Posted on 08/27/2015 12:31:07 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Universities are an ecosystem, and when faculty are poached and grant money dries up, everyone suffers
If you’re from Wisconsin, the Friday night fish fry is a big deal, and the fish you want on your plate is a yellow perch you caught yourself. But for years, the population of yellow perch has been in serious decline. Now on the verge of collapse, the future of this iconic fish is looking grim. Kind of like what is happening right now with the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, under siege from a legislative agenda that has been steadily decimating its numbers while pretending that the loss doesn’t matter and hey, maybe it’s even a good thing! Why do you care, anyways? It’s just stupid fish. There are always more of them.
Anti-intellectuals may yell “good riddance!” at the exodus of top-tier talent, but it’s the yellow perch paying the ultimate price for Gov. Scott Walker’s political actions. Ever since Walker began gutting the university system—cutting $250 million in funding from the UW system (while mysteriously finding $250 million in state funds to pay for a new stadium for the Milwaukee Bucks); weakening a once-prized system of shared governance; and passing a new law effectively turning tenure into a tool of a Board of Regents consisting almost entirely of political appointees — the star faculty found itself being poached, starting with senior professors such as the fish guy, Rick Goetz. He was a lead researcher at what is now called the School of Freshwater Sciences at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he studied the yellow perch. He left for NOAA, taking his grant money with him.
Just like that, the wild fish lost the top guy working on their behalf. Fish night will never be the same.
Stop whining. One fish is just as good as another. Who cares about the “ancient mating habits of whatever”? (The words in quotes were actually spoken by an Wisconsin assemblyman dismissively waving away faculty protesting against budget cuts.) The Yellow Perch doesn’t appear on the 2015 Wisconsin fishing calendar from Game and Fish magazine. Try walleye, or smallies! There are loads of other fish to fry! But the Yellow Perch was the “fish of the people” because it was abundant and delicious. It also used to generate annual state revenues in the millions. Its loss isn’t just symbolic, it’s economic.
At the School of Freshwater Sciences, professor and senior scientist Sandra McLellan routinely pulls in half a million dollars annually in outside funding. Despite the constant political framing of professors as bloviating liberal leeches, the reality is far more complex. On the flagship campus at Madison, for example, 30 percent of the total university budget is covered by outside funding brought in by the faculty. In 2009, Madison faculty brought in one billion dollars of external funding, even as the university community contributed billions more to the annual state economy. (In 2015, it was $15.4 billion.)
Funding for McLellan’s research on freshwater resources comes from a combination of government and private grants, and she estimates that this money is mostly used to fund students and create jobs. “75 percent manpower, 25 percent supplies,” she says. It’s not just professors whose jobs are being threatened, but administrative assistants, tech support, and a whole host of other necessary staff members. Working class people depend on universities for their livelihoods too.
“With our new open border policy, we will welcome all university workers from the beleaguered state of Wisconsin,” the Yes Men (a performance artist collective) declared with big fake smiles on their businesslike faces. In an Orwellian satire of the corporatization of the University of Iowa, the Yes Men’s “Efficiency Review”—a parody of what is happening in reality– called for “improvements” such as an “Academic Fast Pass” for students willing to pay for access to better grades, and that all teachers and administrators should be renamed “Content Delivery Specialists.” Though satirical, their suggestions aren’t all that far from their current reality at Iowa, “where department chairs are already called “Department Executive Officers,” and a state senator introduced a bill that would automatically fire teachers that students disliked, followed by a Survivor-style vote-off for those hovering too close to the edge.
“I’ve never seen morale this bad, and I’ve been here since ’96,” Milwaukee professor Lane Hall told me, pointing to a “profound state of distrust” now permeating every aspect of the institution. Some are staying to swim against the political tide, but the signal word is demoralized. By decimating a budget already so thin that the faculty, Hall says, hasn’t had a cost-of-living raise in ten years, every task is infused with a sense of profound futility.
What is happening in Wisconsin is happening everywhere; it is a little parable of working in America. But as far as public university education is concerned, Wisconsin’s demise has shattered any remaining illusions that the destruction of the American university isn’t merely underway–it is nearly complete.
Yesterday, professor Chuck Rybak threw down the gauntlet, and called for fellow faculty at Wisconsin to stop going through the motions and ditch the tenure file. He writes:
“Tenure no longer exists in Wisconsin. We have entered the era of pretendure. The only moral thing to do, right now, is abolish the tenure file. If the reward for compiling the file no longer exists, then the file should no longer exist.”
By pointing out that tenure has become “pretendure,” Rybak is staking a rhetorical claim to combat political theater. His position is not altogether wrong. Though tenure still formally exists, it has been hollowed out and rendered toothless.
Tenure is too often mistaken for a sinecure, i.e. a job in name only, whereas its true function is to protect intellectual freedom for those whose work challenges prevailing power structures. Given that in April 2015, a gag order was placed on the entire staff of the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, forbidding them from “working on or even talking about climate change on state time,” it is not inconceivable that an atmospheric scientist at Madison could be summarily fired simply for collecting data measuring the earth’s temperature.
