Late Sunday night we published a written transcription of an interview with Cori Jackson. The story of his suspension had been brought to our attention early in the month, but Caleb and I were not able to sit down with Jackson until last Friday. Caleb and I are on the editorial board of the Collegian, though we are not part of the news section, and we informed the news editors of the situation as we understood it. From there we had the interview, recorded it and I transcribed it on Sunday. Both we at the Underground and representatives from the Collegian spoke with Jackson about getting his story told in these outlets and, at the time, he was supportive of our attempts to get his story out to the public.
We chose to publish the exact words of Jackson, as we thought this fit best with our mission to allow suppressed stories to be told by those who lived them.
By midnight, I had become aware that Jackson had informed his attorney about the publications, and his attorney counseled Jackson to have them removed. As these words are Jackson's and not ours, we complied.
Though Caleb and I truly want Cori's story to be told to the Butler community in the format we originally chose, we will continue to refrain from making the transcript available on the Underground. Our colleagues at the Butler Collegian will be publishing a story in tomorrow's April 1st issue regarding the proceedings at the university and at BUPD.
In the brief discussions I've had with Cori about the progress of his case (and the possibility of reposting) he has expressed regret about not feeling comfortable supporting the release on the Underground and in the Collegian. His response to our efforts was positive, but he avidly expressed his desire to wait. Cori is to see a judge regarding his case in the coming days and he is hoping that the progress of the case will go in his favor. For that reason, he does not want any publications here to complicate that possibility.
Though further portions of the interview we presented and further information are to come to light tomorrow, this blog is about harboring a respectable space for dissent and opinion. A free flow of information does not necessitate an uninhibited one, but does necessitate respect.
I am aware that copies of our Sunday post exist and I ask that you maintain these responsibly. I also encourage everyone to pick up an issue of the Collegian in order to read new details about story which Caleb and I were unable to present originally. We will keep the updates coming and ensure that injustices are not kept quiet; that they are not swept under the rug by administrators as a complicated guise of bureaucracy.
-Jon
3.31.2009
Dr. Carol Hagans to Become Associate Provost of Student Academic Affairs
Regardless of whether or not students had a direct and valued say in this decision, hopefully it will prove to be a positive one.
The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce that Dr. Carol Hagans has accepted the offer to become the new Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs, effective Monday, May 18.
Since June 2000, Dr Hagans has called Butler her home, serving both as the Director of Counseling and Consultation Services and the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. She completed her undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees at Ball State University and is both APA and CACREP accredited. Dr Hagans has a proven record with 18 years of experience in higher education, ranging from small liberal arts, medium-sized land-grant institutions, and the Graduate School of Theology in the Caribbean, and brings with her specialized knowledge of Butler students and issues they face from both a therapy and Student Affairs professional services background.
I would like to express sincere gratitude to the Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs Search Committee, which consisted of chair Joe Kirsh and committee members Gary Beaulieu, Bob Bennett, Sally Click, Jennifer Griggs, Kent Grumbles, Kendra Hormann, Scott Kincaid, Deb Lecklider, Tom Weede, and Anne Wilson, for their time and efforts in this decision.
Please join my enthusiasm in congratulating Dr. Hagans as she begins this exciting new facet of her professional life.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jamie Comstock
Provost
The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce that Dr. Carol Hagans has accepted the offer to become the new Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs, effective Monday, May 18.
Since June 2000, Dr Hagans has called Butler her home, serving both as the Director of Counseling and Consultation Services and the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. She completed her undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees at Ball State University and is both APA and CACREP accredited. Dr Hagans has a proven record with 18 years of experience in higher education, ranging from small liberal arts, medium-sized land-grant institutions, and the Graduate School of Theology in the Caribbean, and brings with her specialized knowledge of Butler students and issues they face from both a therapy and Student Affairs professional services background.
I would like to express sincere gratitude to the Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs Search Committee, which consisted of chair Joe Kirsh and committee members Gary Beaulieu, Bob Bennett, Sally Click, Jennifer Griggs, Kent Grumbles, Kendra Hormann, Scott Kincaid, Deb Lecklider, Tom Weede, and Anne Wilson, for their time and efforts in this decision.
Please join my enthusiasm in congratulating Dr. Hagans as she begins this exciting new facet of her professional life.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jamie Comstock
Provost
3.30.2009
On Cori Jackson & The Power of Our Voices
I think the potential of this forum was demonstrated earlier this evening. Within hours of posting the story about Cori Jackson, the email accounts of Caleb and I were being flooded with responses both on the page and on tips of other stories regarding Dean Irene Stevens.
As part of this flood we received a message from CJ himself requesting that we remove the entry. After speaking with his attorney, CJ was advised to have the post removed until he meets with the judge again. We have agreed to remove it, for the time being, as we would not want to impede any progress in his case. The post has not been deleted, but will not appear in a published form for the time being. I have also made an effort to ensure that all comments made on the entry while it was up were saved and will reappear when and if we re-post. We are working closely with CJ and hope to have the post back up soon. I understand with the rise and fall of blogs at Butler that many are sensitive to saving information, I myself was able to save the True BU entries in various forms. I request that anyone who still has this post available please refrain re-publication. I reiterate, this is by request of CJ and his attorney and we do not want to impede his case.
The Underground has been slowly exposing the many realities of student, faculty and administrative life at Butler, none more disturbing than the recent events surround Mr. Jackson. As such we have been treading some delicate borders and negotiating legal and ethical realities which are unprecedented in this type of forum. Occasionally this leads to some hard choices, ones that we do not take lightly.We will always act in the best interest of the community by insuring the integrity of The Underground, protecting those whose stories are being shared and not shying away from controversy.
