Chicago State University Lawyers Attack Faculty Bloggers 94
An anonymous reader writes "A blog run by faculty members at Chicago State University (CSU) has been threatened by university lawyers with a cease and desist notice. Since 2009 the blog has posted information critical of CSU's policies and hiring practices. The notice threatened legal action if the site is not disabled by Friday due to violations of 'trade names and marks' without permission and violations of University policies. The blog admin changed the name of the blog in the meanwhile to Crony State University and replaced an image on the page pending legal counsel. Also the blog is currently still active."
Name change (Score:5, Insightful)
I might also recommend: Crony Streisand University
Re:Attacked? (Score:5, Insightful)
I looked at the blog and all I saw was a bunch of petty complaints. Things that may technically be true, but are not anywhere near the horrendous scandal that the blog's author tries to claim.
I'm also an external observer to all of this, but I think if you had read further, you might see the point of all of these seeming "petty" details.
Basically, it sounds like a blog aimed at a huge increase in non-academic administration personnel. Apparently, in the past 4 years or so, the number of non-academic administrators and staff has risen by almost 50%, from 76 people to 112 people, while the rest of the university (including academics, etc.) has remained relatively stable. Salaries and numbers of upper-level administrators apparently also have risen significantly.
I have no idea about the internal stuff that might be going on here, but a 50% increase in non-academic staff at a university in just a few years, while the rest of the university doesn't grow, does seem like an issue that people might care about.
But, if you haven't heard, there's a significant concern these days with the large amount of administrators and administrative staff being hired [wsj.com] at colleges, which has apparently significantly contributed to the huge increases in college tuition at many schools.
The random stories you refer to apparently are related to the way that some administrators are refusing to hire professors or consider them qualified on the basis of some minor details in their academic credentials:
[The administrator] has also taken it upon himself to uphold the highest standards of the academy by weighing in on degrees and the quality of schools attended by CSU faculty applicants (across disciplines, it seems like he has a Ph.D. in everything). He has apparently decided that no one without a Ph.D. in hand should be hired at Chicago State and has often expressed the notion that CSU faculty should be able to "transfer" to Harvard.
Etc. The blogger seems to be responding in kind, by picking apart some minor details in the credentials of the new administrative staff.
Is some of this "petty"? Probably.
But that doesn't mean there aren't larger issues buried if you read more than the top two blog posts.
Re:Attacked? (Score:5, Insightful)
For example, a couple of university press releases and documents from university board of trustees meetings refer to a person as "Dr. Henderson" 6 weeks before she officially received her PhD. Oh the horror!!
Actually, it was two years before she got her PhD.
If you're a PhD in academia, it is a big deal. Falsifying credentials is academic fraud, like plagiarism.
It's like a military officer wearing a battle ribbon for a battle he was never in. There was a Navy officer who killed himself after Newsweek reported that he did such a thing.
Re:only in academia (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Anti-SLAPP Law? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Anti-SLAPP Law? (Score:4, Insightful)
I know, I know, that takes all the fun out of it.