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Record for NoIndoctrination.org entry #616.

University of Wisconsin - La Crosse (UW - L)

Mar. 30, 2007

http://www.uwlax.edu

Course: MGT 408: Change and Changing Contexts of Management

Course Catalog Description: A comprehensive exploration of organizational behavior in its complexity, noting the impact of contemporary contextual variables and delving into systems theory and the concept of the learning community. The underlying theme of this course rests on the realization that internal and external change has become the unique constant of organizational life. The course adopts a modular integrative format introducing students to various contextual environments including Management in a Diverse World, Management in a Globally Linked World, and Management in a Technological World. Prerequisite: MGT 308.

Professor: John Betton

Required? Yes, for my major or minor

Lecture Bias: Excessive

Comments: Let me begin by saying that I received an AB [GPA 3.5] in this course, so this posting isn't harshness triggered by a bad grade.

All of Dr. Betton's lectures centered around pushing his viewpoint and what he felt was right. Complex and debatable issues like global warming, corporate social responsibility, nanotechnology, immigration, etc. were geared to his one viewpoint. When our class was studying immigration and reading only pro-immigration (liberal) readings, I sent my professor links to a few viewpoints that oppose his views. Here is my exact email to Dr. Betton:

On Nov 1, 2006, at 3:25 PM, [Student] wrote:
here is are a few articles that present the detriment of immigration to the United States

first one is a complete anti-immigration
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=1836

and the 2nd one is something i would really like you to consider adding to give a conservative view to immigration
http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=7205

thanks for reading
tony

---------
Dr. Betton's exact email response:

From: Betton John H
Sent: Wed 11/1/2006 5:51 PM
To: [Student]
Subject: Re: takes from the 'other side' to consider on illegal immigration

I get really tired of right wing stuff. Surely you get enough of it. Do you ask for additional readings in your right wing classes. Obviously not. I resent your insulting assumption that you have the right to teach my class or that students are not familiar with right wing racist crap on immigration. Of course they are. My course is not being taught to reinforce right wing ideology. Don't you get enough of this in other classes, or do you need EVERY class to be consistent with extremist views.

Nothing happened during class to make Dr. Betton conduct his email in this manner. This email proves a liberal bias of 'excessive' nature!

[NoIndoctrination.org Note: The student forwarded to us the above email exchange from his university email account and gave us permission to post it. He also gave us permission to reveal his full name if needed. (Although we know our posters' names and have had many communications with them, our policy is not to put their names on postings.) When NoIndoctrination.org asked Tony if Professor Betton ever apologized for this email, he replied, "No apology was issued." We encourage readers of this post to read the two above-linked articles ("Six Reasons Amnesty Is a Bad Idea" and "Immigration Good, Illegal Bad") in order to determine if they are "right wing racist crap on immigration" and "consistent with extremist views."]

Discussion Bias: Excessive

Comments: Professor led all discussions. When you oppose his views, he will flat out tell you 'you are wrong.' There were three students in class that he always chose to pick on that had more moderate viewpoints. He would critique us in everything we said and tell us why we were wrong in front of the class. This did not happen to those students who agreed with his positions. If you represented a conservative view, he hammered you on what was right or wrong, but he 'could see where you were coming from' if you empathized with a left/liberal viewpoint (to be honest I am pretty moderate and saw both sides). When Dr. Betton would flat out say students were 'wrong' or 'incorrect' if their views contrasted with his, he shut down the opposing viewpoint -- but continued on his side of the topic without opening the other end for rebuttal. One example is when I stated that companies who express corporate social responsibility (CSR) hope that financial gains are made because of these gestures. He told me I was incorrect and that companies practice CSR with no expectations. He did not give credence to views that he opposed, and by doing this, students were denied an understanding of the complexity that surrounds controversial and difficult topics.

The one time Dr. Betton opened the class to a conservative viewpoint was for a required presentation on global poverty and starvation by renowned conservative economist William Easterly of New York University. I later brought up the point that education is the cure-all for this problem. Dr. Betton denounced my statement by claiming 'the only way to counteract world poverty is through money.’ It became clear that the way to get an A on the paper was to imply the economist [William Easterly] was wrong. [A recent Washington Post piece concerning William Easterly “Paved With Good Intentions: A crusading economist argues that utopian foreign aid plans do little to ease world poverty” can be read at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051801085.html.]