Again, CJ's story has not and will not fall to the background. It remains underground and though we exposed it only briefly, the response was immense. We expect to have something to present within the next day or two and will keep everyone updated.
Thank you all for your concerned responses. We hope we have your understanding in the matter.
-Jon
As part of this flood we received a message from CJ himself requesting that we remove the entry. After speaking with his attorney, CJ was advised to have the post removed until he meets with the judge again. We have agreed to remove it, for the time being, as we would not want to impede any progress in his case. The post has not been deleted, but will not appear in a published form for the time being. I have also made an effort to ensure that all comments made on the entry while it was up were saved and will reappear when and if we re-post. We are working closely with CJ and hope to have the post back up soon. I understand with the rise and fall of blogs at Butler that many are sensitive to saving information, I myself was able to save the True BU entries in various forms. I request that anyone who still has this post available please refrain re-publication. I reiterate, this is by request of CJ and his attorney and we do not want to impede his case.
The Underground has been slowly exposing the many realities of student, faculty and administrative life at Butler, none more disturbing than the recent events surround Mr. Jackson. As such we have been treading some delicate borders and negotiating legal and ethical realities which are unprecedented in this type of forum. Occasionally this leads to some hard choices, ones that we do not take lightly.We will always act in the best interest of the community by insuring the integrity of The Underground, protecting those whose stories are being shared and not shying away from controversy.
Again, CJ's story has not and will not fall to the background. It remains underground and though we exposed it only briefly, the response was immense. We expect to have something to present within the next day or two and will keep everyone updated.
Thank you all for your concerned responses. We hope we have your understanding in the matter.
-Jon
3.29.2009
Professor Bill Watts: Email Monitoring and the TrueBU
During my short time at Butler, Professor Bill Watts of the English Department has repeatedly shown himself to be a dedicated advocate for faculty and students. He has written numerous articles for The Butler Collegian addressing campus injustice and has provided guidance to many in need.
Below you'll find a piece composed by Professor Watts addressing the administration's recent intrusion into a student's personal email account and the subsequent closing of the former TrueBU.
- Caleb
Below you'll find a piece composed by Professor Watts addressing the administration's recent intrusion into a student's personal email account and the subsequent closing of the former TrueBU.
- Caleb
Jess Zimmerman’s Email and the Closing of TrueBU
Bill Watts
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We should all be concerned about the intrusion into Jess Zimmerman’s private Butler email account, as reported by the Butler Collegian on Feb. 25, 2009. While this intrusion may be legally defensible, it is not justifiable in moral or academic terms. I believe that its purpose was to intimidate and to inhibit the free exchange of ideas.
In their carefully modulated statements to the Collegian, Scott Kincaid, Chief Information Officer, Levester Johnson, Vice President for Student Affairs, and President Bobby Fong have left the impression that Jess Zimmerman’s private email was read because he was suspected of sending out threatening messages. This explanation does not stand up to scrutiny.
To begin with, I have seen the two email messages in question, and I can say that it is impossible to construe the one and it is a stretch to construe the other as threatening. Both messages were written in the aftermath of Andrea Gullickson’s dismissal as head of the School of Music.
In their carefully modulated statements to the Collegian, Scott Kincaid, Chief Information Officer, Levester Johnson, Vice President for Student Affairs, and President Bobby Fong have left the impression that Jess Zimmerman’s private email was read because he was suspected of sending out threatening messages. This explanation does not stand up to scrutiny.
To begin with, I have seen the two email messages in question, and I can say that it is impossible to construe the one and it is a stretch to construe the other as threatening. Both messages were written in the aftermath of Andrea Gullickson’s dismissal as head of the School of Music.
(Both emails can be found below this article in their entirety.)
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The message sent by Soodo Nym to Provost Jamie Comstock and JCFA Dean Peter Alexander is dismissive of their abilities and it is snarky, but it is not threatening. The harshest sentence in the message, sent on Christmas day, says to Alexander and Comstock: “I hope your new year's resolution is to begin to represent Butler University in a positive fashion and with integrity--something both of you have demonstrated, repeatedly, that you lack.”
The second message was sent by someone writing under the name of “Butler Brigade,” and it is both shorter and blunter than Soodo Nym’s missive: “You’re entering dangerous territory. You can mess with our faculty but you will not intimidate our students. Be fully aware that we can create much more trouble for you than we have so far.” The message is signed “The Students of Butler University.”
To my mind, there is nothing in this note that threatens physical harm. To say that someone is entering “dangerous territory,” it seems to me, is to say that they are making unwise decisions, and that they should alter their course of action. Butler Brigade’s message is impolite and uncivil, and I do not approve of such anonymous messages, in which the speaker masks his or her identity with a pseudonym. But it is hard for me to see the message as threatening.
Even if we do stretch our imagination in order to find some kind of veiled threat in the message from Butler Brigade, this still does not justify rifling through Jess Zimmerman’s email account. Neither the message from Soodo Nym nor the “dangerous territory” message from Butler Brigade was sent from a Butler account; the former came from a Gmail account, and the latter from Hotmail. If Butler administrators wanted to track down these messages, they had better and more legitimate means to do so than intruding on an email account that had nothing to do with these messages.
A few years ago, an anonymous emailer sent out a message mocking Michelle Mannering, who was then a professor in the history department. In response to this message, the Butler Police went to extraordinary lengths to check the IP address of the message, and to track down the sender. The Butler Police could have done the same with the “dangerous ground” message, and they could also have subpoenaed the email service provider to learn the identity of Butler Brigade. This would have been the legitimate way to deal with the message.
