Espionage at OU?

From A History of the University of Nebraska at Omaha by UNO History Professor Tommy Thompson.

 

Sauce for the Gander

Although there were many positive accomplishments under President Rowland Hayes (pictured) in the thirties and forties, there were difficult times as well. Haynes did not always enjoy a good relationship with his faculty, many of whom had been hired by President William Sealock.

 

Trouble surfaced as early as January 1936 when President Haynes announced pay raises would be granted only to those who could show “evidence of growth in value to the University.”

 

He had each faculty member fill out a report detailing his or her progress toward advanced degrees, involvement in professional organization, use of up-to-date research in their teaching, changes in teaching methods to improve their classes, work on faculty committees wand with students and any talks  delivered to community organizations.

 

In addition, students filled out a ten-question evaluation of their instructors regarding such areas as preparation, interest and enthusiasm in the classroom, self-confidence and whether the professor had a sense of humor.

 

Possibly in an attempt to diminish any faculty resentment of this new system of evaluation them, Haynes announced that henceforth he would notify faculty in January as to whether their services would be needed the next fall. Previously, the faculty had not been notified before June. As might have been expected, there was resentment among the faculty for Haynes’ system of evaluation.

 

A year later, in the spring of 1937, a new questionnaire titled “Sauce for the Gander” appeared on campus. This questionnaire provided questions for evaluating the administration by asking the faculty if they felt freedom of expression existed on campus and whether they believed a system of espionage might be operating between students and the administration.