To the Rensselaer Community:
I consider the faculty elections of last Spring legal, and therefore, the elected members of the Faculty Senate the true representatives of the faculty. The administration does not have the “right” to nullify the election simply because they did not like the outcome. Allow me to quote two items from the eighth edition of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education’s “Designs for Excellence”:
Standard 4: Leadership and Governance (page 30)—“As appropriate to the institution’s mission, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education expects a climate of shared collegial governance in which issues concerning mission, program planning, and resource allocation can be discussed openly by those affected by and responsible for such activity.”
Standard 6: Integrity (page 32)—“Integrity is a central, indispensable, and defining hallmark of effective higher education institutions. In all its activities, whether internal or external, an institution should keep its promises, honor its commitments and represent itself truthfully. The same adherence to ethical standards and conduct should extend to all members of the institution, regardless of their role or their location.”
I believe that the administration has not fostered a climate of “shared collegial governance.” Moreover, and in my opinion, much worse, the administration has not “honored its commitment” to adhere to the Faculty Handbook which it endorsed, nor has the administration been “truthful” in its reasons for pursuing a new process for shared governance.
For the above reasons, I ask my colleagues not to participate in the provost’s governance process which I consider in all of its aspects to violate the Middle States Commission Standards on Leadership and Governance, and Integrity.
Don Steiner
Chair of the RPI Middle States Steering Committee and former Institute Professor of Nuclear Engineering
