University of Wyoming trustees, administrators and faculty representatives have come to a compromise on much-debated university regulations that could have, as originally drafted, endangered the benefits of tenure and shifted more authority from President Laurie Nichols to the Board of Trustees, critics said.
Revised regulations — the result of a trustee regulations committee meeting Wednesday — will likely be considered by the full board for possible approval during its July meeting in Cody.
“There were compromises,” said former Faculty Senate Chair Michael Barker, who represented faculty interests during the negotiations. “The board has full authority and they were taking recommendations from the faculty and they accepted most of the recommendations.”
The regulations in question — 6-41 to 6-44 and 1-101 — dealt largely with how hiring freezes, position eliminations and terminations would be handled in the event of another financial crisis.
With the effects of a $42 million slash to its block grant still being felt throughout the reduced and downsized divisions of the university, the original regulation drafts gave the board authority to impose “staff, faculty, and administrator hiring freezes; staff and administrator terminations; consolidations of departments or units; reorganizations; dropping of courses; eliminations of staff, faculty, and administrator vacancies,” as well as other policies.
A revised draft instead states the board “shall direct the President to prepare a Budget Reduction Plan” that could include the policies listed above, answering a faculty call to codify the president’s authority in such matters.
Language mandating consultation with UW Faculty Senate in the creation of new regulations — and in discussions surrounding the elimination of academic programs — was also added, addressing faculty concerns about the lack of shared governance in earlier drafts.
In addition to addressing presidential authority and shared governance, the revisions took out language instructing the president — in times of financial exigency — to make termination decisions based on curricular or accreditation requirements of a degree program.
The revised regulations now mandate a termination hierarchy more closely tied to tenure, stating no tenured faculty may be fired until all non-tenured faculty positions in the unit have been eliminated or fired.
“The regulations were modified so that there is a clear definition of the president’s duties when there is a budget reduction,” Barker said. “There are inclusive leadership or shared governance expectations within the regulations … the protections for tenured faculty have been reinforced within the regulations.”
Faculty Senate Chair Donal O’Toole said the new regulations were much better than the originals — and the best faculty could hope for.
“Having it understood that the person who actually runs the university is the president, getting in words like ‘transparency,’ ‘faculty governance,’ — those are big positives as far as the faculty is concerned,” O’Toole said.
Originally scheduled for consideration during the trustees’ May meeting, faculty raised concerns about the language of the regulations. The board agreed to postpone its vote on the regulations, allowing time for further revision and consultation with faculty representatives.
Barker, Board Treasurer John McKinley and UW General Counsel Tara Evans made edits to the regulations during a seven-hour meeting May 15. The revised regulations were then considered and approved by the regulations committee — which McKinley chairs — during the meeting Wednesday.
The board’s next regular meeting — and its next likely chance to discuss and pass the revised regulations — takes place July 10-13 in Cody.
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