Rank or Service -- Would it Make a Difference?
Written by Staff   
Monday, 08 March 2010 09:00

[Editor's note: Events at UM-Flint have over-taken the question posed in this article.  See the comments following.]

Currently the faculty participating in UM-Flint's graduation ceremony enter in order of rank, with lecturers bringing up the end of the parade.  If the order of procession were changed to one based on length of service instead, would this encourage you, as a lecturer, to participate?  Add a comment to tell us what you think. (You are invited to comment even if you are not a UM-F lecturer, or a lecturer at all, but let us know where you are coming from.)
 

Comments 

 
#7 greenhorn 2010-03-10 21:38
Quoting MS:
I really think this is partly about trying to make us all go away and shut up. What if ALL the lecturers showed up and wore big yellow LEO logos on our caps? These dinosaurs don't realize, I think, that their crusty ship might be about to go down. They're on the Titanic and the orchestra is playing the last few bars for their anachronous privileges.

MS,you may be correct that this is about pacifying lecturers with a token change (or mere discussion of change). However, the Faculty Council apparently did not get the memo! They over-reacted. But when the water sloshes over the deck around your feet, and eternal darkness looms, you may be prone to over-reaction. We need to be understanding.
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#6 jea 2010-03-10 20:25
Quoting greenhorn:
Here is the word from on top (UMF Faculty Council Chair). Read it & weep! ". . . 'Promotion and tenure' are a serious process for all tenure-track faculty within Academic Affairs, with a resulting promotion in rank when the outcome is positive. This achievement should continue to be recognized in the 'pomp and circumstance' of commencement exercises, which are the most traditional of ceremonies . . . "

In the first place, tenure in US higher ed only goes back 100 years. Not even quite that long -- 1915. What was the tradition before that? In the second place, spending 20 or 30 years at the same institution, teaching a few thousand students, and doing a good job of it, also seems like an achievement. In third place, I didn't care much about this issue until I saw the gratuitous email from the Faculty Council, which was sent while the governing faculty of CAS were discussing issue. Odd!
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#5 jea 2010-03-10 20:05
I hope the Faculty Council Chair isn't expecting us to salute him. If I wanted this much rank in my life, I would be in the army!
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#4 greenhorn 2010-03-10 18:53
Here is the word from on top (UMF Faculty Council Chair). Read it & weep! "It has come to Faculty Council's attention that there is discussion to propose a change to the graduation ceremony, by which faculty would march in commencement in order of 'years of service', without consideration of 'rank'. As this university-wide (for the most part) event is an area of concern of the UM-Flint faculty, Faculty Council must weigh in on the matter and express its unanimous opposition to such a change. 'Promotion and tenure' are a serious process for all tenure-track faculty within Academic Affairs, with a resulting promotion in rank when the outcome is positive. This achievement should continue to be recognized in the 'pomp and circumstance' of commencement exercises, which are the most traditional of ceremonies. The very fact that there are various ranks within the governing faculty body speaks to the importance of those ranks and their observance in official university ceremonies."
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#3 MS 2010-03-10 13:24
Part II: The continuing commencement lineup situation is a repeated humiliation -- I'm one who used to go all the time, but even after making substantial contributions to the university, to have to face down that demeaning medieval hierarchy every four months really annoys me, and I'm back to boycotting. However, I really think this is partly about trying to make us all go away and shut up. What if ALL the lecturers showed up and wore big yellow LEO logos on our caps? These dinosaurs don't realize, I think, that their crusty ship might be about to go down. They're on the Titanic and the orchestra is playing the last few bars for their anachronous privileges.
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#2 MS 2010-03-10 13:23
Thanks to the current chair of Faculty Council, the "pomp" in pomp and circumstance is rapidly becoming a caricature, and his latest hot air balloon issued via email is sure to do a lot of nothing for any chance of our hopes for institutional respect. I must say that I have mixed feelings about the line-up -- if making a change to this is the best the UMF can do to communicate to us some shard of respect, I'm underwhelmed. Part II coming up.
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#1 jea 2010-03-08 09:43
I am a long-time UM-Flint lecturer and such a change would make a difference to me. It's a little thing. But I am not big on pomp and circumstance in the first place, having avoided all of my own graduation ceremonies since high school (hot June night, school gym, class of 600 plus, can we get on with this, please?) so the rank thing bugs me just enough to stay home. I'm a democrat (small d). So it's an excuse with a principle behind it -- the best kind. But I know the ceremony matters to a lot of students and their families. I feel a pang of something whenever the call for robe and hood orders goes out. A progressive change would nudge me. -- Jim A
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