Quoting Σταματέλα Πρεντουλή
<prentouli@dflti.ionio.gr>:
Dear Stamatella and George,
I am afraid that I shall be unable
to attend tomorrow's departmental meeting, as I was unable to change my
ticket. However, I am happy to share some of my thoughts and views with the
meeting.
My main concern is the situation with our 407 people. Do correct me if I am
wrong, but as I understand matters, the department is considering replacing
those of our seventeen 407 colleagues who have expressed strong reservations
about signing a teaching contract which awards them the bizarre sum of 113
Euros a month. Given the current and future economic and social situation,
this strikes me as a somewhat inefficient idea, lacking in creativity and
common sense. Would it not be more sensible to simply allocate those
contracts that are unfulfilled to somebody who can take on the extra work, and
therefore be paid more, rather than risk taking on new people who are
unlikely to have the experience, particularly in teaching the highly
professional and difficult subject of interpreting, when we already have
superb staff? It would also be better for the students, who are used to our
excellent standards.
In other words, we need to consolidate, not dissipate and leave hostage to
fortune. Standards are also likely to drop if we do not consolidate
thoughtfully, in which case the Ministry of Education could have an argument
to close down our department, transferring the students to, for example,
Athens, which may already be seeking to introduce new courses.
I think that one or two DEP positions in interpreting are long overdue, and
that this may be part of the cause of our current administrative predicament apart,
of course, from the mistaken measures being taken by the government. Am I
correct in thinking that a presidential decree exists which allows DEP
lecturers to be taken on, provided that they register for a Ph.D.?
It seems clear that some of the teaching being done by 407's could equally
well be done by new DEPs, who would of course replace some 407's, of which it
does appear that there are rather many.
Ay any event, I hope that these thoughts might focus minds on the future as
well the immediate firefighting and patchwork. We need to strengthen, not
weaken ourselves, administratively. I hope that you find these thoughts
helpful, and that they contribute to a productive meeting. Do forgive my using
English, but it would have taken me rather longer to write in Greek. On a
humorous note, Ms.Diamantopoulou would be happy with the English!
Yours,
William
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