December 14, 2006

Your [academic] staff appraisal...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Appraisals are done to boost the career prospects of those who do not threaten the university established practices.

I was a researcher at a top UK university. The project that I was employed on started ten months before my arrival. My superviser and his research group were performing poorly, something which I was not aware of. To safeguward their secret and to keep me working, they prevented me from attending meetings and from communicating with the funding body, something that I found strange.

Based on the work that had been done prior to my arrival, I decided to propose original ideas. I made the mistake of conveying objections directly to them, about the standard of their work and about their practices.

I had an appraisal 3 months after joining his group. In that appraisal the supervisor,decided to attribute project problems to me! He made no reference to the proposals that I made.

The superviser was kicked out of the project after the first review period. I was told by the superviser "you knew project partners were not pleased with the [...] work" My contract was not renewed. He and his researchers' contracts were immediately renewed, and guess what? The university obtained funding for my, or as they described them "their pioneering ideas" prior to my contract expiry.

I had hard evidence, email evidence, but the legal support that I, an individual, receieved was pathetic.

I received pathetic support from the AUT.

Even now in my current pathetic employment, I have to accept having my name as a third author on material half of it is mine or risk being viewed as non conformist (i.e. someone who does not view the interests of the university above everything else).

Anonymous said...

"non conformist (i.e. someone who does not view the interests of the university above everything else)."
Though (based on your account) "ironically" you *did* support the best long(er)-term interests of ~everyone.