Never a dull moment
Tuesday, May 17, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s choice to fill the college faculty slot on the Illinois Board of Higher Education has prompted backlash from faculty at the University of Illinois.
Rauner announced John Bambenek, a former Champaign school board member and a onetime Republican state Senate candidate, as his faculty choice in mid-April.
Members of the Urbana campus Senate Executive Committee will draft a letter protesting the nomination to the Rauner administration. The Faculty Advisory Council to the Illinois Board of Higher Education plans to send a memo expressing frustration over Rauner’s choice to the state Senate’s Executive Appointments Committee.
* News-Gazette…
In response to questions about the appointment from The News-Gazette, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly issued the following statement: “John Bambenek’s knowledge and experience make him a valuable addition to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He is qualified under statute to serve in this position.”
He is apparently qualified under statute, and he also shares Gov. Rauner’s views that higher ed administration is eating up too much of the total college cost. Remember this op-ed he did for us last year?…
In light of potential higher education budget cuts, I decided to calculate how much of the University of Illinois’ tuition dollars end up in instructors’ pockets.
I teach 125 Computer Science students. Assuming they are all in-state and they are all 3-hour students, they pay about $1,655 to take the class. This adds up to $207,000 paid to the University. It’s actually much higher than that because about half my students are out-of-state and pay double the in-state tuition and I have about a half-dozen 4-hours students.
My salary and the grading staff pay is only about 13% of that $207K. So the vast majority of those tuition dollars goes to things other than actually teaching the class. By way of comparison, when I teach overseas I am paid between 50-60% of the course cost.
Go read the whole thing if you missed it the first time. It’s pretty good.
* Anyway, back to the N-G…
Ideally, the person representing professors across the state would be a full-time, tenure-system faculty member who understands the “lifeblood” of a university, said DePaul University Professor Marie Donovan, chair of the IBHE’s Faculty Advisory Council.
“No. 1, he’s not a faculty member. That has not been his livelihood,” she said Monday. “He’s not been working with students, advising them. He’s not been deliberating curricula, he’s not been engaged in sustained research, and he hasn’t had to juggle all of those teaching, research, scholarship and service activities,” she said.
“It’s not his fault,” she said. “I’m pointing our fingers at the governor and the governor’s staff who are responsible for advising him.”
I really don’t think the governor cares all that much. Not only is Bambenek in sync with the governor on administrative costs, Rauner probably knew the appointment would drive the profs up a wall.
Why?
* Well, the person who helped gin up the opposition kicked it all off on a blog sponsored by the American Association of University Professors…
Bambenek also denounced all campus unions: “unions on this campus are nothing more than an added expense placed on taxpayers and students. University unions, and public-sector unions in general, have largely hijacked the legacy of the unions from the days when they were necessary.”
In another column, Bambenek denounced “The misuse of ‘academic freedom’ as a bludgeon to impose academic serfdom.” He complained, “Instead of talking about intelligent design, the acolytes of Darwinism engage in character assassination.” Yes, that’s right: Bambenek demanded the teaching of creationism in college.
He proposed limiting academic freedom to only the right of researchers to explore ideas, and the right of students to “determine for themselves what is sound.” He explicitly rejected academic freedom in the classroom: “Academic freedom should not be a right of classroom instructors to turn their podiums into pulpits.” Bambenek concluded his column by declaring that universities that are too “liberal” ought to be shut down: “liberal academia needs to engage with the world and ideas around it, or we will close down these bastions of failed thought.”
Ah, unions. The governor’s sweet spot. Or bitter spot, if you prefer.
* Also, the link is broken, but complaining about character assassination is not the same as demanding that creationism be taught. I was able to get part of the column in question, however…
Academic freedom should be confined to two areas and two areas alone. First, the researcher should be free to explore ideas without having pre-planned conclusions. Second, students should be free to explore the wide range of ideas and determine for themselves what is sound. Academic freedom should not be a right of classroom instructors to turn their podiums into pulpits. Their role is to present information, not preach it. Diverse instructors should be hired to present all reasonable positions within the disciplines.
I’m not endorsing it because I haven’t had a chance to think it through, but that seems kinda reasonable on its face.
