June 16, 2009
“If the administration can fire [tenured professors in the College of Engineering], it can fire any of us.” –faculty member at United Faculty Senate Special Meeting, June 5, 2009.
As individuals who have dedicated our lives to the academy we need to seriously ask ourselves, Is tenure still meaningful at FAU? You may be enjoying your time away from campus, but the FAU Administration and Board of Trustees are not taking the summer off. After having terminated five tenured faculty members in the College of Engineering and Computer Science they are working overtime this summer to set the groundwork for even more layoffs over the next year. They have chosen to ignore the Faculty Senate’s unanimous condemnation of this act. Under the auspices of revenue shortfalls, Enterprise Resource Planning consultant Susan Clemmons, who knows little about higher education and probably much less about your discipline and area of expertise, is being paid $150.00 per hour to advise the administration on how to reorganize colleges, schools and departments, and what faculty and staff will be shown the door after this reorganization.
On Wednesday, June 17 the Board of Trustees intends to ratify the reorganization of the College of Engineering. If you are concerned about the status of the profession at Florida Atlantic and the uncertainty of tenure it is important that you make your presence known at this meeting. Keep in mind that the agenda is somewhat lengthy. You may attend the meeting via telephone or in person. A time for public comments is provided toward the end of the meeting. For more information on attending and to reference the agenda visit http://wise.fau.edu/bot/notices.php . President Frank Brogan and the BOT dismissed a unanimous condemnation by the University Faculty Senate of the firing of the five Engineering faculty.
UFF-FAU is holding an Executive Committee Meeting on June 19 at noon in General Classroom South 258, Boca campus. All interested faculty and staff are welcome to attend. Please feel free to bring your lunch and questions.