Wednesday | April 26, 2006

A Student Perspective

Student Forum: Jane K. Fernandes
An Admittedly Biased Perspective
  

Okay, so… we got through the night civilly. We held onto our anger and watched Dr. Fernandes struggle through a series of rather difficult questions, many of which she was unable to give a satisfactory answer to.

 

Before I go on to further elaborate on “satisfactory answers,” I would like to express my disappointment in the University for assuming the role of an united body of insensitivity and lack of empathy. As a student, I felt backed against a spiked wall—a pointed finger in my face and harsh words of “BE CIVIL! BE RESPECTFUL” in spite of the sharp, aching pain I was feeling. When did you forget to go back to the roots of the decaying tree and ask yourself: what is this disease? Why do you think students are on the brink of rebelling against Dr. Fernandes? Where is that anger coming from? And who protects us from the cold wrath of the retaliator?

 

That aside, Dr. Fernandes’ did not win the admiration of the overall student body last night. A pretty heady task to begin with, considering the fact that she has absolutely no relationship with us. Any trained psychologist knows that the most important tool in getting people to collaborate is a healthy, cohesive relationship.

 

Perhaps the most lacking quality in Dr. Fernandes is an aptitude for humor. And on the heels of that would be charisma. People skills. Social skills. She did not “grab” the audience, did not make us laugh. The only time we saw the softer side of her personality was when she shared her reasons for leaving Boston (to move with Jim Fernandes, who she fell in love with). And even that felt forced.

 

The very first question presented to the provost was something to the extent of, “People say you’re not student-centered. How would you respond to this?” The provost went on to explain that she feels that she is often misunderstood—that she may at times have miscommunicated her intentions. She stated that every decision she makes is in the best interest of the students. Entirely possible, yes.

 

The next question was one posed to all candidates, and it was in regards to serious concerns among international students regarding the length of time it takes international students to get out of developmental English. Students expressed frustration and feel that the university does not make a true effort to ensure a speedy process due to the fact that they get so much money from international students and benefit when those students stay longer. The current provost and presidential candidate’s response? “I’m not aware of what you describe.” This response was the beginning of a pattern of avoiding serious concerns, many of which fall under her current role of Provost.

 

Dr. Fernandes discussed her accomplishments in Hawaii, where she expanded the student body of  7 to 10 students to… more. How much more, she didn’t share.

 

Her comments regarding the Student Body Government were condescending and subtly insulting.  When asked what she would do to empower the SBG, she commented on how the SBG “needs to be stronger” and needs to “include the entire student body” – leaving the implication that it is neither strong nor inclusive. She then went on to compliment the current administration, whom many of the students are not happy with—which only made her seem that much more out of touch with the student body.

 

Perhaps the most astonishing part of the evening was her dialogue with a student who presented concerns about the office for students with disabilities. The student suggested that the University has not been supportive of students with disabilities and asked the provost how she would be able to better support the department in her capacity as president. The Provost responded defensively and went on to discuss the student’s involvement with a support group, which she provided interpreters for. What was disturbing about this exchange was the intimidation factor present and the blatant violation of the student’s right to confidentiality. “You were involved in that group, weren’t you?”

 

It was downhill from there.

 

Questions about removing ISM-s were responded to with a discussion about removing the cap for international students. The relevance? We’re not sure.

 

Dr. Fernandes’ goals for the university include working with deaf students of color to ensure graduation rates go up. This being her “big goal.” She went on to talk about how hurt she was by the current division between students who are focusing on audism and students who are focusing on racism. She stated that if she wasn’t currently a candidate she would address those concerns. The manner in which this was stated implied that she and she alone would be able to alleviate student concerns.

 

What I find ironic is that this racism thing didn’t sprout out of nowhere. In the six years that she has been provost, what has Dr. Fernandes done to address issues of racism, audism, and diversity? In the last 8 months what has she done? The timing is as strategic as her fabulous 8 goals, none of which she was able to explain the “hows” of.

 

A question asked regarding a situation in which she ignored a faculty member who made an accusation of sexual harassment (towards another faculty member) was disregarded with yet another “I’m not aware of that” tidbit. Funny contradiction: her face became tomato red and she began fidgeting with her blazer for a few minutes.

