Faculty/ Adjunct Firing: Stillman College, Edison Community College, & Bowdoin College seem to try to fire profs to keep them from speaking

Even though I seem to take a lot of my comments from Inside Higher Ed, they have stopped publishing them, so I choose to print them here.  Check out the local community college, or smaller college trend of firing/censuring instructors for saying things that are unpopular:

• Bowdoin College has lofted a censurious water balloon at Goldstein
• Firing of Faculty:  How McNealy Got It Wrong and Stillman College is in for a Fight:  Stillman College fires faculty after criticisms of the university president

• Add Eddison Community College to the list of openly censoring professors by firing them–as deemed necessary by President Yowell-–Edison Community College joins the “Better like the president or lose your job club)  after President Yowell  fires 2 instructors who disagree with their university president (and while I have speculated that President Yowell, who got a no-confidence vote in his own school, might be suffering from dementia, Inside Higher Ed wouldn’t approve that comment, imagine…)

It’s a troubling trend, and one that polarizes the commentators who speak up after the articles come out.  Part of the problem with the adjunct dilemma is that for speaking up, they can be fired. (to read about the adjunct drama, check out Burnt Out Adjunct) Part of the frightening aspect of this new trend is that all kinds of instructors are getting censured, for speaking out about issues at their schools.

I find Inside Higher Ed’s choice of commentary suspect, as even they seem to censor quite a bit, but they are a publication and publications run by what seems like conservatives tend to censor.  I expect it.  Colleges aren’t expected to censor their employees to such a degree, and it appears as though the business model of getting rid of employees who don’t agree with you might be employed by the colleges, it may not be legal to do in a publicly funded institution.  (Check out Martha Stewart’s jail time and sentence for a more cautionary tale of using the presidential power under public funding and getting slammed by employees.)  But really, what happens when private institutions accept public funds (like putting a company on the market, getting publicly funded student loans, getting government bail-out loans for automakers and bankers)  to help make their budgets?  Well, those same private companies are now subject to more public rules and regulations.  It seems that CEO’s and small college presidents forget this. Isn’t it time to fire some of the college presidents too?

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• Bowdoin College has lofted a censurious water balloon at Goldstein (unaskedadvice.wordpress.com)
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