'Professor of the Year9 Suing Over Tenure Denial
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NFL DRAFT PREVIEW — SEE PACE 9 Volume 59 Number 51 Phone 284-4401 U^t JHtamt Hfurr tram* TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1983 'Professor Of The Year9 Suing Over Tenure Denial By HOWARD BURNS On October 9, 1981. DeFleur sent a letter to Brown advising that Lav Editor in Chief ender not be granted tenure. In lhat letter, there are several statements which Lavender feels to be misleading and untrue. He believes these sUte- In 1981 and 1983, the students voted him Professor of the Year In the ments were also critical in his tenure denial spring of 1982, the university chose not to grant him tenure. Now, one In the letter, DeFleur wrote, "He |Lavender| has been unwilling to year later, sociology professor Dr. Abraham Lavender is suing the univer take his share of the load in teaching such basic courses as Introductory sity. Sociology.' Others have had to shoulder his part of that burden " The popular academician is currently in the process of coordinating Lavender disputes DeFleur's claim by saying. "Up until Ihe time he legal action against the school to be filed later this year. IDeFleur| made that evaluation. I had carried the seebnd highest teaching Tenure, according to Dean Arthur Brown of the College of Arts and load in the department. Sciences, is a "lifetime commitment by the university" to a professor. "Of nine professors, only one had Uught more students than 1 had . The criteria used to recommend tenure are research that leads to pub I had taught "intro" ("Introductory Sociology"! more times than five of lication, teaching and community service. the other eight people (in the department). Lavender charges that a series of disagreements with Dr. Melvin De- "I prefer to teach graduate courses, but haven't uught them because Fleur, chairman of the Department of Sociology, contributed to the univer of the demand for my undergraduate courses," Lavender said. sity's decision to not make Lavender a tenured professor. When a tenure decision is made, the dean of the college is provided Lavender attributes many of the early disagreements to the process in with three outside evaluations — one chosen by the department, one by which DeFleur was hired to be chairman. "I voted against him," said Lav the professor being evaluated and one by the chairman of the department ender. "I assume he (DeFleur] probably knows that, even though he'd Lavender received evaluations from Harold S. Himmeifarb. associate probably say he doesn't. professor and president of the Association for the Sociological Study of "On the original list of candidates. Dr. DeFleur wasn't even in the top Jewry at Rutgers University; Chaim I. Waxman, an associate professor at group. On the final list, he was seventh. After the top three people on the Ohio State University; and William V. D'Antonio, an associate professor at list had been in for interviews, and either they had turned us down or we the University of Connecticut. turned them down, then, all of a sudden, we skipped the next three people Himmeifarb and Waxman both recommended that on the basis of his on the list — two of them were women." publications. Lavender be considered for tenure. D'Antonio was noncom Lavender says he felt that the hiring was not done properly, and mittal. claims sexual bias on the part of some of his colleagues was a main factor Of the three evaluations, DeFleur quoted only D'Antonio in his letter for the two women not being hired for the position. to Brown. D'Antonio was DeFleur's choice to evaluate Lavender's record. "There were some hard feelings over that IDeFleur's hiring]; never Lavender feels that certain passages from the D'Antonio letter which were theless, when Dr. DeFleur came, I supported him, said Lavender. quoted by DeFleur in the letter were misleading and Uken out of context. The conflicts, according to Lavender, began to escalate when DeFleur In addition. Lavender also feels that comments made by DeFleur re "challenged" the three courses he was teaching at the time — a course in garding his teaching record were also misleading. human sexuality, a course on social values called "Transformational Soci Commenting on the fact that Lavender gave "nearly 60 percent A's ology," and a course which dealt with the Jewish community. and B's" in the human sexuality class in the spring of 1981. DeFleur wrote: Regarding the course on the Jewish community. Lavender claims that "I felt that such practices contributed to the older 'Sunun U' image of the Miami Hurricane/JEFF GOTTUEB •0eF'eur toW him that because Jews only made up about three percent oUniversitf y of Miami." Lavender makes a noint to his "Sociolojrv of Human the P°Pulation> they aidn,t deserve two courses in the sociology depart- Lavender says DeFleur's sutement is inaccurate, claiming that the Sexuality manes a point io nis sociology oi nil man ment He ^^ that DeFleur later softened on that