LETTER TO EDITOR: By banning tenure, State College Trustees creates system to muzzle faculty critics
On Jan. 26, the Board of Trustees of State College of Florida voted to rescind continuing contacts for future faculty, an initiative that has, since it was first proposed, troubled many knowledgeable and experienced members of the community.
Several faculty publicly but calmly expressed their dismay at the board's decision. Trustee Robert Wyatt, demonstrating both his disdain for the First Amendment and his ignorance of the relationship between administration and faculty in higher education, told SCF President Carol Probstfeld that she needed to get better control over the faculty who showed "disrespect" for the board in their comments.
One of the consistent arguments against their action is that by not providing sufficient assurance that academic freedom would be protected, SCF would no longer be competitive in recruiting "the best" future faculty since the rest of Florida's colleges and universities still have that necessary guardian of academic freedom.
Trustee Craig Trigueiro fantasized that "next year the Legislature might rescind all tenure and continuing contracts, thus eliminating the competition issue." Then no one would be protected.
I felt a chill. Wyatt's wanting more control over faculty (which would occur without tenure protection) and Trigueiro's desire that no state institution any longer have that protection. They could make "insubordination" (e.g. speaking out against board actions) a punishable offense and define it any way that they choose; thus effectively silencing their most articulate critics.
What might next be labeled "insubordination?" I can easily imagine the SCF board with its clear political leanings insisting that we teach that "there's science on both sides" of the global warming issue" or "intelligent design is a creation theory equal to evolution."
Whip them into line!
I feel the vibes, and it's very uncomfortable. Am I sensing a pattern, or is it just my paranoia?
Herbert Frith, Professor Emeritus MJC/MCC/SCF
Bradenton
This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "LETTER TO EDITOR: By banning tenure, State College Trustees creates system to muzzle faculty critics ."