If the Nevada Republican Party wants to do something for education in Nevada, rather than do everything possible to destroy the Nevada Higher Education System as it has over the last 40 years, there is one area the Party can examine, improve and change to save millions of dollars and move a higher education system forward that simply refuses to move forward.
The area of concern is tenure which is not necessary to protect the competent professor but is only in place at this time to protect the incompetent professor while at the same time ensuring that the higher education institution will not change, improve or move forward.
Every business owner in Nevada should think of this. Assume that you hire an employee and under a series of Nevada laws you cannot terminate that employee until the employee decides to retire. Imagine being stuck with any employee for 40 years. Tenure has that same effect. It not only protects the incompetent, it ensures that there will be little or no progress in the higher education system.
Remember that tenure creates a lifetime employment contract between the university and the professor which in reality cannot be terminated by the university.
Every experience I've had in Higher Education has shown that the cronyism that occurs in the college president's office is where the real issue lies. President Smatresk, of UNLV, just appointed the head of the Provost search committee to the Provost position, over the objection of the entire faculty, rather than take any one of four other highly qualified people, each of which was willing to fire Deans (there are at least 7 deans that should have been sacked decades ago) for failing to manage their departments. Instead Smatresk hired the one guy that he knew wouldn't fire a dean, or hold them accountable, and that he could keep under his thumb, covering up the years of mismanagement Ex-Provost Smatrek, now President Smatresk, left in his wake on his rise to the top.
ReplyDeleteDear Unknown,
DeleteYou don’t know what you are talking about. I know all the facts. You don’t understand any of the facts. I hope you are not out there spewing your dangerously misleading views.
Not only has the Nevada GOP screwed up education, let us not forget the Democrats.
ReplyDeleteThe "2" parties have done an OUTSTANDING job of messing up just about everything in America, in my opinion.
If either party had any clue as how to make things better they would have done it a long time ago!