is delivering and expressing his message. He is showing off. The only place he can come in order to get heard is either here or in the letters section of some country-town newspaper. His personal problems should not be forced upon me or any of the incoming faculty. He has the faculty email system he can use to discuss his problems in-house with all the other faculty who might be interested. However, getting his problems solved is not the true motive for his posts or his other actions. He is acting out of pure bitterness, and I am not the first person to notice this. It is amusing but insulting that I am labeled a troll, that I am accused of “dividing and conquering” the troops, and that I am a member of the English Department. I am none of the above. This is not divide and conquer. This is just a difference of opinion. You will find that as new faculty come in, this difference of opinion is going to increase. This is not about tenure. The fact that Noel and several of the other highly opinionated English faculty are still here is a testament that tenure is alive and well on this campus. And I assure the rest of you that no matter how new you think I am to academia, I will never act the way some of you are acting….NEVER. And do not speak to me about freedom of speech on this board. One of my colleagues has told me that his/her IP has been blocked from this board. I have seen elsewhere on this board where another poster’s IP has been blocked. Again, as new faculty come aboard, I suspect you are going to find it increasingly burdensome to block all the IP’s. Not to worry though. I assure you this will be my last post. Unlike some of you, I realize that my actions are not going to make a difference and they are certainly not going to help me later."

IPs are blocked only if malicious activity occurs, regardless of faculty status. Very few IPs have been blocked.

Date: Jul 28, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: View from a Distance
"Just to jar the conversation off-course, I don't think the best administrators are necessarily the most accomplished academics. They absolutely MUST have risen through the system and gotten their credentials, but after that they should be the sort of people who gain satisfaction by the accomplishments of their faculty. Little Seeker, if Dr. Polk's department head and dean were doing their jobs, Dr. Polk would be writing reviews and articles, not letters. Every minute he spends trying to right the wrongs of USM is a minute lost to literature. And if your administrations is doing its job, the famous of the university are faculty, not administration. And no. I don't care whether or not he is "bitter". If he can write more clearly if he calls up his department head at home and dresses him down, then the department head should accomodate that. He needs to be whatever makes him productive. "

I agree with you 100 per cent, VFD. Great administrators take pride in their faculty who accomplish academically. They don't take pride in their faculty whose main goal is to suck up since they can't stand on their own academically. Word to the wise, oh Little Seeker --- be mediocre and tenure is almost guaranteed. Having an opinion that might threaten the "family" will get you nowhere.

Date: Jul 28, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: View from a Distance
"And if your administrations is doing its job, the famous of the university are faculty, not administration."

Truer words were never spoken, View. At the really good universities, administrators are virtually invisible - including the president. At two institutions with which I have been affiliated, both of which would be classified as world class by anybody's definition, I never so much as laid eyes on the president. Presidents go and come. The president who views himself as a hot shot is overestimating his/her importance. Let's hope that USM will eventually have a capable chief academic officer (e.g., VPAA or Provost) who will have a president who will let the chief academic officer do her/his job.

Date: Jul 31, 2004

Little Seeker, if you are a seeker, why don't you email me (nepolk@aol.com) and let's plan to talk about this, over coffee or through email. I understand your fears as an untenured faculty member, of course, and am sympathetic with them, and sorry if you feel that I have made things worse for you; but as this administration has shown, tenure doesn't mean anything, and so we are all pretty much in your shoes. There are many ways of fighting this administration, mine is one of several. Please email me and let's chat. Noel

Date: Jul 31, 2004

"Online Prof,"

The General Faculty vote of No Confidence in Shelby Thames went 430 to 32. You say 40 faculty voted against the resolution. Memorizing numbers is not an issue per se (a few people are good it, most are not, and in most contexts it matters little whether they are or not). But I find it hard to believe that anyone who has been following the USM controversy closely for the last few months would not remember how the general faculty vote came out.

Robert Campbell