By Marcelle Richards
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Geography Professor Joshua Muldavin’s case has become a
springboard for supporters who want to question the tenure process
and the politics behind it.
Though tenure cases have traditionally been kept behind closed
doors at UCLA, Muldavin’s case has differed in that its
publicity has allowed the public to more openly assess diversity,
said Leda Nelson, a fifth-year international development studies
student.
Over the past several months, students have been organizing to
increase awareness through meetings, flyers and banners on
campus.
“It’s obviously an issue that’s larger than
Josh,” said Derrick Hindery, a Ph.D. candidate in geography
who met Muldavin as an undergraduate in 1993. “Part of the
reason we’re pushing this campaign is to democratize the
tenure process, make it more transparent to students and challenge
the issues of education.”
A tenure candidate is critiqued on grounds of teaching
performance, community service and research.
“Research far outweighs the other criteria,” said
Student Regent Justin Fong, a graduate student in public policy who
came to UCLA to work with Muldavin. “UCLA can’t afford
to let the quality of teaching decline, or let service to the
community decline, because then we become just researchers in an
ivory tower.”
The tenure process begins with a departmental review, and any
recommendations that are made will advance to a four-person ad-hoc
committee consisting of members from other departments.
The final step is a review by the Council on Academic Personnel,
a board comprised of faculty from various departments. Should a
faculty member receive a recommendation to be denied tenure, the
decision cannot be finalized until the candidate accepts the
decision, which Muldavin has yet to do.
A year is given for that professor to contest the decision and
request reconsideration. The chancellor has the ability intercede
and grant tenure. Chancellor Albert Carnesale said in a press
conference last quarter that he usually does not make
recommendations, which ensures that a separation of powers is
maintained between the administrator and the council appointing
faculty.
He said secretive measures are not in place, as candidates are
allowed to see redacted forms of the review.
Nevertheless, some students are pushing Carnesale to reverse the
decision by distributing flyers, sending letters and signing
petitions.
But some faculty members fear the movement will deter
departments from hiring junior faculty in the future.
“I worry a reversal of this case, due to student pressure,
is going to be a blow to offering junior faculty tenure,”
said geography department Chair John Agnew, who took part in the
departmental review.
Muldavin said he is handling the issue independent of the
students’ efforts, though he extended his appreciation to
supporters.
“I’m humbled by the outpouring support ““ from
students, faculty and student alumni,” Muldavin said.
“I love UCLA, I want to stay here and I believe I deserve to
on all grounds. I’m doing everything I can to have the
process overturned.”
Muldavin declined to comment further.
Many complaints about Muldavin’s research centered on the
quantity and quality of his works, said Agnew.
The majority of Muldavin’s publications and research is
derived from his 12-year study in China. During the trip he studied
rural conditions, sustainable development and the environmental
impacts of entities like the World Trade Organization and the World
Bank.
Muldavin has received several teaching awards and is chair of
the international development studies department, but received
mixed departmental reviews in regards to his research.
“It was essentially graduate school research,” Agnew
said. “I personally thought the teaching record was very
strong, but other parts were not. It’s a hard call, but it
would have been easier if there were more publications in more
recent research.”
The practice of publishing works from a single long-term project
versus several smaller projects is rare in academia, and may
account for the dispute over Muldavin’s research, Nelson
said.
“The geography department is getting more conservative.
His research is controversial because it’s not, “˜We
should put in sweat shops,'” she said.
“It’s not that his research isn’t good,
it’s that a lot of these people don’t agree with his
research.”
Agnew disagreed with the students’ assessments.
“Myself and other people are hardly conservative,
politically,” he said. “This is just not the
case.”
Others believe personal ideologies may have influenced
votes.
“China scholars see the world through a Cold-War lens,
Josh does not,” Fong said. “The challenge with tenure
is that it’s supposed to be an objective process … but
it’s prone to human error.”
Agnew said the process is fair and differences in viewpoints are
integral to the university.
“UCLA is a research university. With China, there are
inevitably political issues that arise, partially on the
environment and trends toward capitalism,” he said.
“But it would be hard to say this was the kind of case
someone was being denied tenure on political grounds.”