Governance: A Symposium

Sometime in the early Sixties, when I was an undergraduate zealously trying to think of new ways to shake my college's tree by publishing student evaluations of faculty, a kindly professor took me aside and told me about the school's governance. It was, he said, shared by the faculty and the administration (and it was far too serious a responsibility to share with students, who shouldn't waste their time evaluating their instructors). I didn't know what the "administration" was, what "governance" was, or what he meant by its being "shared." I'm still not sure about the precise shape of some of these things, but the intervening thirty-five years have given me a dictionary, some experience, and--maybe--some insight.

When Bob Glenn asked me to contribute an article to the UTK Faculty Senate Newsletter on a Board Member's perspective of governance at the University of Tennessee, I had several reasons why I should not accept this invitation. However, after some thought, I accepted the invitation, because it would give me an opportunity to reflect upon my eight plus years of service on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. During those eight years, I have formed certain opinions on governance and on the role of higher education. The views and opinions expressed on these matters are mine alone, and I do not attempt to speak on behalf of all members of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.

A Faculty View
by M. Mark Miller,
Immediate Past President,
UTK Faculty Senate

"We sure kicked some major administrator butt today!"
     If you hang out with the UTK Faculty Senate don't expect to hear a statement like that very often. In the first place most faculty members don't talk that way. More important, things just don't happen that way.
     Even when the faculty does have major impact--and sometimes it does--you won't hear Senate leadership bragging about it. If they did brag, they'd jeopardize their relationship with the administration, and that's the most important resource they have.
     The Senate and its leaders are most effective when they have the respect and trust of the administration. Senate leaders are assured of access to UTK administrators, but such access can be just an empty form without a sound relationship between faculty and administrators.