This page is for applicants to warn others of institutions/departments with less than reputable practices.
This way we can all avoid the bad ones! Readers should also investigate the "white-listed" Schools page for different perspectives on many of these schools.

Q. Excuse me, but isn't using nomenclature of blacklist (bad) and whitelist (good)
racially charged and insensitive?
A. No.

ALSO NOTE: http://wikihost.org/wikis/academe/wiki/white_listed_universities_and_colleges

ALSO NOTE: http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Universities_to_fear for different (and more functional and net-safe) version

ALSO, DISCUSSIONS OF SCHOOLS SHOULD REALLY GO IN THE DISCUSSION FORUM, SEE DISCUSSION BUTTON ABOVE NEAR THE EDIT PAGE BUTTON!!!

General Q: how is it possible that any department can get away with NOT reimbursing a visiting candidate for travel expenses? It's appalling. Surely MLA (and other organizations) could do something to monitor or even "motivate" departments who engage in this kind of conduct (e.g., not allowing them to list job postings on the Job Information List the following year). Grad students especially need to be protected from such things.

Post in alphabetical Order


Example:
Joke U.........Joke studies..........routinely solicites TT applicants who never make tenure. 12-2001

School.........Department............issue......Date

Bard C......English...FYI: By all means apply, but I recommend taking a job at Bard only as a completely LAST resort...(REBUTTAL APPEARS IN DISCUSSION, ACCESS ABOVE BY PRESSING THE DISCUSSION BUTTON NEAR THE EDIT PAGE BUTTON)

Brigham Young University.....History.....routinely hires TT faculty in Asian history who never make tenure. Last BYU Asian historian to get tenure and stay was over 40 years ago! Three have been fired/denied tenure in the five years, all with multiple pubs including books with very good presses. Problems at both department and college levels.

Cameron University (Oklahoma).....English....never contacted in any way after campus visit for tenure-track position; miserable department in a terrible town.

Central Connecticut State College.....Theatre.....on-campus visit for TT, was never contacted again in any way, ever.....4/2007

City College of San Francisco......English......Some great faculty, but pay sucks for the area. So many students and faculty that you'll be treated like a number. I'd advise working there if you're in a somewhat small department. Watch out for bureuacratic nonsense.
(REBUTTAL APPEARS IN DISCUSSION, ACCESS ABOVE BY PRESSING THE DISCUSSION BUTTON NEAR THE EDIT PAGE BUTTON)

Coastal Carolina University.......English.....Two of the four members of the search committee left the interview room as I entered because they were "tired and needed a break from all this interviewing." The remaining two interviewers were rude and hostile. One of them said, "I see that you've published a lot. When are you going to burn out?" and "You say you have a dynamic classroom presence. How do you know we even want that and why should we believe you?" I didn't fly out to MLA to be insulted. I wouldn't wish those colleagues on anyone.

College of Mount St. Vincent.... Department?...........Never reimbursed for some travel expenses after interview. Also, SC members were disorganzied and indifferent....Date?

College of New Jersey...set up a specific time and date for a phone interview. Waited patiently by the phone. Was emailed later that they tried and there was no response.
Explained that there must be some sort of miscommunication becuase I was waiting by an open phone the entire time.
Emailed another member of the search committee explaining the problem and relating my interest. Was emailed back that the interview process has already begun becasue they are under tight time constraints.

College of William and Mary.....Philosophy......no contact of any kind after interview. Department also has terrible record of tenure denials to star junior candidates. (An recent chronicle article documents this, which may have culminated in the removal of the chair.)
Yes - I'm at W&M (in another dept.) and Philosophy is the one, miserably dysfunctional dept. on campus. A very bad situation there for junior faculty, and the best have fled. Check it out (it's all been in the news) before joining this dept.

Denison University.......English....no rejection letter or any contact at all after campus visit.

East Carolina University...English.....no contact of any kind after interview.

Emporia State University....English....asked me to rent a car for the campus visit. When I told them I didn't drive, Chair said, "What kind of person doesn't drive? If you seriously wanted to work here, you'd rent a car. Clearly, you don't," and withdrew his offer of campus visit.

Heartland Community College.....English........The Ph.D.s in Lit have completely taken over the composition curriculum, rewriting so that classes all have to do lit (which the students deeply resent). Very, very fractured department with long-standing issues. Also never hires its own adjuncts! (This one was glad, actually.)