In understanding why Butler administrators chose instead to breach Jess Zimmerman’s email account, we have to look to two other factors: his relationship to the TrueBU blog and his relationship to Michael Zimmerman, his father and dean of the LAS, and Andrea Gullickson, his step-mother, and the former head of the School of Music.
In my several conversations with him, Jess Zimmerman has always been coy about his relationship to TrueBU, the blog that was critical of the Butler administration. I do not know whether Jess Zimmerman was just an acquaintance of the creators of TrueBU, or whether he was a principal creator himself, but I do know that he was involved with the blog in some way.
At the same time that Vice President Levester Johnson and Dean Sally Click presented Jess Zimmerman with email messages from his private account, Butler University officials were making a concerted effort to close down TrueBU. I believe that Michael Blickman, Butler’s ever-present, behind-the-scenes legal muscle from the Ice Miller law firm, was central to this effort.
Here, I must rely upon indirect evidence and a bit of conjecture to reconstruct the sequence of steps taken to close down TrueBU. If any Butler official wishes to contradict or correct my reconstruction of events, I would be grateful for the correction. But here is what I believe happened:
1. A high Butler official—perhaps President Fong himself---and Michael Blickman made a request to Scott Kincaid to open up Jess Zimmerman’s email account on the dubious grounds that he was involved in sending out threatening email messages;
2. Michael Blickman sent a message to Soodo Nym threatening legal action on the questionable grounds that TrueBU was distributing material that was either defaming or harassing Butler officials;
3. Dean Michael Zimmerman was presented with evidence, probably taken from Jess Zimmerman’s email, indicating that his son was associated with TrueBu. Dean Zimmerman was pressured to tell his son to close down the blog.
In this way, then, Butler officials were able to move behind the scenes to close down TrueBU while giving themselves room to state publicly that their real concern was with email threats that did not, in any case, come from Jess Zimmerman’s email account. And, of course, their efforts succeeded; the blog was closed down.
The opening of Jess Zimmerman’s email was not simply a violation of his privacy; it undermined one of the principles of the University, which should be dedicated to the free and unfettered exchange of ideas.
One of the most beautiful and compelling statements of that principle is to be found in John Milton’s seventeenth-century treatise, Areopagitica. In making his argument that Parliament should not regulate the free expression of ideas, Milton writes:
And though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?
Because Truth would triumph in any free exchange with Falsehood, Milton reasoned, artificial means of censoring utterances could only hinder the discovery of what is true.
Not content to allow Truth and Falsehood to confront one another, our administrators sought, by intruding on Jess Zimmerman’s email and by employing other strong-arm tactics, to close down a blog expressing ideas with which they disagreed.
We are all diminished by their actions.
The second message was sent by someone writing under the name of “Butler Brigade,” and it is both shorter and blunter than Soodo Nym’s missive: “You’re entering dangerous territory. You can mess with our faculty but you will not intimidate our students. Be fully aware that we can create much more trouble for you than we have so far.” The message is signed “The Students of Butler University.”
To my mind, there is nothing in this note that threatens physical harm. To say that someone is entering “dangerous territory,” it seems to me, is to say that they are making unwise decisions, and that they should alter their course of action. Butler Brigade’s message is impolite and uncivil, and I do not approve of such anonymous messages, in which the speaker masks his or her identity with a pseudonym. But it is hard for me to see the message as threatening.
Even if we do stretch our imagination in order to find some kind of veiled threat in the message from Butler Brigade, this still does not justify rifling through Jess Zimmerman’s email account. Neither the message from Soodo Nym nor the “dangerous territory” message from Butler Brigade was sent from a Butler account; the former came from a Gmail account, and the latter from Hotmail. If Butler administrators wanted to track down these messages, they had better and more legitimate means to do so than intruding on an email account that had nothing to do with these messages.
A few years ago, an anonymous emailer sent out a message mocking Michelle Mannering, who was then a professor in the history department. In response to this message, the Butler Police went to extraordinary lengths to check the IP address of the message, and to track down the sender. The Butler Police could have done the same with the “dangerous ground” message, and they could also have subpoenaed the email service provider to learn the identity of Butler Brigade. This would have been the legitimate way to deal with the message.
In understanding why Butler administrators chose instead to breach Jess Zimmerman’s email account, we have to look to two other factors: his relationship to the TrueBU blog and his relationship to Michael Zimmerman, his father and dean of the LAS, and Andrea Gullickson, his step-mother, and the former head of the School of Music.
In my several conversations with him, Jess Zimmerman has always been coy about his relationship to TrueBU, the blog that was critical of the Butler administration. I do not know whether Jess Zimmerman was just an acquaintance of the creators of TrueBU, or whether he was a principal creator himself, but I do know that he was involved with the blog in some way.
At the same time that Vice President Levester Johnson and Dean Sally Click presented Jess Zimmerman with email messages from his private account, Butler University officials were making a concerted effort to close down TrueBU. I believe that Michael Blickman, Butler’s ever-present, behind-the-scenes legal muscle from the Ice Miller law firm, was central to this effort.
Here, I must rely upon indirect evidence and a bit of conjecture to reconstruct the sequence of steps taken to close down TrueBU. If any Butler official wishes to contradict or correct my reconstruction of events, I would be grateful for the correction. But here is what I believe happened:
1. A high Butler official—perhaps President Fong himself---and Michael Blickman made a request to Scott Kincaid to open up Jess Zimmerman’s email account on the dubious grounds that he was involved in sending out threatening email messages;
2. Michael Blickman sent a message to Soodo Nym threatening legal action on the questionable grounds that TrueBU was distributing material that was either defaming or harassing Butler officials;
3. Dean Michael Zimmerman was presented with evidence, probably taken from Jess Zimmerman’s email, indicating that his son was associated with TrueBu. Dean Zimmerman was pressured to tell his son to close down the blog.
