I’m getting reports that Bryan Terry has been quieter
recently. It seems like many on campus are in a holding pattern, just waiting
to see the new chancellor.
Our new chancellor has an excellent opportunity to come in
and turn this institution around. I’m not talking about massive infusions of
funds (although that’s there too), I’m talking about setting an example for the
way in which administration, staff, faculty, students, alumni, and community
members should be working together. If Brady created (or exaggerated) this
culture of bullying, it’s clear that the next person has the chance to create
an atmosphere befitting of an academic institution. The fact that people are
waiting for the new chancellor before they show their cards again means that
the time is ripe for leading them in a new direction.
I wish her/him all the best in this. I think the lessons
learned are clear and anybody with half a brain doesn’t have to read my blog in
order to have understood them. There are a lot of positions to be filled and
the choices made will have a profound impact on UNCG.
In case some people need a little extra assistance, I’ve put
together some suggestions for helping transition the folks in upper
administration who haven’t been able to ‘move on to better opportunities.’
Bryan Terry’s
contract will include mandatory anger management classes as well as a slow and
detailed explanation of the difference between a compliment and an insult.
Kim Record’s
salary will now be calculated as a percentage of the profit from ticket sales
to sporting events. She will be assigned a board of advisors to assist her in all decision-making.
This board will be made up entirely of members of the former wrestling team.
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| Kim Record's Board of Advisors |
Bonita Brown will
be required to join the Girl Scouts and earn a badge in ‘plays well with
others.’
Benita Peace will
complete a spiritual journey under the guidance of the Dali Lama until she can
find her center by reciting ‘hostile work environment’ in the lotus position.
Jan Zink will
serve in the peace corps digging ditches and building water filtration systems
until such time as she understand that the word ‘authentic’ can be used in
other ways than to distinguish fake and real fur coats. Or until the earth
crashes into the sun, whichever comes first.
There. That’s a good start.
Tune in tomorrow when I’ll
provide some application and interview tips that could help us weed out the
a$$holes before they are hired.
A campus crisis is indeed an opportunity to re-organize. Brady was partially right; in the short-term, university systems have diffuse and interlocking power structures and are thus resistant to change. If she had a clue to how universities work, it is likely she wouldn't have allowed the polities at UNCG devolve into silos, feudal spats, and the resultant hostile environment that Edna is just recognizing, Imogene justified, and Benita wove into the underlying norms of a once respectable institution. Can UNCG be saved? Actually, there are many very positive, optimistic, caring, and determined individuals that have not yet been forced out or fled that wish to be part of a solution. If the new chancellor is a change-agent say, on the order of a Chancellor Renick, formerly of A&T, yes, there is hope. But until the deep infection that has permeated the underlying social relationships actively encouraging development of hostile practices (and this is in faculty toward students and staff as well as administrators toward faculty and staff), is publicly addressed and routed out, bullying will remain an acceptable norm.
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