If you aim to be a college administrator...caution

5 views
Skip to first unread message

Toyin Falola

unread,
Mar 24, 2022, 7:31:59 AM3/24/22
to dialogue

Great ones:

 

If you have a desire to be an administrator, exercise caution on what you post in public, including on Facebook.

We have a third case of an applicant for a senior administrative position whose statements are used against him. He is a member of our distinguished list.

 

I am a regular professor, close to the end of my career, which gives me liberty, like Ken, to say many things. Even then, I flourish in private. My core issues are expressed in private; even then, I have been betrayed twice. There is a popular quote, and I don’t know his author:

If they don't claim you in public, don't let them have you in private.

 

TF

Assensoh, Akwasi B.

unread,
Mar 24, 2022, 8:30:46 AM3/24/22
to dialogue, Toyin Falola, Damien Ejigiri, Onyumbe Lukongo, kes...@yahoo.com, afaug...@yahoo.com, Ucheoma Nwagbara, Teaway Collins, doy...@gmail.com, Afoaku, Osita, edu...@gmail.com, Tani-Eshon, Michael, Thomas Ford, Godwin Ohiwerei, Andoh, Samuel K., rig...@yahoo.com
Thank you very much, SIR Toyin! You are 100% correct! Some of us, as retirees, emeritus/emerita, etc.,
can do as well as say a lot and get away with it!! Not so for those at the mercy of Tenure and Promotion 
mechanisms.

At Indiana University and other campuses, by seniority, I had the privilege of serving on Promotion 
and Tenure Committees, on which all colleagues did try to be fair. Yet, with some individual committee 
members, they tried to revisit what applicants either stood for or said as junior faculty members. On 
one campus, for example, some committee members made it abundantly clear that "Tenure" meant
that we were asking if we wanted to "live with forever" on that campus the one being assessed (the 
applicant). "For me, it is like marriage," a very old male White Tenure Committee colleague, with his 
aged and obviously mischievous face, thundered. "Really?" I whispered in amazement, but with 
some innocence. It even gets nastier in the limited job market, hence what one writes or says (on
TV, Radio, etc.) can come back to be hurtful.

Yes, there is a freedom of speech in a democracy but, sometimes, not so free on campuses. As
a result, a word to the wise is always enough or sufficient.

A.B. Assensoh.




From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 4:31 AM
To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [External] USA Africa Dialogue Series - If you aim to be a college administrator...caution
 
This message was sent from a non-IU address. Please exercise caution when clicking links or opening attachments from external sources.
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/SN7PR06MB7247465B5906641EAAFB10F6F8199%40SN7PR06MB7247.namprd06.prod.outlook.com.

Elias K. Bongmba

unread,
Mar 24, 2022, 9:21:02 AM3/24/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Great advice.

Thank you Oga Falola.

Elias

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/SN7PR06MB7247465B5906641EAAFB10F6F8199%40SN7PR06MB7247.namprd06.prod.outlook.com.
-- 
Elias Kifon Bongmba PhD, DTheo (Lund)
Harry and Hazel Chair in Christian Theology
Professor of Religion
Chair, Department of Religion
Executive Editor, the Journal of Religion in Africa
Rice university
PO Box 1892 Houston TX 77251-1892
https://reli.rice.edu/faculty/elias-kifon-bongmba
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages