Comments on: Prof. Diane Hoff to leave UMaine

By: A new colleague in Georgia

A new colleague in Georgia — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:06:04 +0000

Your loss is our gain! I am a colleague of Dr. Dianne Hoff at the University of West Georgia, and she is one of the most talented and energetic leaders I have ever worked with.

By: A colleague

A colleague — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:29:51 +0000

It is Dr. Hoff, to be more polite. And she was not “given” her job at all. She was very qualified to be a faculty member at UMaine – partner accommodation is done all the time everywhere and has been done with others at Orono who might have less claim to being hired. The fact is, Dr. Hoff was not welcomed into her college and there was a lot of effort put into blocking her being hired. Some people saw her worth and worked to support her. It was not easy.

How sad to talk of salary savings rather than recognize the many hours of work Dr. Hoff put into her job – far more than the 40 hours or less many put in. How sad not to see the many students in Education at the graduate level whom she advised and mentored. And how sad not to recognize her research, with what that brought to her classes and the College of Education.

As programs continue to lose faculty to other institutions, those programs will decrease in quality and the ability to offer quality courses of study to students. Is this what is desired, all in the name of salary savings? Will quality be maintained when programs run on fumes, perhaps by hiring adjuncts who may or may not have the proper qualifications? Lots of savings, but at what price?

It is not the Hoffs’ fault that tenure exists, nor that faculty members often have to pay huge prices themselves to achieve it. To resent her for being a tireless worker and contributing to UMaine on many levels shows envy. To justify it by identifying as an employee and a taxpayer is strange – keep justifying the loss of the educators by saying you are a taxpayer and soon you will be paying taxes for a run-of-the-mill university or one which has very limited offerings.

Maybe if faculty members are so unpleasant, it would be better to look for a job where you would not have to put up with them? Or lobby for teaching to be done by robots or DVDs? The resentful attitude hurts Maine and attempts to provide a decent higher education.

By: A fed up employee AND taxpayer

A fed up employee AND taxpayer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:50:05 +0000

Oh please. It is not the responsibility of UMaine to elevate Dianne Hoff’s nor any other person’s career. Mrs. Hoff knew when she came here and was “given” her job as a condition of her husband being appointed President the structure of her dept. and its limitations. If she did not like it, she did not have to take it. In reading the UMS Task Force draft report yesterday it is clear the cost control will be a major area that UMS will have to face in the coming years. When Mrs. Hoff’s husband sits at over $133,000 in a “golden parachute” job called University of Maine System Professor it is hard to find sympathy with her frustration that she cannot advance to the higher echelon here. Love it or leave it but many of you faculty display a self-centered, egotistical attitude when you should consider yourself fortunate that you are in jobs that have what 95% of the population does not have – tenure; i.e., essentially permanent job security. UMaine will save some $265,000 in salary and fringe benefits upon the departure of Dianne and Peter Hoff. I say the System and we taxpayers are getting the better deal from this matter.

By: A ticked-off colleague

A ticked-off colleague — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:20:14 +0000

I agree. There are some serious problems at UMaine. Because of this type of nonsense I myself will leave. I just wish UMaine could realize that when people get other offers it doesn’t mean that these individuals are less loyal but rather that these are prominent scholars who UMaine should be proud to retain. Moreover, when the only way for faculty to receive pay raises is through offers from higher-ranked institutions, UMaine is basically packing their bags for them. It’s just plain ridiculous. In my opinion, it is this kind of provincial attitude that keeps this campus from being the fantastic place it really could be.

By: A colleague

A colleague — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:04:47 +0000

In the past year UMaine has made some extremely poor decisions as to who has gotten a counter offer (at least a decent one) and who is allowed to walk out the door. The questionable ones – and there are some of those – are often rewarded with “please stay” and a lot more money, while the excellent ones are told thanks, it’s been nice knowing you. The loss of Dianne Hoff will be felt, that is certain. What other institution lets the winner of its best teacher award leave? Very sad. Programs are suffering, and it will get worse if we keep the bad and lose the good.