This guy should just become a Yes Man.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/denial-of-tenure-to-nt…
An outspoken associate professor for journalism in Nanyang
Technological University (NTU) has been denied tenure, sparking an
outcry and raising questions over academic freedom in
Singapore.
Cardiff University professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen tweeted
Saturday morning that Cherian George, associate professor at
NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and
Information (WKWSCI), was denied tenure “on the grounds of quality
of teaching and research”.
In subsequent tweets, Wahl-Jorgensen, who revealed that she was
one of the reviewers for George’s case, said she was “outraged” at
the decision not to grant him tenure, and that it could have been
“because he sometimes expressed political opinions”.
An adjunct senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy
Studies and former journalist with The Straits Times, George has
spoken out against media control and has been critical of the
ruling People’s Action Party. He joined NTU
in 2004.
Wahl-Jorgensen alluded to NTU’s decision
being detrimental “for academic freedom” and said it raised “big
question marks about international collaborations” with Singapore
and NTU.
She said also said George’s application was “watertight” and
believed the board’s decision “made no sense on grounds of research
and teaching”.
Tenure would give him the contractual right not to have his
position terminated without just cause. George was previously
denied tenure once in 2009 when he was promoted to the position of
associate professor. Typically, academic promotions are accompanied
by tenures.
Petition started
In reaction to the news, an online petition was set up by
final-year WKWSCI student Bhavan Jaipragas to
urge the NTU board to “affirm (George’s)
stellar teaching credentials and disclose the reasons behind the
decision to deny his tenure”. The petition had 308 signatures as of
press time.
“We felt it was very important any impression that Dr George’s
teaching skills were sub-par had to be quickly demolished. We also
want the school and university to… categorically dispel claims of
curtailment of academic freedom in NTU,” said
Bhavan to Yahoo! Singapore.
Bhavan said he heard of the news from several sources over the
weekend, before such tipoffs were confirmed by Wahl-Jorgensen’s
tweets. He said he will deliver hard copies of the petition with
the list of signatories to four key members of the NTU leadership, including NTU
president Bertil Andersson.
In one of the petition’s comments, associate professor William
Ray Lengenbach, head of media at Sunway University College, said,
“Cherian George is a significant regional intellectual and his
views on Singapore politics should have no bearing on his tenure.
If there indeed is government pressure on the university’s
decisions, it is time for academic staff and administration to
stand up against such pressures.”
Among the students who have spoken out against the alleged
grounds, alumnus Johnson Zhang commended George for being friendly
and knowledgeable. “To say that the quality of Dr George’s teaching
was ‘sub-par’ would be an insult to us graduates who had the honour
of learning from him,” said Zhang.
“As someone who has worked with Dr George for close to two
decades, I am dumbfounded by the news. I don’t know of many
professors in NTU who give as much to the
students, even fewer who have clear vision of how a great
journalism department in an university can be and should be,” said
WKWSCI photojournalism lecturer Tay Kay Chin
in a post on Facebook.
George declined comment when approached by Yahoo! Singapore.
When contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, an NTU
spokesperson said the institution will issue a statement
Tuesday.
Last year, the issue of academic freedom was raised in relation
to the launch of the Yale-NUS College, a partnership with Yale
University and the National University of Singapore (NUS). Yale
members passed a resolution expressing their concern restriction of
civil liberties in Singapore.
