An anonymous reader makes the following observation and asks some questions:
"There are many unresolved issues, open positions, and unanswered questions that remain at this time. Since we have not heard anything more about these and we are at the end of our semester, it looks like it will all happen during the summer when faculty are gone. It would seem that our faculty-driven process and full transparency isn’t much of a priority at this point if it existed at all. Will the Faculty Senate meet over the summer or the Board of Regents meet during the summer? Will you be around to check on these issues over the summer?"
Yesterday (Wednesday, 29 April) I met with the President to address these very issues. The Provost also joined us for much of the meeting.
Overall, I was very pleased with the meeting, and I am convinced that both the President and the Provost understand the concerns of the faculty. Not every question can be answered right away, since the whole process of implementing the audit recommendations is tremendously complicated, but both the President and the Provost agree that general statements on the most pressing subjects need to be sent out before the end of this term. I know the Provost is working on a memo to faculty, and I am hopeful you will receive it very soon.
To answer the other questions, the Faculty Senate always meets on an "as needed" basis over the summer. Most Senate Chairs have not favored meeting over the summer since it is often hard to obtain a quorum and because they have believed important matters should wait until the fall semester. But it is possible the leadership of the Senate may find it necessary to meet in June and/or July. Your departmental senators should keep you informed.
The Board of Regents will indeed meet over the summer. The BOR will have a special called meeting on 21 May, while the quarterly meeting will be held on 11 June. I have not seen an agenda for either meeting, but the reason we are having a special called meeting in May (instead of the usual work session) is because of a very full agenda for the quarterly meeting, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Space Science Center. As soon as I receive an agenda for either meeting, I will post it here or post a link to the BOR page.
Finally, yes, I will be around all summer. I'm teaching during Summer I. Other than a few day trips, I should be in Morehead.
Stay strong,
Ron
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Audit and Restructuring
Following my last post, I received a frustrated response from an anonymous reader. I invite you to scroll down and read the comment on my last post below, but the gist of the reader's comments are captured in this opening statement:
"As faculty regent, what have you heard or know about any transition plan for MSU's future? Are we going to hear anything official before the end of the semester? You are our representative on the board but we haven't heard much from you lately about what is going on either. "
Let me say from the outset that I share the reader's frustration. My own department is being split up, and I will be part of the new "Department of Literature, Linguistics, and Writing" (I didn't choose the title). Our Dean met with us just last week, and, although the faculty posed many good questions, we received nearly no answers. Basically we were told that the new department would exist as of 1 July 2009, but we have no idea who our chair will be. We will have to construct new department committees, write a new FEP, figure out where we are positioned in the new General Education, and so on. We expressed our dismay and frustration to the Dean, but we really received no answers to the questions that most concern us.
In the Faculty Senate, I have seen the same situation play out. Senators from those departments most affected by the restructuring and members of the Governance Committee (who will face the enormous responsibility of recrafting the Senate Constitution and committee descriptions and probably some PAcs as well) can get few specific answers from the Provost.
While I realize that restructuring is a complicated business and that one decision often affects a dozen more, most faculty--and indeed most chairs and deans--do not have a clear idea of how the audit recommendations (including restructuring) will be implemented. It is now late April, and we need some clear and direct answers from the Provost's Office before the end of the term.
(On the issue of having so many interim administrators, I am also deeply concerned. Let me comment on that issue in a separate post later.)
As I have reported in previous posts, I have discussed these matters with the President on several occasions, and I have communicated these concerns to the BOR. I will continue to voice your concerns, complaints, and suggestions to the President and the administration, and in fact I am scheduling a meeting with the President very shortly to discuss this matter.
I wish that I had more answers.
Yes, stay strong. Stay strong in your enthusiasm to teach your classes and pursue your research and creative projects. Stay strong in your desire to make this institution better. Stay strong in your resolve to ask difficult questions and voice minority positions. Stay strong in your defense of academic freedom and shared governance. Yes, it's kind of a goofy saying, but I still hope that MSU faculty, in the face of enormous challenges, will indeed
Stay Strong,
Ron
"As faculty regent, what have you heard or know about any transition plan for MSU's future? Are we going to hear anything official before the end of the semester? You are our representative on the board but we haven't heard much from you lately about what is going on either. "
Let me say from the outset that I share the reader's frustration. My own department is being split up, and I will be part of the new "Department of Literature, Linguistics, and Writing" (I didn't choose the title). Our Dean met with us just last week, and, although the faculty posed many good questions, we received nearly no answers. Basically we were told that the new department would exist as of 1 July 2009, but we have no idea who our chair will be. We will have to construct new department committees, write a new FEP, figure out where we are positioned in the new General Education, and so on. We expressed our dismay and frustration to the Dean, but we really received no answers to the questions that most concern us.
In the Faculty Senate, I have seen the same situation play out. Senators from those departments most affected by the restructuring and members of the Governance Committee (who will face the enormous responsibility of recrafting the Senate Constitution and committee descriptions and probably some PAcs as well) can get few specific answers from the Provost.
While I realize that restructuring is a complicated business and that one decision often affects a dozen more, most faculty--and indeed most chairs and deans--do not have a clear idea of how the audit recommendations (including restructuring) will be implemented. It is now late April, and we need some clear and direct answers from the Provost's Office before the end of the term.
(On the issue of having so many interim administrators, I am also deeply concerned. Let me comment on that issue in a separate post later.)