* I’ve admitted a soft spot for Bambenek in the past. He’s been more than a bit of a loose cannon, but sometimes those folks appeal to me on certain levels. We disagree on a lot, and he’s gonna have to rise and fall of his own accord. But he’s not an evil cartoon character (although he’s tried to be at times) and deserves a fair hearing. Aside from the union stuff, he’s more on the side of faculty when it comes to their share of the pie than they may realize.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 12:52 pm:
This is Governor Rauner giving the finger to faculty in Illinois. Bambenek may just be qualified under the letter of the law, but hardly under the spirit of the law.
This is what Governor Rauner thinks of the men and women who teach at Illinois’ universities. What does it say about the Governor that he holds higher education in such contempt?
I’d love to see the Senate shoot this one down.
- Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 12:52 pm:
==Academic freedom should not be a right of classroom instructors to turn their podiums into pulpits. Their role is to present information, not preach it. Diverse instructors should be hired to present all reasonable positions within the disciplines.==
That sounds like a reasonable view of the classroom.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 12:52 pm:
In his personal example, both you and he are assuming that the rest of that money went to administration. What isn’t known is how much went to cover the salaries of faculty who teach upper division or graduate courses where there are 10 students in the class? How much went to graduate assistantships? It isn’t as simple as he has portrayed which just goes to show he isn’t really in a position to represent faculty or higher education.
- Arizona Bob - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 12:53 pm:
First of all, the “American Association of University Professors” is apparently too ignorant to know the difference between intelligent design and “creationism”. Intelligent Design is based on a theory that life evolved here with a “helping hand” from someone else, note necessarily a “deity”. Perhaps the earth was “seeded” with some genetic codes that evolved into humanity, and will evolve into something further. I guess since the “professors” were never able to have a scholarly debate on this issue, it explains their ignorance. Kepping an open mind to all concepts, and be willing to challenge and debate them without intimidation, is something I believe very desirable in the IBHE. Too bad the dogmatized “scholars” think otherwise.
- Arizona Bob - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 12:57 pm:
@anonymous
It’s interesting to note you chose not to mention the graduate faculty opportunity to get a piece of the research grant money they bring in in addition to their salary. They pay grad students a pittance and get more than their share after the university takes its fat cut. “assistantships” aren’t just given out, they are pay for work done at often less than minimum wage to grad students. the Grad students are subsidizing the University, not the other way around. didn’t you know that? You would if you went to grad school as I did at U of I…
- burbanite - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 12:58 pm:
Universities need heat, light, wifi, janitorial and grounds services, supplies etc. too.
- Daniel Plainview - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:00 pm:
- This is Governor Rauner giving the finger to faculty -
I feel worse for the other board members. I’d hand in my resignation long before I’d spend time listening to JB froth at the mouth about trans restrooms and student access to contraceptives.
- Hyperbolic Chamber - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:00 pm:
So on the one hand he says not enough $ goes into the hands of instructors and on the other unions are costing students and taxpayers. Which is it?
- Arizona Bob - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:01 pm:
Gee, I wonder what marie Donovan, a professor at DePaul, is doing on this committee? She’s not a prof at a state school. Refresh my memory. Can someone explain to me why DePaul is getting a new basketball stadium built for them at taxpayer expense in Chicago while the city is going broke? I’m sure she was “outraged” at that abuse of state universities and state university students, right?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:03 pm:
IBHE just got raked over the coals in their recent audit, seems like a good time for some housecleaning.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:05 pm:
AB, would you care to address Professor Donovan’s remarks, or would you rather just change the subject?
- Federalist - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:09 pm:
To be on the board does not mean they automatically have had to be a faculty member nor should they have to be.
However,the choice of Bambenek is just one more indication that Rauner would like to dismantle public universities as much as he can get by with. Bambenek would certainly be a willing in that process.
Also remember that the IBHE includes private colleges; however, Rauner, being a Dartmouth grad, is not after them nor even the MAP grant money that goes to them.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:10 pm:
Bob, the Board and its committees are made up of representatives of all sectors as the Board coordinates all sectors.
- Arizona Bob - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:11 pm:
FYI, according to the last U of I budget I read a couple of years ago, only about 40% of expenditures went to “instruction”. That includes many other things in addition to faculty expense.
