Dr Prem Misir responds to his critics
Dear Editor,
Mavis Lawrence (19.9.2003) praised Dr. Prem Misir as a superb lecturer (in response to a letter from Latchman Gossai) in her undergraduate and graduate classes. Ms. Lawrence said Misir had “six peer review-ed books published” as well as several articles in journals. That does not appear to be factual.
If Prem Misir were such a superb lecturer, why was he denied tenure (job security) at St. John’s University as well as Long Island University and why was his part time lecture appointment at Baruch College and Lehman College terminated? Tenure; (job guarantee) is given to outstanding academics who are rated very highly by their students and who have an outstanding publishing record from reputable publishing companies and accredited journals.
When a lecturer is rated highly by students (in classroom surveys), that lecturer is almost all the time retained by the department. That was not the case with Dr Misir.
I regret to say that I looked through Misir’s books and not one of them was published by a company that would be considered “reputable” and none of his essays have appeared in any American Sociological Journals or British Journals. Misir’s books were published by the East Indian Diaspora Press, of which Misir was the President when the books were published, and by an obscure company (S.K Bhatia for Reliance Publishing House) in India. Thus, Misir’s books or essays cannot be considered as peer reviewed.
A peer reviewed book is one which is sent to reviewers who do not know the name of the writer of the book and who decide on the worthiness of the book; this option was not exercised by Bhatia for Reliance Publishing House.
Yours faithfully,
Karen Philllips

Editor’s note:
We sent a copy of this letter to Dr Prem Misir for any comments he might wish to make and received the following response:

“I am indeed greatly appreciative of this opportunity to address and correct the contents of this vilely deficient letter. I wish the Editor of Kaieteur News would have done the same by complying with the salient ethical codes of journalism.

However, I have been debating with myself whether or not I should respond to the palpable scurrilous remarks made in the letter under an apparently fictitious name representing a caucus, whose members are known to me. It appears that in this specific instance there is an attempt to besmirch my reputation and professional credentials. I am persuaded to respond, and also to set the record straight.

It’s interesting, too, that this letter surfaced in Kaieteur News around the time that Stabroek News carried a story suggesting that I was shortlisted for the position of Pro-Chancellor at the University of Guyana. Now that I am confirmed as Pro-Chancellor, the same letter again was carried a few days ago in Kaieteur News, this time in a regurgitated form.
Education

My qualifications are as follows:

Ph.D. (With Commendation) - University of Hull (England);

 M.Phil - University of Surrey (England);

B.S.Sc. (Honors) - Queen’s University of Belfast (United Kingdom);

 Postdoctoral work continuing in Public Health - Columbia University (New York).

Tenure
I received tenure/permanent status at Audrey Cohen College (formerly College for Human Services), and was Chairperson of the College’s Personnel Committee; in this capacity, I participated in the Middle States Accreditation Process for the College. I resigned after a few years, due to personal family reasons. I held several academic contractual non-tenured appointments, meaning that the appointments lasted over specific time periods and that the Faculty member cannot apply for tenureship. Guyana was always my calling, to return home and contribute to the society, and especially motivated by the return to democracy. This is the second time I have returned to Guyana, the first time was after I completed studies in England. I never thought of making an academic career in the U.S. and so tenure was never an area of pursuit for me. I disrupted my academic career in the U.S. twice, leaving once to England, and now to Guyana. Had I stayed continuously in the US without any disruptions I would have received tenure again by virtue of my substantial research and teaching experience.

Two months after arriving in the United States, I acquired my first job as a Faculty at Hunter College of the City University of New York. I was not terminated from any college/university. At St. John’s University, I had a non-tenure track contractual appointment. Non-tenure track appointments are really time-based appointments by virtue of their contractual nature. To become eligible for tenure I would have had to complete a third successive year which would have given me the opportunity to be placed on a tenure-track. In many cases, non-tenured Faculty personnel operate through a revolving door policy where tenure eligibility is stopped short at the end of two successive years.
At Baruch College/CUNY, I taught many courses over a number of years. My separation with that institution was of my own volition. At the beginning of the 1999 academic year, I informed Chairman Dr. Saran, that I would be unable to continue teaching as I was expecting a position with the Government of Guyana.

Student Evaluations
My student evaluations were good. Student evaluation records are only one of the prerequisites for appointment. The mere fact that I have had teaching positions at various colleges/universities would suggest, and which is the case, that I had above average student reviews to secure these appointments. Invariably, the Chairperson of my previous college/university would provide a recommendation to the new institution. Clearly, the Chairperson would be aware of student evaluations, among other pertinent matters related to teaching and research. Moreover, to attest to my teaching quality, my course outline and teaching methods on Ethnic and Race Relations was highly appraised and adapted by the education authorities in New York City. At any rate, student evaluations are necessary, but not sufficient as a basis for academic appointments. In fact, Faculty peer review of teaching also is extremely important for academic appointments. I had excellent peer evaluations. However, in my experience, research and community work rank very highly in academia.

Peer Reviewed Publications
Peer-review is an internal and confidential process only among the Publications Editor of the Publisher, the reviewers (unidentified to the author(s) of the manuscript), and the author(s). It is outrageous for any member of the public and/or the perverted caucus group to falsely presume about any reviewers’ comments and recommendations made confidentially to the publisher and then relayed to the author (s) for consideration. I am so aware of the tedious process involved in responding to reviewers’ comments over the years.

