At George Washington University, an adjunct professor who has for seventeen years taught an enormously popular course on human sexuality has been fired (or, as his linguistically manipulative chair insists, "not renewed"). The reason? A student evaluation written last spring by a woman student. Though most of Michael Schaffer's evaluations were very positive, one woman used the evaluation to threaten a sexual harassment lawsuit against Schaffer. According to this student, Schaffer "does not teach, but reads extremely sexual student responses (to take-home papers), repeatedly hands out condoms, (and) shows naked pictures and video;" she also accused him of talking about pubic hair in class and demanded that he be fired. Schaffer does not deny doing any of the things she describes, but defends his actions as pedagogically sound.

Schaffer was not given an opportunity to respond to the accusations, which I am assuming were made anonymously--the student newspaper quotes from the evaluation, which was supplied by Schaffer, but does not name the accuser, and unless she signed her name to a form that is designed to be filled out anonymously, her identity would be unknown. Lack of due process? Absolutely. But do adjuncts have rights? No, they don't.

Schaffer's students are defending him in the student paper. Meanwhile, despite the fact that Schaffer's chair tried to convince him that one reason he was "not renewed" is that the GW exercise science department was thinking of moving in a different direction, the department is presently offering three sections of a course that Schaffer himself originated fifteen years ago.

Thanks to Maurice Black for the link.

UPDATE 9/13/05: InsideHigherEd.com has more.

UPDATE: 9/14/05: Still more at University Diaries.

I have to say, since I teach as an adjuct at a small college nearby where I attend grad school, that this is one of my biggest fears - some ticked off student will file an anonymous complaint and I will get fired - and then it will be harder to get future jobs teaching.

Adjuncts have no rights in the system and the admins consider us easily replaced since apparently anyone can do our job.

It's the basic problem with "academic freedom" in its current form. It's a privilege reserved for tenured faculty: even tenure-track but yet to be tenured faculty don't really have it in any way that counts.

The truly bizarre thing here is that George Washington had this class with this particular professor with his obviously distinctive class for seventeen years and then reacted so abruptly due to one evaluation, and one that expressed only being offended in a class dedicated to subject material practically guaranteed to offend. That makes me think that this isn't even about the degree to which sexually-themed accusations alarm college administrations, but about the desire to get a cheaper adjunct and shed Schaffer's salary.

Exercise science classes for explict sexual topics?

If the sex material was not necessarily part of the class material, he should not be renewed for having (admittedly) included it - even of it took a long time to get around to it.

If the sex material was necessarily part of the class material, the reason given for his nonrenewal was a fiction.

I would imagine that Patricia Sullivan had been looking to get rid of the guy for a while, and did so as soon as she bcame acting department chair.

(BTW, your spam filter is creating a curious puzzle to solve -- what's the magic word I need to change?)

Hmmm, apparently the offending bit was the line I had quoted from the start of Timothy Burke's second paragraph. How come he can say it but I can't?!? (I'm getting blocked from quoting even a single word of it!)

This is truly sad and unfortunate. I am embarrassed today to be a forward thinking free willed female. If the female student(s) had an issue with any of the material in the class here is an idea, "drop the class" or better yet discuss your concerns directly with the professor. Seventeen years of terrific reviews and one or two sad.. sad women ended it. There is not enough open communication regarding sex, sexual orientation and sexual preference in this uptight country. It makes me ill to think that two narrow minded ridiculous women can put an end to subject matter which is not only NOT harrasment but is crucial to the understanding of sexual awareness, communication and exploration.

Gloria

"There is not enough open communication regarding sex, sexual orientation and sexual preference in this uptight country."

Oh my stars.

Erin, you've mentioned before about the line between classes-as-education and classes-as-therapy being blurred. I think this one qualifies.

This one is overqualified.