The following report was presented the the University Senate on May 27, 1971.
MEMORANDUM
| TO: |
Members of the University Senate |
| FROM: |
Special Committee on University Governance |
| DATE: |
April 30, 1971 |
In accordance with the instructions adopted by the Senate at its June 1, 1970 meeting and the modified set of instructions adopted at its October 19, 1970 meeting, the Special Committee on University Governance has met with representatives of the Chancellor's Committee on Governance and the S.G.A. Restructuring Commission. The Senate Committee has already presented to the Senate an analysis of the situation on this campus in which it set forth a number of assumptions which have continued to guide it throughout its consultation with these other two groups (see its September 22, 1970 report). Briefly summarized here again, they are:
1. That there is a growing general demand by both the faculty and the students for a larger role in the determination of University policies and practices.
2. That faculty and students do not have the same interests and concerns and thus should be represented by different governing bodies.
3. That the views of students, however, should be taken into account in many academic matters that are legitimately the concern of the faculty governing body.
4. That a university is a place dedicated to reason and order.
5. That neither a strict hierarchical institution run by administrators nor a strict collegial institution run by faculty vote would be desirable on this campus.
6. That university rules and regulations should be made as explicit as possible and that consultation with representative faculty and student groups should be a precondition for all regulations affecting either group.
7. That dissatisfaction with the present University Senate rests primarily on two things: (a) that it is widely viewed as not acting forcefully and expeditiously enough in presenting a faculty response on a number of critical issues; and (b) that it has not been as faculty oriented as it should be, i.e. that it has too large an involvement of administrative personnel at present to fairly represent the views of the faculty to the University at large.
Further discussion by the three separate governance committees seemed to indicate that the specific problems on campus concerning conflict among faculty, students, and administration stemmed primarily from a lack of proper communication, understanding, and confidence; and that the burden of informing is not all downward from the administration to the faculty and to the students-it is also upward. in other words, (1) there is need for more faculty and student initiative in seeking an understanding of university problems, and (2) there is need for better institutional arrangements, both for developing and representing upwards the faculty and student point of view on issues and the intensity with which such points of view are held as well as communicating downwards the rationale behind decisions made by the administration.
With these considerations in mind, the Senate Committee has developed two model resolutions for review by the Senate (See Attachments A and B). If endorsed by the Senate, these resolutions then could be presented to the Board of Trustees of the University of Tennessee System for its approval. Attachment A calls for the establishment of a new senate--a faculty senate. Attachment B calls for the creation of a university council. Also, the committee has developed a set of by-laws (Attachment C) that might be used by a new faculty senate. The by-laws, however, could await action by a new senate and are presented only for background discussion at this time. The S.G.A. Restructuring Committee has prepared for the Board of Trustees a separate resolution which would provide for the establishment of a student senate (see Attachment D).
Some areas of disagreement among the three governance committees continue to exist, although the three groups were always able to meet in an atmosphere of cordiality and moderation. However, it must be stressed that Attachment A, B, and C are the work of the Senate Committee. The opinions of the Chancellor's Committee and the S.G.A. Committee were taken into account and wherever possible modifications were made on the basis of their suggestions. Still this committee feels that it is this Senate which must determine whether it should be reorganized as a faculty senate and that it is then this Senate's responsibility to seek the Board of Trustees approval of such a change.
Recommendations
I. Faculty Senate Functions
We propose that the new senate be authorized, in consultation with the Chancellor and other campus academic officers, to establish policies and regulations, subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, regarding:
1. The general educational objectives of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (including the academic aspects of the athletics program).
2. Overall general requirements for admission, retention, readmission, graduation, and honors for the degree and certificate programs of the University.
The new Senate also would be expected to review the actions of the colleges, schools, and other academic divisions of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, concerning the specific admission and graduation requirements for their various programs in order to assure at least minimum uniformity. It would be consulted by the administration and would be expected to make recommendations whenever it felt appropriate on such matters as:
1. Criteria for faculty appointment, promotions, tenure, and retirement.
2. Criteria for the selection of the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, and other campus administrative officers.
