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How life’s focus can change in just moments…
You think you have plenty to do and to think about on a daily basis. But then something happens that puts all those usual thoughts and activities in a different perspective. A good friend was told by the dean of the college that her job was one of the ones he was going to submit […]
How decisions are made
The last two weeks certainly have been some of my most discouraging days as a faculty member at UF. Part of that is due to the economy’s impact on UF and our College. But there’s much more to it — the process by which decisions are being made. I had been moderately hopeful that through […]
Why aren’t reasonable compromises allowed? That is the main theme of Bron Taylor’s column in The Gainesville Sun, and I say “Amen.” In the last several months, I’ve attended numerous meetings regarding the College’s budget cuts — departmental meetings, Senate meetings, faculty meetings and meetings of the Senate Task Force on the Budget. At every meeting with the Dean, he talks about the possibility of a 10 percent budget cut for our College. For the College, that’s $909,000. He talks about the need to make cuts in personnel. He talks about how difficult it is for him to make these decisions. And at every meeting, somone asks about alternative approaches to cutting lines (jobs). Can we have unpaid leave? Can we have temporary salary reductions? Can UF develop an early retirement program? Can we have a hiring freeze? Businesses and other universities have developed such programs when they are facing downsizing of personnel. But what the Dean and UF President Machen have said is “No.” I applaude Bron Taylor’s column in The Gainesville Sun raising the range of compromises and asking why those aren’t on the table of discussion. His column makes that a more public question, and he presents the case for compromise in crisis in a clear manner. UF’s reputation is being damaged even now as the word spreads around the country and world about the university’s approach to budget problems. Many who may have considered applying for faculty positions at UF won’t — not just now but for years to come. Each cut may have a rationale from the dean making the cut, but that doesn’t mean the cuts are well reasoned for the overall department or college. The cuts may be the most expendient. Of course, some cuts are political. President Machen talks abour “reshaping” the University. This is a time that each dean can reshape his/her college. (UF does have two women deans.) Alternatives to laying off faculty and staff do exist. Why aren’t those alternatives in the discussion? Bron Taylor does more reasons than most to be informed about and concerned about the proposed budget cuts. He is a professor in the Department of Religion. The budget cuts proposal from the dean in the College Liberal Arts and Sciences is to cut that department by approximately 65 percent.
Why aren’t reasonable compromises allowed? That is the main theme of Bron Taylor’s column in The Gainesville Sun, and I say “Amen.” In the last several months, I’ve attended numerous meetings regarding the College’s budget cuts — departmental meetings, Senate meetings, faculty meetings and meetings of the Senate Task Force on the Budget. At every […]
Ada Lovelace Day: Celebrating women’s accomplishments in technology
Celebrating women’s accomplishments in technology I’m joining hundreds of bloggers today in celebrating Ada Lovelace Day, which recognizes the accomplishments of women in technology. I’ve included a screen capture from today’s blog from Ian Douglas in The Telegraph, which included a photo of Ada Lovelace and a brief bio. When I heard that today was the […]
Blogging Heroes offers info and inspiration
I’ve been reading books about blogging both to help me in my own blogging and to help me in including up-to-date trends and strategies about blogging in my teaching. As I hope to encourage a group I work with to join me in a group blog, I’m going to highlight a few points about blogging […]
Loss of NIE programs cuts kids’ exposure to newspaper/news value
When I first started teaching high school English and journalism, I discovered the benefit of using newspapers in teaching. I purchased the class set myself to use with the newspaper staff but used the paper In other classes, too. Their biggest success – from my perspective as the new teacher – was in my 10th […]
Proposal unveiled to hire 50 laid-off journalists to teach "news literacy" to non-journalism college majors | Media Giraffe
What’s going to happen to all the journalists who are losing their jobs due to downsizing in the media? This initiatve, funded by the Knight Foundation, is one answer Working with Stony Brook University, Knight will pay to train 50 former journalists to teach news literacy on university campuses around the country. On a separate […]
The Wizard of Oz and educational assessment
The FCAT editorial cartoon leaves out a key player in Dorothy’s FCAT quest — the Wizard of Oz. You’ll remember that he was behind the curtain in a little room turning the dials and knobs to create the illusions and sounds of Oz. Lots of groups and individuals are behind the curtain making FCAT (and […]
Florida State students plan to raise $100K for faculty salaries
FSU has announced that 200 faculty could be laid off due to budget cuts. A group of FSU students plan to raise money for faculty salaries. Great to have such student response – both the funds but more importantly for message sent to legislature and Florida residents. Read more -http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200902270200/NEWS01/902270338 > > > > > […]
College Budgeting 101
The college has four main sources of funding. 1 – State budget – Funds allocated by state legislature. This amount has been steadily reduced over the last decade. 2 – Gifts – From individuals and media organizations. Media groups that have funded epuipment for classrooms certainly don’t have funds for gift giving now. 3 – […]
Julie Dodd 