Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #utulsa
Most recents (3)
Last week I tweeted a thread about #utulsa’s drastic “True Commitment” plan, unveiled on 4/11. This led to an outpouring of support from those in #highered who have seen similar debacles unfold at their own institutions. Time for a thread about the campus response so far. 1/12
National and local news have included mix of support & opposition to the plan. I’ll focus here on circumstances actually happening on campus rather than PR battle unfolding in the media. Obviously, admin has resources & consultants to help them gain upper hand in PR battle. 2/12
FRI. 4/12: College of Law faculty pass voice vote resolution to delay implementation of #TUreorganization pending faculty task force. Resolution had roughly 12-15 yays, just one nay, and a couple abstentions. Lone dissenting vote was from member of the provost’s committee. 3/12
Lots of people are paying attention to @utulsa’s disastrous rollout of its cartoonishly bad plan to eviscerate the liberal arts. This is where my research and my life as a scholar intersect. Time for a brief explainer on what it means to “neoliberalize” a university. 1/n
The past few years have been tumultuous ones for colleges across the country. Many will close in the wake of a “higher ed bubble.” So colleges market themselves. College involves many different sorts of markets that can complicate the educational mission of a university. 2/n
Some of this marketing doesn’t pay off. At #utulsa, previous administrations made awful financial decisions, including building expensive new buildings, buying things that are cool to have (Bob Dylan’s archives!) but do not generate revenue, etc. 3/n
Due to years of financial mismanagement, my university, #utulsa, has been forced into some major structural changes. All day today, as if part of some perverse ceremonial unleashing of fury, admin is holding meetings to let us know of our fate. 1/n
The first news to drop today is that lots of MA programs are going away, as well as some undergraduate programs. Among these programs: Philosophy. Yes, PHILOSOPHY. I had heard of other universities making this truly idiotic move. Now it is happening here.
My first thought upon waking up: I should dress appropriate for a funeral. I arrive to campus today and other faculty members apparently had the same idea. People are dressed in all black. It is hard to describe just how on edge faculty are today.
