During the past two months several articles in The Poly have addressed the termination of my e-mail access. This access was terminated because I distributed e-mails that criticized the administration’s failure to comply with its obligation to improve the state of shared governance and open dialogue at RPI. This obligation was incurred when the administration and board accepted our own Self-Assessment Report for Reaccreditation and the Middle States Visiting Team’s Report, both of which identified shared governance and open dialogue as topics for serious improvement at RPI. As chair of the Self-Assessment Steering Committee, I considered it my responsibility to insist that the administration and the board fulfill their obligation in this matter. It was this obligation to the RPI community that prompted me to express my concerns via e-mails.

On September 5 the American Association of University Professors wrote a letter to the RPI administration which included the following comments regarding the termination of my e-mail access:

“Assuming the essential accuracy of what we have stated in this letter, we urge you to restore Professor Steiner’s Rensselaer e-mail access. Should you believe that his actions warrant sanction, we recommend that the administration provide him with a statement of charges and afford him a hearing before an elected faculty body, in accordance with our recommended standards.”

The administration has not followed up on the AAUP request. The administration has not even responded to the AAUP letter, which prompted the AAUP to send the administration a second letter on October 8. I will be surprised if the administration responds to the AAUP letters in a meaningful fashion, since to do so would be an acknowledgement of its culpability.

The termination of my e-mail access is simply a reflection of the the administration’s: (1) inability to tolerate criticism; (2) disdain for open dialogue; and (3) vindictive approach to management. The restoration of my e-mail access is not really the issue. The issues are:

Will the board acknowledge that shared governance and open dialogue do not exist at RPI under the current administration, and will the board act to restore these essential characteristics of this great university?

Don Steiner