Parsons Pink Slips Responds to Provost Marshall message of April 22, 2009

Message from the Provost on Parsons Fine Arts Faculty

Peter and Laurence boldly respond – i.e. our response is in bold face

NEW YORK, April 22, 2009 -- The following is a message from Tim Marshall, the Provost of The New School regarding recent events in the Fine Arts program at Parsons:

I am writing to you with an update on the situation in the Parsons Fine Arts program. Since our letter of April 8, 2009, we have heard from many people on the changes that are being enacted in the program. While there is considerable enthusiasm for the general direction we are moving in, there has also been concern voiced by some valued members of our faculty community. Our failure to consult and communicate adequately as we strive to broaden our Fine Arts program is simply that: a lack of communication and participation. I am committed to improving the former and working to create the conditions to enable the latter.

Except it was not quite that "simple". Under cover of a failure to consult and communicate adequately the administration managed to deprive 12 faculty members of their jobs and without consultation to turn the curriculum on its head. Thus it is hard to believe that the failure to communicate wasn’t by design.

All annual faculty who were not assigned teaching in the Fine Arts program due to the curricular changes will be offered alternate teaching assignments appropriate their expertise. In addition, we will make every effort to offer appropriate teaching assignments to non-annual faculty. This intention was not made clear in the original memo that was sent out, which followed a more standardized protocol. We should have personally engaged the faculty about these pending changes. I want to offer my sincere apologies for these shortcomings and the discord it has caused. I will be working with Human Resources and all the New School divisions to improve this communication process so that all faculty members are properly acknowledged for the positive contributions they make to our academic community. Out-of-context quotes implying that we see these kinds of changes as "business as usual" are inaccurate.

The apologies of the Provost are most welcome but appropriate teaching assignments for Annual Faculty should be found in their own departments first as per the union contract. Less senior faculty should not be offered teaching assignments over equally or more experienced faculty. Additionally, the removal of three senior faculty from teaching assignments that are still being offered may ring of ageism. We welcome a serious effort to replace course loads for all of our colleagues however difficult it is to believe that this was the intention of the administration all along. No hint of such intention existed prior to the press coverage and valued support offered by academics, students and artists all across the country. Could there be, we wonder, a connection between press coverage and the administrations clarification of intentions? We believe that our valued colleagues should not have lost their jobs in the first place. The "business as usual" quote can be found in The New York Times article from April 3rd and judged on its own merit.

In order to transparently remedy the situation in a timely manner, we have established a faculty taskforce (including full-time and part-time members) led by Sven Travis, Dean of the School of Art, Media and Technology (AMT). This taskforce will engage in a fuller conversation about all curricular changes within the Fine Arts program that were approved by the Parsons Curriculum Committee earlier this year. They will review both the content and implementation of these changes.

As of this moment there isn’t a task force in place. There are reservations on the part of the faculty and the union because of the suggested presence of both Print Department faculty (a transparent attempt to boost the number of faculty in the Fine Arts Department and thus minimize the significance of the numbers fired) and the embattled Chair, Coco Fusco. It is also unclear whether the task force will be empowered to reverse the firings and make curricular changes or will simply be a PR stunt to give the appearance of engagement.

I am convinced that the Fine Arts community at Parsons is poised to become stronger than ever. We are deeply committed to enrolling the most talented and diverse incoming class possible, and have made great strides toward that end in this past year. In a delicate economic climate like the one we currently face, it is imperative that we all do everything possible to succeed on this front. The good news is that the MFA has seen an upswing of interest, with applications at historically high levels and with more accepted students depositing earlier than in the past.

The " upswing in interest" and "the historically high levels" of applications should be the final argument for the success and superiority of the existing program. What excuse could there be for displacing the very teaching assets who made this success possible especially given the "delicate economic climate" we all face? The "good news" also applies to the BFA program whose extraordinary students continue to succeed and represent Parsons admirably in graduate programs, residencies and the larger art world.

As Fine Arts expands its influence across Parsons, we envision many possibilities for new cross-disciplinary, curricular, and extra-curricular models. To support these ambitions, we will be creating a new Inter-Media Initiative within the School of Art, Media, and Technology to assist in the development of these projects in the years ahead. In order to enable AMT to undertake this work, we will soon be announcing a new administrative structure for the Fine Arts program moving forward.