Illinois Central College...... (any)........... Worst medical coverage I've ever experienced. "Self" insured. College and management firm reject everything; employees end up paying most of their own healthcare costs. Their self-insured PPO's list of reasonable and customary charges is a laugh riot. College and management firm reject every claim, regardless. Otherwise an okay place to work (as long as you don't mind being in the middle of nowhere.)

Ithaca College...................History................on-campus for a VAP, then no further contact at all. Ever........3-2005

Ithaca College...................Biology.............rejection letter sent out over 1 YEAR after application sent

Jackson State U..................Biology................Never paid interview expenses 11-2007

James Madison College at Michigan State U.....On-campus visit for a tt position. No communication thereafter even when I contacted them upon receiving another offer. Rejection letter never sent. Travel expenses never reimbursed.

Lincoln University (MO)..........Agriculture............This school is a nightmare, i escaped after one semester! 2003

LSU-Shreveport...................Biology...............The school is severely impoverished, Honored no hiring promises 1. recinded most of start up money, 2. no phone after 1 month, no phone number until the last week in fall semester, 3. no office after 2 weeks, 4. computer was 96K RAM, 5. 1 yr budget for 8 labs was $75, 6. student enrollment dropped through floor. 7. school was investigating exigency or joining with the medical school (also declaring exigency at the time), 8. older faculty were treated disrespectfully by administartion (the faculty in biology were great), 9. school glued tiles back up on the walls instead of replacing for pictures go to http://www.studentsreview.com where a former student posted them, 10. Was told their were 20 students in the MS program although there were only 2, 11. told their research center was being flooded with money and that it should rival Savanna River (UGA) when it could not afford photocopy paper (it now rivals savanna river because savanna river has been disbanded!), 12. some faculty did not distrubute student evaluations instead filling them out themselves. 13. They were opening my mail, reading it and then putting it in my folder, 14. when I finally got my office it was filled with garbage and I had to clean it out, 15. the laboratory space I was given was a public hallway between classrooms, again filled with garbage (see former link to pics) that I had to clean out, 15. I was forcefully asked to spend research grant money on unrelated teaching supplies, 16. One retired prof stole some of my specimens and was continually monkeying around in other profs offices, 17. the offices were not private as keys fit everyone's locks.......... 11-2005

Loyola Marymount U (L.A.)........English...............Interviewed with them, never heard from them again after the interview. Not a huge deal, but not very professional either. 2006/07

Loyola University New Orleans.....Theatre......they changed their TT search last year in mid-stream, from one area of the discipline to another, without readvertising or notifying any of the candidates. The "committee" consisted of one individual, the chair. Scary. 2007

Michigan State University.....James Madison College......On-campus visit for a tt position. No communication thereafter even after I contacted them upon receiving another offer. Travel expenses never reimbursed although I submitted receipts. Rejection letter never sent. NOTE: I POSTED THIS ONCE, AND IT WAS DELETED. THIS IS THE SECOND POST OF THE SAME ISSUE.
MSU...English...campus visit and never another peep from them, not even a form letter.

Montclair State.................Sociology...............Immensely dysfunctional department; Never-ending application requirements; Never reimbursed for travel Expenses.............................Spring 2003

Newman University...............History.................This university has such shaky finances that it regularly sheds tt faculty. Tenure means nothing and all non tenured faculty work on a year-to-year contract. Stay away from this place...it is a nightmare

Nevada State College ...........English..................They made a job offer, gave the hiree less than a week to review the contract, and then retracted the offer. Unprofessional at best.

NYU..............................General Studies........no response EVER...06/2007.....One wonders whether they received your application? My school's dossier services provider just sent my colleague's dossier to a school in the Midwest...when she applied to a school in Florida, with a completely different name. You might check to make sure your application was properly sent before black-listing a school? Dream on; I dropped it off in person. A measly email or formal rejection letter might have been nice.
I've been blatantly ignored by NYU two times, so I doubt it's the fault of a dossier service or applicant.

Prairie View A&M University.........Sociology...............Never tenure anyone, ever, regardless of quality. Equal opportunity. Black turned down as often as white. Tenure lines extended illegally rather than tenure person sometimes.

