The following email was sent to members of the Queensborough Community College English Department late this morning: Colleagues— It is my decision to accept the recommendation forwarded by the English Department for Dr. David Humphries to serve as its Chairperson, effective November 14, 2012. In a lengthy meeting with Dr. Humphries yesterday, he expressed his…
Below is a letter responding to the actions of Diane Call, President of Queensborough Community College (QCC) of the City University of New York (CUNY). We have posted two earlier letters (here and here) dealing with this same situation: Dear Colleagues, Many of you have heard that administrative intimidation of the English Department continues at…
Members of the English Department at Queensborough Community College asked me to share this open letter with the wider AAUP and faculty communities. A letter from one individual member of the department can be found here: Dear President Call, This is an open letter written on behalf of the 22 fulltime English Professors who voted…
In an open letter published this afternoon, Associate Professor of English at the CUNY campus Queensborough Community College Susan Jacobowitz describes better than I can the QCC situation that has been unfolding since September. The latest complication was a vote, just before Hurricane Sandy, by the members of the English Department to remove their Chair…
Over the past three weeks, I’ve been thinking a great deal about CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein’s message to the faculty about the Queensborough Community College uproar. That it doesn’t sit well with many faculty members should be obvious from even a cursory reading (Pathways, for those who don’t know, is a top-down CUNY initiative aimed…
As promised: Subject: Resolutions adopted 10-9-12 ACADEMIC SENATE QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CUNY Resolutions adopted as College Policy October 9, 2012 I. RESOLUTION IN AFFIRMATION OF QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE REMAINING A VIABLE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION Whereas, Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York is obliged to honor its legal obligations and the agreements it…
This came to my inbox a few minutes ago: Queensborough Community College Faculty defy threats and act to require college to offer required courses Queens, New York – October 9, 2012 – Under pressure, threats and intimidation of the college faculty by the CUNY Chancellery, the Academic Senate of Queensborough Community College in Bayside this…
Last week, the Queensborough Community College English Department voted to refuse a reduction in workload hours for its First Year Composition courses, supposedly a necessity for the City University of New York’s new Pathways to a Common Core initiative. Vice President Karen Steele then sent an email to the department that seemed to threaten draconian…
If you don’t start building a new organizational program from the ground up but impose it from the top down, you are going to lose control when the program has to be implemented by people with no real commitment to it, no feeling of ownership of it. We’re seeing that right now with implementation of…