A Crisis in Academic Governance
Press
A College President Says He Wants to Improve Governance. The Faculty Says He Wants to Destroy It. By Megan Zahneis
Plan to Diminish Faculty Power At College of Staten Island Rejected By CRYSTAL LEWIS
News
City College Faculty Senate Resolution in support of governance (10/21)
Medgar Evers Faculty Senate endorses UFS resolution On October 19, the MEC Faculty Senate passed a resolution in support of CSI without dissent
NYC AAUP letter to Board Chair, Chancellor, and President Fritz
UFS Plenary moves to endorse Resolution of the Status of the Faculty Committee
Write to the board
Written testimony will also be accepted. Please note that we are requiring that all written testimony be provided in an accessible format, which is a Word document.
Kindly provide your testimony via Dropbox at https://www.dropbox.com/request/9DMRkyqEy9OdYkCiZ6we until 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 14, 2021.
All written testimony and the video compilation can also be found on the Board of Trustees website at www.cuny.edu/about/trustees and will be provided to the Board of Trustees as well as the Chancellery.
September 21st, 2021 Special Meeting of the College Council
Agenda:
John Verzani, Introductions
Comments by Neal Hutchens, professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi and a member of the AAUP Litigation Committee.
Brief remarks by:
Jane Marcus-Delgado Chair, Faculty Senate
George Sanchez, PSC Chair
Mary Murphy, Suzy Shepardson HEO Steering Committee
Peter Galati, Adjunct representative to Faculty Senate
Lee Papa and Cynthia Chris, Chair's proposal
Michael Ivany, Student Government President
Town Hall style discussion.
To allow opportunity for all to speak, we will limit speakers to 3 minutes with exceptions granted by the chair, as deemed appropriate. We suggest 2 minutes or less, if possible.
To proceed in an orderly manner, interested speakers should use the raise hand feature of Zoom, and will be recognized by the chair before speaking.
UPDATE: 281 different people attended this special session. Thanks to all for coming and participating
UPDATE: at the end of the town hall a straw poll found of 107 votes found 1 in favor, 4 abstain, and 102 opposed. (This 1% in favor is totally consistent with the straw poll in March, the letter writing campaign to the board, and the president-sponsored town hall in April. This proposal has widespread opposition, which needs to be reflected in the referendum vote.)
Supporting Documents
Fall 2021
UFS Status of the Faculty Committee resolution This was endorsed on 9/24 by the committee of Faculty Governance leaders in CUNY. It will be brought to the floor of the UFS Plenary 9/28 for (likely) approval.
A Crisis in Academic Governance – Eerily similar activities at CSI as at 8 institutions highlighted in a recent report by the AAUP
Math, English, Media Culture, Social Work,... re-express their opposition
From March 2021
Statements by departments, committees, and other entitities
The Psychology Department endorsed this:
Whereas, on March 3, 2021, President Fritz put forth a proposed new college governance plan with no input from current college governance committees.
Whereas, the President provided no evidence that the current Governance Plan was ineffective or inadequate in its three year history
Whereas, the original timeline for the College to consider the new plan was extremely short limiting even the possibility of democratic deliberation.
Whereas, the content of the proposed governance plan greatly circumscribes the possibility of future participation of faculty, staff, and students in college governance.
Therefore, be it resolved, the Psychology Department calls on President Fritz to withdraw the proposed new governance plan.
The Department of Curriculum and Instruction passed this resolution on Monday, March 8th:
Resolved: The faculty of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction hereby censures President Fritz for the process he has employed to replace the current CSI Governance Plan. Further, the faculty rejects the governance plan he has proposed.
The Department of Educational Studies
We the faculty of the Department of Educational Studies do hereby strongly oppose President Fritz’s unilateral proposal to replace the current CSI Governance Plan.
March 16th, 2021 statement by the Department of Performing and Creative Arts
We, the faculty, HEOs and CLT of the Performing and Creative Arts Department, oppose the proposed imposition of changes in governance structures. It is a document in which many proposed changes remain underdeveloped and it fails to detail how they would be implemented; it was created without due process of consultation with faculty and other stakeholders such as the standing By-Laws Committee and without the democratic process of approval by a majority of instructional staff; it diminishes faculty leadership; its abrupt and short timeline provides little opportunity for productive response. Therefore, we reject the proposal issued by the Office of the President on March 3, 2021.
The Council of Chairs voted on this statement
We, the Chairpersons of the academic departments of the College of Staten Island, meeting as the Council of Chairs, object to the process through which the governance proposal has been presented without thorough consultation. We have strong concerns about the diminishment of the faculty role in academic decisions. We recommend a revised timeline that allows for careful consideration of every aspect of this plan and input from an array of stakeholders.
The Nursing Department
We, the faculty of the Department of the Nursing, object to the proposed governance plan for the College of Staten Island announced by the Office of the President on March 3, 2021, and the process by which it was introduced. This governance proposal has been presented without any consultation. The department of Nursing supports three Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) accredited programs all which mandate active participation in governance. According to ACEN Standard 1.2 “The governing organization and nursing education unit ensure representation of the nurse administrator and nursing faculty in governance activities; opportunities exist for student representation in governance activities.” The faculty in the department require additional time to consult with the accrediting organization to determine the implications to our existing accreditation and future candidacy. Furthermore, our graduates’ eligibility to take national licensing exams is predicated on this accreditation. The faculty and the College have a responsibility to make a thorough and measured evaluation of the implications of this proposed governance plan for both the programs and the students whom we serve.
The HEO Steering committee presented this pdf in a discussion forum held March 19th.
The Department of World Languages and Literatures issued:
The full-time faculty of the Department of World Languages and Literatures objects to the proposed change in the governance plan for the College of Staten Island announced by the Office of the President on March 3, 2021. This unexpected announcement constitutes an imposition that disregards due process. Moreover, both the proposal and the process by which it was crafted undermine faculty leadership and marginalize the vital contribution of faculty knowledge and expertise. March 5, 2021
[I will continue to post more here as they come]
A statement from the Department of Computer Science
We the faculty of Computer Science do hereby strongly oppose President Fritz’s unilateral proposal to replace the current CSI Governance Plan. We find the current process followed in order to replace our current governance has produced a plan which is vaguely defined with respect to roles, committees, and interdisciplinary interactions. The replacement plan is not inclusive with respect to representation of Faculty, Staff, HEO’s, Adjuncts and Students. We ask that the President rescind his plan and enter into dialog with all constituencies.
A statement from the Political Science and Global Affairs Department
We, the faculty of the Department of Political Science and Global Affairs, strongly oppose President Fritz's proposal to replace CSI's Governance plan. We object to both the process and content of the proposal, as it has been presented in a hasty, unilateral manner with little consideration for established consultative procedures. Furthermore, the proposed governance structure would eliminate nearly all faculty-led leadership bodies and replace them with committees directed by the president and acting in an advisory capacity. We ask that the President rescind the plan immediately and initiate a reform process in accordance with CSI's bylaws and current governance parameters.
Passed by UCC on 5/7/2021
The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee agrees that the proposed changes to the existing governance plan are not consistent with our shared goals of inter and across disciplinary collaboration, and may undermine our stewardship of student success.