In this way, then, Butler officials were able to move behind the scenes to close down TrueBU while giving themselves room to state publicly that their real concern was with email threats that did not, in any case, come from Jess Zimmerman’s email account. And, of course, their efforts succeeded; the blog was closed down.
The opening of Jess Zimmerman’s email was not simply a violation of his privacy; it undermined one of the principles of the University, which should be dedicated to the free and unfettered exchange of ideas.
One of the most beautiful and compelling statements of that principle is to be found in John Milton’s seventeenth-century treatise, Areopagitica. In making his argument that Parliament should not regulate the free expression of ideas, Milton writes:
And though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?
Because Truth would triumph in any free exchange with Falsehood, Milton reasoned, artificial means of censoring utterances could only hinder the discovery of what is true.
Not content to allow Truth and Falsehood to confront one another, our administrators sought, by intruding on Jess Zimmerman’s email and by employing other strong-arm tactics, to close down a blog expressing ideas with which they disagreed.
We are all diminished by their actions.
Space
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Space
Email 1
Sent from Soodo Nym on Dec. 25, 2009 from a Gmail account:
Drs Alexander and Comstock,
I wanted to write to wish you a very merry Christmas and a good new year.
Though I've spent this last week, and will spend the next week, off of campus sipping eggnog and opening/giving presents, I haven't forgotten the abuses of power and poor leadership you showed last semester. I know you wanted me (and all students) to forget over the holiday, but I assure you that I have not. Oh well.
Anyway, I hope your new year's resolution is to begin to represent Butler University in a positive fashion and with integrity--something both of you have demonstrated, repeatedly, that you lack.
As I've told people both online and in person, my goal is to tell the true stories of Butler University. I hope you give me something positive about which to write next semester: If you ever have any professional or personal achievements (Or, Dr. Alexander, if you ever even have a biography that someone feels is important enough to publish on ANY website) I would love to report them because it will make Butler look better.
Best to you and yours this holiday,
Soodo Nym
Butler Blogger: The True BU
Drs Alexander and Comstock,
I wanted to write to wish you a very merry Christmas and a good new year.
Though I've spent this last week, and will spend the next week, off of campus sipping eggnog and opening/giving presents, I haven't forgotten the abuses of power and poor leadership you showed last semester. I know you wanted me (and all students) to forget over the holiday, but I assure you that I have not. Oh well.
Anyway, I hope your new year's resolution is to begin to represent Butler University in a positive fashion and with integrity--something both of you have demonstrated, repeatedly, that you lack.
As I've told people both online and in person, my goal is to tell the true stories of Butler University. I hope you give me something positive about which to write next semester: If you ever have any professional or personal achievements (Or, Dr. Alexander, if you ever even have a biography that someone feels is important enough to publish on ANY website) I would love to report them because it will make Butler look better.
Best to you and yours this holiday,
Soodo Nym
Butler Blogger: The True BU
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Email 2
Sent from Butler Brigade, late December 2008, to Jamie Comstock and possibly other administrators from a Hotmail account:
You’re entering dangerous territory. You can mess with our faculty but you will not intimidate our students. Be fully aware that we can create much more trouble for you than we have so far.
Sincerely,
The Students of Butler University
You’re entering dangerous territory. You can mess with our faculty but you will not intimidate our students. Be fully aware that we can create much more trouble for you than we have so far.
Sincerely,
The Students of Butler University
3.27.2009
Removal of "Music Gate" Coverage
After consulting with trusted faculty, Jon and I have decided to remove our initial post--one containing the internal correspondence surrounding the resignation of Andrea Gullickson as Chair of Music.
As with our decision to remove the Butler logo, we take this action not necessarily because we think this is the ethical decision, but because we wish to allow the administration no legitimate grounds for interfering with this publication. We want it to be unmistakably clear that should we disappear in the fashion of the TrueBU, that it was due to nothing other than dislike of the free flow of information in our university community.
As we have written before, we wish to dissipate an emerging climate of fear at Butler. We take this action not because we wish to further this environment, but so we can ensure the vitality of this forum which seeks to eliminate it.
- Caleb
As with our decision to remove the Butler logo, we take this action not necessarily because we think this is the ethical decision, but because we wish to allow the administration no legitimate grounds for interfering with this publication. We want it to be unmistakably clear that should we disappear in the fashion of the TrueBU, that it was due to nothing other than dislike of the free flow of information in our university community.
As we have written before, we wish to dissipate an emerging climate of fear at Butler. We take this action not because we wish to further this environment, but so we can ensure the vitality of this forum which seeks to eliminate it.
- Caleb
3.26.2009
Another Provost Position!
Butler just finished entertaining three finalists for Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs (see posts below for detailed description and evaluation of this process). Now, we're currently interviewing finalists for Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Interdisciplinary Programs.
As with the former position, Jon and I will be meeting with and evaluating the finalists. The process should be completed by next week. Until then, we encourage you to attend the open forums and share your concerns with the applicants and the numerous administrators that also attend these meetings. The dates and times of these discussions are sent out regularly to all Butler community members. If for some reason you can't access the schedules, e-mail either Jon or me and we'll fill you in. The next meeting will be held tomorrow morning at 10:30 in the writers studio (third floor Jordan Hall). Hope to see you there.
- Caleb
The administration's description of the position:
The associate provost for faculty affairs and interdisciplinary programs provides leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for the Comprehensive Faculty Development program, the Core Curriculum, and cross-college, inter-disciplinary programs. The associate provost reports directly to the Provost, serves as key member of the provost’s central office staff, and sits on the Provost Advisory Council, as well the University’s Senior Administrative Group.
