Faculty Raise Concerns at Provost Review Town Hall
By Connect Mason Director Whitney Rhodes
Faculty and staff examined Provost Peter Stearns' job performance during a town hall meeting on April 8. Recognition of faculty input, the future of the Ras Al Kaimah campus and potential environmental coursework were among the issues raised.
“There needs to be understanding and recognition of faculty input at this institution,” said James Bennett, a professor in the economics department.
Frank Philpot, an assistant professor in the school of management, agreed, citing the lack of faculty weigh-in and involvement in shaping the RAK campus.
“What I’ve seen [at RAK] is what I call modest, at best,” said Philpot. He continued to say that the RAK endeavor was met by a lack of knowledge and preparation for the culture surrounding the United Arab Emirates campus.
“It’s a whole new world out there,” responded Kathy Trump, associate dean of University Life. “Our reputation is better over there than it is here.”
David Kuebrich, an associate professor in the English department, wondered about the provost’s dedication to improving the lack of courses dedicated to climate change and sustainability.
The event was held in Johnson Center room G and moderated by Review Committee members Susan Tolchin, Bob Smith, Lynn Gerber and Claudio Cioffi-Revilla. The committee members posed four questions selected by an absent President Merten concerning Stearns’ past achievements and potential for future success at Mason. Participants were allowed to give open feedback throughout the meeting.
The next town hall meeting will take place on April 10 from 12-1:30 p.m. in Bull Run Hall room 134 at Mason's Prince William Campus.
Lede adapted from 'justsomedude' - commented below. Many thanks.
gmu-rak campus
Only just seen this article, hence the belated response.
No, Kathy Trump. What you say is incorrect. The reputation of GMU-Ras al Khaimah in education circles in the Emirates is bad, unenviable. I know. I worked there. I travel back to the Emirates regularly and visit RAK.
The truth is that the campus has been mishandled since day one. Articles this year in the 'New York Times', and more recently in the 'Chronicle' have revealed something of what has been happening. In his comments to both journals Provost Stearns has sounded like the pianist in the brothel parlor who continues to protest his ignorance of what is happening upstairs!
An evaluation of Provost Stearns'performance to date? "Could do much better--significant improvement required." In other words Shape Up or Ship Out.
And those four questions were????
And some of the responses?
Four questions
Merten's four questions are as follows:
1) What has been and will likely be the Provost's contributions to Mason's innovation and entrepreneurial approach to advancing the academic mission?
2) How effective has the Provost been and will he likely continue to be successful in taking advantage of our location in the Washington metropolitan area?
3) Has the Provost been effective and will he continue to be effective in keeping a dynamic balance between a focused approach to the academic mission and an open, more broad based approach?
4) Has the Provost been and will he continue to be an effective teller of the Mason story?
Most of the discussion did not fully acknowledge the particular questions above. Please see the responses written above.
I apologize if this was not clear, please let me know how you would've restructured the article.
Just remember your inverted
Just remember your inverted pyramid. Things such as moderators and meeting room do not belong the second paragraph.
The agenda of the meeting, however, belongs in the lead.
The first sentence lacks zip: it's too long, and has too much clutter. A better opening would be: "Faculty and staff examined - sometimes critically - Provost Peter Stearns' job performance during yesterday's town hall meeting. Recognition of faculty input, the future of the Ras Al Kaimah campus, and potential environmental coursework were among the issues raised."
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