Steve was denied a promotion to full professor again. He wrote several threatening emails to the dean, who refused to meet with him. The dean told Steve that he could discuss the case with Associate Dean Walker.
Not being promoted to full professor was a cause of great irritation for Steve. A salary increase and the new title would have been nice. Yet Steve had tenure, making it very difficult to fire him. If he only knew how to play the game—even just a little. His teaching evaluations were horrible, and his colleagues could not stand him. In his mind, these issues were not enough to deny him full professor twice. Given his status and publication record, he was a shoo-in for the title. It was clear to him that this was personal.
Steve walked into the associate dean’s office. He looked d