3. Criteria in conjunction with corresponding bodies on other campuses of the University System, for the selection of the President of the System and other System executive officers.
4. Policies regarding student life, rights, and responsibilities.
5. Priorities for the University budget.
6. Priorities for the University development plan.
7. Changes in the general design characteristics of University buildings and the general layout of the campus.
It should be stressed here that in connection with the seven items just listed, the Senate would be consulted and it would give its advice as it so determined. It would not make the final decisions. Our proposals attempt to institutionalize channels of consultation to replace the present haphazard, informal arrangements under which faculty opinion is sometimes solicited and sometimes not. We do not view the new system as an administrative or management institution, but as a rule making institution (by delegation of the Board of Trustees) in areas where the Faculty has special competence (e.g. rules of admission, graduation, etc.) and as an advisory consultative mechanism in other areas in which the Faculty has a legitimate interest as a vital part of the University community.
II. Faculty Senate Structure
Under Resolution A the present University Senate would be organized as a faculty senate, although an administrative component of not more than nine, to be determined by the new Senate in its by-laws, would serve as full voting members. We recommend in our model by-laws (Article II, Section 7) that the administrative component consist of: (1) the Chancellor of this campus; (2) the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs; (3) the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs; (4) the Vice Chancellor of Graduate Studies and Research; and (5) the Dean of Liberal Arts because of the large percentage of the faculty which is in the College of Liberal Arts and because of the extensive services this College renders the other academic divisions on campus. Four deans or directors would be elected from among all the deans and directors of the academic units concerned with student instruction by their fellow deans and directors for non-consecutive three year terms (two in one year and one in each of the other two years). With this arrangement, enough administrators would be retained in the Senate to insure effective communication of the administrative point of view. Using essentially the same arrangement for electing the faculty members of the Senate as at present, the faculty proportion of the Senate thus would be substantially increased under the proposed by-laws.
We recommend that the presiding officer of the Senate should be a chairman elected from among the elected faculty members of the Senate and that a vice chairman and a secretary should be chosen from the same group. Nominations for these offices should be made by a special committee at the regular Spring Quarter meeting of the Senate, Election should be by a majority vote of all the members of the Senate taken by mail ballot. The Chairman should serve for a one year term (although he should be eligible for re-election, as should the other officers). Arrangements should be made with the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, if at all possible, to reduce the chairman's other academic responsibilities during his term of office and to provide the chairman with secretarial assistance. The chairman should appoint a Parliamentarian to assist him in the conduct of the business of the Senate. Our reasoning behind these arrangements is to provide the Senate and the - entire faculty with a recognized representative leadership capable of functioning effectively as the faculty's principal spokesman on campus affairs.
Much of the work of the Senate would still be done through committees. We propose that there be an Educational Policy Committee to replace the present Curriculum Committee. The Graduate Council should be made an adjunct body of this new committee. A counterpart Undergraduate Council should also be created, as should a Research Council (details are spelled out in the proposed by-laws). In addition we feel attention should be given by a new Senate and its Educational Policy Committee to the possibility of creating a Public Service Council. The work of the present Admissions and Advanced Standing Committee, Degrees Committee, Library Committee, Phi Kappi Phi Faculty Lectureship Committee, Rhodes and Foreign Scholarship Committee, and Student English Committee would all be handled by the new Educational Policy Committee and its councils. The exact details of this new distribution of duties and responsibilities of each unit should be worked out by the Educational Policy Committee itself.
We propose, too, a Committee on Faculty Affairs (which would replace the Retirement Committee as well as handle new assignments), a Student Affairs Committee, an Executive Committee (to replace the present Advisory Council as far as the conduct of Senate business is concerned), an Educational Facilities Committee (which would replace the Safety Policy Committee as well as handle new assignments), a Development and Alumni Relations Committee, an Athletics Committee, a Nominating Committee for Senate officers, and a Committee on Committees. Other committees, as needed, could be established later by special action. For instance, we feel that the Executive Committee might be well advised to establish a permanent By-Laws Subcommittee to review and recommend changes in the by-laws as indicated by experience with a new senate.
