University of the Fraser Valley: Michael's version (Part 1 of 3)

(With thanks to the late Mr. Richler for motivating this article.)

It is unfortunate, really. 

You see, U.F.V. Senior Administration failed to complete my performance evaluation before they sacked me without cause on 22 Jan 2019 (1,2). So, I had to insist on its completion, and on 7 Feb 2019 I received a summary -- two-and-a-half months late and not even signed. I asked for a meeting to clarify things, but they refused (3).

I know, I know. Can there be anything more boring than somebody else's performance evaluation? I certainly don't want to bore you with my accomplishments and failures (4) or with the "Evaluation Report" (5), but there is the problem of truth and justice. And as the saying goes: A lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets halfway out of bed.

Moreover, performance evaluations tend to crop up IN OTHER PLACES, LATER, and if not literally, at least in spirit: "It's bad. It's really really bad." (Think Trump's voice here, or better, think Mr. Baldwin doing Trump.) This is the fundamental asymmetry in most workplaces: Your supervisor can be vindictive, but what are your options? (6) 

You can hide and pray. Or, if you have a habit of taking good notes, you can set the record straight.

Of course, this is my side of the story. 

The "Evaluation Report"

There are a few things to note about the "Evaluation Report" (5): 

First, it was written by a person who was appointed my SUPERVISOR ONLY ON 1 JUN 2018, unburdened by knowledge of Career Centre operations or the labour market, and with a history of non-co-operation on Career Centre initiatives (7).

Second, there is NO VERIFIABLE EVIDENCE (e.g. datasheets, attributed quotes) attached to the "Evaluation Report". One would assume that a person with a Ph.D. in History from a decent Canadian university knows more about standards of proof.

Third, I named FOURTEEN MEANINGFUL EVALUATORS in my original Statement of Accomplishments and Failures, yet "[t]hirty evaluators received this survey; 14 responded." Webb never informed me which evaluators she had chosen. In fact, I warned against blindly soliciting every Tom, Dick, and Harry quoting Bertrand Russel: "I would rather be reported by my bitterest enemy among philosophers than by a friend innocent of philosophy." (8) So the names of my spineless accusers remain anonymous, and as you know, anything can be taken out of context.  

Fourth, Webb states that "over 12 individuals in total requested individual meetings to provide feedback". (She does sound like Sarah Sanders and her "countless" F.B.I. agents, doesn't she?) Now if "14 responded" and 13 is "over 12", does this mean that only one person filled out the survey? Do Webb's actions constitute A POLICY VIOLATION or is it all just bad writing?

Fifth, the judgement Webb presents is SHARPENED IN THE NEGATIVE INTERPRETATIONS and levelled in the positive, a counting of misses while ignoring the hits (9). In short, Webb is cherry picking.

Sixth, consider that the "Evaluation Report" was completed TWO WEEKS AFTER I posted my "Good bye and good luck" on LinkedIn (1), an article that led Senior Administration to have one of their lawyers call me in what seemed a clumsy attempt at intimidation.

Baumann is "unhelpful, negative and difficult to work with". Is he, though? 

As the director of the Career Centre one of my responsibilities was to understand employer decision making when it comes recruitment, retention, promotion, and termination. Career Centre staff spends a lot of time talking to employers about this, and over the years we have been able to provide students with useful insights. 

That said, when it comes to U.F.V. I have always struggled to understand the hiring. For example, U.F.V. currently has a Vice President External whose only academic credential seems to be a Post-Graduate Diploma from Athabasca University; an Associate V.P. Human Resources with a Master's degree from the University of Phoenix -- the University of Phoenix; an A.V.P. Research who has a rather uninspiring publication record and never received a Tri-Council grant; and an A.V.P. Teaching whose "Ph.D." research on academic dishonesty included 11 subjects -- eleven (10). 

Traditionally universities are meritocracies, if not by law by their own policies. U.F.V. Policy #16 declares that "Consideration of qualifications and appropriate skills to fulfil job requirements will continue to be selection criteria for the hiring or advancement of employees at UFV." (11) -- a statement so weak that it couldn't prevent the appointment of Incitatus. Why is so little expected of administrators at U.F.V.? U.F.V. either has a serious recruitment problem, or something else is going on (12,13).

