Live-blog: UO Senate meeting, 4/10/2013

3:05 pm 2. State of the University

Background, from Gottfredson’s first address to the Senate, 10/11/12:

To protect these values, it is essential that we employ a shared governance model – active and meaningful collaboration, active faculty participation and a faculty authority for academic matters. This has meaning that’s informed by history and by peer reference. …

In my view, the administrative governance responsibilities only work when important policies and practices are informed by consultation and advice from the faculty, staff and students. Such consultation and advice can only be meaningful if it takes place in a spirit of transparency and knowledge and in a timely manner. There’s not much use in consulting after the fact – or not much use consistent with these ideas of governance, anyway. 

So there’s an essential advisory role for the senate, even on administrative matters – an essential role on those matters that are central to the execution of our mission, like budget and finance, space and capital planning, athletics and of course participation in the selection and the evaluation of academic administrators.

Today: President is gone, for a meeting in Salem, probably about how to keep faculty off the UO Board. Hubin delivers some remarks instead:

Pleased with Provost search and Espy review (all but one member appointed). Ombudsman search starting soon, asks for names for search committee. Sayre asks Hubin about Gottfredson’s position on voting faculty members on the UO board. Lariviere agreed to this, so have the PSU and OSU presidents, what’s Gottfredson’s problem with this? Hubin won’t answer the question. Harbaugh asks Hubin to get a written statement from Gottfredson asking him to explain to us what he is telling the legislators, Kyr agreed to do that tonight, and give the Senate the response via the Senate listserv.

3:15 pm 3. New Business

3.1 Motion (Policy Adoption): Facilities Scheduling Policy; Kassia Dellabough (AAA),
Chair; Senate Facilities Scheduling Policy Committee

Dellabough is not here, Paris presents. This is all fallout from the Pacifica Forum nightmare several years ago. Kyr reads the policy. “This policy does not apply to the Athletic Department”. Eh? Sullivan: Amendment to only restrict commercial video and audio-taping. Amendment and motion pass unanimously. 

2.1 BE IT HEREBY MOVED that the Senate approves the formation of the Working Groups at the request of the Committee on Committees in order to complete the work of the Tenth-Year Review, as follows: 

• Working Group on Academic Council;
• Working Group on Intercollegiate Athletics Committee;
• Working Group on Senate Transparency Committee;
• Working Group on Senate Committees Relating to Diversity and Campus Climate; 

2.2 BE IT FURTHER MOVED that the Senate approves the formation of the Working Groups at the request of the Committee on Committees in order to evaluate the advisability of creating new Senate committees, as follows: 

• Working Group on the Creation of an Academic Excellence Committee;
• Working Group on the Creation of an Instructional Technology Committee;
• Working Group on the Creation of a Policing Review Board;
• Working Group on the Creation of a Research Council; 

2.3 BE IT FURTHER MOVED that at the request of the Committee on Committees and following the completion of the CBA process, the Senate approves the formation of a Working Group, as follows: 

• Working Group on Grievance and Appeals Committees to evaluate the role of all Senate committees related to hearings, appeals and grievances;

Kyr: Background, this has been exhausting. Senate committee need upgrade and redesign. Need process for recognition and perhaps incentives for faculty participation.

• Proposals

o Create guidelines for committee service and/or operations manual
o Create Tiers according to workload:
 Tier 1+ committees (more than 60 hours per year);
 Tier 1 committees (41 to 60 hours per year);
 Tier 2 committees (21 to 40 hours per year);
 Tier 3 committees (1 to 20 hours per year).
o Create groupings according to subject and function:
 Governance committees;
 Academic and research committees;
 Administrative committees;
 Hearings, appeals, and grievance committees;
 Student issues committees.
o Create greater Committee on Committee oversight by assigning
coordinator for groupings of committees

Harbaugh notes that the administration has been setting up “working groups” on the side to do an end run around the Senate – e.g. the groups Hubin set up for transparency and even accreditation, done without consulting the Senate. Sayre notes this also happened with the police working group. Dreiling asks about the budget priority working group, motion to add that to the list requiring special investigation. Passes unanimously. Harbaugh asks that Kyr ask Gottfredson what is going on with this budget priorities thing. Kyr agrees to do that tonight and respond to the Senate.

Motion passes unanimously, with applause.

2.1 RESOLVED – The University Senate reaffirms its commitment to the ideals of academic freedom and shared governance; 

2.2 RESOLVED – The University Senate, because of the faculty’s own statutory role in shared governance, strongly urges the university administration, during its negotiations with United Academics of the University of Oregon, to refer to itself not as “the University” but as “the university administration”; 

Sorry, a brief commercial interruption:

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2.3 RESOLVED – The University Senate strongly urges the President to manifest the University of Oregon’s commitment to academic freedom and to shared governance by including language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with United Academics of the University of Oregon that incorporates those principles and protects the role of the University Senate in shared governance. 

2.4 RESOLVED – The University Senate strongly urges the President to strengthen academic freedom and shared governance by agreeing to incorporate the University Constitution and existing policies adopted by the Senate and the President into the relevant articles of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with United Academics of the University of Oregon.

 Kyr reads motion. Prazniak: Union wants shared governance. Gottfredson’s bargaining team’s counter-proposal just said this was a “tradition” – nothing about the constitution or  policies. Psaki: Simple and uncontroversial. Putting this in the CBA is important – central to role of faculty, OA’s staff – to all in the Senate. Margerum: People in AAA generally supportive, some concerns about inserting Senate into bargaining process. Sullivan: I’m a strong supporter of union and the Senate, tried to keep a firewall, that was naive. Union has power, is negotiating. Putting constitution in contract binds the union, as well as the admin. (Interesting point). Landrum: only concern is about incorporating policies. What if they change? Sullivan: yes, good thing this is a resolution. Sinclair and Sullivan: this not about the Senate supporting the union. (Actually, more the other way around.) Paris: I see this as calling for any group engaging in collective bargaining to reaffirm right to exercise shared governance responsibilities. Sinclair disagrees. 

Passes on voice vote with three nays. 

Snoozer.

4:55 pm 4. Open Discussion

4:55 pm 5. Reports

4:57 pm 6. Announcements and Communications from the Floor

6.1 Notice of Motion (Legislation): Termination of the UO-ROTC Contract;

Frank Stahl, Professor Emeritus (Biology)