Reed College...............Any.......................You will meet with the Dean of the Faculty. You will expect this to be an occasion to address logistics and practicalities. Instead you will be grilled skeptically and condescendingly about your work for 29 minutes and then asked if you have any questions. Otherwise, a wonderful place, but be prepared for this if you interview there.

Saint Francis University.........History................On-campus interview in January, no further contact for 4 months, then a hand-written note saying 'gee, I bet you already got a job." ....1-2005

Saint Leo University..........Theatre...............There is no theatre facility, productions happen in an old Biology lecture hall. The school itself is in the middle of nowhere. I had a campus interview in January 07 - I still haven't heard back whether I got the job (I assume I didn't...).

Saint Vincent College...English...Campus visit accomodations include a room in a monastery replete with Jesus decorations apparently made by mental patients in the 1960s. Fifty year old twin bed and linens confiscated from a convent. No TV or hair dryer, of course (tonsures dry quick on their own). Jim Touey, new president, a good buddy of W. who reschedules your interview with him 6 times, then announces that he doesn't understand how you can possibly be interested in gender studies and uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church. On a good note: the bells from the Basilica will wake you up at 5 AM!

Sonoma State University (California)...Computer Science....never contacted in any way after campus visit for tenure-track position

Southern illinois University-Edwardsville........Biology......Lost my application packet twice, after sending messages confirming receipt! 2004
Southern illinois university-edwardsville.........English.....No rejection letter at all after MLA interview.

Southern New Hampshire University.....English....Offered MLA interview. After first several suggested meeting times didn't fit my schedule (b/c of other interviews), interviewer said, "Well, I want to have time to explore the conference city and go to museums, so these are the only times I can offer. Anyway, it seems like you already have a lot of interviews, so you don't need this one," and reneged on the interview offer.

College of Staten Island........English........bad all around; head of search committee was rude and abrasive; nobody on the committee actually had experience in the area that they were hiring for; during MLA interview, they complained about the hotel room, then asked me to hurry up so that they could eat lunch (seriously); invited to campus interview, where I was left alone in an office for an hour, then left alone again for TWO HOURS, in another office, in an entirely different dept!; job talk was pushed back until 7pm; was supposed to get a ride back to my hotel, but instead was left in a dark parking lot to wait another hour for a cab; my rejection email was addressed "Dear Candidate"; after all that, they hired someone with two other different specialties, allowing them to save money.
Here, here! I received the rejection letter six months after the MLA interview. You figure they could have sent something out when they had campus interviews, huh!

Queen's College, CUNY.....English....NO rejection letter at ALL after MLA interviews. Chair was abrasive. One SC member airy and snobbish. Could have at LEAST sent a rejection note.

Stephen F Austin................English.................Awful, terrible place, from former employee .......................11-2007
Stephen F Austin................Biology.................faculty got in fight during my phone interview................ 11-2007
Stephen F Austin................Forestry................Phone interview, then sent numerous emails and made several calls of inquiry w/othe decency of acknowledging my questions. Clearly, didn't hire me, but so rude on phone, I had already made my decision.

SUNY Institute of Technology....Management..............Incredible bullies. Senior faculty twist arms to be non-working co-authors. Only tenured faculty can vote on any issue.

Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove)...music...a lot of politics and side-taking in the department; the chair of the department (and search committee) started crying when I was in her office about a colleague she hated (who I never met). Then she explained the politics behind the search. Attempts to show me the town on the way to dinner took about 2 seconds because there IS no town. It's in the middle of no-where. Never had any contact after the interview until I inquired about the status of my application. An incredible (although expense-free) waste of time and effort; students also seemed a bit uppity.

Troy University................Biology..................informed all faculty must belong to a church. I felt I was being talked out of applying. otherwise, they were fine. 11-2007.
University of Illinois...Black Studies....campus visit, then nary a word from them ever again.

[There was a post here that the original poster has had second thoughts about, and, after much agonizing, removed. My apologies. Though I believe in this wiki page, my scruples about what I posted have outweighed my scruples about sharing this information.)