But to be fair: U.F.V. has a good set of competent employees and a few excellent ones (14). They are found mostly at the faculty level and the staff level. (For obvious reasons I refrain from naming their names here.) As I said before: The University of the Fraser Valley could be a good little university. 

In any case, I grew up in a military house in Austria in the 1970s, and as a child I learned hierarchy early: We salute the rank, not the man! As a mid-level bureaucrat at U.F.V., I was being paid not to hold opinions but to execute orders. 

And I did exactly that. For over a decade. 

But I had responsibilities beyond putting benevolent smiles on the faces of higher-ranking administrators.

To be continued ... 

NOTES AND REFERENCES

(1) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/university-fraser-valley-good-bye-luck-michael-baumann/ (Accessed: 18 Apr 2019) 

(2) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/trust-michael-baumann/ (Accessed: 18 Apr 2019) 

(3) For a complete timeline see: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AAG03VnlLHAVa4KTqk2qfBQSDwrcf7CE/view (Accessed: 18 Apr 2019)

(4) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KKVGoL4P9EyqS5AXcLUfL0emeU5cTfb7/view (Accessed: 18 Apr 2019)

(5) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lcDYc5QWrRqkTgz7v1H9Fl1-fkCTvDGL/view (Accessed: 18 Apr 2019).

(6) There is no reason to believe that supervisors are more accurate in their judgement about their subordinates than subordinates are about their supervisors. Still, it is OUR SOCIAL NORM that applicants must provide references for past performances, while supervisors do not. 

(7) The cancelled Major Maps project comes to mind quickly, and the cancelled central U.F.V. Career Resources website, and the cancelled Work-Integrated Internship program. On 21 Mar 2017, I recorded: "Webb interested in ARTS 280 and self-promotion." To be fair, in 2014, Webb did support our proposal for a 1-credit course, WORK 101, and although her support was only lukewarm, at least and as far as I know she didn't stonewall it.

(8) Bertrand Russell (1946), History of Western Philosophy. Interestingly this quote was struck from my original Statement of Accomplishments without my knowledge. 

(9) See Gordon Allport and Leo Postman (1947), The Psychology of Rumor. Or simply google "confirmation bias" and "selection bias".

(10) Two dangerous ideas, one from the Royal Society (1660): "On no man's word." The other from Mr. Kant (1784): "Dare to know!", the battle call of the Enlightenment. 

(11) https://www.ufv.ca/media/assets/secretariat/policies/Education-and-Employment-Equity-(16).pdf (Accessed: 18 Apr 2019 ). This policy came into effect in Nov 1993, and has its next review date set for Nov 1998, two decades ago.

(12) Some people have suggested a chumocracy, and there is some circumstantial evidence for that: E.g. the current V.P. External was appointed into his position without a competition. (https://blogs.ufv.ca/blog/2017/09/craig-toews-takes-on-vp-external-role/; Accessed: 18 Apr 2019); the current A.V.P. Teaching was promoted from a Director level also without a competition (https://blogs.ufv.ca/blog/2018/05/wideman-now-avp-teaching-and-learning/; Accessed: 18 Apr 2019). As the hiring motives of senior administrators may be diverse, I believe simple classification of governance is difficult. The Board's role in all of this remains an unknown.

(13) The current A.V.P. Teaching was promoted into her position in May 2018 (https://blogs.ufv.ca/blog/2018/05/wideman-now-avp-teaching-and-learning/; Accessed: 18 Apr 2019), yet in her LinkedIn profile claims to have held it since Jan 2014 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fjIii9PySs4fsighuehjhixs79HB6AL4/view; Accessed: 18 Apr 2019). She would be well-advised to read up on the basics of resume writing (e.g. https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/inflated-record-is-not-a-good-look-20190416-p51elf.html; Accessed: 20 Apr 2019) or to book an appointment with the Career Centre. In another of U.F.V.'s ironies, this person also oversees "academic integrity". 

 (14) There is one thing MacLean and I agree on: A university is its people (https://blogs.ufv.ca/announce/2018/09/12/a-university-is-its-people/; Accessed: 18 Apr 2019). Obviously, we interpret this statement very differently.