The Transfiguration of University Faculty Senates in the Shadow of Pandemic

 





 Pix: Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter on the Via Labicana.

University Faculty Senates in the United States continue to struggle to define their role within universities that increasingly function like large public administrative agencies. This emerging "university new era" governance framework is grounded in the professionalization of an administrator class and the de-professionalization of faculty. That shift has had profound effects both on the governance of the university as an institution, and on the way in which the role of faculty is understood as workers on sometimes enormous (and in some cases enormously wealthy) learning latifundia (some might suggest modern and more benign forms of knowledge encomienda).

Where once faculty were more centered within the governance of the university (and certainly within its colleges and departments), now de-profesisonalized, they are run like administrative agencies by bevies of (former) faculty eager to rise within the administrative state that the university has become. University administrations have become engorged with assistant, associate and special case deans; they have become the sum of departments that now manage virtually every aspect of academic life (1) as an aid to, (2) for the convenience of, and (3) because of the need for specialized administrative skills and attention in connection with, the processing of students through degree programs and the management of faculty. The later, no longer capable of self management because we have now come to believe they lack the skills. . . and certainly the time given their teaching and research obligations in frenetic competition in peer prestige markets on which their internal and external status depends), become objects of management.

And yet, like the institutions of Republican Rome after the establishment of the the Principate (and then the Dominate after the crisis of the 3rd century AD), the university's ancient institutions of shared governance, and the muscle memory of the rituals of an earlier age remain long after their effectiveness has passed into oblivion. Like the Roman Senate during the Principate (after the victory of Augustus Ceasar) University Faculty Senates assumed a consultative and consensus producing role in the years after the start of this century.  Penn State provided a good example of this general evolution, one in which the institutions of the Senate were respected even as its authority was being evacuated in favor of better managed administrative led special committees in which the real business of "shared" (and well managed) governance was being undertaken. 

But the COVID-19 pandemic may well have produced the crisis that may precipitate fairly rapid change along the trajectories described above.  That is, in the shadow of COVID-19 and its threat to the income and function of the university,  the pace and character of changes in the relationship between (de professionalized) faculty and (a rising corps of professional) administrators may move shared governance from the more benign forms of a Principate to those of a crisis entrenched and  much more bureaucratized and hierarchical Dominate.

These are the thoughts that came to mind as, along with other members of the Penn State University Community, I  received this message from the Chair of its University Faculty Senate:

Faculty Senate Newsletter

September 29, 2020

 

The University Faculty Senate will meet remotely on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. via ZOOM (link below). 

                                                

The Faculty Senate remains deeply committed to representing our faculty and student body during these challenging times. Numerous questions and concerns were raised at our recent plenary meeting on September 15, 2020 that could not be fully addressed due to time constraints. Events have continued to evolve, and we would benefit from continued and open conversation with all members of our community. In that spirit, the meeting will begin with an extensive Forensic to support a conversation about how we can best continue to meet our shared mission of teaching, research, creative activity, service and outreach for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania across our campuses.   

The Senate will consider One Forensic Report entitled: The State of Penn State.

                                                                                   

Faculty Senate meetings are held via ZOOM. Please refer to the University Faculty Senate website for ZOOM connection instructions.

 

Members of the University community are welcome to attend this meeting.  Any member of the University community not a member of the Senate may request the privilege of the floor on any item of business already before the Senate.  Such a request must be made to the Chair, through the Executive Director, at least five calendar days before the meeting at which the individual wishes to speak. The Senate Agenda will be posted on the Senate website one week prior to each meeting and the Senate Record (minutes) will be posted approximately three weeks following each meeting. 

For information on submitting major, minor, option, or course proposals, view the Guide to Curricular Procedures. View The Senate Curriculum Report.

 

 Beth Seymour
Chair, University Faculty Senate

The message, and the meeting to come, may well illustrate more the changing face of faculty involvement in governance, than it might produce any sort of consensus or action that will have real effect on the way n which the university is governed in this emerging era.  It expresses not just a concern, but also an attempt, to preserve what is left of faculty authority against its erosion in the face of the imperatives of the consequences of crisis that may go to the viability of the ancient institution in contemporary times. It suggests as well, the forms of the rear guard actions that may well characterize the forms of retreat from authority that ay characterize the next several years in the new era of the university and its workers.  The form of the university faculty senate will certainly remain with us for some time to time.  What one makes of it, though, remains an import and open question.

