Rethink EUR

To whom this petition concerns, in a matter of days, my resignation from my tenure-track assistant professor position at Erasmus University Rotterdam will take effect. This decision to resign, on my part, is, in many ways, related to the spirit and ethos of this petition and the "Rethink" movement and the issues it is working to change.

In my nearly 5 years of employment at EUR, I have been continually disappointed by the lack of faculty input on important matters related to teaching, research, and service. The neoliberal model of academic "efficiency" is ever-present at EUR and it operates with many consequnces. Quantity is valued over quality. Grant money is prized without regard given to an investigator's research areas, broader economic conditions or a host of other factors. Teaching is "streamlined" in ways that often are a detriment to learning and challenging students, which ought to be the good work of a university's faculty.

There are 1000 other topics and problems related to participation, democratic organizing and resistance to the neoliberal model of higher education that need solutions at EUR, in its schools and in the departments of those schools. These very serious matters trickle down into the 1-on-1 conversations that supervisors and department chairs have with all employees of the university which impacts people's lives and work in very real ways.

While after March 31, I will no longer call EUR my employer, I support this movement by EUR students and faculty to democratize EUR's procedures and policies. I wish the movement much success in overcoming the challenges that face this university and others.

David R. Novak

#3: David R. Novak - Democratic Organizing at EUR 

 Dear David 

A brave decision indeed - one I could not take.  After reading this, am convinced that this petition is vital if we are to have more openings in what is otherwise becoming a most authoritarian working environment.  We do indeed in HE generally, and in EUR and ISS its small side-kick with a huge international network, need to learn that even financial efficiency does not gel with a quasi-military type of discipline in HR.  What I would see as damaging strictness, simply makes it harder for dedicated staff to enjoy their work, and is demotivating for those most sincere.  Bringing all levels of staff into the same narrative, and connecting more deeply with students along the way, is how we will find creative solutions to the challenges posed to EUR not only by HE and financial stringencies, but by life itself. Financially, intellectually and - as the petition indicates - politically, we all have different strokes, and need to acknowledge that we nonetheless are all sailing in one boat.  Accountability needs to apply to top management as much as to the cleaning staff, students and academics.