Duties and Assignments:
· Responsibility and authority to ensure the appropriate delivery of the faculty approved Core Curriculum, which includes oversight for staffing, budgeting, course scheduling and learning outcomes assessment, as well as providing guidance to, and engaging in high levels of collaboration with, the faculty core curriculum committees.
· In collaboration with the provost, develop, implement and sustain policies and protocols related to faculty affiliation with the university, including hiring, the tenure and promotion process; the maintenance of faculty personnel files, etc.
· In collaboration with the provost, deans, and faculty leadership develop and implement a comprehensive faculty development program that addresses a broad spectrum of faculty needs, including early-career, mid-career and late-career support, as well as development in teaching and research. Provide appropriate guidance an instruction during the faculty search process.
· Oversee the cross-college, interdisciplinary programs of the institution (International Studies, Gender Studies, Service Learning and other programs as currently exist or will be developed). Provide supervision and evaluation of area-directors and coordinators.
· Oversee the implementation and further development of the internal-grants and sponsored-programs activities of the institution. Provide guidance to the faculty committees charged with allocation of internal grants funding. In collaboration with the deans, develop a program to support faculty seeking external-grants funding through sponsored programs.
· Implement special-function programs for faculty, including start-of-year colloquy, orientation for new faculty, mentoring programs, and others as occasions arise.
· Manage and sustain the auxiliary functions needed to support faculty research, including the activities of the Institutional Review Board and animal-care.
· Serve as the administrative liaison for the Faculty Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate.
· Complete duties and projects as assigned by the provost.
Requirements:
· Terminal degree, with senior faculty status.
· Minimum of five years experience in academic leadership, preferably at the department chair level or above.
· Full understanding of the faculty evaluation policies, procedures and processes.
· Record of excellence in teaching, scholarship/creative achievement
· Leadership skills to support the work of and foster collaboration among a diverse population of colleagues and direct-reports.
· Ability to solve problems, analyze and evaluate data, allocate resources effectively.
· Strong communication skills.
· Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous priorities, organize work-flow, identify emerging needs. Ability to work both proactively and responsively.
· Understanding of best practices in curricular development, pedagogy and research, as well as an ability to integrate emerging practices into current structures
· Understanding of higher education institutions, structures, policies, and practices
As with the former position, Jon and I will be meeting with and evaluating the finalists. The process should be completed by next week. Until then, we encourage you to attend the open forums and share your concerns with the applicants and the numerous administrators that also attend these meetings. The dates and times of these discussions are sent out regularly to all Butler community members. If for some reason you can't access the schedules, e-mail either Jon or me and we'll fill you in. The next meeting will be held tomorrow morning at 10:30 in the writers studio (third floor Jordan Hall). Hope to see you there.
- Caleb
The administration's description of the position:
The associate provost for faculty affairs and interdisciplinary programs provides leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for the Comprehensive Faculty Development program, the Core Curriculum, and cross-college, inter-disciplinary programs. The associate provost reports directly to the Provost, serves as key member of the provost’s central office staff, and sits on the Provost Advisory Council, as well the University’s Senior Administrative Group.
Duties and Assignments:
· Responsibility and authority to ensure the appropriate delivery of the faculty approved Core Curriculum, which includes oversight for staffing, budgeting, course scheduling and learning outcomes assessment, as well as providing guidance to, and engaging in high levels of collaboration with, the faculty core curriculum committees.
· In collaboration with the provost, develop, implement and sustain policies and protocols related to faculty affiliation with the university, including hiring, the tenure and promotion process; the maintenance of faculty personnel files, etc.
· In collaboration with the provost, deans, and faculty leadership develop and implement a comprehensive faculty development program that addresses a broad spectrum of faculty needs, including early-career, mid-career and late-career support, as well as development in teaching and research. Provide appropriate guidance an instruction during the faculty search process.
· Oversee the cross-college, interdisciplinary programs of the institution (International Studies, Gender Studies, Service Learning and other programs as currently exist or will be developed). Provide supervision and evaluation of area-directors and coordinators.
· Oversee the implementation and further development of the internal-grants and sponsored-programs activities of the institution. Provide guidance to the faculty committees charged with allocation of internal grants funding. In collaboration with the deans, develop a program to support faculty seeking external-grants funding through sponsored programs.
· Implement special-function programs for faculty, including start-of-year colloquy, orientation for new faculty, mentoring programs, and others as occasions arise.
· Manage and sustain the auxiliary functions needed to support faculty research, including the activities of the Institutional Review Board and animal-care.
· Serve as the administrative liaison for the Faculty Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate.
· Complete duties and projects as assigned by the provost.
Requirements:
· Terminal degree, with senior faculty status.
· Minimum of five years experience in academic leadership, preferably at the department chair level or above.
· Full understanding of the faculty evaluation policies, procedures and processes.
· Record of excellence in teaching, scholarship/creative achievement
· Leadership skills to support the work of and foster collaboration among a diverse population of colleagues and direct-reports.
· Ability to solve problems, analyze and evaluate data, allocate resources effectively.
· Strong communication skills.
· Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous priorities, organize work-flow, identify emerging needs. Ability to work both proactively and responsively.
· Understanding of best practices in curricular development, pedagogy and research, as well as an ability to integrate emerging practices into current structures
· Understanding of higher education institutions, structures, policies, and practices
3.25.2009
Evaluation: Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs
Over the last two weeks, we have taken the time to interview and interact with the three candidates for Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs. According to the administration, the person in this position:
"Provides leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for all student academic support programs and student academic development and success initiatives. The associate provost reports directly to the Provost, serves as chief of the provost’s central office staff, and sits on the Provost Advisory Council, as well the University’s Senior Administrative Group." (See the end of this post for the full description.)
