This from Farzad Bawani who said: When it comes to running universities and colleges today, to be tenure or not to be tenure seems to be the question. The article below interrogates this key issue and underscores the importance of shared governance defined as a “social system of self government wherein decision-making responsibility is shared among those affected by the decision” (Schuetz, 1999). Most reputable universities and colleges in Canada are run based on a recognized version of this model. As a result, they require the retention of tenure academics, able to maintain a sense of independence from the managerial control of the administration at the top. In contrast, the corporate model complains about the inefficiency and the cost of this system and seeks to eliminate this power-sharing structure by replacing tenure positions with expendable part-time instructors and researchers, who often feel vulnerable and obliged to follow the party line dictated from the top, or risk not having their contracts renewed upon expiry. The corporate model urges a total managerial take over, in the name of fiscal responsibility and sound leadership. This argument is indeed nothing short of a subterfuge, an ignoble ruse, that ignores how concentrated power corrupts those wielding it and alienates those subject to it, leading to complete depravity at both ends. In effect, this debate is not about to save or not to save. To the contrary, this debate is part of a much larger struggle about to share or not to share power, which has begun from our post-secondary institutions, and if not stopped, will end only after imposing serfdom on all of us. It may happen slowly, so gradually that we may not notice its transmogrifying effects on our lives. But, as history tells us when power begins to concentrate it will not stop at any limit, unless it is stopped by those who care.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 17:53:12 +0000
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