Updates from the Chair of the Faculty:
1) I am pleased to report that the Faculty and Staff Senates are in the process of drafting a joint resolution titled “Guiding Principles for University Budget Decision Making Recommendations from the WCU Faculty & Staff Senates”. I would like to thank Ben Pendry, Chair of the Staff Senate, for his leadership and commitment in bringing us together. Our aim is to bring this before the full Senate for discussion and consideration at our Overflow Meeting, Nov. 18 at 3pm EST.
2) Early in the Fall semester we issued a request for feedback from faculty pertaining to whether to allow S/U grading for Fall 2020. A majority of faculty respondents did not support the allowance of S/U. Faculty Senate leadership conveyed these results to Provost Starnes who emailed the students with this information. At the end of last week, I was contacted by SGA leadership asking if I would attend their upcoming meeting (M, Nov. 9, 6-8pm). I attended. I listened, answered/asked questions, and reviewed their survey results. In good faith, I told them that I would bring the matter to the full Senate. So, also at our Overflow Meeting, we will discuss whether to consider a resolution supporting S/U grading for Fall 2020. If you have feedback, please convey to your Senator directly and/or come to the meeting.
3) Faculty Assembly * DRAFT * Statement on Faculty Representation on Boards of Trustees.(a)
4) Faculty Assembly Chairs request to complete “A Day in the Life” survey by Dec. 31, 2020: https://forms.gle/3Xftbgn73w4oeC9j8
5) The third installment of our Culture in Conversation Series, “The Real Indian” presented by Sky Sampson, Director of the WCU Cherokee Center, was very interesting and enlightening (see https://youtu.be/MBYvQphpogk).
6) Our final Water Cooler of the season is this Friday from 330-5pm EST under the White Tent on the Intramural Fields. We’ll have food, drinks, and tunes. It’s supposed to be sunny and 70, so let’s get outside!
(a) Faculty Assembly Statement on Faculty Representation on Boards of Trustees **DRAFT**
At a time of unprecedented challenge for American Higher Education, it is more important than ever for UNC System institutions to build and nurture an atmosphere of transparency, trust and collaboration among their core stakeholders. To this end, the UNC Faculty Assembly issued in Fall 2020 its revised Principles of Shared Governance, which sets forth a number of recommendations meant to ensure “that the major constituencies of the university, especially its faculty, administration, and governing board, have meaningful opportunities to participate effectively in managing the affairs of the institution.”
Among the most promising means of enhancing shared governance is to include the Faculty Chair as a non-voting ex-officio constituency representative on an institution’s Board of Trustees. In this capacity, the Faculty Chair attends all open meetings and is accorded any additional access to Board Members, appropriate materials, and events. The constituent representative does not provide presentations, unless specifically invited by the Board Chair, nor do they attend closed sessions or vote on any issues coming before the Board, which would create a conflict of interest. In this role, as the Principles statement affirms, the Faculty Chair can “provide an opportunity for Trustees to have access to the institution’s faculty voice and to allow more transparency between the Trustees and the faculty.” Further, inclusion of the Faculty Chair at Board events and social gatherings of the Board Members creates a climate conducive to building collegial relationships so necessary to making decisions, creating policies, and otherwise serving the needs of the university and its students. Ideally, the Faculty Chair is a direct advocate and conduit between the Board of Trustees and the faculty, which will enhance the making of policies that promote academic excellence.
In addition to representing the faculty at meetings of the Board, it is recommended that the Faculty Chair be appointed as an ex officio member to Board of Trustees Committees charged with oversight of academic affairs or other matters in which shared governance grants to the faculty a key stake. In this capacity, the Faculty Chair may speak out as an advisory member of the Committee, representing the Faculty voice during deliberations but will have no vote.
In its 2017 Statement on Shared Governance, the Board of the Directors of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges notes that “the board should seek ways to benefit from faculty engagement, experience, and expertise by including faculty members in the work of board committees and task forces. A governing board’s academic affairs committee should address issues related to shared governance, and it should benefit from engagement with faculty on such critical topics as educational quality, student success, and completion.”
Four UNC System Institutions (Appalachian State, School of Science and Math, UNC School of the Arts, and UNC Charlotte) have already taken concrete steps to ensure faculty representation on the Board of Trustees and its committees by adopting the designation of their Faculty Chair as a “constituent representative” to the Board of Trustees. The Faculty Assembly strongly encourages each of our campuses to consider the merits of following suit.
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