An article in the February 6, 2009, edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education: “Downturn Threatens the Faculty's Role in Running Colleges” is important reading for faculty members curious about – or concerned about – shared governance. According to author Robin Wilson, the current economic climate of belt-tightening and budget-cutting is undermining shared governance on many campuses. In the name of efficiency and the bottom-line, decisions on matters such as curriculum and reorganizing programs are being made at some schools with no faculty input or worse directly in the face of faculty opposition.
TCC, of course, is not among the schools profiled, but the final quotation of the piece is worth our consideration: "If there isn't a good system on a campus for consultation and communication, this climate is going to make that clear," says Ms. [Merrill] Schwartz, who directs research at the association of governing boards. "Good communication builds trust and good will, which are essential when difficult decisions need to be made in a short amount of time."
Click on this sentence for a link to the article.
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Based on your professional and academic judgment as a faculty member, what percentage of a semester would need to be completed in order to meet academic objectives and protect the college’s academic mission in the event of an emergency situation that shut
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The goal of the TCC Senate Blog is to promote open communication among TCC faculty and between TCC faculty and others who are interested in our work.
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- The College Faculty Senate meets on the first Thursday of each month September through May at 2:00 p.m. Meeting locations rotate alphabetically, starting in September and February with the Chesapeake campus. There are no January meetings. Summer meetings will be held on an as-needed basis.
- Sept. 4, 2008 Chesapeake
- Oct. 2, 2008 Norfolk
- Nov. 6 , 2008 Portsmouth
- Dec. 4, 2008 Virginia Beach
- Feb. 5, 2008 Chesapeake
- Mar. 5, 2008 Norfolk
- Apr. 2, 2008 Portsmouth
7 comments:
To access the full text article from off campus the URL is http://ezproxy.vccs.edu:2048/login?url=http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i22/22a00102.htm
Beverly Hills, Librarian
Thank you, Beverly.
Unfortunately, in most cases, it seems faculty are forced to make all academic decisions. At some point TCC administrators have to start making some decisions in a timely matter, instead of just faculty committees. Or at least more inclusive committees. With around 250 faculty, it seems to me, only 25 faculty really serve on all the committees. Why not make all faculty serve on at least one committee. I would probably grumble at first about being forced onto a committee, but I would be okay with that if I knew every one else was in the same boat.
How does this work? Who does the forcing? If you are forced on a committee, who forces you to show up to meetings? Interesting concept, but we don’t have any accountability.
Working on a committee packed with conscripts would probably just be extra frustration because it would surely be a challenge to persuade conscripts to work hard and take leadership roles. OK that was pretty cynical, but I really don't see faculty conscription as a viable option. What about recruiting future leaders to maintain and build upon the successes we've had so far? What kinds of incentives motivate faculty to do good committee work? Which of those incentives could we offer? I don't think there are easy answers but surely the problem is worth tackling.
I would like to see the inclusion of more faculty on committees as well. Or at least limit the number of committees any one faculty can hold membership on at one time. Would that be too much to ask, one committee at a time? I know one of my colleagues serves on several of the big committees, PAPC, TLTR, attends campus senate meetings, and I really wonder when she has time to teach.
Limit the number of committees? I'll admit; I'm one of the people who's committee happy. I'm on eight committees right now, and I serve as an officer (chair, vice chair or secretary) on most of them. I have the time because I make the time. I choose to focus on work rather than finding a hobby because I love my job. My students don't suffer because of my committee work; in fact, they benefit from it because I learn about student services, academic programs, and honors opportunities while serving on the committees. I'd much rather be allowed to continue my work than to be replace by someone who doesn't want to do committee work and therefore doesn't put in the effort needed.
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