To: All Faculty <everybody@illinois.edu> 
    From: "Vernon Burton, Chair, Senate Executive Committee" <vburton@ncsa.uiuc.edu>
Reply-To: damrau@uiuc.edu

 Subject: MASSMAIL - Seminar on Shared Governance - Pre-Registration

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Office of the Senate
228 English Building
608 South Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801-3613

To:     All Faculty
From:   Professor Vernon Burton, Chair, Senate Executive Committee
Date:   January 18, 2006
Re:     Seminar on Shared Governance: Pre-Registration

Senate Executive Committee (SEC) is pleased to announce that an inaugural 
Seminar on Shared Governance will be held on Monday, January 23, from 1:00 
to 4:00 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the Levis Faculty Center.  (Pre-
registration for the seminar, while not required, can be done at 
www.senate.uiuc.edu no later than 12:00 noon on Monday, January 23; onsite 
registration will also be available).  

Speakers well-versed in academic governance, including both the AAUP and 
UPE, will briefly address some key issues to stimulate discussion.  Shared 
governance includes basic faculty responsibilities: admissions and 
graduation requirements; courses and curricula; faculty hires, promotion 
and tenure decisions, organization of research agendas and engagement 
activities.

However, this meeting is not a general discussion of shared governance or 
a series of statements by the usual suspects.  Learn what authority 
faculty have and how shared governance works or does not work at UIUC.

This meeting is just a beginning; we cannot discuss all of the issues that 
we need to consider.  But we do hope to prioritize and get a sense of what 
is most important to you as UIUC faculty about shared governance and the 
Senate.  Some of the ideas that need your input include the following:

Is UIUC faculty governance broken, and possibly getting worse?  Should we 
strengthen the role of the Senate in faculty governance?  How can we 
involve more faculty and students in the work of shared governance?  Which 
Senate committees have real authority and responsibilities and how do 
faculty become involved?

What is the role of faculty input, the Senate, and shared governance when 
a strategic plan has to be implemented in three months?

Should the Senate sponsor programs at departmental and school/college 
levels to encourage faculty to participate actively in governance and to 
assist faculty in understanding the importance of a faculty voice in 
matters beyond the narrow interests of a particular unit?

How does the Senate review campus administrators and how can faculty have 
input into that review?

How is shared governance functioning on the level of faculty/dean 
relationships?  What is the recourse for faculty when a dean circumvents 
procedures?

How do faculty members start a new program, organize public engagement, 
establish a research center, teach courses in innovative ways to handle 
increased undergraduate student loads and involve graduate student 
specializations, or create cross disciplinary majors?

What is the shared governance role of the faculty in the issue of the 
chief?

Does the Senate need to change course?  If every faculty member can vote 
on issues online, do we even need a faculty representative body?

How does shared governance work at our peers?  What can we learn from 
their experiences, or they from ours?

This meeting is also an opportunity to introduce issues important to you 
as a UIUC faculty member.  Please keep January 23 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. 
open on your calendars.  Please visit www.senate.uiuc.edu where you might 
want to check out links to the Senate Constitution and Bylaws, University 
Statutes, and SEC Handbook.

A program and bibliography for this seminar is available at the senate 
website and will also be distributed at the event.  Thank you; we look 
forward to seeing you on January 23.
This mailing approved by:
The Office of the Chancellor

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