Dean Yueh-Ting Lee resigns from his post…
16 Jul 2008
Toledo Free Press has the breaking story from earlier:
University of Toledo College of Arts and Sciences Dean Yueh-Ting Lee resigned from his position July 15 and will become analysis and assessment in the human resources department, UT spokesman Matt Lockwood said today.
There’s much more at the recommended article for those of you who have been following the Throw the Dean under the bus story from earlier this month.
The Arts & Sciences Council eForum has the letter from the Provost, the Toledo Free Press has quotes from UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs and University provost Rosemary Haggett.
What a mess, but I suppose after the A&S no-confidence vote and the bus-throwing-under emails, this was not unexpected.
It’s just a shame that UT has to continue to shoot itself in the PR foot so frequently, and that the college of Arts and Sciences has to remain leaderless in this time of turmoil (an interim dean will be hand-picked and probably powerless to effect any significant changes).
Unfortunately, Dr. Jacobs will likely just choose another dean in the mold of Yueh-Ting Lee: a nice person who is unprepared for the cesspool in which new deans must swim, and who will be pressured from the first day to cave in to the budget-slashing and humanities-gutting priorities of the President and the Board of Trustees.
July 16th, 2008 at 5:07 pmAll,
An open and public acknowledgement right off the bat, I’m media relations manager for UT so I would agree with Mike, from personal experience, that this situation hasn’t provided UT with great PR.
But while my job is to advocate for UT, I am also a graduate of the University of Toledo College of Arts and Sciences – a double major in communications and political science. Mike, you and I also briefly worked together at UT’s student newspaper, the Independent Collegian. I graduated in 2004 so I’m not quite so far removed from memories of the pleasure (indeed sometimes it felt like a duty) to point out the failings of the administration at the time.
Now I’m not minimizing the concerns many have expressed on this blog – Mike and others, or on other forums or in the hallways of UT. But I have to admit – as a graduate of UT’s A & S; as a graduate whose degree becomes stronger with a strong college and weaker with a weak college – I do not understand or perceive the direness so frequently conveyed.
A couple examples:
Mike, you refer to “the budget-slashing and humanities-gutting priorities of the President and the Board of Trustees”. However, UT just passed it’s budget for the next fiscal year, and the budget for the College of Arts and Sciences remained the same – indeed once additional faculty hires are made in the College, the budget will be higher this year than last (about $40 million).
Further, UT is investing in an external assessment of the College and I know faculty participated in the meeting with the firm UT is going to ask to do it. While some faculty have expressed skepticism about participating in the external review of the college, any one who knows journalism is aware you look better participating in a story than giving a “no comment.”
The bus e-mails… As a PR guy, as a UT citizen, I wish our president and provost hadn’t sent them. But they also apologized for it. The apology – sent to the whole campus – is available here http://www.utoledo.edu/offices/communications/pdfs/Letter.pdf.
The president won’t select the dean, the provost, Dr. Rosemary Haggett will hire a dean from a pool of finalists chosen by a search committee that will include faculty members. Realizing it’s just me saying it, but the president really doesn’t have the time to be pulling as many strings behind the scenes as he’s accused of/given credit for.
So I don’t think a new dean will be pressured to slash budgets – Dr. Lee was accused of this but, again, the A & S budget didn’t drop a dollar. I don’t think there is a cesspool. I think there are some areas of sincere disagreement which, in my humble opinion are real and substantive, but smaller in scope than the emotions of both the administration and faculty and students sometimes convey.
I know there are many more issues out there but this post is already becoming a novel so I’ll close with one final topic – Dr. Jacobs Address to the Community in early April 2008.
While the speech itself could no doubt be the subject of several entries, I want to draw people’s attention to an article that ran in the Toledo City Paper on April 30 about the speech and the much-discussed “NewEntity” (forever one word instead of two because of a typo in the draft of the President’s speech we handed out to the media.)
Written by Gina Sares and available at http://www.toledocitypaper.com/view_article.php?id=1705&highlight=entity, I (I meaning Jon Strunk, not necessarily UT administrators, but maybe so) thought this was one of the absolute best pieces of journalism about a complex problem as I’ve seen recently.
Sares certainly doesn’t roll over and advocate from Dr. Jacobs ideas, but neither is she hostile toward them. In fact, what I think was most valuable about the story was it revealed an administration and a faculty closer together when it comes to actual ideas for a future UT than some of the more passionate rhetoric indicates.
All of the professors lament what they feel is a lack of proper consultation before the speech was given. Dr. Jacobs has since said the speech was a statement of vision and not necessarily a checklist for future action; as proof of that, the UT Learning Collaborative (the new, if less snappy name of the NewEntity (one word)) is being implemented by Dr. Haggett although not in exactly the same way as originally set out by the president.
Further, each of the faculty members stated, to varying degrees and in different ways, that while they didn’t like the way the president presented the message, the basic ideas in the speech may well be good ideas.
Long story long, there is disagreement, there is frustration that on occasion comes out in ways faculty and the administration regrets, but I on occasion get to sit in on a meeting or two with the president. I had class with two of the professors quoted in Sares’s article and interacted with all four. I don’t see the intentional destruction of the central college of the University.
