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December 17, 2008, 01:53 PM ET
Blogging: A Balm for Faculty-President Discord?
At the New School, faculty members have been exceedingly unhappy with President Bob Kerrey. Earlier this week, full-time faculty members hit him with a “no confidence” vote that passed by a margin of 269 to 8 (with 10 abstentions), as Audrey Williams June reported for The Chronicle. They don’t like his management style and feel he doesn’t listen to them. So Mr. Kerrey, to open up communication, has started a blog, Blogging with President Bob Kerrey.
“Welcome to my blog. I look forward to having a direct conversation with you about the future of the New School. Thanks. Bob,” Mr. Kerrey wrote in his first post.
His second post, in which he thanked faculty members for their frankness and said he would not serve as interim chief academic officer while the institution looked for a new provost—he originally said he would, which rankled professors worried about a consolidation of power by the president—got 40 comments in response.
They were divided. “I completely stand by the president and what he is trying to do,” a faculty member posted. “Better late than never,” wrote another. But there were also these posts: “Mr. Kerrey, your weak attempt at initiating dialogue across the university by starting a blog only reveals how detached you and your administration are.” “Mr. Kerrey, currently the only speck of academic integrity this institution holds is due to the quality of its faculty and students.”
The negative posts, and there were many of them, almost all came from students.
Perhaps even at the New School there is a digital divide, with students more willing to post to a blog than faculty members. Perhaps professors have other outlets, such as the Faculty Senate, or various committees. So they are not going to the blog to air their views as much as students are.
Or perhaps a blog post followed by comments isn’t really a dialogue. It’s a call-and-response moving in one direction. Comments are not a conversation. Unless, of course, the original poster—Mr. Kerrey, in this case—comments on the comments. And if he only ends up exchanging views with students, the blog isn’t going to do much to build bridges to the faculty. —Josh Fischman
Categories: Leadership
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