Unsuccessful Iowa Legal Writing Faculty Candidate Sues, Claiming Discrimination Due to Her Conservative Views

This story via taxprof:

Teresa R. Wagner, Associate Director of the University of Iowa College of Law Writing Resource Center, has filed a lawsuit against the school and its dean, Tax Prof Carolyn Jones, claiming that she was twice rejected for a legal writing faculty position because of her conservative political views. From the Chroncile of Higher Education and Des Moines Register:

She argues that affiliations listed on her résumé, including stints with groups like the National Right to Life Committee, did her in with a liberal-leaning faculty. To bolster her case, the lawsuit dissects the political affiliations of the approximately 50 faculty members who vote on law-school faculty hires; 46 of them are registered as Democrats and only one, hired 20 years ago, is a Republican, the lawsuit states. Ms. Wagner also says that a law-school associate dean suggested that she conceal her affiliation with a conservative law school [Ave Maria] and later told her not to apply for any more faculty positions.

"She just wants to make it known that conservatives need not apply," Wagner's lawyer, Stephen Fieweger of Moline, Ill., said. "Liberals talk about diversity, except when it comes to bringing in a different, conservative point of view."

I'm shocked by this. Just shocked! How did a Republican get in???

Well this is interesting

Chronicle: University-Provided Laptops Are Taxable to Faculty. (via taxprof)

I previously blogged that the IRS increasingly is requiring faculty to report the value of university-provided cell phones as income under § 280F. This week's Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the IRS is similarly targeting faculty who receive a university-provided laptop: Professors May Have to Pay Taxes on College Laptops, by David Shieh:...

I'm not sure if Oakland U. has done anything in this regard. Then again, maybe they have such a policy somewhere in the 3-million page 'policy' book that seems to grow by the day. I haven't heard of anyone getting a university-provided phone either. At least not on the faculty side.

Texas A&M Faculty Protest $10k Bonuses Based on Student Evaluations

Yeah, I know, you're all shocked by this. "Texas A&M faculty are protesting plans to give $2,500 - $10,000 bonuses to the Top 15% of faculty solely on the basis of student evaluations." I will tell you from personal experience at my University that merit pay of any kind is frowned upon by the majority of the faculty here. It is why our latest faculty contract has nearly universal across-the-board pay raises with a small pittance to merit. Of course, one could always get better evaluations by becoming a 'creampuff' and giving out easy grades, but that will only go so far. On average, good teachers will always get better evaluations than those that are bad. Thus the protest.

Here's a dubious quote: "I don't think faculty are going to pander to students for a few thousand dollars," said Traci Carte, an associate professor of management information systems." Uhhh... actually yes. Yes they would.