U
The final open forum to discuss proposed changes in university governance elicited the largest crowd ever, but many of the same concerns.
About 70 people, most of them professional personnel, greeted the proposed faculty model with caution. Mark Popovich, chairman of the task force that created the models, said the sentiment has been shared by faculty at the previous forums.
The faculty senate model, despite its title, is a system with three separate senates: the current Student Senate and proposed faculty and professional personnel senates. The faculty senate would be comprised entirely of faculty, along with non-voting students and professional personnel.
The second proposal, the revised university senate model, is more similar to the current system than it is different. The model, however, does formalize the connection between Student Senate and University Senate by giving them a direct link to University Senate's agenda committee.
It also places the chairs of the Senate's councils in the Senate, which Popovich said should improve accountability and flow.
The models are to be voted on by the University Senate at its April meeting, and Popovich said nothing is definitive.
"This is a political football," he said. "I'm sure there is going to be a lot of changes."
The personnel at the forum said they feared the faculty model could contribute to a growing loss of community on campus, particularly if two or all of the senates would each take a different stance on legislation.
"At least it feels to me like it would be divisive," said one of the attendees. "It might be adversarial."
Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Doug McConkey said it was very likely each senate will legitimately claim ownership on many issues, which will lead to conflict.
"I'm troubled by that," he said.
A professional personnel model, though rare, is not an untested concept. Kay Bales, the associate vice president for Student Life, presented a list of five other universities with professional personnel senates.
Alan Hargrave, the director of Housing and Residence Life said he cannot imagine how the faculty senates at these universities did not end up having more influence in the governance system.
Popovich said even if students or personnel could not vote, they would still be able to offer their opinions to other senates.
"There will always be room for input," he said. "We're going to have to work together, no matter what happens."
According to Bales, if the faculty model was chosen, the personnel would have to vote on their own senate and its formal structure. Warren Vander Hill, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, said a new senate would require much more involvement for personnel than what is currently needed.
He said not to judge the model too early.
"I think all of these models, at this juncture, deserves a fair hearing," he said.
The models will receive their first hearing in the senate on Thursday, though no action is scheduled to be taken. Debate is planned for the March meeting, with a vote to follow in April. Popovich said it would be lucky if a formal model was created a year after the vote in April.
Though public input was unavoidable and solicited, Popovich said the basic purpose for the forums was to introduce the models to the university community.
Attendance at the forums has been low enough, he said, that the opinions expressed shouldn't be considered representative of the entire university.
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