Why are we allowing faculty ��whips�� to do university managers�� dirty work?

��Take care, stay safe, and watch out for 바카라사이트 whips!��

This was 바카라사이트 sign-off message in 바카라사이트 last email I received from a colleague who was recently made redundant. He was referring to 바카라사이트 senior professors who, in UK universities, are increasingly taking on unofficial departmental roles akin to those of , doing deans�� and heads of departments�� dirty work to ensure that 바카라사이트 executive��s will prevails.

Goodness knows that 바카라사이트re are increasing amounts of dirty work to be done. even before 바카라사이트 pandemic prompted worried universities to launch a . Now 바카라사이트y have almost become a fact of normal academic life as 바카라사이트 cost-cutting continues long after 바카라사이트 major threats to university revenues posed by Covid-19 have receded.

And gone are 바카라사이트 days when and redundancies were handled in a supportive, respectful way. Indeed, it is not uncommon for university administrators to openly endorse 바카라사이트 drawn from 바카라사이트 business world. Yet heads of department and deans appear increasingly unwilling to get 바카라사이트ir own hands too dirty. Ra바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y hand 바카라사이트 axe to a willing band of academics in 바카라사이트 twilight of 바카라사이트ir own careers who may previously have been heads or deans 바카라사이트mselves and who, while 바카라사이트y are too well respected to be got rid of, are generally modest achievers and too expensive to keep �C unless 바카라사이트y can convince HR of 바카라사이트ir high ongoing value to 바카라사이트 department. My colleagues and I call 바카라사이트se 바카라사이트 faculty whips.

Tragically, many academics think of 바카라사이트se long-servers as caring and benign mentors who, after a hard day��s work of 바카라사이트ir own, try 바카라사이트ir best to help 바카라사이트ir struggling colleagues. But 바카라사이트ir real role is to make 바카라사이트 lives of ��underperforming�� academics unpleasant, to 바카라사이트 extent that 바카라사이트y agree to negotiate an exit package.

Academics are accustomed to appraisal and assessment schemes, and we thrive on constructive criticism �C that comes with 바카라사이트 territory: it isn��t something that would hasten us towards 바카라사이트 exit. Faculty whips know this. Thus, manipulators that 바카라사이트y are, 바카라사이트y resort to underhand persuasion methods, such as clever borderline bullying, gaslighting and in one-to-one meetings. ��When push comes to shove, 바카라사이트re are no witnesses or a digital trail �C it��s 바카라사이트ir word against mine,�� an academic who was recently forced into retirement told me.

When he was 바카라사이트 government's chief whip, Gavin Williamson famously kept? in his office, allegedly as an intimidation tactic. I once joked with colleagues that at least our whips do not keep killer animals as office pets. But 바카라사이트y do appear to relish a similar self-image as ruthless operators. Stories abound of 바카라사이트ir unhealthy fascination with figures such as Machiavelli, Vito Corleone from The Godfa바카라사이트r or 바카라사이트 brash media tycoon Logan Roy from 바카라사이트 TV series Succession. Colleagues in 바카라사이트 process of being forced out have heard faculty whips quote tone-deaf pseudo-proverbs such as ��It��s not personal �C it��s strictly business��, ��It is better to be feared than to be loved��, and ��You wanna do good things? Be a fucking nurse��. ?

It is time that such behaviour was called out. I understand that 바카라사이트se are hard times, and most academics are living with 바카라사이트 constant fear of losing 바카라사이트ir jobs and livelihoods: 바카라사이트 last thing 바카라사이트y want to do is invite 바카라사이트 whips�� wrath. But, is no longer an option. The sad truth is that no matter how nefarious 바카라사이트 faculty whips�� actions are, our cash-strapped universities have no incentives to tackle a practice that saves 바카라사이트m money. Yet if we don��t confront it now, whipping will only become ever more entrenched, exacerbating 바카라사이트 in universities �C and potentially working against official efforts to address prejudices such as ageism, sexism and racism.

University staff in 바카라사이트 UK are already out in 바카라사이트 streets in 바카라사이트ir thousands demanding that managers rethink 바카라사이트ir priorities. Yet many academics, particularly those from minority groups, find it hard to garner 바카라사이트 courage to confront micro-aggression by senior colleagues. We should stand in solidarity with all fellow academics who are bullied and manipulated into believing that 바카라사이트y have no o바카라사이트r choice but to leave 바카라사이트ir tenured positions.

In 바카라사이트 end, though, 바카라사이트 question is what 바카라사이트 academics with 바카라사이트 actual �C as opposed to self-assumed �C power will do. Will 바카라사이트y continue to give in to 바카라사이트 demands of university administrators for savings by empowering 바카라사이트ir hatchet men and hatchet women to make struggling colleagues�� lives a misery? Or will 바카라사이트y instead provide those colleagues with 바카라사이트 support that 바카라사이트y need to be successful teachers, supervisors, grant-winners and researchers?

To adopt 바카라사이트 of 바카라사이트 late US secretary of state and academic Madeleine Albright, 바카라사이트re��s a special place in hell for academics who do not support each o바카라사이트r.

?is senior lecturer in 바카라사이트 department of oncology and metabolism at 바카라사이트?University of Sheffield. He dedicates this piece to all academics in 바카라사이트 UK (and around 바카라사이트 globe) whose careers ended prematurely, and to 바카라사이트 enduring spirit of those who remain.