Cuts to university's humanities program draw outcry

Cuts to univerisity's humanities program draw outcry - NPR (11/16)

Chancellor Martin's Grade for Fall 2010

Had Chancellor Martin attended the Faculty Senate meeting on December 8, the following statement would have been delivered:

"Chancellor Martin, you have chosen to delegate a response to the letters of the AAUP. You have also chosen to postpone a response to the Faculty Senate Resolution 10-14.1. To my students I would say, “This is bad time management and called procrastination.”

Chancellor Martin, you have also chosen to dismantle the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (and you have accepted responsibility). With this decision, you have not only irrevocably damaged the university as a whole but also the future of students. My students I would ask, “Are you sure that you can live with this decision?”

Chancellor Martin, you have not been a good steward of what has been entrusted to you, neither economically nor academically nor ethically. Ironically, the cost for a team a clever attorneys to present to you a way to fire 14 instructors, exceeds in all likelihood not only the cost of keeping the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in tact but also retain the FLXIV for another semester. To my students I would say, “Take a course in economics and pay attention to cost/effect.”

Chancellor Martin, you have proven that you have the power to take the ‘human’ out of ‘Humanities’. You have also proven that you have the power to fire 14 foreign language instructors. However, you will never have the power to diminish the importance of foreign languages.

For all your actions or non-actions, you receive an F."

Official Statement to the Faculty Senate

This statement was presented at the Faculty Senate meeting on December 8:

"On behalf of the Foreign Language XIV, I express our sincerest thanks for the efforts of the LSU Chapter and the National Office of the AAUP. It was the right thing to do. I also thank the members of the Faculty Senate for their unanimous vote in favor of Resolution 10-14.1. It was the right thing to do. In fact, this vote has been your finest moment this semester. A special thanks to Dr. Homberger, who worked so hard to draft the resolution and who argued passionately and effectively in favor of the resolution. You are an inspiration to all who take academia seriously. It was the right thing to do. In my book, you receive an A+.

I leave you with the following meditation by Marcus Aurelius….

Very often an unjust act is done by not doing something, 
not only by doing something.

Good luck to all of you."

Chancellor's Response to Faculty Senate Resolution 10-14.1

Update:  LSU General Counsel confirmed in an email dated 12/9 that the Board of Supervisors has never approved action involving foreign language instructors at LSU, calling the veracity of the Chancellor's statement below into question.

Too little, too late

LSU unveiling long-term "Flagship 2020" program - Advocate (12/9)
Jindal, group focus on new policies to help LSU budget - Advocate (12/8)
Plan to grant LSU more administrative flexibility is feasible, Gov. bobby Jindal says - Times-Picayune (12/8)
LSU would operate under different rules than other state campuses under proposals - Times-Picayune (12/3)

From the Faculty Grievance Committee

"The Faculty Grievance committee met yesterday to consider the grievance that you filed. After reviewing the materials that you submitted, the committee agreed that this matter is outside  of our jurisdiction. This conclusion is based both on the charge to the Faculty Grievance Committee by the Faculty Senate, as well as recent investigations conducted by the committee.

The committee regrets the university’s decision not to reappointment the instructors in foreign languages, and we understand your frustration with the situation. I realize that our sympathy brings you very little comfort at this point and that you are likely disappointed with this outcome. We reviewed your materials carefully and we understand that you do not feel that the criteria were applied fairly.  If we had accepted your grievance and conducted an investigation, we would have interviewed people involved, compared wait lists, course enrollments, and any other evidence to the criteria you were given.  Even if we found that  the criteria were not fairly applied,  however, there is nothing that we as a committee could do to alter the outcome of this situation.  Based on grievances we have heard before, when the university gives a year’s notice of non-reappointment, they are acting within their legal rights, and they do not have to provide a rationale or a cause.

We do not believe that conducting an investigation into your grievance will be productive for you. We do not have any influence in decisions made concerning non-reappointment decisions for individuals who are not in tenure track positions. The decision not to investigate your grievance does not carry with it any evaluative implications.  By declining to consider your grievance, we are simply indicating that this not an issue that we can review."

A shout-out from the New York Times

Budget-Cutting Colleges Bid Some Languages Adieu - New York Times (12/5)