Don Steiner wrote a fantastic letter to the faculty, reprinted below.
From: Don Steiner
Date: Sep 5, 2007 12:08 PM
Subject: Re: Faculty Senate resolution
To: Larry Kagan
Cc: V-Faculty-L@lists.rpi.edu, Clinical-Faculty-L@lists.rpi.edu, leusnj@rpi.eduDear Larry:
I am glad to see this resolution and I commend you and the Faculty Senate. However,I am concerned that the Senate appears to be taking a somewhat reactionary position when I believe a more proactive position is called for. Specifically I would recommend that the Faculty Senate take the following actions:
1. Urge the Faculty not to participate in the Provost’s Governance Review which I consider to be in violation of two of the Middle States Standards as I discussed in a recent memo which I attach to this email..
2. Hold a referendum or circulate a petition requesting that the Administration accept the results of the Spring 2007 elections and halt its current Governance Review until a Review Process can be identified which is acceptable to the Faculty Senate and Faculty.
3. If item 2. above yields no positive results, call for a Vote of No Confidence in the Administration.
I think that the time has come for the Faculty Senate and the Faculty to fight back and actively resist the “illegitimate” actions of the Administration.
Sincerely,Don
Larry Kagan wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
> At its Wed meeting the Faculty Senate (suspended) passed the following
> resolution:
>
> We the Faculty Senate resolve that the Promotion and Tenure Committee and
> the Curriculum Committee as elected in Spring 2007 are legitimate as
> constituted.
>
> The Faculty Senate is confident that the spring 07 election was
> legally carried out according to the handbook rules that were then in
> effect, and that no unauthorized clinical faculty voting took place.
> The Faculty Senate also intends to show that the brief that the
> administration presented as the rationale for its suspension of
> governance is not supported by the facts.
>
> Larry Kagan
> Arts Professor
> FS President
Don’s plan is a good one. Give the administration a chance to rectify the situation, and if they ignore the opportunity, take action.