The Senate Forensic document along with the "University Faculty Senate Resolution on Return to Work" follow below.

 

Appendix A

9/29/20

THE STATE OF PENN STATE

(Forensic)

The forensic discussion will start with a focus on the University Faculty Senate Resolution on Return to Work passed by Senate Council at its June 23, 2020 meeting. This resolution focused on ‘faculty choice’ regarding the University’s planning process for returning to in-person instruction in the Fall. The resolution presented a set of principles focused on the role of faculty as key partners in the decision-making process for instruction at the University across all of its campuses, expressed concern about the health and well-being of our campuses and communities, and ended with a set of requests to the University.

The principles, concerns, and requests to the University issued in this resolution are still relevant now and provide a framework for discussing many of the most pressing issues today. The questions in the forensic are intended to help the Senate briefly review the work of the last few months, identify concerns and requests that have arisen since the Return to Work resolution or that have been unsatisfactorily addressed, and offer substantial time for open discussion and comments that Senators may want to make, along with providing points of convergence for us moving forward.

The Faculty Senate remains deeply committed to representing our faculty and student body during these challenging times. Numerous questions and concerns were raised at our recent plenary meeting on September 15, 2020 that could not be fully addressed due to time constraints. Events have continued to evolve, and we would benefit from continued and open conversation with all members of our community. In that spirit, the meeting will begin with an extensive Forensic to support a conversation about how we can best continue to meet our shared mission of teaching, research, creative activity, service and outreach for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania across our campuses.

The following questions will be asked during the meeting:

1. How has the University Faculty Senate Resolution on Return to Work been implemented in University decision-making?
   • What still needs to be addressed?

2. What new or additional items should be addressed by Faculty Senate?

Beth Seymour, Chair, University Faculty Senate

 

 

University Faculty Senate Resolution on Return to Work

Renee Bishop-Pierce, Penn State Scranton
Maureen Jones, College of Health and Human Development

(Positional Resolution)

Background

In early June 2020, a resolution was drafted about “faculty choice” with regard to the then-tentative possibility of Penn State returning to residential education for the Fall 2020 semester. Within days of drafting the resolution, Senator Renee Bishop-Pierce of Penn State Scranton, who is Chair of the Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs, and Senator Maureen Jones of the College of Health and Human Development, who is chair of the Senate Committee on Intra-University Relations, circulated a message containing the draft resolution addressed to all of the Chairs and Vice Chairs of all of the Senate’s Standing Committees asking for input, support, and guidance. A passage from the earliest message contains the following plea:

We feel that this needs the immediate attention of the senate for several reasons:

1. 1. Faculty are continuing to express their concerns and fears. We want to help allay some of those fears, if possible, while maintaining strong, positive shared governance with the administration. We would be remiss in our role as senators and committee chairs if we did not give faculty an opportunity to express their concerns. Faculty need to see that their Senate is working for them.
   2. Faculty would like to be able to contribute to helping find solutions and providing input as we plan for the upcoming semesters.

It is critical to get input on this resolution from the committee chairs to help us prepare a document we can all support.

After robust discussion via e-mail correspondence, which lasted for approximately one week, composed of more than sixty discrete messages, resolution drafters Senators Bishop-Pierce and Jones reviewed the feedback they received, incorporated it, and then reformatted the draft into the resolution presented herein.

Senators Bishop-Pierce and Jones subsequently shared the new draft with Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Kathy Bieschke and University Faculty Senate Chair Beth Seymour in a meeting scheduled, unsurprisingly, to discuss the resolution and gather additional feedback on the draft. The draft was then circulated again to all of the Chairs and Vice Chairs of all of the Senate’s Standing Committees asking for their support. The draft received unanimous support. The resolution was then submitted for consideration by Senate Council in their June 23, 2020 meeting.

