Student reacts to Professor Hubley's released files
Dear Editor,
I hope all Washington College students read the September 7th Elm article about Professor Mark Hubley, and are as concerned about the situation as I am. I think WC has lost a lot in their decision not to renew Professor Hubley's contract past the coming year, and I'm not just talking about an excellent professor.
When word first spread around campus last spring that his tenure-track position was terminated, the reaction was mostly that of confusion and surprise. Since the release of the letters and appeals findings involved in the decision, that reaction has only intensified.
Among the files released by Professor Hubley are correspondences with Dean Scholz. In an April 16 letter regarding the reasons for Hubley's dismissal, Dean Scholz wrote that the ATP committee agreed that concerns raised by the biology department chair, Professor Rosemary Ford, in Hubley's fifth year review letter indicated "serious teaching deficiencies." However, the Appeals Committee found there to be "a pattern of misleading information" including "false or distorted representations" in Professor Ford's letter. They concluded that Professor Hubley had demonstrated there to be "distorted, or false representations of a substantial kind" that "could not have failed to affect the judgments made by the members of the Advisory Committee on Appointments, Tenure, and Promotion."
If the Appeals Committee found that Dr. Hubley's firing was based at all on the grounds of false information, why was the decision not overturned? Why was he not at least given the chance to come up for a full tenure review this semester? Why have an Appeals Committee at all if their findings are pushed aside?
More importantly now is the question of how the administration's decision affects the rest of the faculty. How secure are they of their place in the Washington College community? Can students rest assured that the administration has their best interests at heart? More has been lost here than just an excellent professor.
Sincerely,
Kerri Davis
WC sophomore
Professor Hubley thanks students and faculty for their support during appeal process
Dear Colleagues, Students, and Friends,
Last March President John Toll terminated my tenure-track appointment as an Assistant Professor of Biology. I appealed the decision, and the Appeals Committee sustained my appeal on two counts of Violation of College Procedures and on the issue of Alleged Inclusion of Biased, Distorted or False Representations of a Substantial Kind in my annual review. Despite these findings, President Toll upheld his original decision to terminate my contract with the support of the Advisory Committee on Appointments, Tenure and Promotion. This brought my hopes of continuing my career at Washington College to an end. Although I could have taken President Toll's offer of a terminal contract for the 2001-2002 academic year, I decided to take a position elsewhere, and on August 20 I tendered my resignation.
At this time I would like to say "thank you" to those of you who offered me your friendship and support over the past five years. Although I am obviously unhappy with the way my career at WC came to an end, I have no regrets about the decision I made in 1996 to take the job. From the time I entered graduate school I knew that I wanted to work at a place like Washington College, and after five years at WC I feel quite confident that I did the job for which I was hired and did it well. Many of the relationships I established with students and co-workers will last the rest of my life, and I have nothing but fond feelings for most members of the WC community.
As discussed in an article that recently appeared in the Elm (Hubley Resigns, Releases Files; 9/7/01), I have made the documents relevant to my termination and appeal available to various members of the WC community. I encourage anyone who has not seen the documents to find a copy. In brief, I feel it is important for the truth to be known. As expected, the truth is making some people uncomfortable. Some say it is time to move on so the College can heal. However, the College is not going to be healed by quickly moving on and ignoring what happened. Healing will occur only by confronting problems and dealing with them. These problems include a dysfunctional ATP Committee, an impotent Appeals Committee and a lack of respect for student opinion.
Of course, the larger issue is the unacceptable manner in which the current WC administration is treating its faculty and staff, and thereby its students. Until these issues are openly discussed, until the mission of the college is made clear, and until changes are made, WC will continue to suffer from a cancer that is eating away at the morale of the faculty, staff and students. Given the number of junior faculty on the tenure-track at WC, what happened to me is sure to happen again as long as this administration feels it can proceed without penalty.
Sincerely,
Mark Hubley
markhubley@chesapeake.net
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