position and allowed him Please turn to page 3/ LAVENDER Students to continue teaching the class. College Council I rejects CAAS major By LOURDES FERNANDEZ that have been approved so far." Hurricane Newt Editor He said they now have a base budget of $3,865, not including sal Tha College Coundl has turned aries, and that he was not asking down a proposal to esublish a for any more money. major In Caribbean, African and According to Dathorne, these Afro-American Studies (CAAS). kinds of programs are being done At present, a minor in CAAS is throughout the country. being offered. Instead of having a major, a com "We are concerned with dealing mittee of the council recommended with the international nature of ex the following: perience," he said. "I see it as the • That the college make an effort undergraduate component to inter to hire professors with research in national studies. terests in the black experience. "What we are doing is not • That CAAS 201 (Africanisms in unique; it's just unique to this the Americas) be required of all school. It would place us In the CAAS minors. mainstream of academia." The minor in CAAS consists of 15 He added that such a program credits, including CAAS 201, passed was "not being developed for black with a grade of C or higher. students or people in the Caribbean. 'We are concerned with dealing with the international nature of experience. I see it as the undergraduate component to international studies.' Oscar Dathorne, CAAS director The proposed major would be in Dathorne said that the program terdisciplinary, meaning that stu would be no different from the denU could specialize in either Car Latin American Studies Program ibbean, African, or Afro-American and would have the "same thrust, studies. StudenU could, if they purpose and direction." wished, choose a combination of the A major in CAAS had been The magic is here three. backed by USBG, which had passed StudenU would have had to com a bill recommending such a pro Students leaf through the 1982-83 IBIS Yearbook last week during its distribution on the rock. Yearbooks are plete 24 credits beyond the fresh gram. still available in the IBIS office. Student Union room S229. man requirements with a grade of C Suted the bill: "The curriculum or better. Some courses would would include new major and minor serve a dual purpose and would be course requirements for the CAAS applied towards the fulfillment of department, following the guide requirements in humanities and so lines of the College of Arts and Sci Communications ceremony cial sciences, as well as the major. ences. The courses have already Professor Oscar R. Dathorne, been originated from the College of who is currently director of the Arts and Sciences; however, the CAAS program, spoke before the CAAS department will incorporate honors its top students council last week. them into a single major/minor." Said Dathorne: "I'm not asking The College Council is headed by for anything that will demand an Dean Arthur Brown of the College By LOURDES FERNANDEZ enormous amount of funding. All of Arts and Sciences. He was not Hurricane News Editor we have done is utilize the courses available for comment. The Department of Communication held its 34th annual awards cere mony Sunday night at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS). Each sequence within the department and various communication or Inside ganizations presented awards to both studenU and advisors. Dr. David Gordon, chairman of the department, spoke of the growth 'National College News' of the communications department, which is soon to become a School. The latest news from College Pr<s» Service, including a re "This symbolizes a lot of what is going on," said Gordon. port on bow college administrators' salaries aren't going up as "To the graduating seniors who are Uking a step into the cold, cruel much as they used to /PAGE 3 world," he said. "We don't want to lose track of you." He added that the student organizations within the department were •Here and Now' a group of "extremely active students. They round out a lot of things we Maxwell Glen and Cody Shearer report from Waahington on as faculty try to provide in and out of the classroom." what Reagan Ls doing about the 'gender gap' /PAGE 4 Dean Arthur Brown of the College of Arts and Sciences also spoke of the strong recommendation given to the Board of Trustees this past week TV season in review end at one of their meetings. A report on the best and worst program* network TV had to "The trustees now know what we are up to," said Brown."We don't offer tins season /PAGE 6 anticipate any difficulties." He said that the number of majors is the highest in the college — a Stetson loses two to Miami "testimony to the faculty we have brought in and the studenls who have A recap erf the baseball games played this weekend, in which gone out and carried the banner." the Horricanai added two to their 'won' column /PAGE » Two broadcasting journalism scholarships were awarded.