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UNIVERSITY SENATE COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND VICE CHAIRS
IN SUPPORT OF THIS RESOLUTION INCLUDE:

Senate Committee on Admissions, Records, Scheduling, and Student Aid

• Kathleen Phillips, Chair
• Maura Shea, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Committees and Rules

• Victor Brunsden, Chair
• Annie Taylor, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs

• Mary Beth Williams, Chair
• Harold Hayford, Co Vice-Chair
• Suzanna Linn, Co Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Education

• Michele Stine, Chair
• Stephen Van Hook, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Education Equity and Campus Environment

• Kimberly Blockett, Chair
• Brian Redmond, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs

• Renee Bishop-Pierce, Chair
• Josh Kirby, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Faculty Benefits

• Ira Saltz, Chair
• Denise Costanzo, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Global Programs

• Brian King, Chair
• Martha Strickland, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on IAC

• Mark Stephens, Chair
• Terry Blakney, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Intra-University Relations

• Maureen Jones, Chair
• Karyn McKinney-Marvasti, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Libraries, Information Systems, and Technology

• Ann Clements, Chair
• Francesca Ruggiero, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Outreach

• Andrew Freiberg, Chair – confirmed
• Cindy Simmons, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

• Roger Egolf, Chair
• Ira Ropson, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on Student Life

• Timothy Robicheaux, Chair
• Jennifer Nesbitt, Vice-Chair

Senate Committee on University Planning

• Jim Strauss, Chair
• Frantisek Marko, Vice-Chair

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UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE RESOLUTION ON RETURN TO WORK

WHEREAS, on March 16, 2020, the President asked faculty, staff and graduate students to deliver synchronous courses in a remote learning environment, online advising, online mentoring, online career counseling, and various forms of online support vital to our functioning as a University;

WHEREAS, the faculty, staff and graduate students responded, delivering courses in a remote, synchronous learning environment, taking on additional workload to ensure that teaching and learning continued with a minimum of interruptions;

WHEREAS, the faculty are scholarly experts in their fields and disciplines, who design curriculum, and who are granted academic freedom to deliver courses in the ways that are best matched for their courses, students, and expertise; and

WHEREAS, the faculty deserve the right to articulate what they consider are the best circumstances for learning in their particular course or courses;

THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED THAT: As the University plans for this year, we should follow these principles:

1. THAT faculty, staff, and graduate students should have input on any decision that impacts teaching and learning;
2. THAT maintaining faculty positions is a high priority in fiscal decision-making; and
3. THAT faculty are free to exercise academic expertise with regard to the format and delivery of their course(s) as they see fit.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES REQUIRES faculty, staff, and graduate student input on decision making and some assurance with regard to job security for faculty:

HENCEFORTH, faculty, staff, and graduate students deserve more input in decision making, and, therefore, the University Faculty Senate affirms:

• That there should be faculty membership on all University committees, taskforces and special committees working to research, solve, and/or monitor issues that impact teaching and learning (publishing committee membership and charges);
• That faculty, on an individual basis, be consulted to assess the needs and challenges for their respective in-person courses;
• That faculty determine how best to deliver their courses;
• That faculty at each campus and college have the opportunity to problem solve the best options for the specific needs of each student body;
• That the University honor faculty judgement regarding health and safety related to in-person teaching and all other academic activities, according to current public health guidelines;
• That faculty be included in development of monitoring strategies (i.e. development of incremental monitoring of cleaning procedures, adherence to polices, testing outcomes etc.) to ensure a safe return to in-person teaching; and
• That faculty be provided with up-to-date monitoring results to provide input and revise strategies regarding health safety standards
• THEREFORE, LET IT ALSO BE RESOLVED, that if the University or Academic Unit cannot provide a safe on campus environment for faculty, staff or students, then faculty will be granted their rights to shift course delivery to remote or online method.

HENCEFORTH, faculty request that the University: 

• Provide no contest to unemployment insurance claims for faculty released due to economic issues;
• Provide current, and, if needed, increased support and resources (including resource sharing across all campuses and enhanced library services), for remote education and the transition to and from remote learning platforms;
• Treat SRTEs as formative assessment until further notice;
• Manage and monitor barriers to promotion and/or tenure resulting from COVID 19 issues;
• Give current faculty priority when assigning teaching or other compensated work; and
• Give high priority to redirecting funds saved from cancelled/postponed events and travel disbursements in spring/summer/fall 2020 toward faculty related purposes, including non-tenure line faculty needs.