Obviously, this is an important post--one that Butler students should be concerned with.
As such, we have provided our personal evaluations of the candidates. We do not claim to be absolute authorities--we only wish to provide those concerned with this position some standards by which to compare. Also, we encourage you to utilize the candidate resumes and responses that were e-mailed out during the past week. If you've lost them, contact us and we'll be happy to send you a copy.
We have posted links below. These will take you to online surveys where, in the absence of legitimate voting power, you can "share your thoughts" with the administration. Please note that our officials have requested these responses be completed by 5pm today.
Make your voice heard(!):
McKeever
Rasnak
Hagans
- The Dissenters
An Evaluation: By Jon Irons
Dr. McKeever seemed quite relatable and interested in students. However, when I met with her in a more intimate situation I found myself wanting more genuineness. I had a number of questions to ask Dr. McKeever, particularly about her ideas of the special role that a student affairs provost might have. Unfortunately, our time was mostly used up due to the long stories she told about growing up in a military family and teaching and learning English. Her perspective was intriguing, but she jumped from the meat of the questions the students asked to anecdotal supplement after only supplying cursory answers. I left the meeting uncertain of whether this story-telling down-to-earth self was a real one or a tactic to win favor. This is not a good type of uncertainty to leave.
Furthermore, McKeever presented a metaphor to her position that bothered me. She used the idea of grafting roses on a rose bush to explain how she thought “cultivating” the student-faculty relationship was of the highest importance. Ultimately, it seemed that the role of the cultivator was unrivaled, and while the grafted roses would develop unique relationships, the scheme carried an air of determinism which bothered me. I think administrators think of themselves too much as cultivators and not equal actors.
It is worth noting that Dr. Hagans is an internal candidate, meaning that she already holds a position at Butler. She works in the counseling center in the HRC. The fact that she worked at Butler, left and returned again indicates to me that she is a good fit for and enjoys the climate here. This is a benefit in the sense that she understands the needs to Butler-type students. However, one might wonder if the incomplete puzzle needs a well-fitting piece or a another one that fits, but requires some reworking around the edges. Perhaps conflict would breed more productivity.
Unfortunately I could not meet with Dr. Hagans in a smaller student-oriented setting. For that reason I cannot offer a great deal of insight into the person behind the claims. But, while I was at the open forum, she answered a question about the role she would play in summer school. To this she immediately mentioned the numbers of students she has worked with that express (of the Butler summer opportunities) frustration in never being asked what they needed. This meant for her that the first step in addressing summer school would be to determine needs, with specific mention to the needs of students seeking summer credit. Again, I cannot attest to verifying the sincerity behind listening to students (for all the candidates promised to defer to students), but I can say that the sincerity I felt in the formal setting was more than an sincerity I got from Dr. McKeever in even the intimate setting.
An Evaluation: By Caleb Hamman
I was able to attend open forums with the three candidates for Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs. I was also able to meet with the second candidate, Dr. Mary Ann Rasnak, in a small discussion with two other students.
After interacting with each of the candidates, I think that that the third, Dr. Carol Hagans, would be the best choice for the position.
I essentially used three criteria to evaluate the candidates. In order of decreasing importance these were: their ideas on facilitating effective and genuine student learning, their ideas on student faculty interaction, and their own administrative abilities.
I felt that both Rasnak and Dr. Kerry McKeever, though both seeming to have some skill in the latter category, did not sufficiently demonstrate transformative ideas or plans on the two former.
McKeever spoke of “grafting” students onto professors, showed little concern for pedagogy, and seemed lacking of thoughts regarding the value of experiential learning. When I asked her about possible barriers to university student learning, McKeever almost entirely focused on problems stemming from poor high school education. When at the university, according to McKeever, students can have problems managing time or more difficult material. Though this is certainly true, McKeever demonstrated no concern for pedagogical problems stemming from the university structure itself—those relating to competition and separation that we at the Underground view as substantial barriers to true learning. Moreover, in my personal interaction with McKeever, I felt as if I was being belittled due to my status as a student. A notable example was her interruption of my question, but I’ve heard other students also speak about her tendency to run them over in a conversational setting.
Rasnak would be my second choice. She showed much more concern for student learning that McKeever. However, her focus was almost entirely administrative, and even when asked directly to speak about her theory of student development, continued to only emphasize program solutions. Similarly, her thoughts on experiential learning, which she expressed in the open forum, seemed somewhat manufactured. In my opinion, this is probably due to the fact that I spoke with her extensively on the topic before the meeting and informed her (perhaps mistakenly) that some of those evaluating her would view this as an important subject—one which, I emphasize, she did not mention until I brought it up and even then seemed to view as of marginal importance. Finally, I was somewhat troubled by Rasnak’s suggestion that a solution to faculty-student estrangement was to have upper-class students act as intermediaries between students and faculty. Though I understand this may make some sense at the kind of large institution Rasnak is familiar with, it seems to me to be an unnecessary (and alienating) segregation for Butler, where faculty-student ratios are considerably smaller.
I was only able to attend roughly 30 minutes of an open forum with Hagans. Of all the candidates, she was the only one I was unable to question. Still, even from her brief presentation, it seemed evident to me that Hagans understood some principles that, in my opinion, are absolutely essential for quality learning to take place. Mainly, these are connection, collectivism, empathy, and community. Granted, I was unable to specifically ask Hagans questions concerning my criteria of pedagogy and student-faculty interaction, but from hearing her brief remarks, it seems safe to conclude that at worst she could be the best of three evils—however, from the values I heard articulated, I think there’s a good chance Hagans can offer something much more promising.
