Kennesaw State “inactive” Me
After I moved to Marietta in 2003 I completed my masters degree in information technology at Southern Polytechnic. My uncle completed his mechanical engineering technology degree before I was born at Southern Tech in 1974 and I had considered going there as an undergraduate but decided to stay closer to home in South Georgia.
In 2015, under Republican leadership, Georgia decided to continue its plan of consolidating public universities and the school was merged with Kennesaw State.
After teaching at several other area schools, I made contact with the dean of the computer science school at Southern Polytechnic back around 2011 to see if they had a need for teachers or an advisory capacity. Most terms I would teach the undergraduate hardware/software concepts course. I recall being very anxious one term that one of my former professors in graduate school was going to review my course one term and he came back with glowing reviews. I think “you are about the only person around here who knows how to teach this course” was about what he said.
It gets boring teaching the same thing over and over again and I eventually had a run in with a student in an e-commerce course. Some of those reviews can be seen here. Later I found out, she was a co-worker of mine.
I don’t teach for the money, I teach to share knowledge and what I went through that term was pure hell.
I had never had a term go so bad and this combined with the Sam Olens/cheerleader drama and the campus carry changes led me to have a conversation with my department chair who taught me in graduate school to take some time off from teaching. I made certain to have conversations with her and human resources to document all the circumstances and to make sure I had not “burned any bridges” with the university.
Georgia Judges continue to side with elected officials on political matters like campus carry too.
I have since sponsored several IT capstone courses but not been invited back to teach. Then this e-mail came through:
Later I find out I’ve been removed from the part time faculty list with no reason so I waited for this term to kick off to ask:
Was I…
- Being too political?
- Being too harsh on students?
- Not cooperative with my leadership?
- Something else? All of the above?
So I’m “inactive” now but at least I was told I’m eligible to be rehired.