I graduated from U of I in 1975, and the administrative bloat compared to then is immense. it also seems the appointed Board of Trustees there has made some incredibly poor administrator choices based upon the number of recent resignations due to misconduct they’ve had, as well as some sleazy stuff that’s gone on with the Board itself. It seems that by comparison Mr Bambanek is head and shoulders above many decisions and appointments made in the past by state appointed government.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:12 pm:
Federalist, one spot is for a faculty member. Rauner choose this guy for that one spot.
- Joe M - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:17 pm:
==Aside from the union stuff, he’s more on the side of faculty when it comes to their share of the pie than they may realize==
That is a contradictory statement. The faculty unions at WIU, EIU, NEIU, Chicago State, Governor’s State, UIS, and soon NIU, are the main thrust of shared governance and fair working conditions for faculty at those Illinois institutions.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:17 pm:
===To be on the board does not mean they automatically have had to be a faculty member nor should they have to be.===
In this case, that’s not correct. This seat is the “Faculty” seat on the IBHE, per statute:
===Beginning on July 1, 2005, one of the 10 members appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, must be a faculty member at an Illinois public university.===
What Donovan and others are saying is there is a tremendous difference between teaching a class at a university and being a member of the faculty. Granted, it’s inside baseball, but trust me, it’s a point worth arguing. Tenured and tenure track faculty have much more responsibility than adjunct faculty.
It’s the like the difference between Class A ball and the Big Leagues. If you play in the minors, you’re a professional ball player technically, but that’s a far cry from being in The Show.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:20 pm:
===Tenured and tenure track faculty have much more responsibility than adjunct faculty===
Agreed.
However, adjunct faculty are growing exponentially in numbers as universities cut costs by paying teachers a pittance. Shouldn’t their voices be heard? Not saying it needs to be Bambenek, just sayin’ that tenured faculty are becoming dinosaurs in this environment.
- Mr. Smith - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:23 pm:
Rich, according to statute, Bruce Rauner was / is qualified to be governor. Look at how well THAT has worked out.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:27 pm:
===Shouldn’t their voices be heard?===
SEIU sure thinks so, lol.
Also, the proper venue for adjuncts to have their voice heard is IBHE’s faculty advisory council, ironically enough. That’s why it exists, and it’s open to instructors from community colleges and non-tenured faculty.
It’s no skin off my nose, but I sure understand why the tenured faculty at U of I, and every other public university, would object to Bambenek being the “faculty” voice on the board, especially given Bambenek’s opposition to faculty unions.
- A guy - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:28 pm:
This is one of the things they kept warning us all about when advocating for keeping Gov. Quinn in the job. Governors get to make these choices. Have a hearing and move on.
- Arizona Bob - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:41 pm:
@47th Ward
I’ll be pleased to address her comment, 47th, but I think it’s important to note that her bonafides for being on that Board representing state university members is perhaps just as questionable as any knock she made on Mr Bambanek.
I used to do quite a bit of adjunct faculty teaching, and Rich is right that their perspective may be more important than protected tenured faculty. I taught technical math and physical sciences in the late 1990’s, and often the adjunct faculty at the college were far more effective than tenured faculty. They’re also more important to the quality of instruction at many state schools than are the tenured faculty. A large percentage of tenured faculty consider students (other than those making them money on their research grants)as an inconvenience. Adjunct faculty are there because they love teaching. As I understand this Board position, it’s to be representing primarily the people of the state of Illinois regarding faculty. I believe that Mr Bamabenek serves that function better than some genius researcher that hates teaching and would rather just sit in his lab or office all day. That seems to be what Dr Donavan is advocating, and I think it would be irresponsible for the governor to choose such a person over Mr Bambanek. Just my opinion, of course….
- Joe M - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:43 pm:
Faculty unions for tenure-track faculty are also growing exponentially in numbers as universities cut costs at the expense of faculty. So an anti-union appointee is not the best appointee to represent faculty, but certainly fits with Rauner’s anti-union agenda.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:46 pm:
What was the special IBHE meeting about in February?
