Professor Bill Lancaster's Questionable Sabbatical

Previously, we did a blog article entitled, "Jim Keeshen's Fall 2003 Sabbatical" in which we examined the questionable sabbatical by Santa Monica College professor Jim Keeshen. Keeshen teaches at the Academy of Entertainment and Technology (AET). According to Vice President of Planning and Development, Robert Sammis, Keeshen never filed his mandated sabbatical reports with the school. In essence, Keeshen did not complete the sabbatical, was paid handsomely for it, and walked away with a semester long vacation.

Another AET professor, William "Bill" Lancaster, is slated for a Spring 2007 sabbatical according to the SMC Board of Trustee minutes for May 8, 2006. Here's a screenshot:



According to the Board of Trustees, "Professor Lancaster will use his Creative Project sabbatical to develop a new functional typeface design that will be shared with the campus community upon completion. Through this sabbatical, he will further his personal knowledge of typography and type design, which he can then disseminate to his students."

Sounds legitimate. However, let's take a peek at some additional information on Lancaster from SMC's AET website. Here's a screenshot I made of AET's newly designed website under faculty:



The last sentence of William Lancaster's biography stands out: "Bill maintains a freelance practice that specializes in typographic and logotype design." Compare this to the Board of Trustees' sabbatical approval: "Through this sabbatical, he will further his personal knowledge of typography and type design."

So, is this sabbatical truly undertaken to benefit the SMC community or to benefit Lancaster's freelance typography business? This seems like a bit of a conflict of interest or at least convoluted interests. If so, then the SMC community should not be paying for this sabbatical. As former chairman of AET, Lancaster was reeling in a six-figure salary. He would receive half that salary for his sabbatical in addition to a ten percent pay increase. Sounds like a sweet deal for Lancaster.

-- Des Manttari,
Editor-in-Chief,
Phoenix Genesis

(c) 2006: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP

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