Faculty morale at CGSC: Another report!
I would like to both verify Dr. Fischer’s comments and give more concrete examples of the abusive and toxic leadership climate at CGSC.
By “Bailey Bridge”
Best Defense guest respondent
I would like to both verify Dr. Fischer’s comments and give more concrete examples of the abusive and toxic leadership climate at CGSC.
It has been previously mentioned that the faculty do not have tenure and that the contracts we have can be broken for any reason and at any time if the college so chooses. About three years ago, 10 percent of the CGSC civilian faculty were laid off due to the (then perceived) glut of lieutenant colonels who would soon be arriving at CGSC. Leaving aside the wrongness of that assumption (we are currently concerned that there will not be enough instructors to teach next academic year), many very good instructors who were not laid off in that purge got spooked and took other jobs in the government or the private sector because they disliked the instability here.
In addition, some instructors have been laid off or threatened with termination in recent years simply because they did not get along well with the administration. Two good examples are a members of the Department of Joint, Interagency and Multi-National Operations (DJIMO) and the tactics department. The DJIMO instructor was a retired colonel and had both education and other special skills that made him an invaluable instructor. Yet, despite these credentials his contract was not renewed after almost a decade as an instructor at CGSC.
The tactics instructor was a retired lieutenant colonel and a well-respected instructor and author. His contract was also not renewed after almost a decade of teaching. Threats of termination are even more common for anyone who steps out of line.
Since it takes years to become a successful instructor and not everyone even has the innate ability to teach, CGSC can’t afford to keep losing experienced and successful instructors like these men for no reason other than differences of opinion and petty grudges. This is why if tenure is not a possibility, faculty at least need to know that their contracts are actually good for the term of their appointment.
The Higher Learning Commission will soon be arriving to evaluate CGSC for its ten-year reaccreditation. One can only hope that the HLC will forcefully send a message to the administration of the college that it has to reform itself or lose that accreditation.
“Dr. Bridge” walked on the pavers this morning. Uh-oh.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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