Full Description of Position:
The associate provost for Student Academic Affairs provides leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for all student academic support programs and student academic development and success initiatives. The associate provost reports directly to the Provost, serves as chief of the provost’s central office staff, and sits on the Provost Advisory Council, as well the University’s Senior Administrative Group.
Duties and Assignments:
· Provide oversight and strategic direction for the efforts of the Academic Affairs support units including the Registrar, Learning Resource Center, Student Disability Services, Honors Program, Internship and Career Services, Office of Post-Graduate Studies, and Center for Faith and Vocation.
· Provide leadership and direction for Butler’s Summer Session, with emphasis on student development and satisfaction, as well as enrollment potential.
· Ensure that the Honor’s Program serves as an engaging recruitment and retention mechanism for high achieving students across all disciplines.
· Oversee services and programs that support student achievement and recognition in research and creative activity, including the Butler Summer Institute, Undergraduate Research Conference, and other programs that exist or will be developed.
· Support the provost’s priorities and plan-of-work by researching issues, developing and analyzing data sets, preparing presentations, and convening special-purpose workgroups.
· Manage and implement key university initiatives, including retention, academic advising, and electronic portfolio.
· Collaborate with cross-functional constituents, both internal and external on issues and opportunities related to student recruitment, enculturation, persistence, and achievement. The work involves problem-solving, idea generation, strategizing and individual/group meetings. Examples include working with other functional areas on university wide programs such as Early Registration, Welcome Week, Scholars’ Forum, and residence-life programs and working with student leadership to discuss concerns and priorities.
· Respond to the concerns of students, parents and alumni who may be experiencing difficulties in negotiating university policies and procedures. Serve as the university FERPA officer.
· Represent the Provost’s Office on councils and workgroups and ad hoc committees, including: Administrative Systems Improvement Committee; Assessment Committee; Career Services Advisory Board; grant-proposal development groups; Welcome Week planning group. Chair the Student Retention Operation Team and the Electronic Portfolio Implementation Team.
Requirements:
· Terminal degree, college teaching experience, and minimum of five years experience in academic administration, preferably in the areas of student academic development, campus wide retention initiatives, and program development.
· Experience in managing a divisional budget and ability to allocate resources effectively.
· Leadership skills to support the work of and foster collaboration among a diverse population of colleagues and direct-reports.
· Ability to solve problems, analyze and evaluate data.
· Strong communication skills.
· Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous priorities, organize work-flow, and identify emerging needs. Ability to work both proactively and responsively.
· Understanding of best practices in student development and support, as well as an ability to integrate emerging practices into current structures
· Understanding of higher education institutions, structures, policies, and practices
"Provides leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for all student academic support programs and student academic development and success initiatives. The associate provost reports directly to the Provost, serves as chief of the provost’s central office staff, and sits on the Provost Advisory Council, as well the University’s Senior Administrative Group." (See the end of this post for the full description.)
Obviously, this is an important post--one that Butler students should be concerned with.
As such, we have provided our personal evaluations of the candidates. We do not claim to be absolute authorities--we only wish to provide those concerned with this position some standards by which to compare. Also, we encourage you to utilize the candidate resumes and responses that were e-mailed out during the past week. If you've lost them, contact us and we'll be happy to send you a copy.
We have posted links below. These will take you to online surveys where, in the absence of legitimate voting power, you can "share your thoughts" with the administration. Please note that our officials have requested these responses be completed by 5pm today.
Make your voice heard(!):
McKeever
Rasnak
Hagans
- The Dissenters
An Evaluation: By Jon Irons
Dr. McKeever seemed quite relatable and interested in students. However, when I met with her in a more intimate situation I found myself wanting more genuineness. I had a number of questions to ask Dr. McKeever, particularly about her ideas of the special role that a student affairs provost might have. Unfortunately, our time was mostly used up due to the long stories she told about growing up in a military family and teaching and learning English. Her perspective was intriguing, but she jumped from the meat of the questions the students asked to anecdotal supplement after only supplying cursory answers. I left the meeting uncertain of whether this story-telling down-to-earth self was a real one or a tactic to win favor. This is not a good type of uncertainty to leave.
Furthermore, McKeever presented a metaphor to her position that bothered me. She used the idea of grafting roses on a rose bush to explain how she thought “cultivating” the student-faculty relationship was of the highest importance. Ultimately, it seemed that the role of the cultivator was unrivaled, and while the grafted roses would develop unique relationships, the scheme carried an air of determinism which bothered me. I think administrators think of themselves too much as cultivators and not equal actors.
It is worth noting that Dr. Hagans is an internal candidate, meaning that she already holds a position at Butler. She works in the counseling center in the HRC. The fact that she worked at Butler, left and returned again indicates to me that she is a good fit for and enjoys the climate here. This is a benefit in the sense that she understands the needs to Butler-type students. However, one might wonder if the incomplete puzzle needs a well-fitting piece or a another one that fits, but requires some reworking around the edges. Perhaps conflict would breed more productivity.
Unfortunately I could not meet with Dr. Hagans in a smaller student-oriented setting. For that reason I cannot offer a great deal of insight into the person behind the claims. But, while I was at the open forum, she answered a question about the role she would play in summer school. To this she immediately mentioned the numbers of students she has worked with that express (of the Butler summer opportunities) frustration in never being asked what they needed. This meant for her that the first step in addressing summer school would be to determine needs, with specific mention to the needs of students seeking summer credit. Again, I cannot attest to verifying the sincerity behind listening to students (for all the candidates promised to defer to students), but I can say that the sincerity I felt in the formal setting was more than an sincerity I got from Dr. McKeever in even the intimate setting.
