s-Boston Faculty Says, “Enough!” // (Steven Hayward).
The University of Massachusetts Boston has released drafts of a new “mission” and “vision” statement for campus. These are the drafts:
Mission statement draft:
We are an academic community that includes both local and global citizens. We want to be an anti-racist, health-promoting institution that upholds and honors our students’ cultural heritage. We will work in partnership and equitable practices with the communities we serve. We support a variety of knowledge production methods that enrich the lives of all people, especially those who are historically undervalued or underserved. We are a public university in urban areas that focuses on teaching, learning and research that is rooted in equity, sustainability, innovation, and expansive notions about excellence.
Vision statement draft:
We aim to be an anti-racist, health-promoting public research institute where:
Institutional core values include diversity, equity, shared governance, expansive notions and excellence.
All policies and practices on campus are based on a culture of wellness and a care ethic.
We create a learning environment that is rich in resources to support students from multiple identities and socio-economic, racial and cultural backgrounds.
Climate, environmental, racial justice, and sustainable economic and planning decisions have local and global impacts.
In University practices that promote the socio-economic, cultural, and social well-being of the communities they serve, community engaged scholarship, service, as well as reciprocity, are embedded
We hold each other and ourselves responsible for ensuring that these values drive all decisions in research, pedagogical innovation, resource allocation, policy development, and practice implementation.
These days, college campuses are pretty standard. Except for one instance, some faculty members, primarily based in the sciences, are fighting back. A ” Open letter” is being circulated against these draft statements. It is worth reading the entire thing. Here are the highlights:
We are faculty members of the College of Science and Mathematics and we are writing to express our deep concerns about the recent presentation to the faculty of the Mission Statement and Vision Statement. . .
This document is flawed in its content, direction, representation, and design. We believe that if this draft is not changed, it will cause serious damage to the College of Science and Mathematics, the reputation of UMass Boston and the reputation of UMass Boston’s College of Science and Mathematics as a beacon of education and knowledge, and to the diverse demographic and ideological student population we serve, especially those who view education as a way to rise socio-economically. . .
A public university cannot use political or ideological activism as its primary purpose. . . It is important to stress that the fundamental function of the public university cannot be either political or ideological activism. This is partly due to the illegality and binding commitment to academic freedom outlined in the “red book” regarding academic personnel policy. Ideological activism cannot be a university’s central goal because it can sometimes conflict with education and research. Truth cannot be subjugated by social or ideological beliefs.
The UMass science faculty does not accept that these statements of principle are sufficient. They then pose several interrogatories.
These points are raised about the purpose and function of the public university. We believe that the current drafts for the vision and mission statements fundamentally depart from these tenets and instead promote a chilling climate for the pursuit of truth. This is evident in the Vision Statement, which discusses diversity and equity, expansive notions about excellence, wellness and plural identities. It then states that “We hold ourselves and each others accountable to ensure these values drive all decisions in research, pedagogical innovation, resource allocation and the development and implementation of policies and practices. We will also hold scholars accountable for research that does not promote these values.
If your research on quantum computing does not promote climate, environmental or racial justice, will you be held responsible and your resources re-allocated.
Will your department be held responsible if it makes a data-informed decision to support the usage of standardized test scores as a measure of student learning and preparation, but the campus views it as being against wellness, an ethic or equity, or an expansive idea of excellence?
Another important point is that UMass Boston is a research institution, but the word research is only briefly mentioned at the end of UMass Boston’s draft Mission Statement. This seems to indicate UMass Boston’s diminished support for knowledge creation.
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Some good news perhaps:
Employers Rethink the Need for College Degrees in a Tight Labor Market
Employers are reducing the requirement for higher-paying jobs due to the tight labor market.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Delta Air Lines Inc. have reduced the educational requirements for certain positions, and shifted their hiring focus to more skills and experience. Maryland has reduced the college-degree requirements for many state positions, leading to an increase in hiring and a new Pennsylvania governor. Josh Shapiro ran for a similar initiative.
