24 responses so far ↓

• 1 institutional voice // Jul 23, 2009 at 2:20 pm

  Bit misleading to say it’s the Chronicle going off on UofL (even though the criticism rings true). It’s actually one columnist at the Chronicle expressing his personal views, rather the paper itself editorializing or producing an investigative piece. Wouldn’t say that Maureen Dowd or David Brooks is the institutional voice of the NY Times, would we?

  Ah, but accuracy and precision are SOOO overrated in the blogosphere…

• 2 jake // Jul 23, 2009 at 2:23 pm

  The Chronicle publicized that diatribe (how do you think I found out about it?).

  And The Chronicle allows it to remain on its website with zero disclaimer that it’s not the opinion of The Chronicle.

  When someone publishes an Op-Ed or editorial in the New York Whore Times or paper of that nature, it’s usually denoted as an opinion piece.

• 3 institutional voice // Jul 23, 2009 at 2:38 pm

  If you look at the page header on the Chronicle Web site, it’s clearly on the Opinion and Ideas page, not News, not Facts & Figures.

• 4 le gardien de but // Jul 23, 2009 at 2:39 pm

  “(And the only members of the faculty I ever met who cared about that statistic were among the group in the ed school chased out by a thuggish dean later indicted for embezzling his federal grants.)” He didn’t meet enough faculty.
  In Speed school there are many faculty more interested in teaching than research. But that number has dwindled over the years, as UofL has pursued being a research I university on some administrative scorecard. Speed had been drifting in the direction the article described. However, the current dean of Speed school hires only faculty who speak good English…
  However, it’s not the lust for research that causes UofL not to get the best young faculty & American graduate students. It’s trying to do it on the cheap. Our salaries & “start up packages” , as well as our graduate fellowships are not competitive. Imagine Tom J trying to hire his array of sterling coaches by going cheap….

• 5 Novena // Jul 23, 2009 at 4:09 pm

  “Graduation Rates from Hell”

  Yes, The Chronicle author, an ex-UofL professor, is right on point, especially about the campus’ s very low graduation rate (well below par for even a third-rate state school). Yet, in a recent C-J article, SW bragged about the graduation rate without telling what it was. 18% rise, she harped. A rise from what? The ash heap?

• 6 Charlie // Jul 23, 2009 at 5:58 pm

  It’s an opinion piece by a disgruntled professor.

• 7 jake // Jul 23, 2009 at 6:10 pm

  One of 30+ disgruntled former faculty who left after the University allowed Felner to roam around unchecked, I might add.

• 8 Novena // Jul 23, 2009 at 8:29 pm

  “Disgruntled Professors, Disgruntled Campus”

  Charlie, the so-called “disgruntled professor” who wrote The Chronicle article was in UofL’s English Dept. Thus, he was not among the 30+ faculty who left the CEHD. The English Dept. and the rest of the College of Arts & Sciences are still awaiting a decision on whether UofL made Phi Beta Kappa. UofL is among the oldest universities in the nation not to have one (a really black mark in terms of reputable college status).

• 9 marie // Jul 24, 2009 at 1:27 am

  Familiarity and Contempt
  At the U of L

  Not only does The Chronicle capture that penchant for the good life over a love of learning, it manages a dead-on match for the vacation spot of choice:
  “b seeing U in HH!”
  But I seriously doubt that Obama would approve of anything going on within those walls: he has clearly stated that he would not permit torture.

• 10 Novena // Jul 24, 2009 at 9:39 am

  “Torture by Any Other Name”

  Marie, some might feel you go too far in citing “torture” at UofL. But, when applied to the Felner case, it is not really out of bounds. Torture is sometimes used for sadistic satisfaction, as a means of coercion and control, i.e., to “re-educate” the Indians straying from the reservation. Like that language, JR? Severe pain and suffering was indeed meted out. Members of the Loser Team acted as a kind of “secret police” to ferret out the loose Indians. Herr Felner needed to know their thoughts. Once deemed “guilty” (i.e., straying even slightly from Felnerite dogma), they were marked for incrimination and punishment. This could lead to emotional and physical health issues, which were lost on the UofL honchos. The peaceful renegades had two choices: (1) stay in the gulag and shut up; or (2) flee to more open country.

