tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28080901.post1457495957963793835..comments2024-03-20T08:37:50.011+00:00Comments on Bullying of Academics in Higher Education: Inquiry into workplace bullying, Australia. Submission 232.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28080901.post-38382164580806644992012-11-18T03:02:11.269+00:002012-11-18T03:02:11.269+00:00Many years ago at the institution where I used to ...Many years ago at the institution where I used to teach, our department head at the time took an internal leave to work elsewhere. The assistant head was temporarily promoted to take over and I was made to pay for it.<br /><br />That assistant head had an axe to grind against me. Most of the year and a half that he was in charge was taken up with persecuting me, the objective being my leaving, preferably dismissed in disgrace and dishonour.<br /><br />He was obsessed with that objective and took every opportunity to bully and harass me, even if it was in public (and, yes, he did it once in front of my students during a lecture he sat in on). My effectiveness in teaching was reduced as a result and dealings with my colleagues became strained.<br /><br />The dressing-down in front of the students prompted me to file a complaint with the associate dean. He conducted his own investigation and the matter was apparently resolved a few weeks later in a meeting.<br /><br />The assistant head didn't leave well enough alone. He was excessively critical in my next performance evaluation, citing incidents that occurred before that meeting as proof of my being a poor instructor. I met with the associate dean once more and that performance evaluation was "mysteriously" rewritten and much more favourable.<br /><br />A few years later, there was a large re-organization of the institution and we had a new dean. It didn't take long for the assistant head to go on the warpath once again. That never stopped until I finally decided I could afford to go off on my own and I finally quit.<br /><br />The assistant head may have succeeded in my finally leaving but he didn't win. I left under terms that I dictated and of my own free will. I also left him a memo outlining how his persecution of me contributed to my personal accomplishments.<br /><br />It's a pity I wasn't around to see his face when he read it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com