[POST-CEIT-facultycouncil] FW: Brooklyn Teaching Assignments

[Jeongeun Rhee]

Hello, Colleagues.
I will be serving as a Faculty Council communication person for CEIT this year, here is your first email from the executive officers of FC.
More to come.

Best,
Jeong-eun

Jeong-eun Rhee, Ph.D
Professor
College of Education, Information, & Technology
LIU Post
320 Library
720 Northern Blvd
Brookville, NY 11548-1300
(O)516-299-2193
(F)516-299-3312

Editor of Educational Studies
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/heds20/current#.VE_DT-d9nLw






From: John Lutz <John.Lutz at liu.edu<mailto:John.Lutz at liu.edu>>
Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 7:12 AM
To: LIU Post Faculty Council <post-FC at liu.edu<mailto:post-FC at liu.edu>>, Brian Sweeney <Brian.Sweeney at liu.edu<mailto:Brian.Sweeney at liu.edu>>
Cc: Michele Dornisch <Michele.Dornisch at liu.edu<mailto:Michele.Dornisch at liu.edu>>, Nancy Frye <Nancy.Frye at liu.edu<mailto:Nancy.Frye at liu.edu>>, Anke Grosskopf <Anke.Grosskopf at liu.edu<mailto:Anke.Grosskopf at liu.edu>>
Subject: FW: Brooklyn Teaching Assignments

Dear Colleagues,

Please see the letter below from the Faculty Council officers to Dr. Cline regarding the decision to assign staff and administrators at Post campus to teach classes at Brooklyn in the event of a strike. This is a letter from the officers only and not a case of us speaking for the Council; however, we would like to discuss the possibility of constructing an open letter to Dr. Cline and the Board of Trustees expressing our concerns about the university.

If you're responsible for communication, please forward this to people in your area.

Best wishes,

John

From: John Lutz
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2016 7:06 AM
To: Kim Cline
Cc: Michele Dornisch; Nancy Frye; Anke Grosskopf; Jeff Kane
Subject: Brooklyn Teaching Assignments

Dear Dr. Cline,

We're writing to express our dismay at the decision to assign Post staff and administrators to teach classes at Brooklyn in the event of a strike. This decision has resulted in a widespread feeling of outrage among faculty on this campus. We believe that this decision will have an extremely negative effect upon all stakeholders at the university for the following reasons:

1) The Faculty Council has pursued a path of collaboration with administration in reaching our shared goal of educating students. In the event of a strike, key personnel who provide crucial support to faculty will not be available at the beginning of the semester; however, the more important impact to consider is the effect on morale. We have many challenges ahead of us that require faculty engagement and optimism about the future of our institution. We urge you to consider the long term consequences of a decision that is certain to be destructive and that can only exacerbate many of the tensions and conflicts that we need to overcome to achieve genuine shared governance.

2) The absence of staff and administrators in the early weeks of the semester will have a detrimental impact on students. The first few weeks of the semester are crucial in getting students settled in their classes and on track for a successful semester. This is particularly true of first-year students. What will be the impact on them? How many students will not be able to get the assistance they need because the person who can help them is teaching at Brooklyn campus? This decision is unfair to students at Post because many will not receive the attention they need and deserve.

3) This decision is unjust to the staff and administrators who have been assigned to teach at Brooklyn as well as others at Post who will have to perform the tasks that they would have performed if they were present. The commute to Brooklyn is two hours each way. Add the course load that some staff and administrators will be taking on and, realistically, two out of five days of the week will be spent at Brooklyn campus. Many staff and administrators have commitments to their families that will make these class assignments painful and burdensome.

4) This decision exhibits no consideration for the knowledge and expertise that faculty have acquired over many years of research and study to teach effectively and well. It sends the message that faculty are easily replaceable. It will inevitably undermine the intellectual legitimacy of our institution.

We ask you to reconsider this decision in light of the arguments above, we ask you to consider the impact on campus morale and the future of shared governance, we urge you to consider the impact on the staff and administrators asked to do this, their families, and our campus community.

Respectfully,

Faculty Council Officers,

Michele Dornisch
John Lutz
Anke Grosskopf
Nancy Frye (Ex officio)

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