• 11 Blue Cardinals // Jul 24, 2009 at 9:48 am

  Great work Page One on covering the mess that is Jim Ramsey’s University. My wife and I made alumni contributions for 25 years but no more until the hack Ramsey is gone. The people we hold most responsible are the Trustees who seem intent on rewarding Ramsey for buildings and cash rather than academic achievement. Enjoy those fancy dinners and prime tickets and mutual adoration. My wife and I are glad we contribute not a cent to the business that is UofL.

• 12 Novena // Jul 24, 2009 at 10:13 am

  “A Blue Budget Question for UofL”

  Blue Cardinals, I think much as you do. Until UofL’s “administration” and “Trustees” act in wise, humane, and genuinely academic fashion, they can forget any financial conribution on this end. For that matter, UofL’s foundation funds are already among the highest in the public university sector, yet the academic product for the state of KY and city of Louisville is third or fourth tier (i.e., bottom rung). There seems to be a big imbalance and lack of accountability when cost/benefit analysis is applied. Right, supreme budgeter/bloated salary man, JR?

• 13 marie // Jul 24, 2009 at 3:04 pm

  It is a different place now, my old “domicile.”
  In a previous post I teased about the lack of a “hard number” in the 2007-2008 Progress Report: a dizzy, hyped-up “literally thousands” confection.
  Had I turned that in, I may have wound up locked in the compact shelving.

  I know I go very far, and I never intend to hurt those who love their school, truly. When I say U of L, I am addressing those cruel, thoughtless, and incompetent people, and readers of this site
  know who I mean. I hope!! This “era,” it seems
  has been a small window…

  I pleaded for mediation, a new reporting line,
  transfer, anything to alleviate the situation.
  Every attempt to apply for a job on a different campus, although met with great enthusiasm
  initially, would never result in an interview.
  I was stuck.

  I felt that I was in the hands of people who would
  stop at nothing to destroy me; people I knew and had worked beside with effort and dedication for more than eight years. My work record was literally erased before my eyes. My supervisors looked me in the eye and lied about me, and slandered me to others. People /supervisors quite literally screamed in my face about things they were told about me by these two supervisors.

  These were not librarians!

  My feeling:

  You shouldn’t get post-traumatic stress disorder from working in a library.

• 14 marie // Jul 24, 2009 at 3:36 pm

  One of my supervisors said he wanted to speak with me about something important. This was in my final months at the university. I don’t remember how he started but suddenly he was saying that I was the stupidest (“most challenged”) person that he had ever worked with, staff or student. That was it. Later I heard how a joke was made of it at the management meeting: who made her cry?
  He later told me that he felt that “my problems” were going to follow me wherever I went.

• 15 Flag // Jul 24, 2009 at 6:50 pm

  Marie: That is the game they play. No morals. No integrity. No honesty. No use. You are not alone. The Deans are responsible for the abuses. The Provost is responsible for not reining in the Deans. And the President is responsible for not enforcing the policies and laws. I can give you real, up front, and personal evidence of examples in another school. It all goes unchecked and most people who are affected by it all pick up and leave and keep quiet about it. The only real recourse is through the federal courts. If anyone wants to dig for it, he can find a lot more examples of this business in the grievances that are filed. The Chonicles has part of it right. I am thinking a class action lawsuit might be the way to go.

• 16 Novena // Jul 24, 2009 at 6:51 pm

  “No Campus That Cares”

  Marie, your comments emanate from one pained voice, but they express tons about the uncaring, unprofessional attitude practiced by any number of folks at UofL. Felner just had higher octane doses of that combustible fuel. I’ve heard of campuses that care. UofL is one employees endure, lips sealed tight, and barely bear. You deserved better, as do the citizens of Louisville and KY. One guy, initials RF, was treated like a king. How blind universities can be, especially when filled with Midas blinders.

• 17 marie // Jul 25, 2009 at 1:11 pm

  Thank you, Novena and Flag.

  What would you call it, the opposite of grace;
  you know from history that it’s out there.

  I’ve worked and lived in various states and outside the U.S., alongside people of other nationalities. And what I experienced at U of L
  was totally unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere, even in a place where I was required to register with the police when anything changed. But at U of L, the strangest part was that you had vastly different realities coinciding. Policy enforcement is “up to the discretion of the supervisor.”
  So where you have a police state in Interlibrary Loan, Technical Services brings to mind a spa in comparison.

