The Cornell Faculty Senate last week approved a resolution, already informally agreed to by President Hunter Rawlings, that calls for more input from the Faculty Senate into the decision-making process on academic matters.
The senate approved the resolution in a vote of 64-4, with three abstentions, after defeating an amendment that would have softened its language.
"The Faculty Senate believes quite strongly that its leadership role on behalf of the faculty at large will be enhanced by a clarification of its shared role in academic decision-making," said J. Robert Cooke, dean of the faculty. "We want our usually diverse views to be considered thoughtfully before decisions affecting major academic issues that cross college boundaries are finalized. I'm optimistic that we will be able to find mutually acceptable, consultative procedures."
The resolution was brought by the University Faculty Committee (UFC) in response to a series of actions taken by the administration on academic matters without adequate consultation with the faculty, said Charles Walcott, professor and chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior and chair of the UFC.
"These actions have caused us some concerns about the relationship between the Faculty Senate and the president and the administration," Walcott said.
The resolution reads, in part:
"Whereas, following a pattern set with the reorganizations of the Division of Biological Sciences and the Department of Computer Science, the Cornell administration once again ignored the very clear wishes of the faculty for consultation on an academic matter by moving ahead with the creation of e-Cornell as a for-profit enterprise for distance learning, without permitting time for due deliberation by the faculty through their governance structure,
"Therefore, be it resolved that the Senate instructs the Dean of the Faculty and the University Faculty Committee (UFC) to draft a written agreement between the Faculty Senate and the President, covering the process by which decisions of the central administration on academic matters that concern more than one college or on matters that the Senate has addressed or that the UFC wishes to bring to the Senate will be handled."
Walcott noted, however, that in the past few weeks the president had taken several steps to resolve the faculty concerns. He pointed to the creation of the Provost's Advisory Committee on Distance Learning, which Rawlings has established to help in the development of plans for distance-learning activities. The committee of eight includes seven faculty members. In addition, Walcott said, Rawlings already has agreed to work with the Faculty Senate to come up with "a series of understandings on how we might work together to prevent future misunderstandings."
In light of those developments, Alan McAdams, associate professor of management, suggested amending the resolution. "The objective of the changes is to soften this motion, especially in light of the fact that the president already has agreed to proceed as we have requested," McAdams said.
He proposed, among other changes, replacing the section of the resolution that addressed the "pattern" of administration actions with, "Whereas, there have been different perceptions on what constitutes appropriate Faculty input in some recent important issues of this kind."
Mary Beth Norton, the M. Donlon Alger Professor of American History, backed McAdams' amendment. She said faculty members in her department advised her not to vote for the original wording because it "rewrites history."
Norton said, "There was consultation, it's just that the administration decided to do something else in the end."
But others argued for the stronger wording, saying true consultation had not taken place. "Personally I am angry," said Tony Simons, associate professor of hotel administration. "There was no misunderstanding. The Faculty Senate spoke loud and clear several times and the administration ignored us."
The amendment failed in a vote of 47 to 19, with two abstentions.
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