Stony Brook University To Cut Over 380 Course Offerings - University President To Be Ousted Due To Academic Failures - SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook professors' petition targets University President Kenny.

A group of professors at Stony Brook University say they've lost confidence in President Shirley Strum Kenny's leadership, citing a lack of classroom space and a scuttled plan to cut hundreds of courses as proof the school has strayed from its academic mission.

An online petition accusing Kenny of "egregious mismanagement" had been signed by 93 professors from the College of Arts and Sciences by last night. Several non-tenured faculty signed anonymously.

"Our students are not getting the undergraduate education they deserve," said Herman Lebovics, a history professor at the college for 40 years and part of the group --"Concerned Faculty of Stony Brook" -- that started the petition. "We're not performing our mission because of the misplaced priorities of our president."

He said faculty were especially troubled by a plan proposed earlier this month to cut 388 course offerings for the fall semester to close a budget gap. Eventually, just a few course offerings were eliminated. "That was just one step too many. Even though those classes have been reinstated, it triggered this uniform outcry," said Dianna Padilla, an ecology professor at the school for a decade.

Administration officials say they needed to prepare for a worst-case budget scenario.
University spokeswoman Lauren Sheprow said the petition "has not been presented and she [Kenny] has not been contacted by the College of Arts and Sciences, so there's really nothing to say." Lebovics said the group expects to submit the petition to Kenny within a few weeks.

Experts in college governance say such petitions are unusual and signal deep faculty dissatisfaction. "It's a very drastic and dramatic action," said Robert Kreiser, a senior program officer with the American Association of University Professors.

Professors who signed the petition say classroom space and other resources have not kept up with exploding enrollment, even as Stony Brook has pursued expansion efforts such as the acquisition of Southampton College and plans to build or buy a law school. Full-time undergraduate enrollment at Stony Brook rose to 14,340 students in 2007, compared to 10,513 in 1997.

"I think we're getting away from our core product," said Jonathan Hirst, 26, a senior business major and executive vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government. ".... I think they need to focus more on what's happening right now."

Stony Brook officials admit space has been a problem...

Over the past year, though, Kenny also has faced the first serious criticism of her tenure, following the deaths of three children at the Stony Brook University Medical Center.

BY KARLA S.

Apparently, Stony Brook is not well liked by students and alumni.
http://stonybrooksucks.com/