Senate may be slow, but lets faculty voice wisdom

By Timothy Kudo
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The faculty at UCLA are some of the most renowned professors in
the world ““ which means a lot of research and teaching.

As a result, they often have little time to pursue campus issues
as they work to rise in their fields and promote the status of the
university.

But their role on campus is unique, since, as a result of
tenure, they are one of the few groups with power and the ability
to speak freely in and out of the classroom.

“In universities, faculty cannot be given orders,”
said Werner Hirsch, an emeritus professor who has been active in
the faculty.

The Academic Senate, the representative body of UCLA’s
professors, has been quiet recently, though there are issues out
there it could be tackling, Hirsch said.

When affirmative action in university admissions and hiring was
removed through SP-1 and SP-2, the faculty, like most of the UC
community, spoke out against it.

“We told the regents we don’t like it, the senate
certainly told the regents they didn’t like it, the students
told the regents they didn’t like it, the public told the
regents they didn’t like it,” said Executive Vice
Chancellor Rory Hume. “But that’s the way it’s
dealt with, because the regents do govern the university on behalf
of the people of California.”

Shared governance has existed since the 1920s when the regents
gave the faculty say over certain things like hiring, tenure and
other academic decisions.

That relationship is considered by many to be a key check to the
administration, which often faces external pressures, such as
balancing the budget.

Though decisions like SP-1 created a major dissent among the
faculty, infringements of a more academic nature might have ended
with even more conflict.

“I can’t think of a single instance where
they’ve said, “˜I don’t like that program, take it
out,'” said Donna Vredevoe, the immediate past chair of
the senate. “That would be a major upheaval within the
university.”

Since 1995, little has been heard from the senate however, at
least not on social issues.

“The senate has its primary mission, maintaining academic
programs,” Vredevoe said. “The social issues are things
that may impact on that. If they impact on the academic programs,
then it will take a stand.”

Much of its work recently has focused on upcoming challenges to
the university, like the enormous enrollment growths the UC is
facing and how to deal with distance learning.

But, at the same time, not much has come out of the senate
because many of its decisions come only after many months of
discussion.

“They’re professional teachers and scholars, not
professional administrators,” said Stephen Yeazell, the
current senate chair.

Many of the things the senate deals with, ranging from something
like a copyright issue or approval of an entrepreneurial program,
can take anywhere from two months to a year to be settled.

Things take a long time because “committee members may not
be involved with the problem and they need to inform themselves on
it,” Vredevoe said.

Additionally, the large committee structure set up in the senate
means items often go through numerous groups of people, leaving
each individual member with little say in the process.

“Do you think you’re going to feel good at the end
of the day even if something happens? Your influence is
zilch,” Hirsch said.

But the result is a decision that’s both informed and well
thought out.

“Very often, the senate, because it takes a little longer,
is more reflective, and on matters of big policy importance, the
outcome is a very good one,” Hume said. “So I think
that difference in pace has some benefits though sometimes it can
be irritating.”

The senate not only discusses issues for long periods of time,
but also has difficulty attracting faculty who see it as an
extracurricular that takes up research and teaching time.

The senate is made up of 22 committees, each handling different
areas such as hiring and tenure or graduate and undergraduate
education.

Committee members serve for three years, which is “quite a
commitment for a faculty member,” Vredevoe said.

Currently, the senate’s committees are all nearly full,
and desire to join the senate has wavered.

Professors at the university, alongside teaching and research,
must also do what’s known as university service, in which
they participate in the senate or in a less time-consuming
departmental program.

“There are easier ways to do university service than being
on a committee in the faculty senate,” Vredevoe said.

Though the senate faces difficulties in its operations and
recruitment, the role it has served for nearly 80 years remains
vital to the integrity of UCLA.

“Great universities, UCLA is one of them, have a
democratic, egalitarian culture, so essential to fostering
individual initiative, creativity and excellence and with it, great
teaching and research,” Hirsch said.

With reports from Barbara Ortutay, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.