As I have reported in previous posts, I have discussed these matters with the President on several occasions, and I have communicated these concerns to the BOR. I will continue to voice your concerns, complaints, and suggestions to the President and the administration, and in fact I am scheduling a meeting with the President very shortly to discuss this matter.
I wish that I had more answers.
Yes, stay strong. Stay strong in your enthusiasm to teach your classes and pursue your research and creative projects. Stay strong in your desire to make this institution better. Stay strong in your resolve to ask difficult questions and voice minority positions. Stay strong in your defense of academic freedom and shared governance. Yes, it's kind of a goofy saying, but I still hope that MSU faculty, in the face of enormous challenges, will indeed
Stay Strong,
Ron
Saturday, April 18, 2009
You're Invited . . .
All faculty and librarians are invited to drop by 102 Combs on Wednesday, 22 April from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. I would like to hear your opinions on the curriculum audit, reorganization, presidential evaluation, and/or anything else you would like to talk about.
If you can't make it, please consider posting a response on this blog or sending me an e-mail at r-morrison@rocketmail.com.
Stay strong,
Ron
If you can't make it, please consider posting a response on this blog or sending me an e-mail at r-morrison@rocketmail.com.
Stay strong,
Ron
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Yet Another KCTCS/Tenure Update
Roy Silver, a sociology professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, has published another very compelling defense of tenure. The article, which appeared in Thursday's Herald-Leader, can be found at this link: http://www.kentucky.com/589/story/762887.html
For more information on the situation at KCTCS, please read my previous two posts.
Stay strong,
Ron
For more information on the situation at KCTCS, please read my previous two posts.
Stay strong,
Ron
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Update on KCTCS Tenure Elimination
Many of you are probably aware that on 3 April the faculty at Southeast Community and Technical College voted to give the Board of Regents for KCTCS a vote of no confidence. (This sentence is a little tortured for an English professor, but it is hard to articulate!) If you have not read about this vote, you may wish to read the full news story: http://www.kentucky.com/142/story/750072.html
What you may not know is that the faculty at Bluegrass Community and Technical College are preparing to do the same thing, according to posts on the COSFL discussion list. And I just received word that the Leestown Campus of KCTCS is calling a special meeting to discuss a similar resolution.
I am not sure that such votes of no confidence will have much of an effect, but perhaps extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures. The loss of tenure for future hires in the KCTCS system is a serious threat to the concept of tenure at all colleges and universities in the state.
What can we do beyond offering moral support to our colleagues at these institutions? I think the most important thing we can do is to continue to articulate to the general public why we think tenure needs to be preserved. If you haven't read the recent letter from the General Secretary of the AAUP to KCTCS faculty members (see my post immediately below), it is a great place to start.
Ron
What you may not know is that the faculty at Bluegrass Community and Technical College are preparing to do the same thing, according to posts on the COSFL discussion list. And I just received word that the Leestown Campus of KCTCS is calling a special meeting to discuss a similar resolution.
I am not sure that such votes of no confidence will have much of an effect, but perhaps extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures. The loss of tenure for future hires in the KCTCS system is a serious threat to the concept of tenure at all colleges and universities in the state.
What can we do beyond offering moral support to our colleagues at these institutions? I think the most important thing we can do is to continue to articulate to the general public why we think tenure needs to be preserved. If you haven't read the recent letter from the General Secretary of the AAUP to KCTCS faculty members (see my post immediately below), it is a great place to start.
Ron
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
In Defense of Tenure . . .
Most of you probably know that recently the Board of Regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System voted to abolish tenure for all new faculty hires coming into the system.
This development has been very disturbing to many of us in higher education, and indeed the AAUP and the state-level Council of Senate and Faculty Leadership (COSFL) have been exploring ways of challenging this decision.
I thought you might like to read a public letter from the General Secretary of the AAUP to the faculty at Kentucky's Community and Technical Colleges, since it provides a compelling and rational defense of tenure in general. Among other reasons, as the General Secretary states, "Tenure is key to providing faculty members the genuine freedom to challenge and engage students in the classroom." To read the letter in its entirety, please follow this link: http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/about/gensec/KCTCS.htm
If you find the letter as compelling as I do, please consider sending a link to your colleagues in Kentucky and across the nation.
And just so no rumors get started, please let me state in very clear terms that I have heard no one suggest that Morehead State should abolish tenure. But I think it a very valuable thing to articulate to the general public why we value tenure and why we will work hard to preserve it.
Ron
This development has been very disturbing to many of us in higher education, and indeed the AAUP and the state-level Council of Senate and Faculty Leadership (COSFL) have been exploring ways of challenging this decision.
I thought you might like to read a public letter from the General Secretary of the AAUP to the faculty at Kentucky's Community and Technical Colleges, since it provides a compelling and rational defense of tenure in general. Among other reasons, as the General Secretary states, "Tenure is key to providing faculty members the genuine freedom to challenge and engage students in the classroom." To read the letter in its entirety, please follow this link: http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/about/gensec/KCTCS.htm
If you find the letter as compelling as I do, please consider sending a link to your colleagues in Kentucky and across the nation.
And just so no rumors get started, please let me state in very clear terms that I have heard no one suggest that Morehead State should abolish tenure. But I think it a very valuable thing to articulate to the general public why we value tenure and why we will work hard to preserve it.
Ron
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