Already, recruitment is suffering. It so happens that the same term “recruiting” applies both to the nurturing of game fish as well as to coaxing the best and brightest minds to join a university community. Both types of recruits need years to develop, that slowness itself an anachronism in a world that breeds farm animals to reach market maturity in months. To sportsmen, the yellow perch was never known for its fight, but for its exceptional flavor. If it can’t mature properly, it’s no good to anyone. But as the big fish depart Wisconsin, never to return, there are no new recruits to replace the growing void. Those that are left, floundering in hostile waters, will find it nearly impossible to grow to their full potential, leaving a bad taste in bitter mouths.
“This is the way the world ends,” wrote T.S. Eliot, “not with a bang, but with a whimper.” But it won’t matter in Wisconsin, because nobody will be left to teach this useless thing called poetry, and those words are gibberish. Want to go fishing for smallies?
Actually you stumbled onto a very very very important point.....it is major college sports, watched and enjoyed largely by competitive conservatives, that have kept these same conservatives from seeing what a liberal cesspool these places are.
The loyalty keeps people in love with their alma mater, or maybe their local state university school that bears the name of their state - and keeps their mind off of how the country is being destroyed by academia nuts on the left.
You criticize a protected group and you are gone.
Another poster said that a university’s purpose is to only teach, but this isn’t true. Universities can provide medical care, emergency trauma care, public health lab testing services, new corporation incubators, and many other services to the general public.
none of which is government’s purview....none of which happens efficiently in the government sector....it’s just more of how they hide the liberal agenda with the fluff.....
The grant money was awarded to her to fund her research. If she's not at Wisconsin-Milwaukee then the grant will either follow her or go away. It's not going to stay at the university if they don't have someone to do the research they're paying for.
Too bad we can’t get the professors to tape their mouths shut the rest of the time.
That’s the grantor’s fault...
Universities are not meant to “help the public.” They may help, in the course of doing business or by contract, but their sole purpose is to teach.
As for sports, I’d be glad if it was all abolished. Pole jumping scholarships don’t edify anyone.
Their tears are delicious.
L
I completely disagree with you.
“If the endangered animal in question were something that would undermine over a hundred years of “science” - something like, say, a pterodactyl - would these university professors still be gung ho in favor of protections and awareness programs? “
Darwin’s law in action can be a good thing like destroying worthless/bloated university staffs.
Actually the majority of the responsibility is on the grantee and the grantee’s sponsored project administrator. The grantor can cut off funding if the aims of the project are not being met or the timeline is not being met. Some grantors such as the DoD have very strict and rigourous oversight.
Then you sir, by definition, are a leftist, a believe in big government doing stuff that government should not do. I would also bet dollars to donuts that you are somehow part of the big education scam gravy train.
If these “fish” professors are so good, then private money from, shudder, “free enterprise” businesses, will cover any state financial loses.
Anything that will get the entrenched reds out of the Un. of Wisconsin, Madison, is a plus for the Republic. Check out the Haven Center and related “peace” institutes. Full of reds and cowards, with tentacles entwined with other Hanoi Lobby veterans.
By the way, Perch tastes like crap. I’ve found that Tilapia, when cooked with butter and lemon, is really good. Mix is with good white rice and you’ve got a tasty meal.
By the way, the article doesn’t tell us how much tenured professors make a year in salaries and perks, and how many classes/hours they teach a week.
“A Convenient Omission”.
Prof. Van Shuyten. Welcome to “Free Republic University”.
You can start to work immediately. So much to do, so little time, money or help. But even one more intelligent conservative (and science-knowledgeable) person here is a welcome addition to the staff.
Bets the hell out of what we have in many “regular” universities.
You sure are quick to throw out a slur. What’s your problem? I don’t believe in duplicating resources paid for by taxpayers. I really don’t think you’ve actually thought this through.
if it's "her" money, how does Wisconsin lose if she goes? And since the Federal government is the largest grant provider, we're just talking tax dollars here. you might be one of those "conservatives" who gets excited by politicians who "bring in Federal money;" i'm not.
That’s interesting that you don’t like perch. I’ve found that people either love all the perch and pike families or they don’t. I really like them. Hardly anything beats a walleye fillet or a northern steak.
Sort of like cilantro. I hate it, but the wife thinks it’s great.
And it appears that Wisconsin is out to ensure their universities follow your advice.
We're not talking about endowing a chair. We're talking about government or industry funding research by a particular scientist for a specific area. If this professor leaves then the money will follow her or else just be cancelled.
if it's "her" money, how does Wisconsin lose if she goes?
It loses the research dollars and the scientist who attracted it.
you might be one of those "conservatives" who gets excited by politicians who "bring in Federal money;" i'm not.
I'm more interested in the discoveries that come from the research.
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