University of the Fraser Valley, good bye and good luck.

[UPDATE: 28 Jan 2019, 14:00: I just received a call from one of U.F.V.'s lawyers urging me to take down this LinkedIn article. I declined. However, in order to avoid "misunderstandings", I have changed footnote (4).]

(This is odd. In my forty or so LinkedIn articles I never mentioned my workplace even once. I deal in universals, not particulars; that's why. But the stronger party usually controls the message, which, as we have learned from the Trump White House, is not necessarily equal to telling the truth. In any case ...) 

The University of the Fraser Valley could be a good little university.

I wrote a draft of this article on 15 December last year. My annual raise didn't come through with the 14 Dec 2018 pay, and the posturing around this issue sounded very much like an overture to one of the underhanded sackings that have become the hallmark of U.F.V. (1).

Everything at U.F.V. is fine, until the day it is not. No warning, no heart, no soul (2).

And I was right. Today, my unsuspecting colleagues will receive an email stating: "Please be advised that Michael Baumann is no longer with UFV."

I was terminated "without cause", which is a euphemism for "We couldn't find anything wrong with your performance, and believe us, we tried." I was told that the termination had to do with "fit", which is a euphemism for "We don't like the way you think about things."

There is some irony here. You see, in its visioning process the U.F.V. administration proclaims (3): "Inclusivity: We welcome everyone, showing consideration and respect for all experiences and ideas." (4)

Besides, who cares what a mid-level bureaucrat thinks. I am being paid not to hold opinions but to execute orders (5).

(I do admit that my confidence in my former supervisor was never great and for good reason. In her previous position she used to be the chief stonewaller of collaborations between the Career Centre and the College of Arts. This makes trust difficult. Still, it is the job of a leader to earn trust, not the job of a subordinate to develop trust out of thin air. To be fair, she did a good job working through a major budget consolidation.)

That said, it's hard to get sacked.

It is harder still when the corporate machine forbids proper good byes between people who worked together, laughed together, and cried together for the past ten years. I am not sure that this adds a lot of credibility to a vision of "building community"(3). Enough said.

With this posting I want to thank all the competent faculty, staff, and students I had the joy to work with. You know who you are.

The University of the Fraser Valley could be a good little university.

Keep up the good fight!

NOTES AND REFERENCES

(1) Mr. N., Mr. B., Mr. O., Ms. S., Mr. L., another Mr. L., Mr. A., Ms. G., Dr. D., I, ..., You? Some may take comfort in the knowledge that some of the people on this list were instrumental in somebody else's sacking. It would be a false comfort.

(2) As James Comey put it in his 2018 book: "[Ethical leadership] is about building workplaces where standards are high and fear is low." From my observations I conclude that U.F.V. seems to be about the exact opposite.

(3) https://blogs.ufv.ca/visioning/2019/01/11/town-hall-values-and-mission/ (Accessed: 24 Jan 2019)

(4) To be honest, I don't know what to do with this statement -- think [other ideas and opinions that may not be aligned with acceptable social norms].

(5) Thinking back, in November 2018 I did express a strong opinion on the treatment of Indigenous peoples, stating that it is high time to do something about the injustice, not sit around in yet another workshop full of people who are NOT INDIGENOUS. This is the third betrayal of the Indigenous peoples of Canada.