III. University Council
We recommend the creation of a University Council, which would expand and formalize a procedure that has already evolved on this campus with the Senate Advisory Committee to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. Under our model resolution, the proposed Council would be composed of the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, the Vice Chancellor of Graduate Studies and Research (or substitutes named by any of these officers), the Dean of Liberal Arts, and one other dean elected annually by all the deans and directors of academic units; the Chairman of the Faculty Senate, the Vice Chairman and the Secretary of the Faculty Senate, and three other senators (but not more than two from any single college or division) elected annually by the Faculty Senate; and six students (of whom at least one should be a graduate student) elected annually from among the students by the student government. The purpose of the Council would be to confer frequently and on a continuing basis on any question of university policy or any issue related to the welfare of the university and to make recommendations to the Faculty Senate, the Student Senate, and the Administration, In other words, it would be a key element in providing effective communications among the three major components of the campus community. (See Attachment B)
IV. Publication Council
In response to the Senate's instruction of October 5, 1970 a special study was made of the separately chartered Publication Council that supervises student publications on this campus. For our report see Attachment E.
V. R.O.T.C.
With regards to representation of the R.O.T.C. staff in either the University Senate or a Faculty Senate, we reaffirm the position that we took in our preliminary report of March 17, 1971--that the R.O.T.C. for purposes of Senate representation be attached to an existing college, R.O.T.C. staff would then vote for senators through that college and would be eligible for election to the Senate through that college. We do not feel that the R.O.T.C. needs special representation. Also, we oppose any increase in the size of the Senate to accommodate any special programs. However, if the R.O.T.C. should ever be placed in a degree granting School of Military Science on campus, it would then come under the apportionment provisions of our proposed By-Laws, the same as all other degree granting schools and colleges.
VI. Departments and Colleges
We recommend that during the academic year 1971-72 the University Senate (or the Faculty Senate, if created) conduct an extensive study of governance at the departmental and college levels on this campus. The recent departmental self studies could provide considerable background material for such a study. At present, there seems to be wide variation among departments regarding faculty participation in policy development.
VII. System Governance
We recommend that during 1971-72 a similar study be initiated of the need for closer ties among the various components of the U.T. System with the possible creation of a System. Council composed of representatives elected by the senates (or their equivalents) on each campus. of course, considerable clarification is still needed regarding campus and system administrative arrangements in order to determine what would be the respective spheres of a System Council and campus senates.
VIII. Faculty Due Process
During its investigations, this committee has come to believe that immediate attention should be given by this Senate to the problem of faculty discharge with cause. We recommend the development of a formal system of hearings and appeals and that the problem of tenure be given a thorough review.
Mary Rose Gram., Jack Jones, John R. Moore, W.K. Stair, Charles Patterson (Chairman)
Attachment A--ENABLING RESOLUTION TO BE SUBMITTED TO BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Approved by Senate, May 27, 1971
PROPOSED RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A FACULTY SENATE
FOR
THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE
WHEREAS, the Trustees of The University of Tennessee at their annual meeting in August, 1949, adopted a resolution creating the University Senate; and
WHEREAS, The University of Tennessee has completed a reorganization whereby it has become a system consisting of several universities; and
WHEREAS, The University of Tennessee has, by virtue of said reorganization and unprecedented growth, become a University family of some 38,000 students and 2,000 faculty; and
WHEREAS, the changed physical, intellectual, and educational climate of today strongly suggests differently constituted arrangements to function effectively;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Trustees of The University of Tennessee in a regularly convened meeting do formally adopt the following resolution to effectuate the governance of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville;
BE IT RESOLVED that the resolution of the Board of Trustees of The University of Tennessee adopted at the annual meeting in August, 1949, establishing the University Senate is rescinded, effective __________.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in order to facilitate the governance of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a Faculty Senate be organized from the faculties of the several colleges and divisions of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The Faculty Senate will be composed of not fewer than eight and not more than twelve administrative officers of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to be determined by the Senate, and of elected representatives from the faculties of each college or division of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In other words, by the election process in each college or division, the University Faculty is reduced to a more effective, workable deliberative body.
