Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico

--The Flagship University (in the Poorest State in the Country)

A MilagroJohn W. Geissman and Les D. McFadden, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, UNMjgeiss@unm.eduPhoto courtesy of Grant Meyer

Photo courtesy of Grant MeyerWith geology like this,

why, when, and how would there be difficulties in a Geoscience department?

Testable Hypothesis.

If the very vast majority (ideally all) members of a Department arehappy with their jobs (and presumably/predictably (?), their lives), the Department within which they work will probably be close to as strong as it can be.

I do not factor external influences (e.g., institutional matters like annual salary increases, support for infrastructure, overall quality of undergraduate students, Character and quality of the administration, state support, etc.)Into my hypothesis..some external influences can be modified, some are firm.

So, how do you have Happy Faculty, who remain Happy (conceivably for many, many years)?Leadership is Key, so how does a Department..

Deal with difficult individuals (and I may mean really difficult)

Establish and maintain a fair and equitable policy toward Faculty salaries.

If you joined the UNM Faculty in August, 1984, you would have seen..Hiring of a new Chair from the outside (a rare opportunity)The selection of a new university President via outside consulting firm, withNO faculty input The Faculty of the Department requesting that new Chair to step down, with no strings attached, in a bit over 1.5 years.The promotion of a specific faculty to Associate, and then Full Professor, without having a single graduate student, and without allowing a graduate student to utilize that faculty members laboratory.The death of a colleague (brain tumor)The death of a colleague (heart attack) the very evening of a faculty meeting during which that colleague had an open and very heated discussion withthe current Chair.The promotion a specific faculty member to Associate, and then Full Professor without having a single outside research award, ever.A past Dean saying, with respect to tenure evaluations and other facultypromotions, I have no way of judging the quality of a publication, so I justcount them up.An influential state representative look me in the eye (when I was FS President) during a heated discussion about faculty salaries outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe and say, Boy, look up there (pointing to the clearBlue skythats worth the 20 plus percent of your salary that you aint getting!

What makes us angry/frustrated (among other less than positive things) about our job?

Lack of (perceived) appreciation? Salary? Disputes with other colleagues? Student perceptions of us? (poor teacher, poor mentor, etc.) Our perceptions of students? Disdain for (or embarrassment of) the rest of the institution? A failure to recognize just how far we can go or how external forces limit what we can accomplish/change in terms of improvements to our institution and/or our Department? A potentially endless list of other things???????

How do you deal with angry/frustrated/difficult faculty????

Complicated answer.

Nothing wrong with open Confrontation, in the hopes of producing results

For example, email, as we all know, is both a blessing and a cursebut, the bottom line is that what we put in writing is, well, a recordso the next part of this is NOT going to be written! Duh..

Personally, their presence, of course, is exacerbated when external circumstances are tenuous..

Speaking of tenuous external circumstances..

If we dont change the way we have been providing education, particularly higher education in this state, we are destined to always be a very poor state Toney Anaya, Former Governor of NM Albuqeruque Journal, 11/28/05It would also be beneficial to the institution to have a strong advocatefor pushing UNM toward the status of a Least a tier-two university ...And that---improving UNMs standing---should be foremost in this decision. Albuquerque Journal, 11/30/05It sounds as if New Mexico has nothing less than a minor miracleof higher education, sitting right above the flood plain of the Rio Grande,right in the middle of Albuquerque. And why is that? Who is responsible for assuring academic quality at UNM?Just how have those individuals been treated in recent years?John W. Geissman, Albuquerque Journal, 8/2001 The UNM community certainly is doing many things remarkably well, considering the circumstances. The real challenge, and reasonable goal, is for the UNM administration and the UNM faculty, who have high academic expectations and are meeting those expectations, to work together to constantly improve the infrastructure of the flagship public cultural institution of New Mexico. John W. Geissman, Albuquerque Journal, 8/2001

You always have to have a talkwith cold, hard, facts = DATA

Have we been frustrated, over 22+ years, about how most(if not all) of our colleagues been treated in terms of salaries?

No Sh.t, Sherlock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So how, exactly, does a Department deal with such frustration?As fairly, and objectively, as possible:

Salary committee established (four faculty and the Chair)Faculty required to submit annual biographical reports (specific guidelines) [an inaccurate/incomplete report may result in an inaccurate evaluation by ones colleaguesTHE KEY IS AN APPRECIATION OF HOW FACULTY EVOLVEDURING THEIR TENURE

Department of Earth and Planetary SciencesGuidelines for Faculty Salary Adjustments (Annual Raises) and the Definition and Role of the Faculty Productivity Assessment Advisory Committee Assume an Annual Salary Increment (ASI, in percent) to Department*I. If ASI is less than or equal to 3.0 % (or the approximate cost of living increase)A. Divide lump $ increase to Department by number of faculty and distribute evenly * The Department recognizes that its ability to award ASIs according to its policy may be restricted by University/College requirements. II. If ASI is greater than 3.0 %A. Establish four (4) "bins" as generic measures of faculty productivity:#4 excellent productivity (all salary raises, as lump sums, in this bin are equal, and decided by chair)#3 quality (good) productivity (all salary raises, as lump sums, in this bin are equal, and decided by chair)#2 average productivity (salary raises, comparable to cost of living)#1 low (inadequate) productivity** (salary raise should be less than cost of living)**** Assigned under the rarest of circumstances; a formal assignment of a negative post-tenurereview occurs when a faculty member receives an average Bin 1 determination (e.g., three consecutive Bin #1 determinations, see Dept. Post-tenure Review Policy) over a 3-year period. B. How is productivity measured? (WEIGHTING FACTOR IN PARENTHESES)***1. Research (40 of 100) (Includes graduate and undergraduate student involvement)2. Teaching (40 of 100) (Includes graduate and undergraduate student involvement)3. Service and recognition (20 of 100)*** Note that the weighting factors for each category remain fixed through promotion to Full Professor; after this, the weighting factors may vary and are to be agreed to by the Chair and each faculty member. The weighting factor for categories 1-3 may vary by up to 50 percent.

Greetings. I am not showing the remainder of our Departments Algorithm, for a number of reasons. If you are interested in receiving aComplete copy of the algorithm, please contact me:

John Geissmanjgeiss@unm.edu505-277-3433

Thanks!!!!

John

Can we remain collegial??????? Despite..

If we ourselves remain always angry and then sing world peace, it has little meaning. So, you see,first our individual self must learn peace. This we can practice. Then we can teach the rest of the world

Tenzin GyatsoI believe that human determination and willpower are quiteSufficient to challenge outside pressure and aggression. No matterHow strong the evil force is, the flame of truth will not diminish. No doubt you feel I am talking of an impractical dream. However, we human beings have a developed brainand limitless potential. Since even wild animals can gradually be trained with patience, the human mind can also be trained,Step by step.

Tenzin Gyatso

and from my favorite part of the world..