Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Fearless sifting and winnowing in universities

The concept of academic independence and entrepreneurship with respect to research, course content and service is a long established value in Research 1 and other universities. One exception may be if the faculty member is a captive of a federal grant with more specific promises (made by the professor and agreed with by the funding agency) a professor is able to conduct research in any relevant field he or she wishes. Of course if the professor publishes in fields and journals wildly and even logically unrelated to the disciplines of the school and or department, a faculty may find reasons to not renew the person in their third year of two three year contracts toward lifetime appointment in the 7th year. However, tenured faculty often later find areas of interest that are not constrained by the less mature definitions of a field of study or inquiry.

Here is a historical quote that all university professors and administrators should commit to memory. The quote is from the end of the 19th century posted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison (posted to the right of the entrance to Bascom Hall).

"How appropriate today, in rekindling the torch of freedom set ablaze by the sturdy pioneers of 1894, to say with them":

WHATEVER MAY BE THE LIMITATIONS WHICH TRAMMEL INQUIRY ELSEWHERE, WE BELIEVE THAT THE GREAT STATE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SHOULD EVER ENCOURAGE THAT CONTINUAL AND FEARLESS SIFTING AND WINNOWING BY WHICH ALONE THE TRUTH CAN BE FOUND.

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