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