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THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs
4008 Fleming Building
ANN ARBOR. MICHIGAN 48109
764-0303
MINUTES OF SACUA MEETING OF 25 JANUARY 1988
ATTENDANCE
Present: Chudacoff, Dobbins, Lenaghan,
Lougee, Margolis, McClamroch,
Moerman, Olson, Reed; Haskell,
Savory
Guests:
Robert A. Green, James Gindin
Professor Reed convened the meeting at 2:05 p.m.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of 18 January were approved with
one editorial change.
MATTERS ARISING
1. Professor Carl Cohen's letter on the freedom of speech
incident at the Michigan Union was referred to the Civil
Liberties Board.
2. The agenda for the February Senate Assembly meeting was
discussed.
SACUA supported the proposal that the Chairs of the
Student Relations Committee and the Civil Liberties Board be
asked to respond to President Fleming's proposal "Discriminatory
Acts on the Part of Students."
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Committee was reminded about the Academic Women's
Caucus' January 28 presentation of the Sarah Goddard Power
Awards.
MATTERS ARISING
ASSEMBLY
- FROM SENATE
.
There was a discussion of the meanings of excellence as well
as diversity-racism matters.
It is likely that at future
meetings the Assembly will continue to discuss the vital issues
generated by Dean Harold Johnson and Professor Lemuel Johnson.
NON-TENURE TRACK APPOINTMENTS
-------Professors Robert Green and James Gindin were in attendance,
at SACUA's request.
Professor Green explained the origin of Regents Bylaw 5.09,
SACUA Minutes of 1/25/88
Page 2
which was created after the expulsion of three faculty members in
1956 during the McCarthy era.
He went on to describe the rationale that was given for the
creation of the Clinical Track in the Medical School in 1985.
He
described the problem at the Medical Center as the number of
patients far exceeding the number needed by the Medical School
for training purposes yet the clinical staff needing to be
sufficient to meet patient needs.
Given that the UM is a
teaching hospital, he said, clinical staff by definition engage
in teaching.
The argument was made that given current ethical issues in
the medical field, tenure is particularly important to the
faculty in the Medical School.
It was further argued that for a
collegial work environment to exist, the majority of colleagues
must share the same work expectations.
Minority opinion held
that the clinical faculty, by virtue of their relatively small
emphasis on research, do not need the protection of tenure in the
same way as do other faculty at the University.
Questions were raised about how many clinical track
professors have been appointed and for what particular reasons-what professional criteria were used? What current limitations
exist for the total allowable percentage of clinical track
appointments? This issue needs clarification, as does the issue
of clinical track professors who provide patient care at
satellite clinics, and therefore do not teach.
Professor Gindin indicated that there is insufficient
definition of tracks and a lack of clarity about the
permissibility of movement between tracks.
It was suggested that SACUA should move with deliberate
speed in order to have an impact on the review of clinical track
appointments before this category is expanded to include other
job titles.
Professor Lenaghan, with the assistance of Professor
Gindin, will draft a letter to the Provost in regard to the
legitimate involvement of faculty in that review process.
1.
Any items he wishes to discuss.
2.
Reaction to Proposal "Discriminatory Acts on the
Part of Students."
3.
Broadening the Definitions of Excellence--Follow-up
to January Senate Assembly Meeting.
4.
Peter Steiner's Remarks.
5.
His reaction to the Civil Liberties Board document on
the Rights and Limits of Protestors.
SACUA Minutes of 1/25/88
Page 3
6.
Follow-up to SACUA discussion with the Regents.
AGENj)A FOR_ MEETING WITI1_VJqE
Flf{()YQS'I'J'~t9QjJX
1.
Reaction to Fleming Proposal "Discriminatory Acts
on the Part of Students."
2.
Functioning of the Advisory Committee on Minority
Affairs.
3.
January Senate Assembly Meeting.
REACTION TO FLEMING PROPOSAL ON DISCRIMINATORY ACTS ON THE PART
OF STUDENTS
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The Chair distributed a copy of his letter to President
Fleming expressing SACUA's reaction to his "Discriminatory Acts
on the Part of Students" document.
Professor Peter Railton's
memo to the President explaining the Civil Liberties Board's
reaction to the document was circulated.
It was agreed that
further discussion on this issue would be held at a future
meeting.
COMMITTEE
APPOINTMENTS
-
,
'
_.'.. _.
Nominations were discussed for a one-semester replacement
for Professor Gray on the Board in Control of Intercollegiate
Athletics and a one-semester replacement for Professor Meisels on
CESF.
The Senate Secretary position is still unfilled. Margolis
reiterated that the position should continue to be viewed as a
privilege. A member of the Senate has agreed to serve a one-year
term; this will be pursued.
It was again suggested that SACUA
may wish in the future to consider the appointment of an
emeritus professor. Margolis cautioned that a three year term is
ultimately preferred.