Instead I see an environment increasingly like a political campaign, where compliments are quickly dismissed as insincere and insults, perceived or intended, are never forgotten or forgiven.
So, yes, the UT PR guy weighing in, but I’m also an alum with friends among the faculty (I hope, still) in the College and a desire to see it succeed.
July 16th, 2008 at 7:40 pmOn the apology link, it comes up as an error because the period at the end of the sentence got added in.
The punctuationless link again: http://www.utoledo.edu/offices/communications/pdfs/Letter.pdf
July 16th, 2008 at 7:43 pmWe’ve struggled recently with the decisions to send our two children to the University this fall. After what happened when another UT employee had an opinion piece published in a local weekly newspaper and promptly lost her job. Obviously the elephant in the living room that nobody wants to discuss is that any rational person can see she was fired because she was a Christian.
The other things that the President of the University has done to get himself in the paper are hardly more flattering.
So here’s your external assessment, (feel free to send me the fees), your University President has very hard feelings toward people who have any individuality, idea, thought or belief that he doesn’t approve of. The faculty issues are a result of the fact that shit rolls down hill.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:54 pmAnd an afterthought, Mr. Strunk – you may want to get the Presidents’ approval before you blog. Unless you are planning on working somewhere else….
July 16th, 2008 at 9:59 pmWho is to say this man who was unfit to be dean is qualified for the new position? And is “analysis and assessment in the human resources department” really worth $200,000 per year?
July 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pmKateb,
Employing someone who discriminates puts the university at risk for being sued. Dixon being fired had nothing to do with religion, only finances. No doubt you won’t believe this, because you probably believe only those things that sit right in your own mind–I know the type–but the truth remains the truth nonetheless.
Godspeed,
Bill
July 17th, 2008 at 12:54 pm“University President has very hard feelings toward people who have any individuality, idea, thought or belief that he doesn’t approve of.”
Based on that assessment, one might conclude that the pres is a socialist.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:02 pmBill,
What the hell? Ms. Dixon can write whatever she likes, there is no evidence she discriminates or discriminated against anything. I hope and pray she has a good lawyer and will take UT for a juicy financial settlement. I hope the taxpayers of Ohio shell out millions to her for Dr. Jacob’s arrogance.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:13 pmFormerfaculty,
I am not usually a betting man, but I would like very much to put down a wager on who will come up the victor in Ms. Dixon’s inevitable lawsuit (my money’s on UT). People certainly have the right to express their opinion, but they also must face the consequences. Nobody is stopping you from going into a crowded building and yelling “fire”–that is your right–but you will be arrested thereafter.
Bill
July 17th, 2008 at 2:08 pmBill,
July 17th, 2008 at 2:12 pmYou are comparing a civil column in a local newspaper about benefits for gay couples to yelling fire in a crowded theater? I wonder where you received your training on the first amendment?
The column made no mention of Ms. Dixon working at UT and had nothing to do with her role at UT. How shameful that Dr. Jacobs felt it necessary to fire a woman for expressing an opinion that is held by a large number of our citizens but is considered politically unacceptable in academia.
FF,
You obviously don’t know the details surrounding the incident. Ms. Dixon’s particular position within the univeristy made it impossible for her to be kept on staff without putting the university at risk. Despite your idealism, free speech is not as free as you think. I’m not looking for an argument, so I’ll not be posting again.
Best,
Bill
July 17th, 2008 at 2:25 pmUh, no. She was an administrator in human resources, she had no authority over whether gay couples got benefits at UT or not. She was quite capable of continuing her position without “putting the university at risk”. The only thing doing that was the national and international shame Dr. Jacob’s brought on the University after the firestorm over this firing. The financial loss will be several years down the line but it will be substantial.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:30 pmThis whole case is an iceburg, of which you are only viewing the tip. History will prove this to be a non-issue. In the mean-time I’m sure there will be no shortage of homophobia around the country and on the airways, so fear not!
July 17th, 2008 at 2:36 pmBill can I ask you a question? Do you think benefits should be extended to same-sex couples?
How about to me and my brother if neither of us are married?
How about to me and my two boyfriends if all 3 of us are living together in a committed relationship and are financially interdependent?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:45 pm“How about to me and my brother if neither of us are married?”
Certainly not, if you are white.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:56 pm“How about to me and my two boyfriends if all 3 of us are living together in a committed relationship and are financially interdependent?”
