Continued from last week… IV, Concept of Sikh Chairs Before we go on to a specific model for funding and managing “Sikh Studies” it would be necessary to understand) what we mean by the words “Sikh Chairs.”
Most though not all Universities have endowed chairs usually established in the ‘nam of a generous donor, This “Chair “is usually in a specific discipline of teaching or research, An endowed chair means a tenured lifetime position awarded to an established scholar who already has a distinguished track record, It is truly an honor bestowed, a recognition granted by the academic community and he University. A rare professor gets such an honor, ‘most professors never do, and a chair is emphatically ever held by anew Ph.D. who ‘would usually occupy the untenured rank of an Instructor or an Assistant Professor.
‘We are not aware of any endowed chairs that are an exception to the above guidelines except the so called “Sikh Chairs,” By establishing Sikh chairs we are in a sense providing lifetime, tenured positions to new, young scholars who have no proven track record and rightly should be competing at the lower end of the academic marketplace for appointments, promotion, tenure and research funding, V. Specific recommendations in the case of Sikh Studies, Clearly we support the idea of community funding for Sikh studies but we cannot endorse the concept of “Sikh Chairs as presently constituted. The questions then are how to manage funding for such programs and what to expect from the holders of such positions. We believe that new Ph.D. scholars should compete in the academic marketplace to find appointments in departments of religion, history, anthropology, South Asian studies etc. depending upon their areas of specialization. Examples of such appointments exist with scholars of Sikhism in the history departments of the University of Otego, Louisiana State University, and also in the departments of religion at Colby College and Gettysburg College.
‘These scholars should then apply for funds to support their specific research and in some cases even their salary, ‘Whether in whole or part. In other words, ‘We are suggesting a funding model some ‘what like that of NIH discussed above.
‘The question here is, can one support research without supporting a Chair? We say, yes. Support graduate fellowships. Provide research furs, travel funds, publication costs, and funds for research assistants and staff. Provide grants where part or whole of faculty salary can also be covered.
In other words, why not award grants for research project like the NIH, NSF and many private foundations do? Individual scholars submit a proposed research project along with a reasonable budget for it; such a grant can also be for curricular development or for. A course to be taught. ‘This way Sikh Studies Programs can be established without attaching to them a lifetime guarantee of a job, This also lets the funding agency determine which research project is meritorious and deserves support and which does not.
Major advantages of such a model would be l) increased competitiveness and 2) it. Would not matter where or with whom the ‘scholar trained. What would matter would be the merit of the grant application and it fundability. There is no reason why such funding support from the community could not underwrite the development of new academic teaching also.
If would be entirely fair to expect that the funded scholars will provide:
1, Annual progress report. Renewal of further finding could then be contingent ‘upon satisfactory progress.
2, Occasional talks at the gurdwara if that is a supporting body.
3, some level of community involvement in Sikh community, particularly if the scholar is Sikh, Even the NIH has hearings on its budget and their activities are ‘commented ‘upon and questioned in the Congress. There is no reason why such matters should not be discussed at special ‘hearings held in gurdwaras.
Tn other words, we are saying to the scholars if you want my money keep open the communication with me, You cannot say, I want your money but will tell you nothing of what I do with it
- Advantages of the proposed model for funding Sikh studies:
‘There are some very obvious advantages to the proposed model for management and funding of Sikh studies:
1) It will be possible to fund a greater variety of activities from the writing of a book, travel for research, development of a course, salary support of faculty or gradual assistants etc.
2) Twill is possible to support activities at more Universities and institutions at the same time for the same amount of money. So the community would get more for its money, 3) in this model it would not matter where the applicant was trained, whether at Toronto or at Guru Nanak Dev University. What would matter’ would be the merit of the proposed project and whether (or not it meets the expectations of the funding agency. 4) the quality of research would improve because 4) of increased competitiveness. b) The candidate would have to describe his other specific goals, research method ‘ology and the significance of the proposed project. 5) Quite clearly, considerable account. Ability of the funded activities to the community and communication with the community would result. The community ‘would not run into’ the problems it has hitherto encountered where some holders of position are nonresponsive to it.
To be continued
Article extracted from this publication >> February 28, 1996
Article extracted from this publication >>