The method of apportioning representatives among colleges and divisions and the rules governing their election shall be determined by the Faculty Senate, except-for the purpose of the first election of the Faculty Senate when the election rules will be determined, for that election only, by the University Senate which the Faculty Senate will subsequently replace.
Said Faculty Senate is authorized, in consultation with the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the academic officials thereof, to establish policies and regulations, subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, regarding the general educational objectives of the University, in particular, including those policies and regulations related to the overall general requirements for admission, retention, readmission, graduation and honors for the degree programs and certificate programs of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Said Faculty Senate is authorized to review the actions of the Special Faculties of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, concerning the specific admission and graduation requirements for the programs of the various academic units.
Said Faculty Senate may also, in consultation with the Chancellor and other appropriate governing bodies of the University, determine policies and procedures in other matters which concern the general welfare of the faculty of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, such as, but not exclusively limited to, criteria for faculty appointment, dismissal, promotions, tenure, and retirement; criteria for the selection of the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, and other campus administrative officers; criteria, in conjunction with other Faculty Senates or corresponding bodies of the other campuses of The University of Tennessee, for the selection of the President of the University System, and other System executive officers; recruiting and screening of candidates for the previously designated campus and System administrative positions; priorities for the University budget; priorities for the University development plan; and changes in physical facilities, The Faculty Senate may consider, advise, and recommend on proposed policies regarding student life, rights, and responsibilities.
The Faculty Senate shall report all of its actions to the faculty (1) through distribution of copies of the actions of each Senate meeting along with necessary supporting documents; and (2) upon request at any special meeting of the faculty, its actions shall be subject to review by the faculty, provided that no rights or acts of third parties shall be affected by such revision or alteration.
The Faculty Senate is hereby authorized to determine its own organization and constitution and to adopt its own by-laws and rules of procedure to facilitate its performance of the functions hereby authorized.
Attachment B--ENABLING RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH A UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
Approved by Senate, May 27, 1971
PROPOSED RESOLUTION FOR ESTABLISHING A UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
FOR
THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE
WHEREAS, the changed physical, intellectual, and educational climate of today strongly suggests that the governing arrangements of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, be differently constituted to function effectively; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees at their meeting of __________ authorized a Faculty Senate and Student Senate to effectuate the governance of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and
WHEREAS, it is vital for the general welfare of the University that closer collaboration and more effective communications be established among the various components of the University, and especially among the administrative officers, the University faculty, and the student body;
BE IT THEREFORE resolved that a University Council be created for The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The University Council shall consist of the Chancellor of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (or designates named by either of these officers); together with four other administrators elected from and by the vice chancellors, deans, and directors; the Chairman of the Faculty Senate (or his designate), the Vice Chairman of the Faculty Senate, the Secretary of the Faculty Senate, and three senators elected annually by the Senate; the President and Vice President of the Student Senate, and four-students elected annually from among the students (of whom at least one shall be a graduate student), to be elected by the Student Senate.
The University Council shall consider and feel free to concern itself with any question of University policy, any aspect of the governing of the University, and any general issue related to the welfare of the University. It shall make recommendations regarding any such matters to the appropriate decision-making bodies of the University or to the appropriate officers of the University.
The University Council will regularly report to the Faculty Senate and to the Student Senate at their regular meetings through those members of the Council who are members of the Faculty Senate and the Student Senate and at a joint meeting which will be held at least once a year or more often upon petition to the Chancellor on the part of a majority of either the Faculty Senate or the Student Senate. Such a meeting also may be called by the Chancellor alone.
The Chancellor shall act as chairman of the University Council. The University Council shall hold meetings at least once each quarter or more often at the request of the Chancellor. The Council may set its own rules for calling additional meetings and may determine its own by-laws.
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