SACUA passed a motion to ask the Rules
Committee to consider a change in the Rul~~ such that they not
specify exactly which person should do which tasks, thereby
allowing for greater flexibility.
ADJOQRNE:[)
The meeting adjourned at 5:17 p.m
R
ctfully, SUb~~
·,Ik. v,:
(J
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. Margolis
Senate Secretary, p~Q_tem
SACUA Minutes of 1/25/88
Page 4
APPENDIX
LIAISON REPORTS
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Olson: Research Policies Committee Meeting of January 18.
This meeting, focused on RPC's role(s) in the University thrust
on diversity/racism, led to a far ranging discussion of many
topics, including: graduate admissions policies, support
activities for students and new faculty, constraints to obtaining
research funding, inequities in peer review processes, and
appropriate mixes of research/teaching/service.
I believe the
Mi~hig~,JLJ?g.j_1Y article based on this meeting was qui te factual
and reasoned.
RPC has established two subcommittees to work on
specific issues.
One will look at the appropriate role of
service in a research university, and the other at constraints to
research which fall more heavily on minority groups.
Olson: Military Officer Education Committee (MOEC) met on
Thursday morning, January 21.
The three student commanders (one
for each service) were introduced and met with us.
Air Force
reported increasing enrollment compared to last year.
All three
services continue to receive excellent reports on the quality of
officers commissioned from the U of M.
A major topic of the next
meeting will be credit for "ROTC" courses and cross-listing of
courses with other University units.
Olson:
Government Relations Committee.
December and
January meetings were cancelled.
Committee has not met since
November.
Lougee:
CESF liaison report, January 20, 1988.
1.
CESF discussed the status of the Annuity Supplementation
Proposal which was not supported by the Executive Officers.
Questions arose about the next steps for CESF.
2.
CESF will discuss in the future the indemnification of
faculty in terms of it as a "benefit" for faculty.
3. Mary Ann Swain joined the group for a discussion of her
activities vis-a-vis merit and benefits.
In relation to merit
review procedures, Swain has reviewed the CESF data and has
identified several issues.
She is currently looking at the data
in order to identify units where there are problems of clarity as
well as communications concerning the criteria for merit.
She
may need to contact individual departments to get additional data
about their criteria if the CESF data were insufficient.
Swain also discussed the anticipated retirement of a large
cohort group of faculty in the next decade.
(Currently
SACUA Minutes of 1/25/88
Page 5
approximately 24% of the faculty are over 55 years of age.)
She
is looking at this issue in terms of the large number of
vacancies expected and the declining pool of potential
candidates.
Her focus is on what benefits might aid recruitment
in the future--e.g., debt payment programs, housing assistance,
child care, etc.
The issue of differential benefits for faculty
was also briefly discussed with Swain.
She indicated questions
exist concerning interpretation of the 1986 Tax Reform Act.
She
said there are conflicting legal opinions about providing
benefits to a select group of employees.
Lougee:
Liaison report, Advisory Committee on Financial
Affairs, January 21, 1988.
1. Gene Ingram made a presentation concerning the minority
vendor program at U-M.
The program includes: a process to
identify and certify minority vendors, the development of a
database to monitor the performance of the program, and efforts
to assist minority and women-owned businesses in the bid process.
They work closely with the Michigan Minority Business Development
Council.
Progress has been made.
Specifically, in 1982 there
were 192 certified minority vendors and 113 women-owned
enterprises dealing with U-M; in 1987 there are 426 certified
minority vendors and 901 women-owned enterprises in the program.
More recently they have established goals for buyers working with
U-M in working with minority vendors.
2.
Bill Sturgis presented data on affirmative action within
the units under the Vice President for Financial Affairs.
Generally they have been very successful in meeting and exceeding
minority and women employment goals.
They have also established
apprenticeship programs for the building trades and an internship
program to assist in identifying candidates for accounting
positions.
Affirmative Action activities are strongly emphasized
in performance review for supervisors in these units.
3. The Senate Assembly's recent actions concerning the
travel policy were discussed. Vice President Brinkerhoff
indicated it would be useful if he could speak to the Assembly to
explain the policy.
Dobbins: Civil Liberties Board met on January 15, 1988.
The
meeting was quite brief due to lack of a quorum.
Planning for
further revision of the IIdocument on protest was discussed.
Most of the abbreviated meeting was devoted to preparation of a
letter to President Fleming concerning his confidential draft
IIDiscriminatory Acts on the Part of Students.
It was agreed
that Peter Railton should send a letter to President Fleming
indicating that the Civil Liberties Board has four concerns:
ll
1I
1.
The definition of IIharassment
2.
The procedural question as to whether or not there
ll
is vague.
SACUA Minutes of 1/25/88
Page 6
should be student involvement in drafting the final
document.
3.
Concerns that academic sanctions for non-academic
acts may constitute a form of "character test."
4.
Concern that the document may interfere with
freedom of expression.
The Civil Liberties Board would be happy to participate in a
forum developed by President Fleming to discuss these issues.