Ave Professor Gets Partial Restitution
Mon, Jun25, 2007 - Category: University
On Tuesday June 5, AveWatch released the story
of an Ave Maria University Latin American Campus
(AMULAC) faculty member who filed complaints
with the Florida Department of Education and the
American Embassy (Nicaragua) about her workplace
treatment. Within 24 hours of appearing on this
website, one of her problems was solved - a
reinstatement of medical insurance that, for
three weeks, Ave Maria refused to fix.
But some site visitors wrote to protest our connection between the fixing of the professor's insurance and her story appearing on AveWatch. "Here's the story," said one visitor, "AveWatch didn't wait long enough to see the issue resolved."
But there was more.
What AveWatch did not reveal back on June 6 was that yet another AMULAC faculty member - one who also had a long ongoing claim against AMULAC - suddenly received a verbal agreement to rectify his problems. This unexpected new tone surfaced within 12 hours of the June 5 AveWatch post. Earlier today, part of that second professor's issue over severance payment was resolved by receiving a check.
AMULAC (Nicaragua) took steps to fix long-standing problems and extend an apology to the professors involved. That's good; credit should be given where credit is due. It is regrettable, however, that such steps did not come without public exposure. But AMU (Florida), for its part, appears utterly incapable of examining its own conscience and much less of being penitent. In response to an inquiry sent by the Florida Department of Education concerning the second professor's severance issue, AMU VP John Sites said, "I would like to summarize the matter this way: ... the University explained the complaint as a resigned and ill faculty member's angry attempt to embarrass the campus at which he worked because he did not get the amount of severance to which he thought he was entitled" (May 15, 2007).
But some site visitors wrote to protest our connection between the fixing of the professor's insurance and her story appearing on AveWatch. "Here's the story," said one visitor, "AveWatch didn't wait long enough to see the issue resolved."
But there was more.
What AveWatch did not reveal back on June 6 was that yet another AMULAC faculty member - one who also had a long ongoing claim against AMULAC - suddenly received a verbal agreement to rectify his problems. This unexpected new tone surfaced within 12 hours of the June 5 AveWatch post. Earlier today, part of that second professor's issue over severance payment was resolved by receiving a check.
AMULAC (Nicaragua) took steps to fix long-standing problems and extend an apology to the professors involved. That's good; credit should be given where credit is due. It is regrettable, however, that such steps did not come without public exposure. But AMU (Florida), for its part, appears utterly incapable of examining its own conscience and much less of being penitent. In response to an inquiry sent by the Florida Department of Education concerning the second professor's severance issue, AMU VP John Sites said, "I would like to summarize the matter this way: ... the University explained the complaint as a resigned and ill faculty member's angry attempt to embarrass the campus at which he worked because he did not get the amount of severance to which he thought he was entitled" (May 15, 2007).