Univ. of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music......Musicology......a horror show: nasty departmental politics and backbiting, high student attrition...on the other hand, apparently they will tenure anybody with a heartbeat.....2005

Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.....German.....This used to be an excellent department but under the current head, there has been some nasty political (i.e. very personal) infighting. They have lost some very good people as a result. Many of the grad students have left to avoid the unpleasant environment. Ask around before you decide to put yourself into such a tense atmosphere and divisive department.

Univ. of Northern Colorado......English.......Where to start? A third of faculty have left in the past 2 years. Mean and/or deadwood colleagues, horrible college president, low salaries, and an unattractive location. (REBUTTAL APPEARS IN DISCUSSION, ACCESS ABOVE BY PRESSING THE DISCUSSION BUTTON NEAR THE EDIT PAGE BUTTON)Who ever moved the follow-up comments, it would help if the rebuttal on the discussion page were identified with the particular school with which it was original aligned. This rebuttal is currently third on the discussion list. Please take a look as I (and a few others) beg to differ with this critical perspective on the department. And BTW, I'm not cruising the Wiki because I'm looking for a new job as one of these critics suggested; rather, I'm here because someone I care about is on the market.

Univ. of South Florida......Music.....good lord. Wholly clueless, ineffective administration, infighting, and financial troubles so severe that they couldn't even make a counter-offer!

Univ of Southern Indiana........English/Lib Arts........Horrible place to work. Very stratified. Chair was recently canned. Unless they have family in the area, no one stays more than a year. Administration is overtly hostile to faculty. Don't work here!!

Univ North Texas................Biology.................Never reimbursed for part of travel expenses ...................Spr 2007

Univ of West Georgia............English.................Total jerks during the interview, it was appalling. Their search ended up failing, too. No wonder. 2006/07. (REBUTTAL UNDER DISCUSSION; SEE ALSO ENTRY ON WHITE LIST).
(11/26) Yes, a failed search for 18th Cent last year. Apparently quite nasty and fractious departmental fracas. Dispute over inside candidate is what I heard.
U of West GA did make offers to at least two candidates, however, who interviewed for the position (two outside candidates).

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.....English........Argumentative and rude during interview, not a peep after that (not even a form rejection)

University of Wisconsin-Milwauke....English............No contact of any kind after interview.

Wayne State.....................Education...............was told "women never get tenure" also were really rude in general.............2-2005

Wellesley College...............Music..................was asked one-on-one about my marriage and husband, whether they would compromise my commitment to the institution. Was given only one week's notice for the interview early in the season. I happened to have had a fluky medical problem, had been in the emergency room and was on maximum dose of percoset for extreme pain, but dept. showed little understanding and applied pressure not to reschedule (though postponing is not unusual under such conditions at other institutions). Feb 2006.

Western Illinois................History.................Has a habit of not communicating with persons who have interviewed for positions (seconded 2004). More than one applicant has identified the department's practices as rude.
Ditto for English Department.

West Viginia State University...Biology.................Submitted copies of my official transcripts three times, the third time I asked for return receipt and they lost them again. 2005

Wiley College.................Arts & Sciences.........Completely disorganized from top on down, everyone passes the buck for problems with the school rather than trying to correct things. Few to no resources to work (paper for printer, chalk, etc.). Lots of division within and among the departments. 11-2007 In one word..."plantation." 12/07

York U (Toronto)..............English...................Rude, rude, rude and painfully inept department. They also don't get/remember what it's like to be a visiting candidate on campus; also seemed to have a major (verbal) chip on their shoulder as a result of (1) not being in the US and (2) not being the U. of Toronto. Regarding #1, their "anti-American" hostility was so overt (and just plain boring) that even an Anti-American US citizen candidate (like me) was offended. Also, one committee member requested a particular paper (during campus visit) and then a different member of same committee said (to my face!) that "the paper topic was a poor choice."
They just don't get it and are really (really) full of themselves in a way that the only truly insecure are.
..............................English...................Agree whole-heartedly with previous post. Had conference interview with them and they couldn't care less about talking to me (started with them complaining about how tired they were of interviewing candidates). They were unyielding in asking how my research agenda would change as a result of teaching at a Canadian school (without giving too much away, my research is pretty firmly rooted in American studies and it would be hard to imagine adding on a whole new Canadian element to my research interests). I answered the best I could but I really just wanted to ask them, "Why did you even want to interview me? Didn't you read my dissertation abstract? Or letter?"