All said by one person!

What follows are some direct quotes from a senior faculty member at Hiram College that are bullet-pointed. The explanations or context are underneath the quotes after ***. 

• "You don't seem to have a grasp on what it means to be a member of the department of communication here at Hiram College. We teach classes we're not well-versed in like my p.r. class." 

***said to me in response to my complaining that I was being assigned three new classes the following academic year. A female faculty member one year my junior in the same department has yet to teach three new classes in any academic year.  

"We teach classes we're not well-versed in?" What the hell is that? 

• "This isn't some state school. If you can't handle the workload, maybe Hiram College isn't the right place for you."

***said to me in my office the fall of the academic year when I was teaching 3 new classes. I said I am overwhelmed and she said “we are all overwhelmed!” She also said “maybe it’s different at a state school and you are not used to being at a private liberal arts school.” 

But here's the kicker....She said she often doesn’t leave her office until 7 p.m. at night……MOMENTS AFTER WE FINISHED TALKING, SHE SHUT OFF HER LIGHTS, CLOSED HER OFFICE DOOR AND SAID, “HAVE A NICE WEEKEND.” AT 3:19…..

• "All you did was teach and go home."

***said to me in a phone call about how I responded when my Mom suffered a stroke at home and was hospitalized and I was her only caregiver. For the record, I did not teach and go home. I still attended faculty meetings and helped plan a conference. I don't care if people don't like each other but at least be decent to one another. This is despicable. 

"It's like you were saying 'forget Hiram.' 

***said to me in the same phone call as above when I panicked after I learned my Mom had a stroke. I was halfway done with a 3-week class and did not know what to do. So I called the Dean's office and asked if I could have someone sub for me for the last 6 classes. 

• "I only share things with you that pertain to you."

***said in response to my complaint directly to this faculty member about the lack of communication in the department and that we don't know what each other is doing. 

• In giving advice on how to advise students, this faculty member said to me, just print out their transcript and their alt-pin (a 4 digit number required to sign up for classes) and you have to call and ask lots of questions. 

• In discussing the way the Comm department does Senior Seminar and Capstone classes, I suggested the idea that the students do panel presentations rather than posters since the papers were on similar topics….the senior faculty member kept interrupting me when I was trying to explain my idea. I kept having to restart my thought. She kept barging in saying two were concept papers or whatever….which. does. Not matter. 

            Anyway, she didn’t like the idea. She said, “They are not all going on to grad school.” 

            I said the panel idea is better because the students can see each other’s work and it will be more of a true communication experience. She said, “How long will that take?” She said with the number of students we have that that could take a couple days…..which is wrong.

• On Sept. 21, 2018, this faculty member came to my office to help with advising a student. She helped look at a student's transcript and after that went into a “by the way” kind of discussion about my e-mail comment that I “am the mule of the department” carrying the heavy workload. The faculty member took exception to that and said she didn’t get it at first but then when looking at how the meeting went, she understood where I was coming from. 

She then lashed out and said how hard she and the other female faculty member are working……and that I should just ask what she and the other one are doing. I said, “if someone asks me ‘what is going on with pr internships and health communication internships,’ I don’t know the answer to that.” the dept chair said, “You should ask.” 

Seriously, the chair of the communication department said I should ask ‘what’s going on?’ to find out what my colleagues/my department is involved in. 

This was my life in the Communication Department at Hiram College. And the Dean or Deans and the Human Resources Director(s) did nothing. 

#hostileworkenvironment   #abusive   #toxic