These are basically NDAs for public employees in order to mute criticism of the mismanagement of the institution - ThreadSky

donmoyn.bsky.social • 2 days ago

These are basically NDAs for public employees in order to mute criticism of the mismanagement of the institution

Indiana University is giving buyouts to retiring faculty-- but only if they agree not to badmouth the school.
indianapublicmedia.org/news/iu-facu...

Comments

smstjohn.bsky.social•2 days ago

They might be able to mute a few faculty but I doubt they will be able to mute the liberal community of Bloomington or the students. Indiana and Florida are going to have to learn the hard way that people don't want to pay for propaganda--it isn't really an education

akiva631.bsky.social•2 days ago

This won’t possibly backfire, will it? 🤦🏻

jhawktlc.bsky.social•2 days ago

But telling the truth isn't disparaging or defamatory, right? Pathetic

rubbaduxx.bsky.social•1 day ago

That’s what’s so bad about a non-disparagement clause—It doesn’t matter how true it is, if you talk about it you’re getting heavily sued

brassgoddess.bsky.social•2 days ago

What a horrible thing to do with taxpayers' money and students' tuition.
Students and taxpayers are being charged money so that IU can pay staff to hide the truth from them.

fangferric.bsky.social•2 days ago

So much for universities as bastions of free speech

johngage1.bsky.social•2 days ago

Waiting for Free Speech warrior JD Vance to come and defend the public employees.

lalady75.bsky.social•2 days ago

I can't wait for someone from my college to write the book about how a certain for-profit sunk it. I would still be working there at a job I loved, with dedicated faculty and staff and great students if not for that. The only plus is that karma got the dirty-dealing parent company.

doctorcarrie.bsky.social•2 days ago

At that point, I'd write a "fiction" about a university that was mismanaged and become a #1 on a best sellers list or something to mess with them.

ajcoog.bsky.social•2 days ago

Translation: we'll bribe you with lucre if you keep our dirty secrets about how we kiss the ring of a tyrant.

bcnjake.bsky.social•2 days ago

If my institution ever tried this, I think they would fundamentally underestimate the monetary value I'd place on being able to talk shit for the rest of my existence. Like, I love my institution, don't get me wrong. But I love shit talk, too.

traceyhtweet.bsky.social•2 days ago

Aren’t NDAs illegal?

chrissmithmuso.bsky.social•2 days ago

I know shit about my alma mater that's *still* actionable, 27 years later.

And I didn't sign no NDA.

seadragonpnw.bsky.social•2 days ago

Seems like an information dump is needed. The institution can't be trusted to self regulate

nickytheprof.bsky.social•2 days ago

IU alum here. They’ll never get another penny from me, and they will know why.

maitrijen.bsky.social•2 days ago

Same.

jig.bsky.social•2 days ago

good luck trying to enforce that bullshit.

victorsilverman.bsky.social•2 days ago

Unfortunately, standard procedure for buyouts. I spent months negotiating my retirement buyout since they required I sign one, but I did bargain to get them to allow me to mention it for the purposes of research and scholarship.

(I consider this part of the scholarly discussion.)

rubbaduxx.bsky.social•1 day ago

Which sucks heavily because the original intent of an NDA was to protect proprietary info, like if you left tech firm A and got hired onto tech firm B, you legally couldn’t pass on secrets about your old employer’s developments

Making NDAs boilerplate is shady, and non-disparagement is even worse

katdene.bsky.social•2 days ago

As a relatively recent IU grad this does not surprise me at all
Whitten’s leadership has sent IU down a scary path fast

tozarowicz.bsky.social•1 day ago

Quick search... apparently there is a legal & practical difference between non-disclosure agreements & non-disparagement agreements... both called NDAs.

#TIL

rubbaduxx.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yep, sometimes they include both in a contract

tozarowicz.bsky.social•1 day ago

Partly why the search brought it up. The US NLRB considers each clause separately in such contracts, I read.

bosteels.bsky.social•2 days ago

Thirty pieces of silver.

merlin619.bsky.social•1 day ago

OPM is also doing this with the “probationary” employees they re-hired after illegally firing them via DOGE.

mop-fautneddy.bsky.social•2 days ago

Indiana imitates trump --- Fuck that.

ggl25.bsky.social•2 days ago

Wow. It must have been awful.

mysticlee123.bsky.social•2 days ago

Hopefully they demanded double.

mattr644.bsky.social•2 days ago

Is this even legal? I mean I know it is in the private sector, but this doesn't seem to pass the sniff test

sandy2950.bsky.social•1 day ago

These actions should help encourage lots of students and faculty to stay away from Bloomington Indiana!!

daverodland.bsky.social•2 days ago

Not just publics like IU. I've heard from multiple colleagues that the same policy was standard practice for the retirement buyouts at my own small liberal arts institution ... and they're still laying off non-tenure line faculty. How they plan to keep my family quiet is an open question.

ludovica1.bsky.social•2 days ago

And Trump had the bald faced temerity to accuse Great Britain of not having Free Speech?

donmoyn.bsky.social•2 days ago

This is not an ideological thing: here is the right wing argument for why NDAs are a bad thing for internal critics of universities! https://jamesgmartin.center/2021/01/the-ways-in-which-colleges-legally-silence-troublesome-scholars/

fishyfish479.bsky.social•2 days ago

NDAs are illegal.

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