Fired Professor

[deleted1129370]

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NYU’s Firing of a Chemistry Professor Caused a Furor. Here’s What He Has to Say About It.

New York University’s decision not to renew the faculty member’s contract became national news. The professor, Maitland Jones Jr., has a few thoughts on what happened.

www.chronicle.com

A very well-written article.

 

[LeavesFromTheVine]

The article is behind a pay-wall/blocked when using an ad-blocker. Professor-IDGAF commented the full text on a reddit post:

 

[smalltownpsych]

The profs responses in that article sounded cogent and thoughtful which is some evidence against the aging theory. He did seem to think that there is downward pressure of performance expectations and maybe that perspective regardless of how accurate that was is probably what led to this outcome. A one man mission to hold higher standards can be a bit quixotic and lead to frustrated students being held to a potentially unreasonable standard. Pre-med students still have to take their mcats so if Princeton isn’t upholding a high standard then the students just won’t get into med school.

 

[PikminOC]

The profs responses in that article sounded cogent and thoughtful which is some evidence against the aging theory. He did seem to think that there is downward pressure of performance expectations and maybe that perspective regardless of how accurate that was is probably what led to this outcome. A one man mission to hold higher standards can be a bit quixotic and lead to frustrated students being held to a potentially unreasonable standard. Pre-med students still have to take their mcats so if Princeton isn’t upholding a high standard then the students just won’t get into med school.

Yes Overton window

 

[cara susanna]

I have never missed Chronicle comments more. Guess I'll have to go on Reddit!

Fwiw, I really liked his response to the question about "kids these days."

 

[Sanman]

The profs responses in that article sounded cogent and thoughtful which is some evidence against the aging theory. He did seem to think that there is downward pressure of performance expectations and maybe that perspective regardless of how accurate that was is probably what led to this outcome. A one man mission to hold higher standards can be a bit quixotic and lead to frustrated students being held to a potentially unreasonable standard. Pre-med students still have to take their mcats so if Princeton isn’t upholding a high standard then the students just won’t get into med school.

Agreed, though I didn't think that he could not string two sentences together. The reference to emailing students was a more helpful gauge of his abilities to me than a conversation with a reporter. I don't see how the interview took place, but Zoom vs telephone vs in person might say something as well. I do agree that a one man mission to hold people to higher standard is a bit of a fool's errand. From the response of the administration, this sounds like an ongoing conflict between them and him rather than a one time issue.