Opinion ID: 766743
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bickerstaff's Review for Promotion to Full Professor in 1994-1995

Text: 18 At issue is Bickerstaff's review for promotion to full professor over the 1994-95 academic year. 19 On November 14, 1994, SAC, which is charged with reviewing student Course Evaluation Questionnaires (CEQs) 3 and issuing its analysis and recommendation on promotional applications, issued a 5-0 (with one abstention) recommendation against promotion for Bickerstaff. SAC stated that it was alarmed by Bickerstaff's recently remarkably low CEQs and that [t]he only identified trend is a steady decline in evaluations. SAC added that it is so concerned at [Bickerstaff's] performance that it feels her present status as an associate Professor deserves reexamination by the College. 20 On November 28, 1994, a group consisting of the ad hoc Education Committee (Education Committee) and the ad hoc Africana Studies Committee (AS Committee) met to discuss Bickerstaff's qualifications for promotion. Vassar asserts that, in accordance with its bylaws, it convened the two ad hoc committees to review Bickerstaff for promotion because the Africana Studies Program and the Education Department each had fewer than two members of rank higher than hers. The meeting between the two committees was memorialized in a written report dated November 30, 1994, which generally discussed her candidacy, without reaching any firm conclusions, under the criteria of scholarship, teaching, and service. 21 On December 2, 1994, the three-member AS Committee unanimously recommended Bickerstaff for promotion to full professor. As past committees had done when reviewing other faculty for promotion, the AS Committee examined Bickerstaff's scholarship and teaching under a broader lens that it deemed more reflective of her real contributions, which included nontraditional scholarship and her role outside the classroom as an educator. The AS Committee stated, in pertinent part, that: 22 [Bickerstaff] more than any other faculty member in the Africana Studies Program provided the constant vision and guidance, regardless of whether she was the program director. The toll on her time and energy in establishing a new area of study at [Vassar] is another reason for viewing her scholarly contributions in a different light. 23 In terms of Bickerstaff's classroom teaching, however, the AS Committee did find problems as reflected in her CEQs. Thus, it urged her to refocus and reinvigorate her efforts in the classroom. In the end, the AS Committee concluded that Bickerstaff had made distinctive contributions to scholarship and that she had a constant and consistent educational vision through all of her work as educator, scholar, and consultant. 24 On December 5, 1994, the three-member Education Committee issued its report. In assessing her scholarship, it too viewed Bickerstaff's work in a broader context, and remarked positively on a number of Bickerstaff's specific achievements. But as to teaching, the Education Committee stated that Bickerstaff's CEQs placed her considerably lower than what would be expected of a faculty member at Vassar in order to receive a marked distinction in teaching. In unanimously recommending against promotion, the Education Committee concluded that Bickerstaff's scholarly activities, while creditable, did not exhibit marked distinction and that her teaching fell short of marked distinction by a rather wide margin. 25 The three outside evaluators asked to assess Bickerstaff's scholarship and service (they were not asked to assess her teaching) unanimously recommended her for promotion to full professor. The outside evaluators commended Bickerstaff's commitment to the Africana Studies Program at Vassar and, more generally, recognized her as a national leader in her field. Representative comments included that Bickerstaff has an extraordinary record of curriculum development, program innovation, and administration leadership' that she has excelled in . . . many areas while taking her turn as Chair of the Education Department, as Director of the Program in Africana Studies, developing a number of innovative courses at Vassar, and serving on her fair share of committees' and that her service record is outstanding. Notwithstanding, one outside evaluator acknowledged that she did not know Vassar's criteria for promotion. She then remarked: 26 [T]he University of Maryland would find Dr. Bickerstaff's publication record to be limited. I am unclear as to how limited publications would be viewed at Vassar. 27 On December 7, 1994, the three-member FASC issued its report unanimously recommending against Bickerstaff for promotion, stating that the members found that she did not meet the stated criteria for promotion. With regard to Bickerstaff's scholarship, FASC noted that there was just one piece of traditional scholarship in her dossier. Overall, [it] found Ms. Bickerstaff's scholarship to be exceptionally thin. With respect to her teaching, FASC noted that Bickerstaff's CEQs were declining and that, of recent, were dismally low, among the very worst that the FASC members had seen. It concluded that her teaching did not exhibit high quality, much less . . . marked distinction. 28 On December 22, 1994, the Acting Dean, Jesse Kalin, wrote a letter to Bickerstaff informing her that inadvertently some of her CEQs had not been provided to the AS Committee. The letter then told her that the AS Committee had been provided the missing CEQs and that it would be issuing an addendum report. 29 On January 10, 1995, the AS Committee issued its Addendum Report, which acknowledged the mixed record of Bickerstaff's CEQs as a whole. While noting that Bickerstaff received fours and fives 4 in sixty percent (i.e., 25/42) of the courses she had taught, it also remarked that: 30 [S]ince 1988 and her last review of promotion, we see a pattern of decline in course ratings, which became more precipitous in the last two years, 1992- 1994. For example, 8 out of 16 courses that were ranked with a majority in category 3 occurred from 1988 on. Six out of those eight courses were taught from 1992 to 1994. 31 On January 23, 1995, a joint meeting was held in which FASC, the Dean and the President met with the AS Committee. The meeting took the form of questions from FASC, the Dean and the President, to the AS Committee. The first question posed was how the AS Committee appraised Bickerstaff's complete set of CEQs, to which the AS Committee responded that it viewed Bickerstaff's CEQs as uneven. Specifically, the AS Committee stated that her CEQs were strongest in the mid-to-late 1980s and showed a marked decline in the last two years. It concluded that overall, [her CEQs were] neither strong nor poor. 32 Dean Kalin recommended against promotion for Bickerstaff because she did not meet the posted criteria of marked distinction in teaching. In his affidavit, he states that [h]er teaching evaluations are among the poorest [he has] seen in a promotional review for full professor. 33 On February 8, 1995, the President of Vassar wrote to Bickerstaff and informed her that she would not be recommending her for promotion to the rank of full professor. While acknowledging Bickerstaff's contribution to the Africana Studies Program at Vassar, the President expressed concerns relating to her teaching and scholarship. The President wrote that her classroom teaching was uneven and that the most recent reports indicate a significant decline in classroom effectiveness. The President also stated that while she agreed with the outside evaluators that Bickerstaff's service to the educational community and to Vassar has been significant, Vassar requires the achievement of 'marked distinction' in at least teaching or scholarship, a standard which has not yet been met. The President concluded that [w]hile service is certainly important, it cannot alone compensate for limitations in both these areas. 34 Bickerstaff filed an appeal of the denial of promotion to VAC, claiming that Vassar's appointment of two ad hoc committees violated its written procedures. VAC denied the appeal, stating that in the event of a joint appointment, its written procedures provide for a recommendation from both the Africana Studies Program and the Education Department. 35 In the academic year 1994-95, Vassar considered eight applications for promotion to full professor. Of the six successful candidates, five were women. 36 At present, Bickerstaff continues to teach at Vassar as a tenured associate professor.