An Evaluation: By Caleb Hamman
I was able to attend open forums with the three candidates for Associate Provost for Student Academic Affairs. I was also able to meet with the second candidate, Dr. Mary Ann Rasnak, in a small discussion with two other students.
After interacting with each of the candidates, I think that that the third, Dr. Carol Hagans, would be the best choice for the position.
I essentially used three criteria to evaluate the candidates. In order of decreasing importance these were: their ideas on facilitating effective and genuine student learning, their ideas on student faculty interaction, and their own administrative abilities.
I felt that both Rasnak and Dr. Kerry McKeever, though both seeming to have some skill in the latter category, did not sufficiently demonstrate transformative ideas or plans on the two former.
McKeever spoke of “grafting” students onto professors, showed little concern for pedagogy, and seemed lacking of thoughts regarding the value of experiential learning. When I asked her about possible barriers to university student learning, McKeever almost entirely focused on problems stemming from poor high school education. When at the university, according to McKeever, students can have problems managing time or more difficult material. Though this is certainly true, McKeever demonstrated no concern for pedagogical problems stemming from the university structure itself—those relating to competition and separation that we at the Underground view as substantial barriers to true learning. Moreover, in my personal interaction with McKeever, I felt as if I was being belittled due to my status as a student. A notable example was her interruption of my question, but I’ve heard other students also speak about her tendency to run them over in a conversational setting.
Rasnak would be my second choice. She showed much more concern for student learning that McKeever. However, her focus was almost entirely administrative, and even when asked directly to speak about her theory of student development, continued to only emphasize program solutions. Similarly, her thoughts on experiential learning, which she expressed in the open forum, seemed somewhat manufactured. In my opinion, this is probably due to the fact that I spoke with her extensively on the topic before the meeting and informed her (perhaps mistakenly) that some of those evaluating her would view this as an important subject—one which, I emphasize, she did not mention until I brought it up and even then seemed to view as of marginal importance. Finally, I was somewhat troubled by Rasnak’s suggestion that a solution to faculty-student estrangement was to have upper-class students act as intermediaries between students and faculty. Though I understand this may make some sense at the kind of large institution Rasnak is familiar with, it seems to me to be an unnecessary (and alienating) segregation for Butler, where faculty-student ratios are considerably smaller.
I was only able to attend roughly 30 minutes of an open forum with Hagans. Of all the candidates, she was the only one I was unable to question. Still, even from her brief presentation, it seemed evident to me that Hagans understood some principles that, in my opinion, are absolutely essential for quality learning to take place. Mainly, these are connection, collectivism, empathy, and community. Granted, I was unable to specifically ask Hagans questions concerning my criteria of pedagogy and student-faculty interaction, but from hearing her brief remarks, it seems safe to conclude that at worst she could be the best of three evils—however, from the values I heard articulated, I think there’s a good chance Hagans can offer something much more promising.
Full Description of Position:
The associate provost for Student Academic Affairs provides leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for all student academic support programs and student academic development and success initiatives. The associate provost reports directly to the Provost, serves as chief of the provost’s central office staff, and sits on the Provost Advisory Council, as well the University’s Senior Administrative Group.
Duties and Assignments:
· Provide oversight and strategic direction for the efforts of the Academic Affairs support units including the Registrar, Learning Resource Center, Student Disability Services, Honors Program, Internship and Career Services, Office of Post-Graduate Studies, and Center for Faith and Vocation.
· Provide leadership and direction for Butler’s Summer Session, with emphasis on student development and satisfaction, as well as enrollment potential.
· Ensure that the Honor’s Program serves as an engaging recruitment and retention mechanism for high achieving students across all disciplines.
· Oversee services and programs that support student achievement and recognition in research and creative activity, including the Butler Summer Institute, Undergraduate Research Conference, and other programs that exist or will be developed.
· Support the provost’s priorities and plan-of-work by researching issues, developing and analyzing data sets, preparing presentations, and convening special-purpose workgroups.
· Manage and implement key university initiatives, including retention, academic advising, and electronic portfolio.
· Collaborate with cross-functional constituents, both internal and external on issues and opportunities related to student recruitment, enculturation, persistence, and achievement. The work involves problem-solving, idea generation, strategizing and individual/group meetings. Examples include working with other functional areas on university wide programs such as Early Registration, Welcome Week, Scholars’ Forum, and residence-life programs and working with student leadership to discuss concerns and priorities.
· Respond to the concerns of students, parents and alumni who may be experiencing difficulties in negotiating university policies and procedures. Serve as the university FERPA officer.
· Represent the Provost’s Office on councils and workgroups and ad hoc committees, including: Administrative Systems Improvement Committee; Assessment Committee; Career Services Advisory Board; grant-proposal development groups; Welcome Week planning group. Chair the Student Retention Operation Team and the Electronic Portfolio Implementation Team.
Requirements:
· Terminal degree, college teaching experience, and minimum of five years experience in academic administration, preferably in the areas of student academic development, campus wide retention initiatives, and program development.
· Experience in managing a divisional budget and ability to allocate resources effectively.
· Leadership skills to support the work of and foster collaboration among a diverse population of colleagues and direct-reports.
· Ability to solve problems, analyze and evaluate data.
· Strong communication skills.
· Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous priorities, organize work-flow, and identify emerging needs. Ability to work both proactively and responsively.
· Understanding of best practices in student development and support, as well as an ability to integrate emerging practices into current structures
· Understanding of higher education institutions, structures, policies, and practices
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