Students Have Differing Views of Davis' Teaching By RICHARD L WILLIAMS Chronicle Managing Editor Depending on the source, Winston-Salem State L'niversity Associ ate Professor Richard A. Davis is either a thorough, knowledgeable instructor or a rigid, tightly wound drill sergeant out of touch with his students. Seven students painted contrasting portraits of Daws when they testified last May before the senior faculty of the department of Social Sciences voting on Davis application for tenure. ~,,There~was" not a free flow ofm formation.' San Jra~W oodruff . a former student of Davis, told the faculty. She said Davis w as too rigid" and that his style was "military." "If^you didn't answer the question the right way. almost verbatim to ? what he wanted, you were wrong." she said. "He made you feel like you were on a witness stand instead of in a classroom." Woodruff dropped the course before the semester ended. Todd Tucker, another former student of Davis and a Winston Salem State graduate, said he had an ' excellent relationship with Davis. He said he was in three classes taught bs Daws and enjoyed them all. He made either an A or B in all of the courses. "I never once witnessed anyone ridiculed w here a student asked a particular question and not received an answer I thought was appropri ate, he said. "I thought Dr. Davis was very professional and thorough, and maybe some students took that for intimidation." Davis, who supplied copies of the students taped conversations to the Chronicle , said the students were invited to testify without his knowledge and that he did not have an opportunity to question them. "It's interesting that the negative comments came from the students with marginal grades and the positive comments came from students with consistently good grades," said Davis, who teaches sociology. He also said if the students' allegations were true that the university would have dealt with him at the time of an incident instead of waiting for a tenure hearing. WSSU Professor In Tenure Battle would not be eligible tor tenure at the end of the one-year extension. 1 do not find a substantial basis tor the committee s finding of per should be followed. Robinson wrote in a Jan 14. 1992. memo to Thompson He also said in the memo that the three uni\ersit\ offi son.L m.tiu'e on thi pan ol the utv omN determined u? have *tn.'v*n \ersit\.' Thompson wrote in a Feb. 25. 1991. memo to Nathan A. Har ris. who was chairman of the hear ing committee. The school s Board of Trustee> upheld the chancellor s decision. But the University of North Carolina Board of Governors in turn chided Thompson in a Jan. 14. 1992. memo, saying he should not have rejected the hearing commit tee s findings. The Board of Gover nors dismissed the chancellor s deci sion and instructed him to convene senior faculty members for a new vote on Davis tenure application. Thompson said in an interview this week that everything was done straightforwardly. It wasn't a case where anyone was trying to deny him anything. Thompson said Tuesday. "Dr. Davis just cannot get the vote of faculty members. The guy has had his due process." But Richard Robinson, legal counsel for the University of North Carolina, said Battle, should not have forwarded a recommendation without a vote from the senior fac ultv. t. * "The usual institutional process for evaluating a candidate for tenure personal malice' toward Da\ is be remo\ed from the process, The\ were. Fred Tanner, director of Arts and Sciences; Alex Johnson, vice chancellor of Academic Affairs; and Battle. Johnson yesterday refused to comment on the charge that he showed personal malice against Davis. Battle and Tanner could not be reached for comment. That special-call meeting was held last April. In May. the 10 inember group voted 4 to 3 (there were two abstentions and one con venor) in favor of tenure. Although the vote was in favor of tenure for Davis. Paul E. Kuhl. the convenor of the meeting, deter mined not to recommend the confer ral of permanent tenure. Reached at his office last week. Kuhl refused to explain why he recommended against tenure follow ing a 4-3 favor able vote. If Mr. Davis w ants to talk w ith you that's one thing, but 1 don't think it would be appropriate to discuss the ins and outs of it." he said. There are avenues of redressing this thing and I don t know if he has gone through them all. So at this point. I think it would probably be KM it 1 did not comment. Ho was then asked whether the -?-3 \ ote constituted a majont) . ' The short answer is no. Kuhl vid. ? Thi- lung tm'.nn?r uoulil he that personnel matters like this are confidential. Thompson said he did not deem the 4-3 vote a definitive statement." But in the April 23 memo to the 10 senior faculty members announcing the special-call meeting, he told them to reach a decision h:werl nn majority vote. That 4-3 vote did not represent the majority of the senior faculty." Thompson said. Davis appealed Kuhl's decision, and three months later Kuhl con vened another meeting of the senior faculty to determine whether his recommendation was appropriate. The faculty voted 8 to 3 to uphold Kuhl s recommendation denying Davis tenure. The only thing at this point is to reactivate the hearing commis sion on the grounds that there again was personal malice." Davis said in an interv iew . But I've already been through that, and the process that was to remedy the original problem was just as bad as the original prob lem." In September. Davis' lawyer, J. Griffin Morgan ^of Winston-Salem, wrote l'NC President C.D. Spangler asking for the Board of Governors from page A1 to Like over ths-case. This three-year-long experi ence in futilits leads us to conclude that any turther reliance on the Win ston-Salem State Lniversits tfnev ance system is fruitless and mean ingless." Morgan said in his letter. Morgan did not return several phone messages left at his office. Last November, the UNC Com mittee on Personnel and Tenure concluded in a memo to Thompson that there wns no material. error, in reevaluting Davis' application for tenure. The memo further stated: "Only when confronted with compelling evidence that an institutional recom mendation to Confer tenure is ill advised should the board reject such a recommendation." 4STPA IV IM CORPORATION BORROW BUY OR BROWSE 2828 UNIVERSITY PARKWAY COLLEGE IMAZA CENTER HONDA Y-SATUROAY ? H - SUNDAY 1-6 What is Tenure? For most teachers, academic tenure provides a lifetime protection against dismissal. According to the Winston Salem State University Faculty Handbook . tenure refers to the con ditions. and guarantees that apply to a faculty members' employment. * More specifically, it refers to the protection of a faculty member against involuntary suspension or discharge from employment or reduction in rank except upon spec ified grounds. . . Tenure for faculty members is intended to secure their academic freedom and to help the institution attract and retain faculty members of high quality, the handbook states. '"While tenure may be withheld on any grounds except those specifi cally stated to be impermissable . . . conferring tenure requires that instutional needs and resources be assessed along with the faculty members' competence and potential for future contribution-^the hand ? book states. The power to oecome. With a lot of determination and the help of Easter Seal quality rehabilitation programs, millions of people are living better I ires. Gire the power to beeome. 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