Nathanial Bork was fired from Community College of Aurora in September. He claims it was because he was trying to blow the whistle on what he considered a weakening of academic standards in the classroom.
Now, the American Association of University Professors is investigating the firing. At issue is whether or not the college has watered down certain courses to allow people to pass more easily.
CCA refers to certain courses as 鈥済ateway courses鈥� -- transfer courses with high rates of failure. The new 鈥溾€� took the emphasis off traditional classroom teaching and put it on shorter, professor-guided writing assignments, peer review and reduced classroom content. One of Bork鈥檚 chief complaints was that the new strategy made him focus five classes on crafting a writing assignment -- something he says was not his job as a philosophy professor.
Bork鈥檚 intro to philosophy course was considered one of the gateway courses. After implementing the new standards, he says it felt he was teaching an overpriced high school class. - CCA鈥檚 state accreditor - and to CCA鈥檚 administration expressing concern that the school was making his class too easy.
鈥淚 said -- this is my interpretation -- that this is the soft bigotry of low expectations, that students are going to leave CCA with an associates degree but they鈥檙e not going to have any actual college education behind that degree,鈥� Bork says. 鈥淎nd when they go out to the job market or they go out to the four year colleges, they will not be prepared to compete.鈥�
Things moved fast after Bork sent the letter. The following week during his class, he got a surprise visit from the chair of the philosophy department for an on-the-spot performance review.
It didn鈥檛 go well.
鈥淔or six years I鈥檝e not had a single bad review, all my student evaluations were really solid,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 get that bad review, and then on Tuesday they call me while I鈥檓 getting an oil change and they tell me I鈥檓 fired.鈥�
, CCA鈥檚 reason for dismissing Bork is 鈥渓ack of effectiveness in implementing the philosophy cirriculum redesign.鈥� He says when he was evaluated, he was actually in the process of . He was not given an opportunity to appeal his firing.
CCA declined to comment specifically on Bork鈥檚 firing, but Janet Brandau, vice-president of academic affairs, insists that nothing was out of the ordinary.
鈥淲e followed our policy. And I think that鈥檚 the only thing I can say,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing in what happened with Mr. Bork that did not follow our policies through the state board.鈥�
The Colorado Department of Higher Education conducted a brief three-day inquiry of their own. In an letter to CCA president Betsy Oudenhoven, CDHE said they were satisfied with the way the school was implementing the standards.
At the time of his firing, Bork was the president of the CCA chapter of the American Association of University Professors, an advocacy group. He immediately alerted the national organization of his dismissal. They reviewed his case, and in September, contacted CCA and recommended that Bork be allowed to appeal his firing. Oudenhoven didn鈥檛 act on the recommendation.
In October, AAUP decided to conduct their own investigation. It formally began on Dec. 2. Bork, along with members of CCA鈥檚 administration and faculty, was interviewed by their investigative committee. Greg Scholtz is AAUP鈥檚 director of academic freedom, tenure and governance. He says the case not only involves Bork鈥檚 rights as an employee, but also his academic freedom.
鈥淎AUP conceives of the people teaching on the college university level -- you know, in professional terms, these people are trained, they know their subject matter supposedly -- and what is their purpose in being there? Their purpose in being there is making sure their students learn something,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen the person who is most interested in the students鈥� learning, and who knows most about the subject matter, can鈥檛 control the course, then what happens to higher education?鈥�
Another philosophy professor - William Honsberger - chose to resign when the standards were implemented. In , he voiced similar concerns. Both professors also said they weren鈥檛 involved in developing the curriculum and that it was foisted upon them, something that CCA鈥檚 Brandau denies.
鈥淎ll faculty were given the opportunity, all faculty were given a voice, all faculty were invited to the table so to speak, and to be a part of this process,鈥� she says.
Both sides agree on one thing though - CCA鈥檚 imperative was either teach these classes according to their standards, or don鈥檛 teach.
AAUP will continue interviewing people at the college until they decide they have gathered enough information. Then they will put together a report with recommendations for CCA. If CCA doesn鈥檛 implement those recommendations, AAUP will vote on whether or not to censure the school next year. As for Bork, he says he isn鈥檛 looking to get his job back. He doesn鈥檛 want what happened in his class to become the standard for college courses around the state. And he wants someone -- whether it鈥檚 the school, the state board, or the legislature -- to take a closer look at these standards.
