Students and staff shocked as top Politics professor let go

-Petition gathers signatures of 94 leading thinkers
-Colleagues say decision ‘not serving student interests’

Acclaimed Politics professor Hillel Steiner has been let go by the University of Manchester in the latest of a series of involuntary retirements. The decision has been met with criticism from high-ranking colleagues and students alike.

Steiner, who has been a faculty member since he began studying at Manchester for a PhD in 1967, is world renowned for his studies in Political Philosophy and a student favourite.

When colleagues heard of his forced retirement they started a petition, which was signed by 94 of the world’s leading philosophers. Manchester lecturer Dr. Jonathan Quong who was at the centre of the petition described Professor Steiner as ‘irreplaceable’: “I was really surprised by the University’s decision, as were a lot of my colleagues. You can’t just go and hire another Hillel Steiner when he’s gone.”

The petitioners stated that they were “shocked and deeply disappointed that the University of Manchester [had] made a decision which clearly [did] not serve its own institutional interests, the interests of its students, and the wider political philosophy research community.”

The document was submitted to a senior level University panel in February, declaring that is was “incomprehensible that the University of Manchester would reject the opportunity to retain Professor Steiner’s services. There can be no doubt that losing Professor Steiner would seriously damage Manchester’s existing excellent reputation in political philosophy.” A second petition from past and current students was also submitted to the panel.

Steiner’s original contract ended on September 30 2007, after his 65th birthday, the customary retirement age. A University spokesman said: “The University agreed to extend his contract to September 30 2009, beyond his retirement date.
“In October 2008 he asked to remain in employment with the University on an indefinite, part-time basis and that application was rejected.”

Steiner is not the first Manchester lecturer who has been faced with involuntary retirement. In 2008, high-profile figures Terry Eagleton, a literary theorist and critic, and Sheila Rowbotham, Sociology lecturer and outspoken feminist, faced the same fate as the University refused to renew their contracts. This was picked up by the Reclaim the Uni protest, which saw hundreds of students take to the street and storm the Arthur Lewis building. Students voiced their anger at the University’s decision to let go lecturers actively involve in teaching and supervising students, while celebrity lecturer Martin Amis remained on the University’s payroll.

Amis controversially earns about £3,000 pounds per teaching hour, exclusively teaching postgraduates on a course without exams or essays, as well as public lectures as part of the summer school.

Rowbotham was later re-instated in a part-time capacity, while Eagleton left the University last year.

Meanwhile students have expressed concerns that the level of teaching will suffer, especially in light of none of the department’s other two senior political theorists officially being on academic duty this year: Professor Alan Hamlin has been promoted to Head of Department, which relieves him of his teaching role, while Dr. Stephen de Wijze is currently on sabbatical.

While Steiner officially retired at the beginning of September, he has been filling holes in the timetable for free, because he still enjoys and sees value in the teaching.

While high-profile, Steiner was not hired under the University’s ‘iconic figures’ scheme, having been at Manchester for over 40 years. Quong commented that the subject of monetary worth was “very hard to measure in a professor,” but that it was certainly “impossible to adequately replace Hillel.”

Steiner acknowledges that he was “one of the highest paid members of the faculty” and despite his failure to even secure part-time employment at the University, has mixed feelings about his compulsory retirement despite fighting it. He said he understands the financial constraints on the senior management and on higher education in general: “When I joined [the University] tutorial groups contained seven students; now they’re pushing nearly 20 due to financial pressures.” He also appreciates that sometimes academics with “fresh blood and fresh ideas” need to come through the ranks and that the non-extension of his contract will in part allow for this.

A University of Manchester spokesman said: “Professor Steiner will continue his relationship with the University as an Emeritus Professor.

“Within political theory, existing levels of teaching continue as before with the appointment of two replacement lecturers this year.

“This development will ensure that the School will retain its position as one of the country’s leading centres for the study of politics.”

Colleagues held a conference in Steiner’s honour last fortnight, which was widely attended, not only by past students, but by academics from around the world.