New governance system:
Students oppose cuts in representation on Senate
By Sandy Johnstone
Of the Emerald
The room fills slowly Wednesday afternoon.
Senate Pres. Gerry Bogen hastily counts for a
quorum and finding there are enough people, the
meeting begins.
The lack of interest in the governance system of
the University by many faculty members caused the
creation of a Task Force on University Governance,
which was appointed by the Faculty Advisory Coun
cil. The group began meeting last fall and in the
spring presented a new system of governance to the
t iniversity.
If the new system passes through the University
Assembly, it will strengthen the Faculty Senate,
allowing it to make most of the decisions the Univer
sity Assembly currently decides. The issue will be
discussed at the Oct. 26 Senate meeting and at the
Nov. 2 Assembly meeting.
"The University if Oregon is the only university
to have a town meeting form of government," says
lames Lemert, chairer of the governance task force.
"If it works it is a nice system. But I'm not sure it is
working."
The current procedure leaves the 54-member
Senate as a sort of "rules committee" for the
Assembly. It has little power and most faculty
members rarely listen to its recommendations, says
Lemert. Faculty members are reluctant to serve on a
body with little influence, especially because they all
can have input into the system through the
Assembly, to which every motion eventually goes.
The proposal would cut down the number of
Assembly meetings and give the Senate the power to
make final decisions. All motions could be appealed
to the Assembly through faculty petition, failure to
get a clear two-thirds vote in the Senate or by the
decision of the University president.
To students, the main issue is representation.
| The first proposal presented to the University cut
Senate membership to 36, slicing two faculty posi
tions and slashing 16 student slots. Students were
outraged, and later the number was changed to 32
faculty and eight students.
The cut is necessary to make the plan acceptable
to faculty, says Lemert.
"The membership matter is simply reality," says
Lemert. "The assembly will not buy a plan with one
third of the Senate being students when the Senate
will get in to the core gut of matters of University
operation."
The 18 members of the Student University Affairs
Board, who are student representatives elected to
Graphic by Shawn Bird
serve in the Senate and Assembly, strongly oppose
the proposal to cut back in membership on the
Senate.
"I am unwilling to let SUAB be disenfranchised,"
says Mike Prothe, chairer of SUAB. "It is not because
'we are after power. I never thought of myself as
separate from the Senate."
The "numbers argument" isn't valid, he says. "I
don't think 54 members is unmanageable at all."
The students also object to having the change go
into effect at the Senate meeting following the ap
proval of the motion because that will require a
restructuring of the ASUO Constitution. The faculty
changes take effect at the same time.
The shift in power to the Senate may not be too
dramatic, says Prothe. He says most issues will be ap
pealed to the Assembly.
Lemert disagrees.
At other schools that have appeal power to a
higher body, it has never been used, says Lemert.
Close votes never occur because they work to get a
two-thirds consensus.
While the issue of student representation has
drawn the most attention, Lemert says many faculty
members may be opposed to the proposal because
of other factors such as the change in the definition
of voting faculty and the new election rules for facul
ty representatives.
Continued on Page 28
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