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In the preceding sections of my appeal I argue that the University and
the Department of PSES failed to provide an effective climate in which Assistant
Professors are cultivated to become tenured faculty. Mentoring was not (and in some ways could not) be provided in a timely or
effective manner.The expected
balance between research and service in my program was always ambiguous and was
exacerbated by continued conflicts between grower expectations and academic
freedom that were not adequately addressed by a changing departmental
administration. As a result my
current Department Head and some faculty were not adequately informed about the
history and philosophy of my position, and my Department Head may have been
subject to inappropriate outside influences without considering my point of
view.I was denied a thorough and
objective analysis of my program.These
issues add up to a failure to uphold my academic freedom and a failure to
adequately meet affirmative action goals for promotion of women in positions
where they have not traditionally been employed.
Like the multiple perspectives of optical illusions that require visual
paradigm shifts, my case can be viewed differently leading to an alternative
outcome. Suppose that my
productivity is viewed as the result of a different but legitimate paradigm that
should be defended against undue outside attack. Suppose that the balance that I have struck between “long-term”
holistic research and service to the alfalfa seed industry, including
publications in the Proceedings of the Northwest Alfalfa Seed School and on my
web page, is viewed as appropriate given the mandate to interact with an
industry that is not unified in its expectations or needs. Suppose that publications of relevant research conducted prior to this
position are given credit in my evaluation. Suppose one acknowledges that there were legitimate reasons why several
of my refereed publications were delayed, but that progress in the past 12
months (appendix 16) has been more indicative of future progress than my
pre-1997 history. Additional
projects currently in the pipeline demonstrate that this progress will be
sustainable (appendix 16). Suppose
one assumes that the Tenure and Promotion process is meant to cultivate the
human resources that one already has rather than weeding out individuals who
have been damaged by a chilly campus (and off-campus) climate. I should be given another opportunity to come up for tenure and
promotion.
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