- OldIllini - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:47 pm:
==adjunct faculty are growing exponentially in numbers==
As of 2014 (latest data), UIUC had 2729 faculty for 43,603 students. Tenure/tenure track faculty were 1903, or 70%. Bambanek is an instructor, so falls in the other 30%. Not sure if the non-tenure fraction is increasing or not.
- My New Handle - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:52 pm:
Administrative bloat? Prove it with the numbers. And computer science implies that the students need access to computers, software, networks, computer repair tecnicians and upgrades, infrastructure. It is quite possible tuition covers some of that. Mr. Bambenek, like his appointer, spews nothing but half-truths and unsubstantiated assertions.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:54 pm:
===Prove it with the numbers===
Go read the Senate Democrats’ investigation report. Plenty of numbers.
- Almost the Weekend - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 1:55 pm:
John Bambenek is a smart guy, the problem is sometimes he thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. I remember reading his op-ed and thought it was pretty inciteful. As long as he keeps the disagreements tame, and not personal, I think this can be a surprising beneficial relationship amongst the two. But how screwed up and how high political tensions are, I don’t know if this even has a chance.
- GraduatedCollegeStudent - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:01 pm:
===Adjunct faculty are there because they love teaching. ===
Point of order, adjunct faculty are more often there because they one day hope they can secure a tenure-track position. If it was just a love of teaching, they would have bailed on higher ed a long time ago.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:04 pm:
===I think it’s important to note that her bonafides for being on that Board representing state university members is perhaps just as questionable as any knock she made on Mr Bambanek.===
The ad hominem is strong in this one. From what I understand, Professor Donovan was elected by DePaul’s Faculty Council or Provost to serve as a representative to IBHE’s Faculty Advisory Council, which as its name applies, is a council of faculty members that advises the IBHE. They meet regularly. You should attend one of their meetings.
And I think you are misreading or misunderstanding why the statute was changed in 2005 to specifically include a faculty member on the IBHE. Probably a willful misunderstanding on your part, but a misunderstanding nonetheless.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:06 pm:
===name applies==
IMplies. #dangit!
- former southerner - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:09 pm:
Becoming more efficient is generally fairly simple, become more effective is often difficult and simultaneous improvement of both measures presents a true challenge. Universities have through both choice and necessity become biased towards efficiency gains through increased reliance upon various forms of online education and increased use of NTT faculty which in dollar terms can quickly decrease costs per credit hour delivered. What isn’t receiving sufficient attention is effectiveness in terms of overall student preparation including the very important socialization which is a key part of the complete college experience. Outside of a wartime experience, students in their 4 (or often 5) years of college undergo the most rapid change in socialization in their lives as they transition from the largely parent-directed live at home primary education years to becoming adults with much greater freedom of choice coupled with greater responsibilities and reduced ability to escape the consequences of their choices.
The online environment can simulate some of this phase of their lives but it isn’t a robust substitute. Focusing largely upon cost control allows reporting optimal results on some metrics while ignoring other key items of importance. The value of a true college experience is far more than just conveyance of textbook knowledge and society overall benefits greatly from properly prepared AND seasoned young adults.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:17 pm:
“… unions on this campus are nothing more than an added expense placed on taxpayers and students. …”
Um, the people who belong to those unions, empty the wastebaskets, clean the toilets, mow the lawn, fix the broken lights, deliver the mail, keep the HVAC operating, change locks and door signs, move furniture. The list goes on and on.
Rather than bash the folks who belong to unions, it might be better to be nice to them. Because someday you are going to need them to do something for you. So which would you rather have, someone who is assisting you willingly or someone who is going to make it into an odious task.
The service staff at the universities are the invisible people who keep the place running.
- siriusly - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:21 pm:
I am thinking the Senate Dems may shoot this one down just for fun.
- siriusly - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:22 pm:
And by “fun” I really mean to remind the Governor that they have the authority to approve appointments or not.
- Agricola - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:28 pm:
Given the damning “napkin math” in his editorial, I can see why the U of I and its friends are in an uproar (and why they are keeping their focus on his more flammable opinions). Thanks for the link, Rich!
- JackD - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:35 pm:
That’s just what the U of I needs: somebody demanding the teaching of creationism. After all, don’t we want the state’s flagship university to be more like Bob Jones U.?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:51 pm:
AZ Bob, intelligent design is just an attempt to put lip stick on the pig of creationism.
- the Other Anonymous - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 2:56 pm:
“Diverse instructors should be hired to present all reasonable positions within the disciplines.”
Sure sounds reasonable, right? Except. . . intelligent design is not considered a reasonable position for scientists. Not because intelligent design is incorrect — it might be correct, but it’s not science.
The difference between science and humanities is that science looks at propositions about the world that can be disproven. A theory becomes scientific when it is formulated in a way that you can design an experiment that could disprove the theory.
Under this standard, intelligent design cannot be a scientific theory. There is no way to design an experiment that could disprove the idea that the results we see are because the rules of universe were set that way by an intelligent designer.
So, yeah, I would say that Bamabenek is taking a rather unreasonable position. But he sure gets credit for making nonsense* sound like logic.
* The nonsense is that intelligent design is science, not whether intelligent design is true or not.
- CapnCrunch - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 3:27 pm:
“However, adjunct faculty are growing exponentially in numbers …..Shouldn’t their voices be heard?”
In a February 18, 2014 News-Gazette article the UI’s associate provost for administrative affairs said that non tenure and non tenure track faculty taught almost 54% percent of credit hours, compared to about 46 percent by tenure system faculty. Bambenek would appear to represent the portion of the faculty doing the majority of the teaching .
- GraduatedCollegeStudent - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 3:29 pm:
===Agreed.
However, adjunct faculty are growing exponentially in numbers as universities cut costs by paying teachers a pittance. Shouldn’t their voices be heard? Not saying it needs to be Bambenek, just sayin’ that tenured faculty are becoming dinosaurs in this environment. ===
Rich, I don’t think Bambenek’s course load really equates to your average adjunct’s course load either, so yeah if you wanted someone to be a voice for adjuncts you could do far better than him.
- Arizona Bob - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 3:34 pm:
@the other anonymous
=So, yeah, I would say that Bamabenek is taking a rather unreasonable position. But he sure gets credit for making nonsense* sound like logic.
* The nonsense is that intelligent design is science, not whether intelligent design is true or not.=
So you don’t have much of a background in math or science, do you, “Other”? As a someone with 30 hours past a masters in applied physical sciences (engineering and applied mathematics), the obvious flaw in your argument is that the functional complexity of higher life forms here occurred with the minimal evolutionary “failures” that we’ve found in fossil records. It’s been said that if Darwin had access to our current fossil records, he’d dispute his theory himself. Fossil records and DNA show that there’s something far more complicated than “natural selection” at work. There should have been far more mutations present for something as complex as humanity to have evolved. For example, a living thing that didn’t have the complicated DNA to “age” would be much more likely to survive than one that did, yet old age is what “won”. Why? We don’t know, but someone PLANNING it that way would perhaps make the most sense. Logic and science can’t disprove intelligent design, nor can it prove “natural selection” is fact. That’s math and science, Other, and no one truly learned in scientific reasoning would deny it. You must be a humanities person!
Enough of logic and reason. Back to Illinois politics!LOL
- TooManyJens - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 3:40 pm:
Intelligent design is simply a rebranding of creationism.
===A crucial piece of the defense (pro-intelligent design) was a book called Of Pandas and People which was marketed as a science textbook for middle and high school children. During the trial, previous copies of the book were subpoenaed for review. It was demonstrated that, whenever previous versions of the book had the terms “creationist” or “creationism” or some similar form, it had been replaced in almost all cases with the terms “design proponents” and “intelligent design” in later editions.===
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Cdesign_proponentsists
- Anon221 - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 5:52 pm:
Don’t feed AB. Stick to the post topic.
- G'Kar - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 7:33 pm:
I sent a note to Rich about this appointment a couple of weeks ago. As I told him, I don’t really care that he is an adjunct, my biggest concern is that he will not represent the interest of faculty, but will instead try to represent his own agenda.
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, May 17, 16 @ 9:50 pm:
My observations over the years tell me that John Bambenek is a very bright guy. Can he transition from observer/commenter/usually protagonist to governing? Only time will tell. My advice to him is that you can’t govern from outlier positions, you can only criticize and rage against those who are governing. To have any effect on the governance process he will need to learn to be a consensus builder. I hope he does.