No More Publish or Perish: The Silver Lining of Singer's Appointment

(1) The appointment of Martin Singer as Dean of FLAPS assumed and
affirmed that scholarly achievement was an essential criterion of evaluation. The search committee, as confirmed by Mamdouh Shoukri in his letter to faculty, was charged with evaluating candidates' scholarship as well as their teaching and service, including administrative experience. Announcements of Singer's appointment also reflected the importance of scholarly accomplishment. Singer was described as "a renowned scholar of Chinese history" by York University; "such a strong scholar" by President Shoukri, and as the author of "at least five books" by Dean Robert Drummond.

(2) All of these descriptions were exposed as fraudulent when it was revealed, and subsequently acknowledged - by York University, President Shoukri, Dean Drummond and Singer himself - that Singer had, in fact, no record of achievement as a scholar.

(3) Rather than withdrawing Singer's appointment in light of these revelations, however, York University has maintained and confirmed it.

(4) York University's appointment of Singer thus signalled the institution's de facto abandonment of scholarly achievement as a criterion of evaluation.

(5) Henceforth, therefore, aspirants and candidates for appointment, promotion, and tenure at York University can no longer be evaluated by the criterion of scholarly achievement.

(6) Any candidate who is denied appointment, promotion, or tenure, on the grounds of insufficient or inadequate scholarly achievement can now formally challenge any such denial citing the Singer case as evidence that this criterion is either no longer in use at York University or that it is used arbitrarily.

(7) In maintaining the appointment of Martin Singer, York University has not only violated the heretofore accepted norms of academia; it has effectively changed the rules of the game, to the decided legal advantage of all future academic candidates at York University.

Addendum.
It has been suggested that Singer's appointment is not academic but administrative. This is false. As has routinely been the case with other Deans, Singer will have an appointment to an academic department, regardless of whether or not he actually offers courses; the Department of History is expecting to become Singer's academic home. Moreover, despite his own lack of scholarly credentials, Singer will become a powerful arbiter of the qualifications - most importantly scholarly achievement - of all candidates for academic appointment, promotion, and tenure, which is clearly an academic function. Singer's responsibilities will be academic as well as administrative, which is why his scholarly achievements were under review in the search process.

Scholarly achievement was understood from the outset to be an essential criterion in the selection of the new Dean. This is made explicit in the document "Candidates for Election, Decanel Search Committee," May, 2008, which states "In light of the qualities being sought in the new Dean, the following kinds of knowledge, skill, and experience would be assets in faculty members of the Search Committee." The first of the ten qualities listed is "achievement in research, publishing, or editorial work." "Senior administrative experience" is the last.

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