I do have peer-reviewed publications in scholarly journals, such as, AIDS Patient Care and STDs, TransAfrica Forum (Rutgers University Consortium), Laredo State University, articles in book publications, among others. I presented many papers and chaired quite a few panel discussions at several academic conferences.

Let me now demonstrate the peer review process in action pertaining to each book manuscript. The genesis of the book Workers’ Participation in Management:Case of Nationalized Enterprises in Guyana, (ISBN: 81-85972-81-8) dates back to my stint as a Research Fellow in the Institute of Development Studies, University of Guyana. The draft manuscript was presented to the Faculty of Social Sciences Academic Seminar. Subsequently, Dr. K. Ishwaran of York University, Toronto, reviewed the manuscript and made recommendations. Later, he sent the manuscript to Reliance Publishing House, New Delhi, India, where it was further peer-reviewed and finally published.The peer-review process took almost two years. Dr. K.G. Gurumurthy of the University of Karnatak penned the General Editor’s Note and Dr. B. Michael Poole of Cardiff Business School, University of Wales College of Cardiff wrote the Foreword. Reliance Publishing House has about 35,000 authors from India. It has submitted books for the Kiriyama Prize which applies rigid scientific criteria for entry into the competition.

This book was followed by Work Commitment in Education (ISBN: 81-85972-92-3), published by Reliance Publishing House. The book is an abridged version of my Master of Philosophy (MPhil) thesis, the degree conferred by the University of Surrey in England. Thesis approval is based on comments and recommendations of senior academics in the field. This certainly was peer review in action. Reliance Publishing House in India also sent this manuscript to reviewers whose numerous comments and observations I had to address. Dr. Tara Singh, formerly of the University of Guyana, wrote the Foreword. The book also was later reviewed by Atma Ram, Education Advisor, Government of Himachal Pradesh, India.

The book titled Leader Behavior and the Compliance Structure in Education - A Sociological Study of Ideology and Social Change in Guyana (ISBN: 1-878433-26-1; Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-96854), was published by Caribbean Diaspora Press of Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. I also responded to many reviewers’ comments and observations, prior to publication. This book is an abridged version of my Ph.D. thesis which also was subject to several reviews by senior academics leading up to the Viva Voce. Dr. Aubrey Bonnett, Former Vice President for Academic Affairs at the State University of New York, Old Westbury, Dr. Frank Birbalsingh, Professor of English, York University, Toronto, Dr. Parmatma Saran, Professor and Chair, Baruch College/CUNY, and Dr. Charles Green, Professor and Chair, Hunter College/CUNY, all reviewed and made public comments on this book. The Ministry of Education needs to incorporate some concepts from this book, in order to further enhance the education system in Guyana.

The East Indian Diaspora, a co-edited book, was published by the Asian American Center, Queens College of the City University of New York. The Asian American Center presented numerous suggestions for improving the manuscript. This book is a symbolic publication of the papers presented at the New York Academic Conference commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the East Indian presence in Guyana. Dr. Frank Birbalsingh of York University, Toronto cited and reviewed this book in his work ‘From Pillar to Post: The Indo-Caribbean Diaspora.’

The book titled Ethnic Cleavage & Closure in the Caribbean Diaspora: Interactions of Race, Ethnicity and Class (ISBN: 1-928790-00-3; Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-105378), is an important contribution to the ongoing debate on race, ethnicity and class. It is a collection of peer-reviewed articles by distinguished authors as Percy Hintzen, Chair-person and Associate Professor of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley, John La Guerre, Professor of Political Science, Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Benjamin Ringer, Professor Emeritus of Hunter College/CUNY, Elinor Lawless, Psychiatric Social Worker, Dr. Lear Matthews, Faculty of Empire State College/SUNY, Bishnu Ragoonath, Lecturer, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, among others. Dr. Aubrey Bonnett, Former Vice President for Academic Affairs at State University of New York at Old Westbury wrote the Foreword. This book was published by the Caribbean Diaspora University Press of New York.

The most recent book, The Political-Mass-Media Racial Complex in Guyana (ISBN: 1-928790-03-8), published by the Caribbean Diaspora University Press, is a collection of my articles that were already published in various newspapers in both New York and Guyana. Dr. Nanda Kissore Gopaul wrote the Foreword. Dr. David Hinds reviewed this book. These articles are primarily about how the political/mass media/racial complex can be inimical to nation building and stabilization in Guyana.

Mischief
This caucus group appears to have much time on their hands to engage in such mischief. The reality is, like it or not, I do have six peer-reviewed books and quite a few publications in American Journals, plus numerous newspaper articles. Stay tuned for my forthcoming book on Marginalization which is currently under the peer-review process.
I will take the necessary legal action against Kaieteur News. Kaieteur News nowadays seems to be in the habit of making apologies to various aggrieved individuals, the most recent being to the First Lady.

This constitutes my response to correcting the deficiencies in the epistle penned by a caucus of warped minds. I am a son of this soil. My contributions to developing this land will continue and will be sustained.

Friday November 7, 2003