Thread regarding DeVry Inc. layoffs

Yes, fcts, but I also saw DVU professors who made no apparent mistakes, who consistently did their jobs well, fired in the ongoing purges. The lesson was that no matter what you did, sooner or later your number would be up, yet management was aghast at engagement survey results indicating a perceived lack of job security among faculty - really! For whom does the bell toll?

I describe it as having PTSD from DVU. For the first couple of months at my new job I was constantly fearful that I would be getting fired and getting into trouble for making any mistakes at all. It took a while to get over those type of fears after having them for years with DeVry.

When I had a legitimate health problem, I hoped for humanity from supervisors, but it was not forthcoming. I know of a colleague who had had cancer but literally rushed back to work during chemo and radiation so as not to be fired. My heart goes out to those trapped in the cogwheels grinding them remorselessly along.

There have been some kind postings here recently from former faculty offering hope and sincere encouragement to those left behind and still mired in the quicksand of this organization. There was even an insightful reference to Stockholm Syndrome, whether you agreed with it or not. However, some (perhaps many) remaining faculty feel their professional pedigree is so soiled by the university’s ruined reputation that, along with advancing age on their profiles, opportunities for escape are now limited. It’s been more appalling to watch how these educated, caring professionals are treated each day from all sides. I won’t delve into details here, but many of you understand.

I’m going to tell all of you my secret fantasy. Prior to the recent transfer I had been fervently hoping management would finally announce the teachout so many of us had been anticipating and discussing among ourselves. Simply stop recruiting new students now, tell us the planned date of closure a year or two away, offer us a severance deal at the back end if we stick around until then to service and advise the current remaining students, and after that we can collect some state unemployment benefits to take us a little further into early retirement. It would be best for all stakeholders, though indications are that such a dignified denouement will not come to pass, and this brutal slog down into the muck will continue. Heaven help us.