I'm a fairly passive member of the Medieval Academy of America. I've reviewed a couple of books for Speculum, and I've attended the annual meeting a couple of times. I would attend the annual meeting more often, but I can make it to only so many spring academic conferences.
Anyway, I was a bit shocked to learn of the sudden resignation of the organization's executive directors, as well as their complaint to the Inside Higher Ed website that they quit because of excessive "oversight" from the officers and councillors.
I happen to know several of the officers and councillors, and I know them to be reasonable human beings deeply concerned about the future of medieval studies. I find it inconceivable that their input would be reckoned a burden by any administrator properly performing his or her job.
Having been on both sides of the officer/adminstrator divide, I can say that the best adminstrators bring a complete selflessness to their duties. Adminstrators are not there to set policy but rather to execute it. Adminstrators should provide their advice on how best to achieve the goals set by the officers and board, but the ultimate decision-making, and responsibility, rests with the elected officials of the organization.
Now I don't know any of the details of what happened, but I find it hard to believe that excessive "oversight" is a legitimate reason for administrators with a deep sense of professionalism to abandon their posts.
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• The Gray Lady discovers Ege (6 December 2015) • CFP: Ulidia 5, Ulster Cycle conference (2 December 2015) • Food on Friday: Cookie cutters (27 November 2015) • Mirror Lake (26 November 2015) • Are today's college students whiners? (24 November 2015)
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