 

When asked what distinguishes her from the other two candidates, she stated “I don’t know much about the other two but…I have a Ph.D. I have experience in Higher Education. I come from an oral background and can reach out to the many non-signers that we will have to recruit. I have a strong vision of Academic Excellence (really, Ms. Provost?)” Mind you, this is not a word-for-word verbatim but the gist of it.

 

Oh! This whole oral background thing reminds me: Dr. Fernandes is the only candidate who opened her presentation in the classically pathological manner of “I became deaf at the age of….” I wonder… does she want to appeal to oral students and recruit those students or…

 

Is she ready to stand forth and demonstrate that the well-adjusted Deaf person is one who is fluent in ASL and English—and that’s the kind of student Gallaudet is looking for, thereby encouraging other schools to promote the same model?

 

While there are many more examples of a lack of relationship, perhaps the most telling sign is this: Not once throughout her presentation did she use the word, “We.” Plenty of Me, Myself, and I comments. Plenty of “that would be the provost’s job.” “That would be the faculty’s job.”

 

At the end of the night I was left with the horrifying vision of a community divided and so filled with hostility. In comparison, Dr. Stern—who people claim isn’t qualified by virtue of the fact that he doesn’t have enough experience in Higher education and doesn’t have his Ph.D yet—feels like the pearly gates of the biblical “heaven.” That is, lovingly safe.

Posted by at 10:27:37 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Alumni Perspective

Dear Board of Trustees,
It has come to my attention that before the serious issues are introduced, I want to remain all of you that there is neither defense nor offense, but unfortunately the climate of the whole Gallaudet University is unfriendly and non-spiritual.
 Please let me share my first handed experience working at Pre-College Program for 10 years.  I want to inform you of what the difference between the “Pre-JF’s system” and the “Post-JF’s system” is. During the “Pre-JF’s system we were in the full spirit and motivation before she was appointed as the Director of the Pre-College Program and during the “Post-JP’s system” we became victims due to our loss of spirit and motivation. Later I will share one of the issues with you.
 Right now there are many enemies with anger and frustration among the faculty members, staff, teachers, administrators, students, parents and alumni due to the moral and spiritual emptiness.  We feel like “microbes”. Because of lack of an ethos of generosity, kindness, caring and love everyday we are in the Right Hand of God. Is our diversity effective so far? Therefore Gallaudet University is a failure due to lack of art of leadership because the poor quality of students from either residential or mainstreaming schools have received poor support services from the center of immoral Gallaudet University.
I would like to share the cause and effect issues here with you. 
 1.     The Provost was appointed without communicating with the Gallaudet faculty members due to lack of the person oriented approach. Are we happy?
2.     She has axed many good people except for the person who abused physically three different students at the Pre-college Program because of the political favoritism.  Why could not she comply with the DC laws and the Gallaudet policy?
3.     She had destroyed everything especially the staff and teachers’ hard work on curriculum and extra-curriculum programs which were supported and spent by Gallaudet University at the Pre-college program without communicating or discussing.   As a result the enrollment of students was disastrously declined. Did her power and politics hurt our spirit and morale?
Please let me ask you….”How can she repair these previous problems by transferring from the negative environment to the positive environment?  Doubtlessly Jane F. will be incapable of dealing with the issues due to her lack of person oriented skills and art of motivation and leadership. Gallaudet University could be a disaster if she is appointed as the President of Gallaudet University.
  If we read the new book called “The Left Hand of God by Michael Lerner” we at Gallaudet University and also deaf community will be in the full spirit and morale. I admit that Mr. Ron Stern’s unbelievable presentation reminded me of the book. Believe it or not he did not read it yet, but his presentation was miraculous from his true heart and head.  Now our lawmakers at the Federal Government have been encouraged to read the book. Our people will be beautiful if we are in the Left Hand of God.  Therefore we are hungry for the new President of Gallaudet University with passion, compassion and spirit.
Will you please consider carefully about the unmistakable selection of the new President of Gallaudet University with passion, compassion and spirit including the art of leadership and motivation?
Thank you,
Fredrick P. Waldorf
Gallaudet Alumni –‘67
Posted by at 09:27:54 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Committee Experience with Provost

 April 24, 2006
Greetings:
 
I was asked to share my experience working on the Provost’s Committee on Language and Communication. As one of the student representatives, I feel it is my responsibility to respond and let students know what progress was made.
 
