DRAFT

Emergency Meeting of the Faculty Senate December 1, 2000

Faculty Senate chair Joe Layon convened the University Senate at 2:00 p.m. in Carleton Auditorium.

Members present (44): M. Ardelt, C. Ashton, T. Auxter, D. Bloomquist, B. Brechner, M. Breeze, R. Briggs, K. Cheng, I. Clark, J. Cuda, L. Doty*, J. Earle*, M. Eisenberg, C. Finley, D. Fleming, J. Flocks, A. Fox, C. Goll, D. Hickey, G. Ihas, S. Khan, J. King, S. Kneipp, M. Koroly, P. Kricos, J. Larson, B. Long, D. McConnell, T. Mills, T. Morey, S. Mulkey, R. Mylavarapu, R. Natzke, B. Pace, J. Rodrique, A. Rosalsky, J. Sommervill, B. Stevens, S. Su, M. Swisher, G. Thursby, R. Wagman, S. Williams, G. Zachmann*. * Indicates ex-officio member.

Introduction and History: Joe Layon introduced the purpose and structure of the meeting and apologized for adding another meeting to everyone's already busy lives. He then explained why he thought the meeting was necessary and gave four concerns he and others have with the plans to change governance structures: 

• Legislators had good reason to get out of the business of managing education in the Late 1950's and 1960's - the ugliest reason being the Johns Committee. 
• The Board of Regents will be replaced by 2003 by something - which is not yet determined. Here lies the problem. This "thing" is supposed to come into being after discussion with educators but many details of the system are still not worked out. 
• The Transition Committee has been offered a list of renowned experts in the field of academic structure. The list was disregarded. The committee has not listened to the concerns of state faculty senates or many other groups. 
• Until one week ago, it was thought an intermediary board would be part of the new governing system - then it became clear that this was not the case. Joe then gave an overview of E.T. York's concerns:
•  Legislative Governance plan [HB2263] was pushed through the legislature with little opportunity for public input. 
• There was unanimous opposition to the plan by the 10 State University System Presidents during the legislative session. 
• Most Floridians that know about University governance are concerned about the abolition of the regents. 
• Newspapers, educators, former regents, business leaders, student government leaders and faculty senate leaders have strongly opposed this legislation. 
• The task force failed to secure input from nationally recognized University leaders. 
• If implemented, this plan would make Florida the only state in the nation without some form of statewide governing or coordinating body.
•  Senator Bob Graham is also concerned and plans to express his concerns before the task force meeting in Miami in December. Joe went on to explain the five major problems with the task force's proposals: 
• K-20 seamless education is impossible. What happens in Kindergarten isn't the same as what happens in Graduate school.
• Discovery only happens if people are free to be Galileo and are not afraid to think or act. 
• The System will become much more political - possibly reverting back to some of the problems of the 1950's and 1960's. 
• Seamless education will limit the appropriate influence of the legislature. 
• The strength of the SUS is its five components - students, staff, administration, faculty, and community/alumni. If there is the possibility that any one of those components will be lopped off, there is cause for great concern. Joe continued on by stating that the seamless proposal of K-20 education offered by the task force puts us at a significant risk and it is necessary to respond by protecting the educational system that people have worked so hard to establish.

Administrative View: Vice Provost Chuck Frazier spoke on the administration's behalf. President Young and Provost Colburn were out of town. Chuck Frazier spoke to the Senate about "where things are now."

He introduced the structure and functions worksheet number one, produced recently by the task force. Provost Colburn and the other SUS provosts had a number of concerns: 

• Worried about the intermediary board between the Board of Education and the Board of Trustees - and commented that it might result in another level of bureaucracy. They were also concerned that this board would result in the Presidents reporting to three separate boards.
•  Recommended that the role of the Presidents be both highlighted and strengthened. The power to run the university should be shared by the campus board and the president. 
• The process for selecting and appointing the campus board of trustees members. The provosts recommended that these members be appointed by the Governor in close consultation with the president.

SUS Council of Academic Vice Presidents and Provosts is still studying these worksheets and passing on comments to the President.

