Faculty senate concerned about College Board proposals

Given two opportunities to express their opinion, members of the Holland Faculty Senate recently took both to express concern over proposed changes in the College Board's official policies and bylaws.

At the advisory body's Nov. 14 meeting, members received reports from the regular Charter and Bylaws Committee and a special ad hoc committee. Both had spent the last month looking into issues raised by proposals on tenure, dismissal and promotion sent to all state university campuses by the staff of the state Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning.

"Upon review, the Charter and Bylaws Committee identified a number of proposed changes that will have a tremendous impact on the faculty," the report said. Specific areas mentioned by the committee were the definition of tenure, dismissal of tenured faculty, appeals to the College Board concerning grievances, upgrading of academic credentials, approval for overseas travel, and intellectual property policies.

Voting unanimously, the senate agreed with the committee's report that "time be given to further study" of the issues. "In several instances," the report added, "the proposed changes will have a significant, negative impact on the universities and their faculty."

Senators called for a committee of "IHL Board and/or staff members and faculty from the eight institutions to be formed to work together on changes in the IHL Policies and Bylaws that will result in strengthening the [schools'] education, research and service missions."

As an example of the proposed changes, the definition of tenure would change. Currently, it is defined as "continuing employment that may be granted to a faculty member." The replacement sentence would read: "Tenure is defined as a reasonable expectation of continuing employment that may be granted to a full-time faculty member."

In the section on tenured faculty dismissal, senators cited addition of the words "reorganization" and "modification" as points of concern. For example, in defining cases of "extraordinary circumstances," the language would be changed from "termination or reduction of programs, academic or administrative units as approved by the board" to "termination, modification, reorganization or reduction of programs, academic or administrative units as approved by the Board."

Echoing Charter and Bylaws, the senate's ad hoc committee specifically looking at proposals on promotion and tenure said the changes "if adopted, would have a severe and negative impact" on the university. Alluding to the addition of "modification" and "reorganization," ad hoc committee members argued that "these words would make tenure essentially meaningless in Mississippi institutions of higher learning."

While not unanimous, the vote to accept this second committee's report was an overwhelming 23 for, one against and four abstaining.

Among other business items considered at the November meeting, senators:

• Unanimously approved a resolution honoring retiring President Donald Zacharias for his "dedication, zeal and efforts on behalf of Mississippi State University" which, it said, "were without equal." A plaque containing the resolution will be presented at the Dec. 3 faculty tribute to Zacharias.
• Approved, pending the addition of some wording, the official university statement of values developed by the Division of Student Affairs, in part, to aid in its recruiting and student administrative missions. The 23 representatives voting in support of the document did so only after asking that the section titled "Freedom of Inquiry" be modified to read and reflect "Freedom of Inquiry and Expression." Two voted against the SOV as presented and four abstained.

A detailed summary of business conducted at the meeting can be read on the Faculty Senate Home Page, which is easily accessed via the University Home Page.