As you all know, this committee was formed in light of the Audism movement which began brewing on campus in the spring of 2003. This movement was marked by the popular film “Audism Unveiled” which was produced by faculty and students from the ASL/Deaf Studies Department and also the Audism Mandates which were endorsed by the Darnall and Holmes SBG Administrations. I have copied the SBG Audism mandates below.
 
On a personal note, I am disappointed that more did not come out of the PCLC meetings and I feel that not enough progress was made. Some members have suggested that it would have been better if a faculty member was delegated the job of organizing our meetings-- suggesting that he/she would have had more time to focus on the mandates and their implementation. Overall, I feel that we started this work with a lot of energy and momentum but the meetings were scheduled too far apart and we didn't make any significant changes here at Gallaudet. The last time we met I believe was in 2004. 
 
I hope that more work will be done relating to Audism and addressing the student mandates.
 
Sincerely,
Andrew Phillips
PCLC Student Representative 
 
SBG Audism Mandates
 
§         •           To provide ASL interpreters on the same basis as voice interpreters.
§         •           To have standard ASL screening and training for all faculty members.
§         •           To develop a professor communication method/competency catalog containing information on every Gallaudet professor’s method of communication and ASL competency.
§         •           To require ASL and Deaf Studies classes at Gallaudet.
§         •           To implement a 24/7 signing policy, requiring every Gallaudet employee to sign at all times on campus.
§         •           To be aggressive and active in research and advocacy of the Deaf.
§         •           To revise the communication policy into one that guarantees equal access unique to all the students Gallaudet purportedly serves—reflecting the mandates above.
§         •           Establish and require a program for developing and evaluating ASL Proficiency for undergraduate and graduate students.
§         •           Require that new signers, whether faculty, staff, or students, have an intensive initial introduction to and ongoing support for ASL development through programs such as the New Signers Program.
§         •           Establish an on-going support system for students, faculty, staff, and teachers who are improving their ASL/English abilities.  Effective on-going support is needed to improve and maintain ASL/English skills.
§         •           Establish a minimum proficiency level for all members of the community in both languages.
§         •           Implement a campus-wide ASL/English mentoring program.
Posted by at 09:27:14 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Student's Experience with Provost

I recently had a conversation with someone who indicated that “there is a lot of hostility towards Dr. Fernandes, but can you tell me what exactly it is about her that people don’t find appealing in terms of leadership?”  I sure can. I can explain to you why I wouldn’t embrace her leadership. Here is my story—I hope others come forward and share theirs, too.  Back when I was a student, there were some discussions regarding the closure of the department of Television, Film, and Photography. (Or, to be more accurate, the merging of photography with digital media—which would cut out “film” as a major). The reason given for this was that there were not enough majors—and students from that department were upset. After some investigation, it was revealed that there were, in fact, 7 majors—not all of whom would be graduating that upcoming May. Because we were disappointed by the lack of willingness on Karen Kimmel’s behalf to openly listen to our concerns (that visual media is the future of this University and the signing community)—we decided to request a meeting with Dr. Fernandes. We were expecting the opportunity to share our concerns with her and hoped that she would investigate the matter.  When we arrived at the meeting, we were greeted by both Dr. Fernandes and Karen Kimmel. We were, needless to say, taken aback by the presence of the associate dean—it left us feeling as though we did not have the space to openly express our frustrations. In hindsight, her presence shouldn’t matter all that much given the fact that our concerns were not going to change with or without Kimmel in the room. But as students, we were terrified by the two stiff-faced presences that sat before us.  Dr. Fernandes proceeded to explain that Kimmel had been invited because (to vaguely quote her) “I do not know much about this situation). During the meeting, one of the students started to explain what his concerns were. He was cut off several times by Dr. Fernandes. After the second or third time of being cut off, the student stated that he was not finished explaining his concern. Dr. Fernandes looked at him and very firmly (and with all the color drained from her face) stated that “we are having a conversation here. If you cannot have a conversation, this discussion is over.” She then started to attack another student in the room. Her comment to that student (who was taking notes) was “This meeting is confidential,” to which the student responded, “We never agreed that this meeting would be confidential.” The provost’s response in kind was “We never agreed it wouldn’t be.” She also went on to say, “If you spread information about this meeting, I will take action.” Her face was unfriendly, angry, and her demeanor stiff. And beyond being hurt by her approach (one of the participants was so distraught that she left the meeting and went to a professor in her department in tears) we were beyond shocked. What, we wondered, did we do that made her so angry? At the end of the meeting (which was very brief), Dr. Fernandes looked at us and said something to the extent of, “If you came here thinking that I would overturn Kimmel’s decision, you were wrong. I support her decision.” I want the leader of this school to be approachable, charismatic, and friendly. But beyond that, it is so important to me that we have a leader who will listen openly to concerns and if not investigate the matter thoroughly, will leave the impression that ones concern is important to him or her.  I am horrified at the possibility of how many people outside of the university she will turn off with such an approach.
Posted by at 09:26:24 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Fernandes as President?

