Ethiotime1
In his grievance letter, Jones referenced NYU’s Faculty Handbook, which outlines that if a full-time professor’s contract finishes on Aug. 31, they must be notified of their termination no later than one year prior. Jones was informed that his contract would not be renewed on Aug. 2 — less than one month before it was set to expire. However, his designation as “other faculty” meant that these deadlines would not apply, according to Tuckerman.
In addition to Jones’ complaints about how the university handled his dismissal, he also claimed that he was never shown the student petition made to protest his teaching methods.
“Despite the assertion made about my teaching, I have never been given the slightest opportunity to know the actual substance, if any, of any complaints about my performance, and I would stress that without giving me that opportunity, the university has no way of knowing whether anything said against me is really true,” Jones wrote. “Whatever evidence might exist for a decision to deny me reappointment, I have been given no chance to see it, refute it, or challenge whether it really entails what one thinks it entails.”
Jones included a May 13 email that he wrote to deans Gabadadze and Merlo about a New York Times opinion essay titled “My Students Are Not OK.” In the email, he wrote that he believed the essay — which argues that pandemic-related loosening of student expectations is contributing to student apathy — describes the situation in his organic chemistry classes “perfectly.”
“There seems to be a strong consensus among teachers that we continue to ask less and less of our students,” Jones writes. “In chemistry 226, we, too, have 30% attendance in the lecture, silent students, empty office hours and plummeting grades on ever-easier exams.”
He went on to write that over the last decade, he had seen “something odd” — students misreading exam questions, even when he utilized boldface and colors to make them more clear. He also pointed to 50 recorded videos that he had created with fellow professors Paramjit Aurora and Keith Woerpel. Jones then listed four guesses he has to explain the “immense tuning out” of students that he said he has witnessed.
“This cohort of students is the victim of three years of Covid ‘learning,’” Jones wrote. “They not only don’t know how to study, many do not seem to even know that they should study.”
Jones concluded the email by reiterating his frustration that the student petition was never shared with him and asking that in the future, the university use a procedure that will better respect the faculty members involved.
Jones also included another email from May 31 from Tuckerman and director of undergraduate studies Marc Walters, which informed his students about grade adjustments and a retroactive withdrawal date for his course. Jones claimed that he was not sent this email, and was not informed of the policies that were included.
On July 11, Walters sent a follow-up email to Jones, explaining that the email was sent to students because deans were concerned about “the specter of a massive withdrawal” from Organic Chemistry II. He wrote that he hoped the email to students would ease tension.
“In hindsight, the deans should have contacted you directly with their concerns, and we should have discussed a reasonable resolution of this matter with you before any actions, or emails were launched,” Walters wrote.
The final section of Jones’ grievance letter included 22 emails from students — all of which expressed remorse that the professor had been terminated. Many directly addressed the petition; some students were unaware that it had been created, and others said that they were strongly opposed to its criticisms of him and the class.
“Shame on us for counting on an educational institution to prioritize education,” one student wrote. “I hope we lose you to Columbia.”
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings