AAUP Penn Chapter
- The following relates to the announcement that a Special Committee
- on Consultation is being formed to examine the consultative process,
- as called for in the November 5 Special Meeting of University Council
- (see Almanac November
11 and 18).
The make-up of the Special
- Committee was announced in Almanac
December 9.
Consultation as a Process and Procedure
The University is a very special community. Ideally, it would consist
of just faculty and students. In this complex, modern society, administrative
expertise is required to ensure that the faculty and students can serve
the University purposes of knowledge creation, codification, preservation,
and transmission. However, the faculty deserve and expect a substantial
voice in the manner in which they are administered.
Our personal memories on the Executive Board of the University of Pennsylvania
Chapter of AAUP go back to the Harnwell presidency and the formation of
the Faculty Senate and University Council. Their formation was a reaction
first by the faculty and later by other affected constituencies, against
administrative fiat. The Harnwell and subsequent administrations learned
that broad consultation from the very beginning leads ultimately to better
decisions which are more easily and widely accepted. This consultative
apparatus is in place and ready for use. To say that it is too cumbersome
is truly disingenuous. Democracy may be cumbersome; judicial procedures
may be lengthy and tedious to insure due process. But, would we have it
any other way? It is the process and the procedure that we talk about here.
Our experience amply demonstrates that early consultation, from the very
beginning of a new initiative, builds trust in the relationships involved
in the change process and in the administration of the system.
In the most sensitive and delicate decisions, where there is a genuine
need for closely held information and confidentiality, the very minimum
consultation would be to involve from the beginning the three Faculty Senate
chairs. Collectively there is often 75 years or more of University experience
which should not be lightly disregarded by high administrators who may
be recent arrivals here. Their wisdom is a University treasure and should
be valued as such. Most important decisions are neither so sensitive nor
so delicate. In these circumstances, full information should be shared
with and advice sought from the appropriate Senate or Council committees.
These committees very often have among their membership faculty with great
expertise in the matters at hand. The purpose of these committees is to
provide advice to the administration. The current administration may have
forgotten that. An administration that does not listen to its constituencies
is an administration at risk.
In reflecting over our many decades of dedicated service to Penn, we
realize that every time there was a serious problem, a committee was formed
to consider the problem and make recommendations to the administration
for the solution. A new "Committee on Consultation," to recommend
to the administration how to consult with all of the University constituencies
is redundant. It is all here: the Faculty Senate and University Council
have a well established committee structure in place to do what is needed.
Our strong recommendation to the administration is to use this existing
structure in a continuing effort to involve the broader community in necessary
and responsible decision making. Involve the committees very early, present
alternative solutions under consideration and listen, yes listen to
what is said in response. An administration that takes the deliberations
of consultative committees seriously into consideration is an administration
that will receive widespread support for the necessary decisions, however
unpleasant they may be. We believe this is the only way to restore a full
measure of trust, a sense of community, and a sense of shared destiny,
to Penn.
- The Executive Board of the University of Pennsylvania Chapter,
- American Association of University Professors
-
- President: Elsa Ramsden
- Vice-President: Morris Mendelson
- Secretary: Ira M. Cohen
- Treasurer: Erling Boe
- Executive Board Members: Helen Davies, Janet Deatrick,
- Marten Estey, Peter Freyd,
- Reuben Kron, Charles Mooney