From the LVRJ: Of 712 full-time professors, 255 got what are called reassignments, or permission to teach fewer than three classes. Reasons can range from having to serve as a department chairman to, in one case, losing an election.
Dina Titus, for example, is a UNLV political science professor. She took a leave of absence in 2008 to run for Congress. She won but then lost that seat last year.
Titus returned to the university this semester, at an annual salary of $107,855, and is teaching only one class, Women in Politics. University officials said Titus got a waiver because she needs to "restart her research agenda and to write articles, books, and conference papers for further dissemination."
She is also working with the university's literary Black Mountain Institute coordinating their research fellows, expanding the institute's research forums and working with the university's KUNV-TV to develop regular programming focused in BMI. (emphasis mine)
http://www.lvrj.com/news/workload-has-picked-up-faculty-at-unlv-say-117893069.html
In university speak, UNLV admits that Titus is not qualified to teach right now- she has to do some writing, research, write some books etc. So, because Titus is not qualified to teach right now, other professors have to pick up her classes she is not qualified to teach.
Perhaps, Titus should have took time to write books, write papers and conference papers on her own time and then she should have hired back as a professor and not before. That is what other professors have to do.
UNLV- not broke and wastes money on people like Titus.
The job of a tenured professor is not only to teach. It is to "write books, write papers and conference papers," as well as participate in University and departmeent committees, act as dissertation adviors, counsel students, and do research.
ReplyDeleteAll these things are part of one's job when you are hired as a Professor.
Why are you particularly incensed about Titus, by the way? The article states that there are 254 other faculty members who *also* got waivers from full-time teaching loads.
Because Titus was unethical as a congress person and should never have been allowed in the classroom to begin with. If she were not a Democratic congress person, she would never have been given her job.
ReplyDelete