We have one last chance not to adopt the "New Tenure Policy."  Vote no and
let it remain an orphan.  Faculty accountability is not a problem at UTC
but a lack of resources is.  It costs the board nothing to mandate this new
process.  We have been distracted into trying to find ways to live with
this mandate and have not drawn attention to the acute lack of meaningful
instructional support.   The budget crisis in Tennessee demands we talk
clearly and persistently about our desperate needs at UTC.   Instead we
have allowed ourselves to sink to a hand-ringing attempt at absolution for
things we have not been empowered to control.   Shame on us.  No one
admires weakness.

We have been given a new hoop to jump through.  Some seem to think that
embellishing the hoop makes it better.  If we vote to approve this
beautified hoop we will have made it ours and we will have told the world
we like jumping through it.   Bad move!  Let it remain the UT board's hoop.
We should jump if  we have to jump but not say we like it.

The UT board by taking the usual shotgun approach to problems has once
again insulted all of us.  By voting no we deny culpability and hopefully
can refocus the public's attention on things that can really make a
difference for higher education.

Sure there are risks but remember they cut both ways.  If we acquiesce now
what happens when the next mandate we don't need or want comes along?  Some
risks are simply the right ones to take.

John A. Lynch, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598


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