UNLV professor’s divine buyout

Should a tenured university professor be allowed to keep her post -- and cash out -- after spending years away from campus pursuing a new degree that could lead to a new career?

That's the fundamental question surrounding this summer's buyout of UNLV communication studies professor Martha Watson. Taxpayers shelled out $7.4 million to remove 48 tenured professors from the UNLV payroll, and Watson's $230,000 severance payment was the third-largest.

In my Aug. 7 column, I criticized Watson's windfall because she had been away from the university for three years, the last two on unpaid leave. And neither the university nor Watson herself would explain why she had been gone for so long, how that leave benefitted the university and why it might have justified the preservation of her position.

After a bit of poking around, I found out how Watson was occupying herself: She was studying to become an Episcopalian priest.

Lord, have mercy.

Watson received her master's degree in divinity on May 9 from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.. She is scheduled to be ordained as a deacon on Oct. 8, according to Nevada Bishop Dan Edwards, and she'll begin serving the church in Bethesda, Md.

Now, let's get some clarifications out of the way. My issues with Watson aren't personal; I don't know her. I admire anyone who wishes to serve their church or answer a calling to their faith. And I'm certainly not against anyone, of any age, deciding to expand their horizons by returning to college.

As a Nevada taxpayer, however, I just can't get over how much it costs to save a few bucks. And I find the courtesies extended to tenured university faculty, in this economy, to border on offensive.

All that said, I'm happy to report Watson changed her mind about discussing her years away from UNLV and, more importantly, how they related to her job at UNLV.

"I have been and still am fascinated by how religion, particularly Christianity, is used to ground arguments about women's rights and roles, the status of African-Americans, etc.," she wrote in an email. "I think you need only look at current politics to see that religion is still a potent force in that arena. The interplay of current politics and religion is a significant topic with sociologists, political scientists, and communication scholars, among others.

"When I took a leave from UNLV in 2008, I had been away from full-time teaching for 15 years. If I were to return to teaching, which I planned to do, I wanted a chance to revitalize my thinking. I had written and published during my years as dean, but felt a need to recharge my intellectual batteries.

"The opportunity to study religion theology, Christian history, Bible history and interpretation and Christian ethics, etc., seemed an appropriate venue. During my years away, I not only developed some potential research projects based on my study, which I mentioned earlier, but I also incorporated some of my learning in my class on Gender, Race and Communication, which I taught each summer. ...

"So, in a real sense, I was able to kill two birds with one stone: enhance my preparation to return to the classroom and my research and discern/prepare for additional ministry," Watson wrote.

The buyout offer made Watson reconsider her plan to return to UNLV.

I'd argue that no one outside of academia has the luxury of being able to recharge their batteries through extended leave while enjoying iron-clad job security. I'd also argue that, despite budget cuts, the structure and traditions of academia have largely spared tenured faculty from the kind of productivity pressures that dominate the private sector, where real unemployment probably tops 20 percent. And I think Watson's buyout would have been better spent saving five support staff positions, or paying for nearly 80 classes taught by part-time instructors.

Watson defends her recent studies and her buyout.

"More than one professor at UNLV has taken the opportunity to get a law degree while teaching full-time and there has been no concern about that. To me, if professors continue to study in areas relevant to their work, it seems a positive thing rather than a point for criticism," she wrote.

"I could have pursued my studies via distance learning while fully employed and no one would have known/cared. In a sense, granting me leave to do it and my being willing to abandon full-time paid employment for two years saved the university my salary for those years. In fact, from one angle of vision, by granting me the leave the university more than paid for my buyout. Further, my leave 'freed up' money to hire more people to teach more students than I would have been able to teach were I there. Economic analysis might suggest that granting me leave was quite cost-effective."

I'd like to see the Board of Regents re-examine the higher education system's leave of absence policies for tenured faculty, and take steps to more strictly limit that leave to 12 months, as currently prescribed by system policy. I'd also like to see stricter eligibility requirements placed on future rounds of buyouts, by basing severance on years of paid work -- not to mention making them less generous. A couple of professors who received buyouts had worked at UNLV for just a few years, yet they received the same payout -- 1.5 times base annual salary -- as those who had been there more than 20 years.

There is one interesting coincidence in Watson's exit from UNLV. Academia is its own priesthood, replete with rites and initiations (and robes, to boot). It's a kind of collective that allows independent responsibilities and judgments while, at the same time, demanding that certain larger standards be honored. Its culture has built-in defenses against outside threats.

Watson is leaving one priesthood for another.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.