The New York University (NYU) fired its organic chemistry professor, Maitland Jones Jr, after students complained that the course was “too hard” and blamed the professor for their poor test scores, The New York Times reported. As many as 82 of his 350 students signed a petition against him. Jones earlier taught chemistry at Princeton for more than 40 years. Here’s all you need to know.
Reputed professor sacked by NYU
Maitland Jones, a professor at New York University is well-known in the field of organic chemistry. He has written an important textbook and is well respected by most students and faculty. However, NYU terminated his contract before the fall semester as 82 students signed a petition against him. They are blaming their poor scores due to their difficult class. The scores are hurting their medical school opportunities.
The university took action to appease agitated students. In an email, Jones was told that the department would “extend a gentle but firm hand to the students and those who pay the tuition bills.”
However, Jones’ colleagues are protesting his termination. “I teach at NYU and don’t think this guy should have been fired. One of the many problems with insanely expensive private education is that institutions have an incentive to treat the student as a customer. And not a student who needs to learn certain things,” tweeted Elizabeth Spiers, a writer a professor at NYU.
More on the situation
During the pandemic, Jones’ students expressed dissatisfaction with his teaching methods. Some claimed he did not allow Zoom access to his lessons, while others claimed his tone was “condescending and demanding.”
However, Jones and his colleagues stated that they provided assistance to students affected by COVID-19 disruptions.
As per an NYT report, Jones personally spent $5,000 on making lecture videos which are still used by NYU.
When the campus opened, Jones said he found students disengaged.
“They weren’t coming to class, that’s for sure, because I can count the house,” Jones was quoted as saying by NYT. “They weren’t watching the videos, and they weren’t able to answer the questions (in exams)
Jones stated that he does not want his job back but wants to ensure that another non-tenured professor is not fired in this manner.
His academic standards were lauded by his colleagues. “We hope that students will see that putting them through that rigor is doing them good,” one of his coworkers, Professor Paramjit Arora, said.