Only if the three of you are males.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:57 pmSorry, Mr. October, I was just answering the way I thought you might be thinking. You and your administration.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:59 pmI’m asking a serious question Not Again but you dont’ seem to have any answers except unserious ones. And I am a former faculty member, I don’t have an administration. Look at the arguments that are made for why benefits should be extended to gay couples. They almost all apply to couples that are related (two sisters living together for instance) and they also almost all apply to three (or more) people instead of just two.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:02 pmformerfaculty – thanks for being stand up. On the note of Ms. Dixon’s column – we’ve made the decision as a family that not only are our students going to attend -they’re starting a Students for Life group.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:40 pmFormerfaculty,
Domestic partnerships are not synonymous with homosexual couples. While I don’t know the guidelines off the top of my head, I’m pretty sure heterosexual unmarried couples are able to qualify for domestic partner benefits. I’ve ask the leadership in our HR office to send me the guidelines for how UT defines who is a domestic partner and who is not to avoid possible attempts of abuse such as two sisters trying to claim the benefit and I’ll be happy to post those guidelines here.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pmkateb,
There may well be a Student Organization already dedicated to the promotion of pro-life policies. I know the College Republicans are active at UT and have brought in some pretty prominent conservative speakers at the state level. And if there’s not, I think it’d be good to start one; no doubt there are many pro-life students at UT. (I assume you meant pro-life and not perpetual students, which is just expensive sounding.)
Also, you had mentioned I needed to be careful posting messages like my one above if I wanted to stay employed. Dr. Jacobs read my post today and, while I don’t know if he agreed with every bit of it, told me he liked it. I’ve not met this man who some seem to describe as always ready to fire people, and I interact with Dr. Jacobs several times a week.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pmIMHO, University of Toledo President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs Should Resign Or Be Fired.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:33 pmMr. Strunk,
July 17th, 2008 at 9:58 pmIn your opinion is there a reason UT recognizes domestic partnerships and not domestic trios?
Mr Strunk, you said this
“There may well be a Student Organization already dedicated to the promotion of pro-life policies.”
you also said,
“I’m media relations manager for UT” and “I am also a graduate of the University of Toledo College of Arts and Sciences – a double major in communications and political science.”
All this and you DON’T KNOW if there is a Student Organization already dedicated to the promotion of pro-life policies? What is Jacobs paying you for if you don’t know what is going on at UT?
July 17th, 2008 at 10:24 pmMr Strunk, I must say, that you are full of shit. A young stupid kid.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:27 pmThat wasn’t necessary, Not Again. There are quite a few student groups some authorized by the University some not. Either way, you can disagree without being that rude about it.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:32 pmIf you’d like to see for yourself why it would be a bit of a challenge?
the list of the ones that have been approved by the College alone…
July 17th, 2008 at 10:37 pmSo skunk you know that “homosexual couples qualify for domestic partner benefits”?
And from # 21 But you don’t know for sure if heterosexual unmarried couples are able to qualify for domestic partner benefits.
What kind of pinhead would hire you to be a media relations specialist? This is amazing!!!
July 17th, 2008 at 10:38 pmSorry about being rude, but it seems UT has sent a child to communicate some important information.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:43 pmFormerfaculty,
I’ve gotten the info from our HR department of the qualifications one must meet to qualify for domestic benefits…
A notarized affidavit and supporting documentation is required attesting that the Domestic Partner of a UT employee requesting the benefit is:
- At least eighteen (1
years of age, competent to enter into a
contract; and
- Each other’s sole domestic partner and intend to remain so
indefinitely and are emotionally and financially responsible for each
other’s common welfare; and
- Not legally married to another individual; and
- Not related to each other by blood in a manner that would bar marriage in the State of Ohio; and
- In a relationship that has been in existence for twelve (12)
consecutive months or more, and has shared a residence for twelve (12) months or more; and
- Has allowed at least twelve (12) months to pass since the termination of any previous domestic partnership.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:02 amNot Again,
There’s lots about UT I don’t know that I learn every day. The case in point with the domestic partner benefits is a great example. My job isn’t to know every single thing about a campus with hundreds of academic departments, dozens of administrative units, 6500 employees, 20,000+ students or every aspect of medicine and academic state and federal regulations. My job is to know who on campus specializes in those things and who do know and to help get that information, usually to a reporter, and sometimes to anyone else who wants it.
You are absolutely right, my name does rhyme with things, but it’s curious that while it’s true I’m not yet 30, growing up I never really had people try to express their displeasure with me by using rhymes to call names. I say this by way of an apology that due to that lack of hostility growing up, my own list of potential rhymes you could use is far from complete.
Suggestions: Stunk, slunk, funk, munk, punk (maybe young punk?) gunk, hun… no that one won’t work; there’s really not as many as I thought there might be. Maybe you can think of more.
Anyway, I’ll work on my age problem. No doubt it will be better next year.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:15 amI have had it with the flaming comments of Not Again!
July 18th, 2008 at 11:24 amBesides the flaming, Not Again gives me the impression of being a troll.
IMHO, Not Again detracts from the quality of Glass City Jungle.
Jon, I appreciate your information, and thanks for your last post. Not just for the information but the manner in which you used your sense of humor.
Roland, thank you, your concern is noted, Not Again has apologized, he’s aware of the rules and he like others at times allows his frustration on a topic or a response to get the best of him and like all online communities there will always be those who like to make a little dig and those who rise to the challenge as well as those who either ignore it or address it as Jon just did.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:37 amThanks, Lisa. And thanks for linking to that Web site of Student Groups.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:44 pmNo problem Jon, only reason why I had an idea of where to look is I’ve had several of my children attend UT so I’ve done that for them in the past when they complained about “not knowing anyone”.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:51 pm