> “There is no evidence to suggest that Dr. Crockford’s adjunct appointment was not renewed for ‘telling school kids politically incorrect facts about polar bears,’” said Ms. Parkin. “The University of Victoria, in both word and deed, supports academic freedom and free debate on academic issues.”
vs
> Ms. Crockford accused officials at the Canadian university of bowing to “outside pressure,” the result of her research showing that polar bear populations are stable and even thriving, not plummeting as a result of shrinking Arctic sea ice, defying claims of the climate change movement.
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I guess I was hoping for a better argument given the headline? Is there a strong basis for cause-effect here?
It doesn't seem like Ms. Crockford was a tenured professor either. Her former position was as an "adjunct professor". I admit that I'm ignorant to college-politics, but hopefully someone can fill me in on some of these facts.
At least in my experience with Canadian institutions, an adjunct professorship is largely an honorary title. It is typically unpaid. You can supervise graduate students and apply for some grants, but that is about it. Also it is not meant to be permanent... You receive it for a fixed duration (say 3 years) and have to renew it. Renewal may be based on several factors but certainly may include how well you work with people from the school in question.
I don't know anything about the case being discussed here, but my expectation is that the non-renewal of an adjunct status cannot be compared with getting fired as a tenure or tenure-track professor.
> “There is no evidence to suggest that Dr. Crockford’s adjunct appointment was not renewed for ‘telling school kids politically incorrect facts about polar bears,’” said Ms. Parkin. “The University of Victoria, in both word and deed, supports academic freedom and free debate on academic issues.”
vs
> Ms. Crockford accused officials at the Canadian university of bowing to “outside pressure,” the result of her research showing that polar bear populations are stable and even thriving, not plummeting as a result of shrinking Arctic sea ice, defying claims of the climate change movement.
---------
I guess I was hoping for a better argument given the headline? Is there a strong basis for cause-effect here?
It doesn't seem like Ms. Crockford was a tenured professor either. Her former position was as an "adjunct professor". I admit that I'm ignorant to college-politics, but hopefully someone can fill me in on some of these facts.