2008 Woodie Awards
Discussion heats up Faculty Senate meeting
Maria Iliakova
Issue date: 2/21/05 Section: News
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"A long culture of intimidation was instituted by the previous chancellor. We are trying to change the culture of the University," said Senator Driever to Osborne.
Senators packed the Plaza Room of the Administrative Center to haggle over nominations for the Chancellor's Search Committee, a draft concerning budget shortfalls, and the continuing mysteries of the White Paper.
Professor Steven Driever of the School of Arts and Sciences initiated the current dialogue with the provost over the authorship of the White Paper. "We were blindsided [by the White Paper]...many of us feel betrayed," he said. Likewise, Senator Ed Gogol of the School of Biological Sciences said he was upset because "actions were taken without a faculty response."
In response, Osborne pointed out that "the White Paper was not a proposal...it was made to generate discussion; this should never be foreign," and claimed principle authorship of the document.
Senator Hood of the School of Law objected, saying, "We have shared government [with the administration]. The faculty wants a say in structure at an early stage." Even Senator Schweitzberger of Library Services said that she had never seen the document while in the role of Senate Chair last year.
Both Driever and Gogol protested Osborne's usage of the term of "witch hunt" to describe the investigation by the Faculty Senate. Gogol said in frustration, "[The Faculty Senate] will not stand for this denigration in our community."
Gogol also raised the issue of what he saw as the meddling of the provost in the decision of the Dean of the School of Biological Sciences to vacate the role of his associate dean. "If a dean can't fire or hire his own team, what is the meaning of an academic dean?" he asked the provost.
The provost replied that the matter was a "legal issue." "I cannot fire or hire anyone without going to the system," he said. Senator Jim Durig of the School of Arts and Sciences challenged this explanation and said he had never sought approval to change associate deans while he was dean.
In this matter, Hood frankly said the provost had gone too far. "Bill, I think you've overstepped." Osborne, however, maintained that he did not oppose the associate dean's firing but rather how it was done. "The process violated collected rules and regulations," said Osborne; he did not specify what regulations had been broken.
The main concern voiced by Arts and Sciences Senator Ebersole was that UMKC will have a "very had time hiring deans if all higher-ups must approve the deans' staffs."
The provost exited the meeting after briefly explaining that the money proposed for $5,000 awards to faculty for outstanding annual performance is not protected against re-allocation.
The Faculty Senate then bored head-first into solidifying nominations for the Chancellor's Search Committee (CSC). The most daunting challenge was deciding on 16 out of a list of 61.
Nobody opposed a motion to grant each academic unit one representative as well as four for Arts and Sciences and one at-large member. Chairman Jakob Waterborg said, "We need all ranks there," referring to having professors, associate professors, and others on the committee. Senator Karen Bame's opposition to "retired emeritus professors" being representatives met unanimous agreement.
Talk over the qualifications of each nominee centered on their experience, personal contributions to UMKC, their past performance on committees and their availability this summer, when the committee will conduct most of its work. The racial and gender diversity of the committee proved a challenge, as less than 10 percent of the 61 nominees provided racial diversity to the group.
The nominee list gave no information concerning each candidate except his/her name and department. Many of the representatives were chosen unanimously after being endorsed by the senators of their unit, most selections being made as appointments rather than well-informed elections. Voting between nominees took place only for the School of Dentistry, Libraries, and the College of Arts and Sciences.
The nominations for the Information Technology Council were also missing any descriptions of candidates. Many of those listed as possible members on both the ITC and the CSC were unknown to most of the senators.
The chosen CSC composition of 16 members is as follows: Associate Professor David Achtenberg for the School of Law; Professor Lee Bolman for the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration; Professor Trish Marken for the School of Pharmacy; non-regular faculty member Kathy Ballou for the School of Nursing; Associate Professor Christopher Papasian for the School of Medicine; Dr. Marilyn Carbonell for Library Services; Associate Professor Loyce Caruthers for the School of Education; Professor Jerry Woolsey for the School of Dentistry; Professor Mobberly for the Conservatory of Music; Professor Misca of the SCE; Professor Alfred Esser of the School of Biological Sciences; and Dr. Kilway, Dr. Bubacz, Dr. Atkinson and Dr. Dunbar, all of the College of Arts and Sciences. The senate selected Dr. Holsinger as the at-large member.
The University of Missouri System will soon review the 16 chosen members of the Chancellor's Search Committee, which is set to begin work this spring. The Faculty Senate is focused on making effective changes within UMKC during the search for a new chancellor to lead the community. The Chancellor's Search Committee, once approved, will have the burden of choosing the right person to direct the future of UMKC.
For more information about the Faculty Senate, including members, agendas, handouts and committees, please visit http://fusion1.umkc.edu/fsenate. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 1 at 3 p.m. in the Plaza Room of the Administrative Center.
miliakova@unews.com
