Some Free Advice from Mr. B. to Academics and Administrators
(courtesy of UD)

Mr. Bonzo is a real fan of the FIRE organization. It seems to him that the AAUP has gotten fat, complacent, and intimidated by modern universities. To be fair this may only reflect the situation at BigU where the AAUP is dormant. FIRE has gotten into a recent flare-up of university administrative incompetence and arrogance at Brandeis.

UD – Mr. B.'s academic blogging idol – has recently posted on the amazing situation at Brandeis University. She has commented on the situation at her main campus along with a pointer to her alternate campus at Higher Ed. There she does the patented SOS (scathing online schoolmarm) on a letter from a university administrator – the provost, believe it or not – that is wonderful.

Mr. B. has had to deal with such behavior from department chairmen, associate deans, post-tenure review committees and, indirectly, deans and provosts. The latter are usually smart enough to have underlings do the dirty work, at least at BigU. However, the Brandeis case is one of the most egregious examples that he has ever seen or heard.

Any academic or administrator could learn a lot from UD's post.

Ciao, Bonzo