Chancellor Reed Is a Major Threat

* When will The Times stop relying on sound bites from the California State University spin doctors and begin to scrutinize Chancellor Charles Reed for the major threat to California higher education that he poses?

Contrary to the university propaganda, faculty do not object to merit pay per se. Rather, we object to an ill-conceived merit system that has been totally politicized by Reed, in which decisions rest primarily in the hands of uninformed and potentially arbitrary administrators and where there is no allowance for an appeal process.

We object to a chancellor and Board of Trustees who wish to get rid of any vestiges of faculty governance and who instead view faculty as mere employees on whom they can force their policies.

Most important, we object to a chancellor who has completely ignored faculty input, who has, with the help of The Times, proved to be a master of disinformation, who has refused to bargain in good faith, who has destroyed the concept of collegiality in favor of a combative, confrontational stance, and who has even publicly abused and insulted the faculty whom he presumably represents.

For example, Reed has argued that faculty only work a few hours per week, which only goes to show how out of touch he is with real faculty.

He’s certainly welcome to grade the 200 papers and quizzes on my desk, read the 30 files of applicants for our graduate program I have before me, speak to the dozen or more students at my door today, supervise the six master’s students and six undergraduate students currently doing research with me, and finish the textbook writing that I’ve been trying to fit into my teaching schedule for six years.

And I’ve had tenure for 20 years!

STANLEY WOLL

Professor, Cal State Fullerton