College students have long been known to stand up to perceived injustices, and today, University students and alumni alike are raising their voices together and speaking out about one thing: the “phasing out” of political science instructor Ken DeBevoise.
Officials and students say the University gave DeBevoise notice of termination this term because there isn’t enough money to support him. However, the underlying issue identified by officials, students and alumni is the fact that DeBevoise has not met the standards for research to gain tenure.
This standard, students and alumni argue, defeats the purpose of a university as a source of knowledge and education, which is not solely a product of research.
“Ken is one of the best, more effective educators at this institution, and it would be a mistake to get rid of him, both for the political science department and for the University as a whole,” University junior Deborah Bloom said.
Tenured professors are expected to devote about 40 percent of their time to research and teach at least five classes. Senior Vice Provost of Student Affairs Russ Tomlin acknowledged that DeBevoise’s termination is related to research issues, but declined to comment on specifics because of legality issues surrounding personnel matters. He added that the Keep Ken Coalition is making this an issue of the University choosing research over education, but it’s not.
“It’s important to appreciate the research mission and the education mission,” Tomlin said. “It’s not a dichotomy. Our best research faculty can be our best instructors. The pitting of research versus education is an oversimplification of such matters.”
DeBevoise declined to comment and referred media inquiries to Bloom.
“It would be unprofessional and not in his best interest (to go on the record),” Bloom said. “He would like to keep his job, though — that I know.”
Several University students and alumni, including Bloom, created the Keep Ken Coalition, which has met with University officials including Tomlin, political science department head Lars Skalnes, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Scott Coltrane, and University President Richard Lariviere.
The coalition has also moved online, creating the “Keep Ken Coalition” Facebook group, which had more than 380 University students and alumni as of press time.
“As an alum, I simply feel that it is extremely important that other students have the amazing opportunity that I did to benefit from Ken’s courses,” University alumnus Myles Couch, who is also the creator of the Facebook group, said in an e-mail. “No one is claiming that Professor DeBevoise is a perfect teacher, a perfect person or even the best teacher at this University, just that he is a terrific teacher whose combination of experience and passion for teaching is irreplaceable.”
University senior political science major David Delmar said he was sold on DeBevoise’s teaching style after his first class with him.
“Before I took one of his courses, I was astonished how easy college was,” Delmar said. “I was pretty distraught at the end of the term, and wanted to leave, but I decided to give it one more shot. After his class, I felt like I was getting a real education and that I was becoming a real member of the electorate.”
Bloom also thinks DeBevoise’s classes have influenced her life.
“Not only did I become a faster reader, a more articulate person and a better student, but I left that class with a huge database of knowledge,” Bloom said. “Also, the class was really fun. I looked forward to going to that class each Monday and Wednesday and looked forward to the information that I would leave with.”
Couch, who transferred from Clackamas Community College before coming to the University, was attracted to DeBevoise’s course on Israel-Palestine relations because of a rigourous syllabus and a discussion atmosphere.
“Ken has an uncanny talent for getting students excited about scholarship, and his academic and non-academic experience allows him to create an unusually contagious learning environment where students look forward to attending class in order to discuss the assigned readings,” Couch said. “If it were not for professor DeBevoise’s classes, I honestly do not know if I would have been able to find the motivation to continue to study political science at this University.”
The Facebook group, initially created as a way for alumni to hear about and react to DeBevoise’s phasing out, encourages members to write letters and e-mails in protest and to ask the University to seek alternative solutions to policies concerning non-tenure-track University instructors. Dozens of alumni have done so.
University officials are, with the exception of Tomlin and Coltrane, declining to comment. Coltrane, who declined to be interviewed, issued a statement to the Emerald.
“(The College of Arts and Sciences) very much appreciate contributions of our non-tenure-track instructors,” Coltrane wrote. “But the first priority of a research university is to hire and support faculty who excel at all three aspects of the academic mission: research, teaching and service.”
Meanwhile, Skalnes declined to comment, instead referring Emerald inquiries to Coltrane’s statement. Neither Lariviere nor Provost James Bean responded to interview requests.
In an e-mail to Bloom, Tomlin said the political science department’s budget allowed for fewer tenure-track faculty than is ideal.
22 comments
One faculty member at the University of Oregon, for example, has been given permission to take four weeks during that person's research quarter this spring to lead tours for a travel company that has absolutely nothing to do with the university, research or helping students. When the dean of the college of arts and sciences was challenged over his allowing this to occur, no response was given, which is business as usual at the university.
The public should be outraged at such abuse."
Wixman: " The public is given a rosy picture of the wonders of the university and are told how important research is. Donors to the university are wined and dined and convinced they should give money to the school. Perhaps they should donate not to faculty or the administration but to the graduate students who do much of the teaching and who need help more than the faculty."I agree, especially when the UO is getting rid of Professors like Ken, who has taught numerous courses without pay due to his incredible passion for teaching. The Wixman article can be found on the Oregonlive website.
How can Tomlin claim to be impartially reviewing Ken's dismissal while he is already defending the final result? This is not a fair review process and the University may be leaving itself vulnerable to a lawsuit which would be far more expensive than the $50k a year it costs to keep a Senior Instructor like Ken!
Seeing others stories reminded me of one of my own. When my cousin (who was a high school senior at the time) came to visit, I had him come to one of Ken's classes with me. Our education system was one of the main topics that week. After introducing my cousin to the class, Ken asked him we could ask him questions about his high school and his experiences. Ken made him a welcome and useful guest. This, my cousin's first exposure to college, influenced his decision to attend UO. Last year, he graduated from the university.
Ken reaches students in such a distinct and impressive way as to make for an unfair comparison to a 'normal' university classroom. The man just wants to teach, and his students take his courses because they just want to learn. It sounds simplistic, but in its own way that relationship is all too distinct from the way so many classrooms operate, and because of its difference, so worthy of praise. Is that pure focus on long term learning by a student, from a life long educator, not the exact sort of symbiotic relationship that the university should be striving for?
I am proud to say my education was molded by Ken Debevoise and deeply disappointed by the prospect of future UO students not having that opportunity.