On October 31, the Faculty Senate voted on and approved a proposal that will allow the faculty to reach a compromise on the ongoing governance stalemate between the Senate and the administration.
The preamble to the agreement stated that, although the faculty felt that the suspension of the Senate during the review process was not in the best interest of the Institute, the Senate would agree to the compromise presented in the Faculty-Provost Agreement, “in considering the future and proper stewardship of this institution.”
The preamble further states that, “In entering into this negotiation process with the administration, we are particularly concerned to ensure fair treatment and due process for the non-tenure or tenured-track categories of faculty, whose franchise has been threatened by the Board of Trustees’ directive on the redefinition of faculty.”
As part of the Faculty-Provost Agreement, Faculty Senate President Larry Kagan and Provost Robert E. Palazzo will be working together on a committee to discuss the Faculty Senate Handbook and Constitution.
According to Kagan, the committee will be tasked with, “reviewing the Handbook and Constitution and submitting any proposed changes to the faculty, administration and Board of Trustees for adoption.” As included in the agreement, members of this committee will be chosen by the president of the Faculty Senate.
The agreement states that although the Faculty Governance Review Committee, chaired by the Rosalind and John J. Redfern Jr. ’33 Professor of Engineering Jacob Fish, “will be benchmarking and may make recommendations, the Palazzo/Kagan committee will originate changes in the Constitution and Faculty Handbook.”
“The plan is to have this done by the beginning of next semester,” said Kagan regarding the review of the Handbook and Constitution.
In addition, the Faculty Senate will be able to serve as an advisory body to the provost, and Palazzo will meet with the Senate regularly and restore secretarial support for full recording of proceedings in minutes; however, the Faculty Senate will still not be recognized as an official body by the Board of Trustees until the review process is complete.
The final part of the Faculty-Provost Agreement states that a two-thirds majority of a tenured and tenure-track faculty vote will be required for adoption of governance changes.
The faculty expects that “the outcome of this process will be reinstatement, and are entering into the process fully cognizant of the views expressed in the faculty referendum of September 26, 2007,” as stated in the preamble to the agreement.
Although Kagan admitted that some members of the faculty may not approve of this process and would rather not compromise, he stated in his e-mail to the faculty that, “This was something the Faculty Senate considered but in the end decided that while the principle is worth defending, the [collateral] damage such a protracted and public battle would cause to Rensselaer would be unacceptable.”
“I am delighted to be working with Larry Kagan on this important project,” said Palazzo. “We will be joined in this effort by a group of prominent faculty members and academic administrators.”
