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"Some college administrators seem so distracted with fund raising, academic infighting, and community initiatives that they set up their emergency communications departments very poorly. Training is poor to nonexistent, secretaries are pressed into service with tremendous responsibilities for running 'notification systems' 24/7 and on weekends because no one else knows how to do it and the administration won’t pay for additional staff. Procedures are seat-of-the-pants and dependent on HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion), except when something like Virginia Tech happens and there is some sort of scramble to do something different." --Donna
Most Colleges Avoid Risk Management, Report Says
Sonoma State University Foundation May Lose $350,000 on Loan to Former Board Member
The foundation will be forced to issue fewer scholarships in the 2010-11 academic year because of a diminished endowment, a university official said.
Court Overturns $2-Million Verdict for Former Coach at U. of Louisiana-Lafayette
The coach, one of the few African-Americans in big-time college football, was fired after three losing seasons. He sued, saying he had been dismissed because of his race.
The notorious vermin have forced Colorado State University at Fort Collins to cancel its annual Great Sofa Roundup, which allows students to donate unwanted couches.
Water-Main Break Damages Library at University in St. Louis
Summer classes at Harris-Stowe State University resumed today, but the library remains closed.
Former Professor Gets 4 Years for Allowing Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Technology
The retired University of Tennessee researcher was found guilty of illegally allowing foreign students to see restricted information while working on a contract for the Air Force.
College Suspends Student for Working in Gay Pornography | 58
President Obama's Visit to Notre Dame Carries Barely a Hint of Controversy That Preceded It | 58
Drug Sting Nabs 21 Students at U. of Illinois | 57
Faculty Members and Union Protest Staff Layoffs at Temple U. as 'Cruel' | 57
North Dakota Board's Vote Puts 'Fighting Sioux' Mascot on Thinner Ice | 57
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September 26, 2007
Rensselaer Professors Want Their Senate Back
In a referendum this week, faculty members at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute approved a motion calling for the reinstatement of the university’s deposed Faculty Senate.
The institute’s provost, Robert E. Palazzo, suspended the senate in early August following a disagreement among faculty members, administrators, and the university’s Board of Trustees over moves by the senate to extend voting rights to non-tenure-track faculty members.
This week 228 out of 380 eligible tenured and tenure-track faculty members participated in a two-day poll on a resolution declaring support for the Faculty Senate and calling for its immediate restoration, according to Nancy D. Campbell, an associate professor in the department of science and technology studies and the senate’s recording secretary. Of those who voted, 200 favored the resolution, 21 were against it, and seven abstained.
Despite the faculty vote, administrators appear to be sticking with a plan of keeping the senate suspended until a faculty committee appointed last week by the provost completes its review of the university’s faculty-governance structure.
“The information from this unofficial faculty referendum will be discussed with the academic leadership of Rensselaer and shared with the Faculty Governance Review Committee,” the university said in a written statement released today.
The review panel will consider the resolution “along with the many other factors relating to faculty governance it will study as it considers its recommendations,” the statement said. “Meanwhile, we are continuing under a Board of Trustees resolution that approved the establishment of the transitional faculty governance structure, including a temporary suspension of the Faculty Senate.”
Last Friday, the American Association of University Professors sent a letter to Rensselaer’s president, Shirley Ann Jackson, criticizing the provost’s actions as contrary to the principles of shared governance.
In a reply this week, the university’s general counsel discounted the AAUP letter as “based on an admittedly biased representation of an internal matter” and faulted the association for relying only on faculty members’ account of the conflict. —Paula Wasley
Posted on Wednesday September 26, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
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For the welfare of the students, faculty, administration and the community, shared governance is necessary. I hope Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute administration will reinstate the Faculty Senate.
— Kan Chandras Sep 29, 09:23 AM #