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Michael Horne thinks Jessica McBride made a mistake when she said she liased with Ed Flynn as an academic, not a journalist. The Brawler tends to agree that her self-destructive streak couldn't help but manifest itself in her statement.

With Jessica McBride describing herself as an "academic" when she fell for the chief at Brocach, it gives the impression she is somehow relating her adultery to her position as an Instructor at the university. This may be of more consequence to the faculty evaluators of UWM than is her affair with the chief.

Just in: The always hilarious Freedom Eden: "Academic ethics?"

Just in: Watchword raises good points -- JMac is a lecturer, not instructor -- in comments.

Just in: Like a true pro, Horne (noted  in comments)  fixes his post. Interscape, self correcting, etc.

Comments

[Watchword]

Michael Horne is making the mistake here -- a series of mistakes -- because of inattention to detail. Titles matter. She is not an instructor, a faculty position. She is a lecturer, an academic staff position. Almost everything he states, cites, and quotes is not relevant. Different position, different promotional process, different expectations for it, different timeline for it, different review committees for it (and different, academic staff committee -- not faculty committee -- for ethics review, too).

Too bad, considering that all this commentary is about what it takes to do good reporting.

[Michael Horne]

I corrected the post, and should have checked the UWM site for her title. My error and sloppy performance! J McBride adds to the confusion herself, and was listed as "Instructor" in a 2008 Milwaukee Magazine article. If I had linked to the source documents, I would not have made this error.
Horne

[illusory tenant]

Don't feel bad. McAdams calls her a "professor."

[Watchword]

It is too bad, as Horne had done excellent research into processes and criteria of promotion -- just relevant to faculty and not relevant to her and other academic staff. Let's hope that Horne retraces his steps to research the same information (also all online)on academic staff promotional processes, criteria, ethics committee, etc., as all could be significant re this case.

In the academic staff process, there are some faculty who have responsibility for review of promotions: those in her own department, her dean, the provost, and the chancellor. And as for academic staff, they have fairly recently requested and gained the right to these somewhat similar processes of self-governance (academic staff senate, academic staff committees, etc.) as a sign of professional status -- so they come with the responsibility for self-regulation. And this could be a test case for them all, so its significance could be far-reaching.

[John Williams]

All pretty interesting. But now that Jessica's department has approved her for indefinite status what her title is may not be as important as the fact that she may end holding her job permanently despite everything that has happened.