Seeing the arbitrary and absurd tenure decisions in the last few days has me feeling some kind of way. It's a system that can fail even more easily than it succeeds. So much depends on colleagues not being sociopathic assholes, which in academe is...not a given.
A story 🧵:
A story 🧵:
2. In 2003 I was hired on a tenure-track job at a small liberal arts college in the northeast that seemed like a dream gig. But 2 weeks into the Spring semester, my 3 dept. colleagues gave me a letter explaining why they would not be renewing my contract after the academic year.
3. The letter was 11 single-spaced pages. ELEVEN. SINGLE-SPACED. PAGES. And I will never forget the end line of the opening paragraph. "It is our conclusion that Dr. Gannon will never be an effective teacher, researcher, or colleague." And then 10-1/2 more pages of sunshine.
4. Now, I'd published a book chapter, an article, and several reviews in the summer and Fall after I started my contract. None of the 3 of them had published anything in years. My teaching evals were excellent, (even though those aren't the most reliable things to use).
5. So what happened? I don't know. I had sensed a shift that previous November, right before Thanksgiving, where the department dynamic seemed to get weird. To this day, I have no idea what I might have done. Whatever it was, they'd gone from collegial to "fuck you" quick, y'all.
6. I'd been assigned a faculty mentor from another dept, but every attempt I made to connect w/ her went unanswered. My dean was a long time faculty member who was intimidated by my department, and wanted no part of my case. The provost was new, and didn't want to rock any boats.
7. Finally, a few other faculty heard about what was going on. It was then that I found out all sorts of interesting stuff. My dept. was me, two mid-career women (one who was an alum of the school and the current chair), and an older male who had been there for decades.
8. I was the first hire they'd made in almost two decades. I replaced the former chair who'd apparently held the dept. together, and was the only one who played nice with anyone else at the college. The dept. had a reputation of being grumpy, petulant obstructionists. AWESOME.
9. The senior dude basically ran the show. What he said was law. Turns out when the current chair was an undergrad, the senior dude was chair and had had an extramarital affair with her. Remember: I'm finding all of this out after I've essentially been fired.
10. According to these other faculty, I must have done something to piss off the senior dude, and it was likely something that made no sense, because in addition to being an asshole, he was also a raging alcoholic and not always sober while he was on campus. SUPER!
11. As word of my case got out, other faculty came to me to express sympathy. I appreciated that, and it was nice to finally know what was going on. But you know what would have been better? KNOWING ANY OF THIS WHEN IT WOULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE
12. The college P&T committee dragged their feet on my appeal, and didn't even want to deal with it. By then I was back on the market, after most of the job cycle had finished for the year, and absolutely lucked into a late-opening position. One which I still occupy to this day.
13. So while my story had a happy ending, it's only because of luck and huge support from grad school mentors and my family. I still had to run out the string that semester, which was hella awkward. The Dean audibly sighed with relief when I told him I was withdrawing my appeal
14. I was a new faculty member in an environment where no one ensured I received the mentoring I was entitled to. I had no guidance about submitting my contract-renewal application. *I never even got the faculty handbook*. And...my department was a pit of sociopathic vipers.
15. It should suprise no one that there were no faculty or admins at this college who weren't white. If there were any faculty or admins of color, I did not meet them the entire year I was on campus. Clearly, supporting (or even being humane to) new colleagues was not a priority.
16. Reappointment, tenure, and promotion are absolute crapshoots in institutions like this where departments are allowed to get high on their own supply without any repercussions or accountability. My story is just one small sliver in the pile of evidence. The system often fails.
17. Anyway, that's the story of how my academic career almost imploded after just six months. When I see these arbitrary and clearly bullshit decisions happening to far better teachers and scholars than me, it just brings all that back. And I wouldn't wish it on anyone. /fin
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