A recent bill is seeking to place faculty representation on boards of trustees at universities.
The House Education Committee has sent this bill, 1359, to the full House for a vote.
Sen. Allie Craycraft, who authored the Senate counterpart, has seen his bill stall in the Senate's Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedures. The House counterpart's future may not be any better.
Both bills mandate that the faculty representative would have no voting power, and on Tuesday, bill supporters permitted an amendment prohibiting trustees from participating in individual personnel issues.
Naturally, there has been stiff opposition. Opponents of the bill, including Ball State Associate Vice President Jeff Linder, contend that the bill would create a conflict of interest.
Linder said that faculty currently have input into the administration, as all department chairs are selected by faculty, and they have considerable input into selecting deans.
But without voting power or a voice in individual personnel issues, where's the conflict of interest?
While faculty have input, they cannot be heard on the agendas or attend executive sessions. Those privileges would be given to a faculty trustee if this bill is adopted, and it would seem that no conflict of interest would exist.
The bill itself protects against that.
The American Association of University Professors has pushed for this representation for three years, achieving a bigger victory with each passing year. However, to turn the bill into law, they must convince opposing senators such as Robert Garton, R-Columbus, who says the board should not represent specific interests.
"That's not why the Board of Trustees was created," Garton said. "They represent the public."
Who is to say the faculty couldn't do that? The faculty have daily community contact.
The faculty are not asking for a vote - just a voice.
It's time to hear what they have to say.
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