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Who are these People?
The Faculty Senate of Mississippi State University has voted 27 to 10 to support the professors at the University of Southern Mississippi who have been suspended, locked out of their offices, and had their computers seized apparently for nothing more than criticizing the president. My only question is the following: Why would 10 faculty members actually vote against such a resolution? Perhaps, the Faculty Senate of MSU allows administrators to vote. Then again, it might be like the faculty senate of my own institution which is notorious for serving the role as shock absorber for the administration.

Re: Faculty Toesuckers

Submitted by rcampbell on Wed, 2004-03-17 00:27.
That should be, "People outside of academia often think that tenured professors constantly criticized the administation..."

Faculty Toesuckers

Submitted by rluker on Tue, 2004-03-16 13:09.
David, It's a mercy that there were _only_ 10 faculty toesuckers in the Mississippi State faculty Senate. What these worthless tenured think that they might have to lose by standing up to an administration at the opposite end of the state is puzzling, but it is possible that the struggle at USM _is_ part of a larger struggle over higher education resources in Mississippi and that the 10 believed that they were voting Mississippi State interest.

Re: Faculty Toesuckers

Submitted by rcampbell on Wed, 2004-03-17 00:25.
It looks as though my previous comment disappeared into a bottomless cgi...so I'll paraphrase.

People outside of academia often think that tenured professor constantly criticize the administration in public. In my experience, only a minority are disposed to do so. And Faculty Senates tend to draw individuals who represent the administration to the faculty, instead of the other way around.

A few years ago, the Clemson FS elected a president who served the Provost so faithfully that she now has an office in the Provost's suite. The Senate has yet to recover.