The Blinn College faculty senate has again asked the board of trustees to be included in governance issues.
A resolution that was unanimously passed by faculty members in Bryan and Brenham was presented to the trustees during Tuesday night’s meeting.
Faculty senate president Mark Bernier also presented the framework of a shared governance structure.
Bernier said this was a followup to a “message of concern” that was presented at the February trustees meeting.
Due to state law, trustees could not talk about the request since it was made during the public comment portion of the meeting. There was no comment from any Blinn administrators.
Click below to hear Mark Bernier reading the resolution and shared governance statements:
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Text of Blinn Faculty Senate resolution to the Blinn Board of Trustees:
Be it resolved that the Faculty Senate asks the administration and Board of Trustees of Blinn College to implement a process of shared governance that is currently absent at Blinn College. According to SACS, AAUP and other academic institutions, faculty input must be seriously considered in decisions that affect the faculty and their charges, the students.
This lack of regard for faculty input has led to continuing problems as voiced in the Faculty Senate message of concern presented at the February Board of Trustees meeting. This message pointed out the serious damage that implementation of the ill-conceived and unanticipated 70% fill model inflicted on both students and faculty in terms of loss of already scheduled courses, loss of trust at all levels of the academic community and loss of money to the college. It concluded with the suggestion that better communication could have forestalled this and other problems. This Faculty Senate message of concern has garnered no response by the administration.
We, the faculty of Blinn College, request that members of the Faculty Senate meet with Dr. Hensley and other administrators to develop a reasonable approach to shared governance so that Blinn College meets AAUP and SACS standards in considering faculty input in decisions affecting faculty and students. We strongly feel that policies of shared governance should be instituted as soon as possible and look forward to a good faith discussion with the administration on this subject before the end of the spring 2016 semester.
Discussion points on:
• faculty/student repercussions of 70% rule
• faculty input before changes in Faculty Handbook
• faculty issues with alternative pay schedule
• lack of transparency in hiring committees
• college ownership of personal teaching materials
• disregard of faculty input on scheduling and calendar decisions
• faculty request for separation of VPI position to VPAA and Workforce/Technical VP positions