Readings Bias: N/A

Comments: This post concentrates on the professor's classroom conduct and his unprofessional email reply.

General Comments: Below are some relevant statements of the American Association of University Professors [AAUP] and my reactions to them.

From the AAUP's Academic Freedom Statement:
"Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition.... Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject."
Dr. Betton was in blatant violation of advancing his own views with no relation to the course material. In no way does a class labeled 'changes and changing contexts of management' have any relevance to whether illegal immigrants know more about America than its citizens, or have any need for biomimicry to be introduced. Incidents like this were to better advance his views upon us! Some content was driven towards the course (Corporate Social Responsibility) with his views being shown. These were fine to have in class and provided a different viewpoint; however, I object to his pushing the above-listed topics that had no relevance to 'changing and changing contexts of management'. Furthermore, when opposing views are greeted with utter intolerance (as evidenced by his email), there can be no 'free search for truth and its free exposition.'

From the AAUP's Student Rights and Freedom document:
"Students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion, but they are responsible for learning the content of any course of study for which they are enrolled."
This was another violation. I was fine with learning and reading the content. I objected to his grading being done on whether his opinion and yours matched. (I was given an insufficient on a CSR paper that I refused to change towards his viewpoints.) He did not grade on your quality of work but on what your work said and implied. I did learn to 'play the game' so to speak. I do think I got a good grade based on playing the game and having fact after fact after fact to support the sides of which he didn't support (whereas his side might have only needed 1 or 2 facts to get an 'I can understand' response).

From the AAUP's Statement Freedom and Responsibility statement:
"Membership in the academic community imposes on students, faculty members, administrators, and trustees an obligation to respect the dignity of others, to acknowledge their right to express differing opinions, and to foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and instruction, and free expression on and off the campus."
I feel he did not abide by this either. He would 'pseudo listen' to opposing views followed with 'I think and completely disagree with you.’ This is ok if I did not feel it influenced his grading of course work. His intolerant and hostile response to my email clearly demonstrates that he does NOT 'respect the dignity of others’ and does NOT defend his students’ ‘intellectual honesty’, ‘freedom of inquiry’ and 'freedom of expression.'

[Note from NoIndoctrination.org:The AAUP's Statement on Professional Ethics also states, "As teachers, professors encourage the free pursuit of learning in their students.... Professors demonstrate respect for students as individuals and adhere to their proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors.... They avoid any exploitation, harassment, or discriminatory treatment of students.... They protect their [students'] academic freedom."

Student told NoIndoctrination.org that he had previously sent the above email exchange to the dean of the College of Business Administration and had a "cordial e-mail conversation" with the dean, who referred him to a complaints process board. The student decided this was not an appropriate route. Under the circumstances, we agree. From our experience, formal grievances are often arduous, long, drawn-out processes that can result in reprisal. They are generally reserved for serious wrongdoing - rather than rudeness, intolerance, and off-topic soapboxing (see http://www.uwlax.edu/StudentLife/polics.html). Furthermore,
Dr. Betton is chair of his university's "Complaints, Grievances, Appeals & Academic Freedom Committee" (http://www.uwlax.edu/FacultySenate/committees/CGAAFindex.html).]

[Updates:
On April 11 NoIndoctrination.org sent a letter regarding this post to Bruce May, UW-L Dean of the College of Business Administration. The letter can be read at http://www.noindoctrination.org/UWL_Intolerance.pdf.
Read our May 8 follow-up letter at http://www.noindoctrination.org/LetterToUWL_May8.pdf
Read UW-L's May 21 reply at http://www.noindoctrination.org/UWLResponseMay21.pdf
Read our June 1 response at http://www.noindoctrination.org/LetterToUWL_June1.pdf.]

Rebuttal

Submitted: Nov. 15, 2007

A letter from Bruce May, UW-L Dean of the College of Business can be read at http://www.noindoctrination.org/UWLResponseMay21.pdf

[Above are links to our previous and follow-up correspondences with Dean May.]