The existing faculty of The Fine Arts Department have embraced change and look forward to the expanding role of fine arts at The New School. We hope that new initiatives are not a Trojan horse to create a design-centric curriculum which is both at odds with the unique qualities of the Fine Arts department and a limited view of the larger art world. In keeping with your commitment to open communication and participation any new initiatives should include the full involvement of the faculty. The absence of any specifics in your announcement of a new Inter-Media Initiative and a new administrative structure makes these proposals seem less than transparent – indeed hollow.

In sum, we can and will learn from our mistakes, and we appreciate the time and energy many faculty have invested in working to better the situation. I ask that you join us in building the best possible program to welcome a great incoming class in Fall 2009.

No argument there.

Tim Marshall
Provost, The New School

Peter Drake and Laurence Hegarty

GO TEAM

Rebecca Curry, Parsons MFA 2009 Graduate

“I'm interested in power and institutional structures, and for me I often like to direct attention to them in different ways. This project was a light way of emphasizing the competitive spirit to artschool, along with the division and Parsons' specific structure of different educators and their students. This is for my wonderful educators and also, teachers in general, who deserve to have a bit of cheerleading and support, just like us.” - Rebecca Curry

GO TEAM was presented on April 24, 09, the final class day of CORE at Parsons Fine Arts MFA.
All the teachers/coaches currently are Core Faculty this semester.

For additional information: rcurry3@gmail.com

More...Parsons Fine Arts Rally Day

Rally, Rally, Rally, Thanks to a Great Crowd

top image by Stephen Ray, others Janice Faber

Project No Way Rally

SEE YOU THERE

School Wide Rally to Save Parsons Fine Arts Dept.

NEW SCHOOL WIDE RALLY
Support Our Union!
Support Parsons Fine Art Faculty!

When: Thursday, April 23, 12-1 pm

Where: Directly in front of the New School administration building at 66 West 12th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues, New York City)

What: ACT-UAW Local 7902, the union of part-time faculty at NYU and the New School, will sponsor a rally protesting mass dismissals of arts faculty at Parsons the New School for Design.


http://www.actuaw.org

Upcoming Parsons Fine Art Student Shows

Come out and see the great work of all these
"soon to graduate" artists.

Pre Rally Prep (before Thurs. April 23)

Your chance to help, your chance to show support.

Along with coming out this Thursday at noon for the rally you can pitch in and help in other ways.


SIGN MAKING
Tuesday 4/21
11am to 8pm
113 University Place, 6th floor
Conference room

PHONE BANKING and MEMBERSHIP OUTREACH
Wednesday 4/22
10am to 12pm (calling press -- Very Important!!!!!!!!)
12pm to 5pm (membership outreach)
113 University Place, 6th floor

PRESS PHONE BANKING
Thursday 4/23
8am to 10am
113 University Place, 6th floor

See you there!

New School Free Speech

The protests of April 10th at the New School are part of an ongoing pattern of opposition by both students and faculty to the policies and practices of the administration of Bob Kerrey.

The over-reaction of the Kerrey administration to the occupation of 65 Fifth Avenue is symptomatic of a top-down policy of intimidation and unilateral thinking that is reflected in the recent mass firings of Parsons Fine Arts faculty.

In this regard it is of note that multiple attempts by Parsons Fine Arts students to engage with the administration to initiate dialogue and solicit information about the firings have been met with obfuscation, double-speak and finally blatant attempts at intimidation.

In a recent meeting of undergraduates it was reported that an administrator threatened to “spit in the face” of any student who “leaked news to the press”.

More than inappropriate, statements like these have a chilling effect on academic discourse and set an intolerably low standard for free speech.

Letter from a Concerned Parsons Parent... We wonder what response they received?

I am writing to express my dismay over the article in yesterday’s New York Times, which details a one-third cut in your Fine Arts faculty. The timing of this article is remarkable. It was published the day after my daughter told me and my wife that she has declared Fine Arts as her major. She is completing her freshman year in the BAFA program, but her true passion is art, and she has been excited about studying art in the Parsons milieu, even though, as she said, she thought the kids in the Fine Arts major were treated as sort of black sheep.

She loves Parsons and what she sees that it stands for (or has stood for up to now). But I would not be surprised if, before long, she comes to realize that her pursuits will not really be honored at Parsons, and that she had better think about transferring to SVA or Pratt, even though she’d not be able to pursue a BA there.

I realize we are in tough economic times but I am, I have to say, amazed that you have allowed Fine Arts to take such a hit, rather than spreading the pain around to all the departments and programs.

So I must ask you, please, to tell me the truth: Are you abandoning Fine Arts and a Parsons tradition?

Should I be advising my daughter to switch to another art school, or perhaps pursue a double major at Hunter?

Yours truly,

New School Occuption Friday April 10