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The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

blue.cse.buffalo.edu

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Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#91

Post by karmelapple »

kevhito wrote: post #26
code_sardaukar wrote: post #14

I read the whole article and it's very hard to judge the correctness of most of the article's claims. Most importantly, it's hard to judge the most important thing: the author's own research. However, I can say that there are different ways to interpret things. The author sees tenure as a way to establish obedience to the unwritten rules of the department. Based on my knowledge of academia, including friends who were…

I agree with this. But research isn't everything. And there are at least some hints and signs that this person doesn't know how to get along with colleagues. > I worked really hard to bring an exciting and rigorous operating systems class to UB. Why did this effort require working "really hard"? Was it because of obstructionist, jealous, or stupid colleagues? Or people who wanted a boring and unrigourous course inste…

Some people are extremely allergic to dogs, and not just when the dog is in the room; dog dander sticks around in a room for a very long time.

Policies to keep pets out of certain spaces isn't because of a lack of a fun environment, but looking out for some people's sensitivities.

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#92

Post by adrianratnapala »

nostrademons wrote: post #80
seibelj wrote: post #54

I work in industry, but the key to getting stuff done in a hierarchical organization is tact . I think he is a poor politician, and is clearly very unhappy about being denied tenure. I think putting out feelers and going about a new job more quietly would be more effective. Hypothetically, let's say you (the person reading this comment) want to make a big change in your organization. You identified a problem, and hon…

I'd agree that the way to appeal to management is to build relationships & grassroots support in the organization. But the way to appeal to the market (which seems to be his current situation now, since he seems to be looking for a new job) is to make a big splash, take credit for all the things you've done, define yourself in terms of what you'd most like to do, and then wait for the calls to come in. The difference…

This also explains how Trump increased republican primary turnout while upsetting republicans. It's not that there are more trumpists than traditional republicans (the general election is proving that). It's that just that Trump did have plenty of support from outside the party that he could pull into the primary.

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#93

Post by tedmiston »

gsylvie wrote: post #22
mcherm wrote: post #2

This article has a powerful and important point to make. But much of the strength of an argument rests on the author's evaluation of his own contributions which is almost unfailingly positive. The article would be even more effective if accompanied by statement from one or more of the eight department members who voted against granting tenure.

He obviously pissed off his department, and so they voted with an aim to punishing him. He's a fool not to appeal it, though. If he appeals then the decision will be made by people outside of his department who won't have the same emotional stakes in the decision. Rage quit after you win your appeal, if you must! $3,000,000 in funding, most of it still active is astonishing ( https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu/proposals/ )…

Here's something he didn't write about: Postdoc at MIT (2010–11), PhD from Harvard (2010), 5000+ citations with an h-index of 14 [1][2].

[1]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffrey-challen-572b771a

[2]: https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu/people/challen@buffalo.edu/Geof...

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#94

Post by pistle »

Well, that's his side of the story. Burning bridges publicly while signalling that you are difficult to work with is a twofer. Classy. Subtle. There are 8 people who have any second thoughts answered, and likely two others who might not abstain if given a second chance.

Life goes on. Pick up your pieces and build a new dream. Don't stand on the bridge you are burning.

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#95

Post by dronemallone »

rdtsc wrote: post #59
seibelj wrote: post #54

I work in industry, but the key to getting stuff done in a hierarchical organization is tact . I think he is a poor politician, and is clearly very unhappy about being denied tenure. I think putting out feelers and going about a new job more quietly would be more effective. Hypothetically, let's say you (the person reading this comment) want to make a big change in your organization. You identified a problem, and hon…

Agree with that. He set out to improve things, which is a good goal. Improving means criticizing the status quo at some level. In case of academia, with tenured people lingering there for life, status quo is probably the result of their work (for better or for worse). Wanting to "improve" that was probably perceived as an insult something like "what you did before sucks, I'll make it better". Unless he was dealing wi…

multiple NSF grants and multiple papers in top conferences - his research IS good, innovative and interesting. Also, a majority of the external letter writers had positive things to say.

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#96

Post by gsylvie »

pimlottc wrote: post #72
gsylvie wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He obviously pissed off his department, and so they voted with an aim to punishing him. He's a fool not to appeal it, though. If he appeals then the decision will be made by people outside of his department who won't have the same emotional stakes in the decision. Rage quit after you win your appeal, if you must! $3,000,000 in funding, most of it still active is astonishing ( https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu/proposals/ )…

I was also wondering about his chance at appeal, but it's not clear how close he was: > I knew that I had made a few enemies, but I was surprised that the final vote was so lopsided: 6 yays, 2 abstainers, and 8 nays. What's the bar for passing? A majority of yeas? A plurality? Is there any sort of standard or is it different from school to school?

I think it's not really an appeal. Instead you let your application for promotion continue to the next level up the chain. But letting it continue up after one level has rejected it is essentially an appeal.

"Appointments require full review and votes at all levels (including the department, school/college, PRB [President's Review Board], the Provost, and the President.)"

http://www.buffalo.edu/content/dam/www/provost/files/Faculty...

I'm sure a strong majority at the school/college level would work! There are probably even a few (very rare) cases where a President has overturned department and school/college rejections. Probably ultimately it's the President's call.

Here's a small qualitative report on university presidents overturning tenure decisions: http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~mligare/governance/adhoc/crtp_fi...

(My rough back-of-napkin summary: it's a once-every-10-years type of occurrence, and can go either way).

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#97

Post by internaut »

seibelj wrote: post #76
internaut wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the key to getting stuff done in a hierarchical organization is tact. I think he was a poor politician > Rocking the boat publicly (as this post clearly shows he is OK with) is not the mark of good political skills . You're not wrong. However shouldn't we be asking ourselves why we are requiring such skills? The truth is that being a good politician has an inverse relationship with being a geek. Peter Thiel has bee…

Being a good manager means managing people. Dealing with people is easier when you have strong people skills. Conversely, if you put someone who has a toxic personality in charge of an organization, you might destroy the organization. Again, I'm not saying anything about his talent, because it's impossible to know without hearing all sides, which I seriously doubt will happen. I'm saying that the article, his opinion…

> But academia is petty and political, and from what I'm reading, his odds don't look good.

Yes, he should recalibrate his ideas of why he wanted to work in academia.

Today if you want to get ahead you need a patron and some people who know enough to bounce ideas off them.

I think it increasingly the case that universities are the worst place to send a real intellectual. Some of the most useless people in the world are respected here.

I've been to one, I'll say what I think. I think most university people are posers. Completely unfit. Institutionalized.

Then they are requested to perform. And they cannot. They like are those plants specialized to perform only in a certain Alpine microclimate.

Result: psychological sickness and poor pay. Employers don't know what to do with these people. And society insists on manufacturing more of them. It's a sick system, and it is best to get out while you're still honest.

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#99

Post by gsylvie »

tedmiston wrote: post #93
gsylvie wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He obviously pissed off his department, and so they voted with an aim to punishing him. He's a fool not to appeal it, though. If he appeals then the decision will be made by people outside of his department who won't have the same emotional stakes in the decision. Rage quit after you win your appeal, if you must! $3,000,000 in funding, most of it still active is astonishing ( https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu/proposals/ )…

Here's something he didn't write about: Postdoc at MIT (2010–11), PhD from Harvard (2010), 5000+ citations with an h-index of 14 [1][2]. [1]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffrey-challen-572b771a [2]: https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu/people/challen@buffalo.edu/Geof...

His performance in the citation game is considerably weaker since 2011 (when he started at Buffalo).

Re: The Best Way to Not Get Tenure

#100

Post by wildmusings »

nostrademons wrote: post #80
seibelj wrote: post #54

I work in industry, but the key to getting stuff done in a hierarchical organization is tact . I think he is a poor politician, and is clearly very unhappy about being denied tenure. I think putting out feelers and going about a new job more quietly would be more effective. Hypothetically, let's say you (the person reading this comment) want to make a big change in your organization. You identified a problem, and hon…

I'd agree that the way to appeal to management is to build relationships & grassroots support in the organization. But the way to appeal to the market (which seems to be his current situation now, since he seems to be looking for a new job) is to make a big splash, take credit for all the things you've done, define yourself in terms of what you'd most like to do, and then wait for the calls to come in. The difference…

The specifics of politics aside, I think there's always going to be a segment of the population that has total distaste and disdain for the homo politicus way of doing things. Every organization needs these people in order to counteract group think.
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