SENATE From the Senate Office

The following statement is published in accordance with the Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of SEC actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives. Please communicate your comments to Senate Chair John Keene or Executive Assistant Carolyn Burdon, Box 12 College Hall/6303, 898-6943 or burdon@pobox.upenn.edu.

Actions Taken by the Senate Executive Committee

Wednesday, October 7, 1998

  1. Chair's Report. The Chair urged SEC members to attend the next University Council meeting on October 14 when the president and provost will make a report on the state of the University.
  2. Codification of Committee on Consultation Report. Discussion continued from last month's meeting with Senate Committee Chair Howard Lesnick reviewing the events that led to the drafting of the proposal on consultation policies. The document defines issues that require consultation, who should be consulted, and when. It further sets down the obligations of the consultation partners. Professor Will Harris, chair of the 1997-98 Committee on the Faculty, was also present to bring to the discussion the points bearing on the consultation issue that the committee developed during its work last year. While some SEC members recommended adoption of the document presented by Professor Lesnick, citing it would work well with the understanding that it concerned those areas of responsibility that are primarily the administration's, the prevailing view was that consultation policies should be framed in the broader structure of shared governance. Further discussion led to the conclusion that shared governance and the proposed policy are complex matters that are deeply interrelated and require careful consideration. It was moved to appoint a committee of Professors Lesnick, Harris, and Rubin to draft an appropriate preamble articulating the concept of shared governance and the relationships between that concept and the policies on consultation, for SEC consideration at the next meeting. The motion was adopted unanimously.
  3. Senate Nominating Committee. SEC elected the nine-member committee that will propose a slate for Senate officers and other Senate vacancies for 1999-2000. [See notice below.]
  4. Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty. A one-year vacancy on the committee was filled.
  5. Council Steering Committee. The fourth faculty member was elected to serve on the Steering Committee.
  6. Clinician Educator and Clinical Faculty/Clinical Associate issues. Discussion of the question of the size of the clinician educator (CE) track in the Medical School standing faculty was continued from the previous meeting. Committee on the Faculty chair, Harvey Rubin, said the committee was moving expeditiously to address this issue and encouraged all interested faculty to make their views known to them. Faculty wishing to do so should contact him directly or the Faculty Senate Office. SEC members raised points centering on: growth of the clinician educator track beyond the 40% cap approved by the Faculty Senate in 1986; whether raising the cap on the CE track is the only feasible option; whether and how to grandfather current CE faculty if the ground rules change; the extent to which the growth of the CE track has been driven by the academic needs of the Medical School, as opposed to the need to provide health care services; the need for protection of the academic freedom of the CE faculty; and, the extent to which CE faculty view themselves, and are viewed by others, to be academic standing faculty, rather than fulfilling a service role.

Under the Faculty Senate Rules, formal notification to members may be accomplished by publication in Almanac. The following is published under that rule:

To: Members of the Faculty Senate

From: John C. Keene, Chair

Subject: Senate Nominating Committee

1. In accordance with the requirements of the Faculty Senate Bylaws, notice is given to the Senate Membership, i.e. the Standing Faculty and Standing Faculty-Clinician Educators, of the Senate Executive Committee's 9-member slate of nominees for the Nominating Committee for 1998-99. The Nominating Committee nominates candidates for election to the Offices of the Faculty Senate (chair-elect and secretary-elect), to the at-large and assistant professor positions on the Senate Executive Committe, and to the Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty, the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility, and the Senate Committee on Conduct. The nine nominees, all of whom have agreed to serve, are:

Jane B. Alavi (assoc prof med at HUP)
Helen C. Davies (prof microbiology/med)
Peter Dodson (prof animal biology/vet)
Charles Dwyer (assoc prof education)
Gerald F. Porter (prof mathematics)
Kim Lane Scheppele (prof law)
Gregory L. Possehl (prof anthropology)
Barbara von Schlegell (asst prof religious st)
Walter Wales (prof physics)

2. Pursuant to the Bylaws, additional nominations may be submitted by petition containing at least twenty-five valid names and the signed approval of the candidate. All such petitions must be received by Tuesday, October 27, 1998. If no additional nominations are received, the slate nominated by the Executive Committee will be declared elected. If additional nominations are received, a mail ballot will be distributed to the Senate membership. Please forward any nominations by petition via intramural mail to the Faculty Senate, Box 12 College Hall/6303. Please forward any questions to John Keene or to Carolyn Burdon by email at burdon@pobox.upenn.edu or by telephone at 898-6943.


Almanac, Vol. 45, No. 7, October 13, 1998

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