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Section: March 1998
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The Dialogue
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Academe
| DialogueQuestion: Faculty senates and faculty unions both claim to represent faculty. Is there an inherent conflict between these two faculty groups? | |
Yes, there is an inherent
conflict by Conor Johnston*
Dedicated union people can and do serve both on the senate and in the
union, but the very fact that the faculty is represented by two bodies, each
with its particular relationship to administration, leaves potential for
conflict.Mandates may be
different---working conditions for the union and academic governance for the
senate---but when concerns overlap, potential conflict can become actual
conflict.There are also doubts
in the minds of union activists as to how far the senate can remain independent
of administrationOn two Massachusetts
campuses recently, the administration attempted to circumvent the union by
discussing contractual matters with the senate, which they surmised to be a more
malleable body. In both cases, the union's reaction was swift and effective.
Ultimately, there
would be little conflict if the biggest problem facing today's public higher
education faculty were solved. That problem is that we are locked in
near-perennial, debilitating conflict with frequently incompetent and
insensitive employers, over the issues of fair pay and decent working
conditions.Were
the professoriate given the respect that it deserves, then the energy of all
faculty, union-oriented and senate-oriented, could be directed to where it
primarily and properly belongs---the intellectual development of our students
and ourselves. |
 No,
there is no inherent senate-union conflict.by Trudy Carpenter* Both senate and union forums can advance student learning and respond to faculty concerns---when the faculty senate is composed only of faculty, and a strong local union is in place. Before we unionized in 1969,
our college president appointed faculty as well as administrators to the senate,
which was chaired by an administrator.Today, our faculty senate is
composed only of faculty, chosen by their own academic departments, and is
governed only by faculty---in fact, the same officers who lead our Association.
That's the good news.The bad news is that
the administration took back the power to make many critical decisions when the
faculty senate became truly a faculty body. Unfortunately, this means that we
now have very little control over academic decisions on our campus, except what
we have been able to negotiate in the contract.Without the authority to
make key academic decisions, faculty, both inside and outside the senate, can
find themselves in the realm of "virtual power," where they are
constantly invited to give input but lack the actual power to propel decisions
into implementation.How
do we end conflict between senate and faculty? We need to negotiate
academic decision making into our Association contracts and more closely
coordinate the work of faculty unions and senates. |
|
* Conor Johnston is a professor of English at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Massachusetts. |
* Trudy Carpenter is a professor of English at Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan. |
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