Peer Tutoring - Is it the Delegations Fault?

Peer Tutoring - Is it the Delegation's Fault?I am writing this article in response to the recent publicity about a Wesleyan professor's public disparaging comments about deans_peer_tutoring@wesleyan.edu. While this has certainly been widely publicized, it is not only the adjunct faculty that has been affected by this episode. The doctoral student who has been known as 'Peer Tutor' since the mid-1990s has been subject to online harassment and abuse.Last week, when I learned that some of my classmates were preparing a letter of protest, I wondered if the outcry over the deans' comments would affect my experience with Dean Allison. After all, a new professor may not have had a lot of interaction with her, but I had also become acquainted with her during my time at Wesleyan, and we have a good relationship.I went to check out the situation on Thursday night, and what surprised me most was how many students were ready to join the protest. Most of them seemed relatively junior, like myself , and did not have any particular loyalty to the Dean. In fact, they seemed to feel a strong sense of ownership in this situation, knowing how much the Dean had been instrumental in helping them through their PhD program and career.The dean of the graduate school has an active and visible job, not only through her teaching but also her involvement in the community. This gives her a number of opportunities to get involved in local issues, not just through her teaching. Some students worried that the protests would make it harder for her to do her job. It appears that the actual question that I think must be asked, is whether the current protest will actually help the dean.Does the dissatisfaction of some of her students mean that her job is in jeopardy? Her continued presence as the dean of graduate studies may be contingent on the fact that she is popular and she is still known as the dean of the graduate school. What can students really do? What are some of the alternatives to prot esting against the dean?The student who planned the protest against the dean was quite active online, which could indicate the difficulties of getting students to take on these roles. My guess is that this will not have any impact on her presence as dean. It also seems that the students who care enough to do something are not quite sure what that something is. More than one has noted that one of the reasons for the protest was, 'Dean Allison isn't doing enough,' while the other students claim, 'Dean Allison doesn't want to do anything.' While both arguments might have some merit, neither one may help the dean, or those who were affected by the protests.In fact, it seems that a letter written by students saying that 'Dean Allison doesn't want to do anything' may actually have played into the hands of those who oppose her, as her name will now be part of the complaints about her. There was one undergraduate who wrote the letter, saying 'I'm worried that she'll be fired because we won' t let her continue as dean!' This is a perfectly reasonable concern and one that should be aired openly, but one wonders if such fears are being felt because the Dean is actually doing her job, or because she is not doing her job. In any case, we must recognize that although the dean has been targeted by some students for the last several weeks, she remains the Dean of Graduate Studies, even if her place in the community has been attacked.The real question for the future is whether students will still protest against the dean because she isn't doing enough, or because she is doing too much. And why did it take so long for students to see this as a problem? I suspect that this controversy has been brewing for some time and has been ignored by students who wanted to avoid conflict, or who are simply too busy with academic work to take an active role in protesting. the Dean.