Actions:

• The data and information that is available has been put on the web for everyone to peruse and study. The address is www.senate.ufl.edu - proceed to the Hot Topics page. 
• The newspapers that have been interested in the Senate's actions in the past have been notified of our concern and will be kept apprised of any decisions we make or releases we issue.
• Student Government has been contacted to explain the situation and the Senate's position. 
• Joe has prepared a draft of a press release to go out, the point of which is to make the Senate's position clear to the people in the state of Florida. The major points of the press release are:

1. Consultation has been sketchy at best. 
2. With the proposed transition of governance system, there is the possibility of manipulation of new programs and facility development. 
3. There is the potential for political manipulation of students, staff and faculty. 
4. The potential for political manipulation of funding exists. The press release calls for the addition of an intermediary board into the transition task force's proposals and for citizens of the state of Florida to contact Governor Bush, Mr. Winn and Mr. Handy by e-mail voicing displeasure.

The press release comes as a result of the last meeting of the ACFS. It was decided that the individual faculty senates needed to get more involved and ask their communities to get more involved. There have also been actions taken in conjunction with the ACFS.

Richard Briggs spoke about the process being flawed. He was the representative from University of Florida to the last ACFS meeting. Speed in the process has been partially a result of universities trying to conduct presidential searches. The presence of presidents in each of the 10 universities makes speed no longer quite as important. The transition task force does not have any representatives of governance of the state universities.

Motion: Press release be accepted as is and handed out today 12/1/00. The motion was seconded. The forum was opened for discussion. Representative Ed Jennings Jr. spoke about his take on the issue. Representative Jennings urged the Senate to consider appealing to the newly elected representatives who he said have no tie to previous decisions. He also urged the Senate to work with other faculty senates and use one common voice and also propose some proactive measures. There was a statement by one Senator that the statement was not succinct enough and could not be supported by that particular Senator.

Amendment: "First" be added to press release. (First press release by the Faculty Senate of the University of Florida). **The motion was approved with one vote of dissension.

• Contact with the Editorial Boards of each of the major Florida newspapers was suggested. Press releases written at the eighth-grade level, followed by personal contact with the Editorial page editors was suggested.
• A letter be sent to Governor Bush detailing the concerns of the Faculty Senate with the Transition Task Force's proposals.

Motion: That University of Florida's Faculty Senate join with other faculty senates in Florida to work together on this issue by sharing documents and information and finding a common voice and that UF's faculty Senate send all approved material to the other faculty senates in Florida. The motion was seconded. **The motion was unanimously approved.

Motion: The contents of the letter to Governor Bush should remain as is, but the format should be restructured to allow for an executive summary. The motion was seconded.

Amendment: Those knowledgeable in the governance of higher education be added to the transition task force and that this suggestion be added to the letter to Governor Bush. Also, the four points from the press release should be added to the letter as primary concerns.

Amendment to the Amendment: The letter to Governor Bush should include a request to slow the process; to convene town meetings around the state and invite graduates from the Florida SUS system to discuss what the system should look like; to add educational structure expertise to the task force; and to consult with members of the higher educational system in Florida. Also include a request to have each of these suggestions replied to with concrete examples of how administration is going to deal with the problem.

Amendment to the Amendment to the Amendment: That instead of asking that the composition of the task force be changed, the Senate ask that expert assistance be attached to the task force. Amendment 2: That "The Faculty Senate of the University of Florida after our December 1, 2000 meeting, asked me to convey some of their concerns to you through this letter," or something of the like be added to the very beginning of the letter to Governor Bush so that it is completely clear that the letter reflects the wishes of the entire Senate. **The motion was unanimously approved as amended.

Motion: That a charrette be organized for all the faculty senate members to come together and discuss what would make a good system of educational governance in the state of Florida. The motion was seconded.

Amendment: That the feasibility of having a charrette is investigated, as well as the feasibility of conducting a cyber-charrette. **The Motion was unanimously approved.

A sense of the Senate was received for the leadership of the Faculty Senate to continue working with the elected representatives of this community on issues such as this one.

The meeting concluded at 4:15 p.m.

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