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Faculty named to FS-CoUG

Commission to look at faculty's role in decision-making

By Jim Parsons
The Daily Cougar

The Faculty Senate named its nominees to a new shared governance commission during its meeting Wednesday, marking a step forward in the faculty's quest for a larger role in University decision-making.

Jerome Freiberg of the College of Education will chair the Faculty Senate Commission on University Governance, with Joseph Eichberg of Natural Sciences and Mathematics serving as vice chairman. The faculty FS-CoUG members are Roger Boltz, optometry; George Gamble, business; Maria Gonzalez, English; Laura Oren, law; and Andrew Szilagyi, business.

"We've tried to make this committee represent a lot of the diversity of the University," Faculty Senate President Giles Auchmuty said.

Freiberg said he wants to be sure the commission, which has a mandate to complete its work within two years with an initial report due Jan. 1, remains active.

"One thing the Senate has not done very well is start things and continue them," he said.

Sen. Anne Jacobson, who spearheaded the creation of the commission, reminded the members that they have the opportunity to increase the "synergy" between faculty and the University.

"That synergy may be so out of whack that it's not even in place (anymore)," she said.

In other business, senators voted to join the national Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics, which was formed in 2002 to promote the role of faculty in Division I-A college sports policymaking.

"The objective is to get athletics departments reined back in as a part of the university," Sen. Joseph Kotarba said.

Membership in the coalition is free aside from travel costs to send a campus representative to the group's annual meeting, Kotarba said. The Senate is set to elect a delegate to the coalition at its April 21 meeting.

Sen. Howard Karger also briefed the Senate on a proposal to form a Center for Social Research dealing with basic and applied research and community development.

Karger, a professor in the Graduate School of Social Work, said many urban universities have similar centers that fulfill duties like training civic officials and managers of nonprofit groups.

"Every single center I know of is managing not only to pay for itself, but to become a positive revenue generator," he said.

Auchmuty said a meeting on the idea will be held next week.

The Senate will next meet April 21.
 

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