Memo for Council meeting on April 1

This is an updated version of the e-mail I sent on Saturday. Yesterday Dean Lee summoned the Executive Committee to what he termed an emergency meeting at 5:15. The main item was his request that we withdraw discussion of the merger of the Communication and Theatre and Film departments. We tried to explain to him the importance of shared governance.

We offered several reasons we need to discuss the merger. (1) We believe in letting the sun shine in produces better decisions. (2) The proposal impacts other departments such as Art, History and Gender Studies. (3) It is already widely known about campus. (4) The two departments have already met to discuss the merger. (5) The proposal may decrease faculty shared governance if the director is appointed instead of elected. In addition the abrupt manner in which the proposal was presented to the two departments appears to violate our system of shared governance. (6) The proposal would change the divisional structure in place since 1999 by vote of the A&S Council without an actual debate. Combined with a merger of History and Philosophy and Geography and Political Science, and English and Foreign Languages, it would be a major change in the organization of the College. (7) The Dean has a reputation for moving fast so waiting may not be possible. He proposes the merger to be in place on July 1, and only five weeks remain in the semester. For us to hold off discussion until it is a fait accompli would make our role meaningless. My own belief is that faculty don’t like to be treated like children.

The Provost has required all professors applying for a sabbatical to submit a statement of how their research will fit the Directions document (Strategic Plan) with references to specific sections. Provost Haggett said she will try to change her schedule to talk to us about 4:45. She will also address the issue of how adherence to the strategic plan may affect decisions on tenure and promotion this year and next year.

Taken together these appear to amount to a war against the faculty. They go against academic freedom and standards of shared governance. They will harm our standing with our disciplines, and will impair recruiting. A school of history and philosophy sounds like a community college. Many of the explanations we hear from the higher administration appear disingenuous. Moreover a number of the sections of the Directions document were changed at the last minute without faculty agreement. Although the threat is chiefly to departments with low priority, the disregard of established rules and shared governance can hurt anyone. It unmotivates that faculty. By harming faculty this will harm students.