  The Directors, the Deans will not do their jobs.

• 18 Novena // Jul 26, 2009 at 9:19 am

  “Diplomas & Dropouts at UofL”

  To add needed clarity to Provost Shirl’s bragging about the 18% rise in graduation rate at UofL, (she chose not to mention the actual graduation rate), I read the June, 2009, report by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank I seldom consult. Its study, entitled “Diplomas and Dropouts: Which Colleges Actually Graduate Their Students (and Which Don’t),” is quite interesting, especailly for Louisvillians and Kentuckians. Its findings, in which UofL is cited numerous times for low-end comparison, show that UofL actually has a 44% six-year graduation rate. By comparison, for example, James Madison University in Virgina, another Southern state school of similar enrollment and tuition, has an 81% graduate rate. The “most competitive” colleges typically graduate 88% and above–at least twice as many as UofL. Any more news, Shirl?

• 19 Dead Bird // Jul 26, 2009 at 1:44 pm

  If Uof L was a serious school, Jim Ramsey wouldn’t the President. The same goes for UK and Lee Todd. Both are good ol boy politicians and both schools are bastions of mediocrity sinking further into mediocrity. Any reputable academic journal will confirm that both schools are trending the wrong way, but as long as cocktail party trustees like Bill Stone are happy, Jimbo stays happy. I’m also a Blue Cardinal.

• 20 marie // Jul 26, 2009 at 3:45 pm

  Actually, Truthfully

  I was graciously helped by a Louisville Metro employee last week that I recognized from years
  past at my old “domicile.” This smart, wonderful
  young woman was the very subject of some especially bad U of L slander, courtesy my boss.
  The charge was to have occurred during my time at the university; I chalked it up to being out of the loop (crazy and uncharacteristic as it sounded). Then I asked each employee: apparently the only place “it happened” was in the boss’s mind.
  I had been told the girl didn’t like her schedule and threatened to bring a gun to work. Yeah…
  This is how they talk about people…actually, the nicer the person, the more ramped up the imagery.

• 21 Novena // Jul 27, 2009 at 7:08 am

  “As Transparent as Plate Glass”

  Dead Bird, unfortunately you are correct. JR keeps on going because he and the Board of Trustees are tied to the hip. The cocktails keep comin’, the basketball tickets keep rollin’ in. Who cares about academic mediocrity and lack of humane treatment of students, faculty and staff when some can play happy times in The ‘Ville?
  P.S. Plate Glass, any news on the Phi Beta Kappa application? Someone needs to keep us abreast of that while Centre and UK keep displayin’ their PBK charters to the public. Cocktails, anyone?

• 22 Novena // Jul 27, 2009 at 8:57 am

  “About Phi Beta Kappa”

  In case some of the larger public is not aware of Phi Beta Kappa, it is America’s oldest (1776), most prestigious academic honor society. It advocates excellence in arts and sciences and inducts only the most outstanding liberal arts units (humanities, social sciences, natural sciences) into its membership. There are now 276 college/university chapters (UofL is not one of them).

• 23 Not Confused ... // Jul 31, 2009 at 9:10 am

  Dead Bird — UK and Lee Todd are light years ahead of UofL with JR at the helm. Todd was a great and beloved engineering professor, a (very) successful businessman possessing technological and scientific prowess. After his company was bought out, he was employed by IBM before returning to UK as President. There is no comparison. UK handles the blocking and tacking of administration far better and more competently than UofL. Check it out. Life as a staff member or administrator at UK is civilized, unlike the JR-facilitated nightmare that is UofL …

• 24 Novena // Jul 31, 2009 at 9:03 pm

  “The Wildcat Kills the Cardinal”

  Not Confused, you are “right on” about the UK/UofL comparison. Both the public and academe tned to view UK as a more mature, civilized university that is run more smoothly and humanely administratively. UofL has more of a “renegade,” “cowboy-like,” “outlaw” reputation (the last two presidents have added immensely to that Western cowpoke image). It is seen as a campus run amuck, where deans run loose and faculty/staff/students emerge as a distinct afterthought (unless they are part of the gilded group of “Bucks for Brains,’ big federal grant lovers, athletic giants, or med school PR gems). Where Todd was a respected engineering professor, Ramsey was merely an adjunct at Western KY U. Quite a difference academically. And it shows.

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