SACUA debates new bylaw

Tension between faculty and administrators has resulted from a change in the University Board of Regents' Bylaws that the board passed on Friday.

The change gives certain Medical faculty voting privileges without the job security of tenure.

It was described as more of a "formality" by administrators because it verifies two previous votes, in 1986 and 1997, to include clinical track II and research track faculty - non-teaching positions - in executive faculty positions.

By being included in the executive faculty, clinical and research track practitioners were given the rights of tenured faculty, such as voting on curriculum, employment, promotions and budget. The extent of these rights is not spelled out in the Regents' Bylaws.

The update to the bylaws was pushed by Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Gilbert Omenn, who was unavailable for comment.

The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, the faculty advising committee, discussed the possible implications of the modification at yesterday's meeting.

The immediate result of the passed bylaw is a "strain" on relations between the faculty and administration, said SACUA Chair Louis D'Alecy.

SACUA voted unanimously to urge the regents to table a vote on the topic last week to allow for faculty and regent discussion on the amendment's implications.

"It must be stressed that we only wished to delay the vote for discussion," said D'Alecy, a physiology professor. "A discussion after the vote is vacuous."

SACUA members complained that they were not given enough time between when they were informed of the change and the actual vote by the regents.

"We must approach (the administration) with a much less trustful relationship," said SACUA member Valerie Lee, an education professor. Many members of SACUA said they are concerned that because the change has been made to the Regents' Bylaws, which apply to the entire University and not just the Medical School, the result will be an increase in non-tenured faculty across the University.

D'Alecy spoke in front of the board Friday, requesting to delay the vote of the modification. He gave a one-page statement and then entertained questions.

"They listened to what I was saying, but I think they felt pressure from the administration" to pass the change, D'Alecy said.

"The whole thing was like a theater production," said SACUA member Lewis Kleinsmith, a biology professor.

Some administrators said they have a different opinion about the meaning of the bylaw modification.

"This will have no impact except for in the medical school," said Jayne Thorson, assistant dean of the Medical School.

More than 30-percent of the Medical Schooll's faculty are non-tenured, while the rest of the University is at or below 10 percent.

D'Alecy and other SACUA members said they fear that with this new change to the bylaws, the other departments may approach the Medical School's proportion of non-tenured faculty.

03-24-98