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[The following report was presented to the University Senate on June 1, 1970.]

May 27, 1970

1. The legal authority for the governance of the University of Tennessee is vested in the Board of Trustees. The Board delegates a portion of its powers to the President of the University, who in turn delegates powers for the control of the Knoxville campus to the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
   
   
2. The smooth and effective functioning of a present-day university requires that faculty and students be delegated a degree of policy control in certain areas of close concern to them. and in which they possess special competence. The size of the University of Tennessee requires that these powers he exercised through elected representative bodies.
   
   
3. The areas of primary student and faculty concern and competence are sufficiently distinct to demand separate faculty and student governing organizations.
   
   
4. At the same time, mechanisms for effective and frequent communication on between faculty, student, and administrative policy-making (and policy implementing) groups must he provided.

1. That the present University Senate he reorganized as the Faculty Senate; that the number of administrative officers in the Senate he reduced, retaining only those who are most closely associated with the undergraduate and graduate educational programs of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville;** and that in the interest of better communications, the Student Senate be asked to elect five delegates to the Faculty Senate to have voice in the deliberations of the Faculty Senate, but no vote;
   
   
2. That the powers and responsibilities of the Faculty Senate he more clearly defined and extended to cover all areas of primary academic concern to the faculty;
   
   
3. That the student body organize itself into a Student Senate which will be representative of all classes of students within the University; that in the interest of better communications the Student Senate consider urging the administration and the Faculty Senate to appoint and/or elect delegates to the Student Senate to have a voice in the deliberations of the Student Senate, but no vote;
   
   
4. That the Student Senate be delegated powers and responsibilities for significant policy control in areas of primary interest to the student members of the academic community; and
   
   
5. That a University Council consisting of elected representatives of the Faculty Senate and Student Senate, together with members of the central campus administration, be established to confer on a frequent and continuing basis with the Chancellor, to make recommendations to the Chancellor, Faculty Senate and Student Senate concerning any question of University policy, any aspect of governing the University, and any general issue relating to the welfare of the University.

1. The immediate establishment of a "Special Committee on University Governance."
   
   
2. That the Committee on Committees be instructed to nominate nine faculty members for membership on said committee. The five faculty members receiving the highest number of votes in a mail ballot of the Senate membership will constitute the committee with the individual receiving the largest total number of votes serving as chairman pro-temp until such time as the Committee elects its own chairman.
   
   
3. That this committee be instructed to consult with appropriate administrative and student leaders in the development of plans leading to the implementation of the changes in governance outlined in Section I above. Specifically, the committee should:
   
   
   1. define, insofar as possible, the appropriate division of interest and responsibility among the administrative, faculty, and student constituencies of the University;
      
      
   2. establish a mechanism for dealing with those issues which involve a conflict or identity of interest among the constituencies;
      
      
   3. determine the appropriate steps to be followed in establishing the structure of University governance outlined above;
      
      
   4. prepare the necessary resolutions for submission to the Board of Trustees concerning the establishment of a Student Senate, Faculty Senate, a University Council, and By Laws for the governance of the Faculty Senate;
      
      
   5. investigate and report on any other matters deemed by the committee to be pertinent.
   
   
4. This Committee is instructed to make an interim report to the University Senate at its June 29 meeting and to complete its work as quickly thereafter as possible.