“‘We all contribute in our own ways’ is not a valid institutional goal.” That’s the title of Feminist Law Prof Kim Krawiec’s post here at the Faculty Lounge. “It’s an excuse for poor management,” she says. Here is an excerpt from the post:
In the end, no school can escape the difficult and unpleasant task of defining what it aspires to be as an institution without incurring long-term costs. The disagreement is bound to emerge somewhere over time: in hiring or tenure decisions, in curriculum-oriented debates, or in the seemingly-out-of-nowhere heated argument about replacing the faculty lounge coffee maker. As I noted in response to a comment on my prior post on this topic, it’s always been my belief that the refusal to engage foundational issues about institutional identity is part of the reason that a faculty will spend three hours arguing over whether to eliminate minus grades and then hire someone for lifetime employment with no discussion at all.
I think Kim nailed it. Ouch.
-Bridget Crawford
