Members of the University faculty are extending an olive branch to President Lee Bollinger, calling for a closer relationship between the faculty and the new president.
| Dunn |
Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs members said yesterday they plan to focus on the president's relationship with the faculty when Bollinger makes his scheduled appearance at next Monday's SACUA meeting.
"The big message that I think we should try to get across to him is that we're there to help him," said physiology Prof. Lou D'Alecy, the incoming SACUA chair. "I'd like to set the tone that we'll be working together. Every indicator is that he'll be open to that."
SACUA members said they hope Bollinger will support the stimulation of the University's executive faculty subcommittees, citing the success of the academic affairs committee and the research policies committee.
"We'd like to see a comparable level of interaction with other advisory committees," D'Alecy said. "If you've got two that work really well, that's something you'd like to emulate."
Faculty members said they hope Bollinger will work more closely with the faculty than did former and president James Duderstadt.
"There were a lot of things that Duderstadt did that were very good, but he never brought these ideas to the Faculty Senate for discussion," said chemistry Prof. and outgoing SACUA chair Thomas Dunn, citing programs like the Michigan Mandate. "It's the faculty that does these things and if they don't do them, they don't get done."
Wilfred Kaplan, professor emeritus of mathematics, said he has seen a range of relationships between the faculty and the University's presidents since he began teaching at the University in 1940.
"There should be a feeling of collegiality," Kaplan said. "We all had the feeling with (former University President Robben) Fleming, but we had that feeling less with (former University President Harold) Shapiro and even less with Duderstadt," Kaplan said.
SACUA members said they plan to ask Bollinger his opinion on the success of Senate Assembly evaluations of administrators - a process that began three years ago and evaluates the performance of University deans and vice presidents.
"If the president supports it, I think it encourages the cooperation of the various administrators that are being evaluated," said William Ensminger, SACUA member and internal medicine and pharmacology professor.
SACUA members aid they are also curious how Bollinger will go about filling positions on future executive search committees.
Law Prof. Theodore St. Antoine said he hopes Bollinger will focus his attention on the needs of the "non-superstar" faculty and not gauge the climate of the University's faculty by the silence of "headline-making" faculty members.
"Even though they are the ornaments of the University, I think it's very important that he pays close attention to the great mass of faculty," St. Antoine said.