jmatrow@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM (John Matrow) (05/05/87)
From The Wichita State University SUNFLOWER, Friday, May 1, 1987, Vol XCI No. 93. Used by permission. PROMOTION DENIAL PROMPTS RESIGNATION by Scott Brokaw, Staff writer A controversy surrounding an associate professor of computer science has resulted in the resignation of the department's chair and could lead to further faculty departures. As a result, the computer science department at Wichita State University may have its heart cut out before the end of the semester, due to negligence on the part of the administration. So charged Mary Edgington, chair of the computer science department and Mark Rutter, instructor in the department. The controversy involves Viswanathan Santhanam, associate professor of computer science, who was recently denied promotion to full professor. Members of the department claim Santhanam was denied promotion because of a faulty committee process. Edgington resigned her seat Tuesday over the flap. "My resignation is the result of frustration of trying to build a department that has no control over personnel decisions within the department," Edgington said. "The so-called departmental committee was made up of people outside the department." Santhanam, who received his Ph.D from Ohio State University, said that he has a lot of respect for the review process, but that the fault lies in its execution. He said that because no computer scientists served on any of the committees, the value of his work was not understood. "There was a reluctance on the part of the committees to examine my achievements in the context of my field," Santhanam said. "If the committees tried to solicit the information they didn't have, it would have made a difference." Santhanam's bid for promotion to full professor failed after a series of committee rejections. The only computer scientist to serve on a committee during Santhanam's review was Edgington, who served on the LAS committee. However, because college review committee members are not allowed to speak on behalf of faculty members in their departments, she couldn't speak. Santhanam said that too much emphasis was placed on publication in journals in the review process. "I do not have publications in journals that are viewed as prestigious," he said. "I have considerable achievement in other areas." Santhanam has petitioned to WSU President Warren Armstrong in an attempt to reverse the rulings. Santhanam said that he would resign if Armstrong rules against him. "My best opportunity for an academic career is here," Santhanam said. "If I cannot be recognized here, the chances of me being recognized elsewhere are small." Santhanam emphasized that his intention is not to alter anyone's opinion regarding his review, but to correct the problems that persist in the review process. Santhanam, who played a key role in the development of the department after coming to WSU in 1975, recently completed a software development project that brought $225,000 to the university. Santhanam's project translates computer programs from Fortran [sic], the first computer language, into ADA [sic], the most sophisticated language. Joyce Scott, executive vice president of academic affairs, said she couldn't discuss the matter because it was a personnel matter. The entire computer science faculty has visited Scott twice concerning the decision on Santhanam's promotion. "We expected her (Scott) to reconsider (the decision)," said Rutter, instructor in computer science. "She proceeded to insult us for attempting to meet with here about the issue." Rutter added that denying Santhanam a full professorship is "one more step in the brain drain. There's been negligence on the part of the administration." Scott said that she told the computer science faculty that because of university policy, they could not appeal the decision on Santhanam. "If they felt insulted, it's unfortunate," she said. "There is no provision for third-party appeals, which I think is perfectly appropriate. The problem is that people aren't aware of the policies regarding the tenure and promotion process." Santhanam's journey through the promotion process began when he was reviewed by a departmental committee, which denied his promotion. He then was reviewed by the department chairperson (Edgington), a college committee, the dean of the college and the University Committee on Tenure, Promotion and Academic Freedom. All except Edgington voted against Santhanam's promotion. However, no computer science faculty members served on the departmental committee because no faculty member has more than an associate professor status. A university policy states that only full professors can sit on departmental committees. After Santhanam was turned down by a Liberal Arts and Sciences committee, he appealed to the University Committee on Tenure, Promotion and Academic Freedom. "Where the dean and the college committee have voted almost unanimously against the promotion, there would have to be strong evidence that the decision was reached inappropriately for the university committee to reverse anything," said Fred Kraft, committee chairman. "Since there was no evidence that the decision was reached inappropriately we did not overrule the college committee's decision." President Armstrong, who has received Santhanam's appeal, said he expects to resolve the matter before the end of the semester. Edgington said that the loss of Santhanam would be devastating to the department. "It's like being stabbed in the heart," she said. "We would be losing one of the best faculty members in the department. The students would be the ones to suffer." -- ---- John Matrow Automation Engineering, NCR E&M Wichita <john.matrow@Wichita.NCR.COM> {ncrcae|ncrlnk|ncr-sd}!ncrwic!john.matrow