 Gallaudet Announces Three Finalists for PresidentThe news was announced yesterday via an e-mail and posted today on the Gallaudet website. Three finalists for president: Jane Fernandes, Ronald Stern, and Stephen Weiner. I do not know Stern and Weiner, but back in the mid-90s I dealt with Fernandes personally, and I feel she did not treat me fairly or decently at the time. Here is what happened - and bear in mind this is my own personal experience. In the 1994-95 academic year, my child was a first grader at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (part of the Clerc Center). In the Spring of 1995, the teacher of the first grade class got sick. Kendall brought in substitute teachers, but the substitutes were not qualified to teach deaf children. We parents accepted that and chalked it up to bad luck. We hoped things would be better in the fall. The children in the class learned little or nothing that Spring. Fall 1995 arrived. Start of second grade. The assigned teacher never showed up. In fact, this teacher called in sick every day that entire semester. Again, Kendall brought in a series of substitute teachers, none of them qualified. The last one was a very sweet young recent Gallaudet graduate, with a degree in Communication Arts (but not qualified to teach deaf children!) Meanwhile, the children including my child, learned little or nothing. By November 1995, we had had it. We parents met with the then-principal, Nancy Rarus, and got nowhere. The next step was to go higher up, and that was Jane Fernandes, who was then the Vice President for the Clerc Center. One child's parents made an appointment with her, and invited the rest of us along to "share" the appointment. At the appointment, Fernandes saw all of us, and demanded that everyone leave except the parents of the child who had made the appointment. By then, I was furious that my child had missed out on so much important educational time, and I refused to leave. Fernandes and I got into a shouting match: when I demanded the school provide my child's class with a real teacher or at least combine the class with another class in the same grade that had a real teacher, Fernandes said angrily that if I did not like it, then I was welcome to take my child out and transfer back to my county public school system! Unfortunately, that's just what we had to do. Fernandes would not give in, and no real teacher was hired. We pulled our child out of that school and transferred back to the county public school system. One by one, most of the other parents transferred along with us. The few remaining children were moved to that other class that had a real teacher. My child and all of the classmates that transferred back to the county school, was forced to repeat an entire grade because they had missed so much learning time. The children had been cheated out of the equivalent of an entire year of quality deaf education, at a very critical time in their learning. It took years to recover from the damage that was done. Is this the kind of person we want for the next president of Gallaudet University? Bear in mind that this is just my own personal experience from many years ago. Kendall today is greatly improved since that time. Perhaps Fernandes does have the qualities that are necessary to successfully run the University. Many positive and negative comments about her have been posted on the GallyPresWatch.com site, and you can also talk about it on the forum.Article by Jamie Burke (www.deafness.about.com)
Posted by at 09:25:39 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |