Last week, UOPX created a situation that they hoped would result in the voluntary exit of up to 70 employees, including full-time faculty and faculty managers. They the group that they no longer met the criteria to work in the College of Humanities and Sciences and gave them until Sept. 1 to take 18 course credits or take a severance package and leave. Don't troll and say that these people are not real teachers. They are amazing and dedicated people with solid credentials from great universities. They actually believe in the work they are doing. The faculty members were offered 6 weeks severance. It is virtually impossible to get 18 course credits completed in that amount of time, which is why it is obvious they wanted a lot of people to opt for severance. They cited new regs from the HLC as the reason, but those new regs were published in 2015. They simply did not want people to have time to do it. I am waiting to see what they will do next if they don't meet their target number of people leaving.
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The selection process was bias and not well implemented. The faculty were directed to update credentials, but the credentials were not verified for everyone. It was apparent the Dean and so called director were just looking for a loophole to reduce the number of faculty. There were many well-qualified faculty members and managers that were on the list, and they should not have been. Many are close to completing doctoral programs.
I don't know any more than most people know. I just don't know of any other colleges that require publishing from lecturers. It was my understanding that publishing is only required from tenure track faculty. I think it was also to try and improve the school's reputation, but it might have the convenient effect of trimming down staff. We were told that all FTF met requirements in our meeting, but apparently that was not the case.
So are you saying the publishing/scholarship/ extremely tight HLC credentialing was a cover to just lay off people in the first place? I think it was because some excellent managers and a few with doctorates were on the list. The thing that is really a bit frustrating is the fact that UOP is supposed to be so advanced yet they wait till the last minute to require another 18 credit hours in 5 Months as well as mandatory publishing....with a slimmed down course selection coming in the spring.
...are about. (Typo)
Let's face it. Isn't that what all the requirements (I.e. Scholarship) is about?
@Anonymous - These faculty were teaching the First-Year Sequence courses for all incoming students entering with less than 24 credit hours across all programs. They met the new HLC criteria for teaching General Education courses and had been teaching them for some time. Most of those offered the severance held Business related degrees (MBAs and DBAs). It appeared to be the preference of the College of Humanities and Sciences to push out those with a business background. The rumor mill suggested that the Dean of Faculty did not feel that those with a business background/education were fit to teach. While the deans of other colleges were scrambling to ensure that their staff met the new requirements, COHS used it as an opportunity to trim the herd.
How many people took the severance?
I believe you- the faculty most likely is very good and committed. However, a degree in Humanities seems kind of 'fluff' these days.. Like everything else in this world-' the times they are a changing'. Students need degrees where they can actually get a decent paying career- at UOP and other schools. The focus for these faculty probably needs be to reinvent themselves and move on...just my 2 cents.