After the University of Wisconsin Faculty Senate approved a revised version of university policy regarding the suspension of faculty members Monday, one professor is questioning what will happen should the Board of Regents disagree.
Two months after rejecting a revised version of Chapter Seven of UW System policy — which pertains to procedures for dismissing faculty — the senate approved its own proposal May 1, and is awaiting the regents' response.
According to UW political science professor Donald Downs, who helped draft the faculty's proposal, the "alternative version" approved by the senate allows for more faculty input than the regents' proposal and "tightens the language."
Unlike the regents' proposal — which would have allowed the university to suspend faculty members without pay if they engaged in "serious criminal conduct" — Downs said the proposal passed by the senate would require a "judicial decision" to be made before the university could dismiss a faculty member.
"It provides a limited basis for triggering the process [for dismissing a faculty member]," Downs said in a phone interview Tuesday. "It's not just someone committing criminal conduct. It has to be a formal charge or plea bargain or some judicial decision."
While Downs said the senate attempted to "meet the regents halfway" on the issue, he said he is concerned with what would happen should the regents disagree with the senate's proposal and significantly modify it before presenting it to the state Legislature.
According to Downs, Wisconsin state shared governance laws require the faculty to have equal power with the regents, not just "consulting power." Downs added the regents could not simply overrule the faculty and substantially change the policy without final approval from the senate.
"If the regents come back with something appreciably different from what we are presenting, we can claim that we have to come back and approve," Downs said. "The regents can't say you've been given an opportunity, but it's our final say. … We both have the final say."
According to Regent President David Walsh, the regents and faculty have been engaging in shared governance since discussions first began on how to revise the policy regarding the dismissal of faculty members.
However, Walsh admitted he does not know at what point shared governance is "done with" and someone has to make a decision.
"Is shared governance done when they make their decision or when we make our decision? I don't know," Walsh said in a phone interview Tuesday, adding, "someone has to make a decision and we'll go forward from there."
Shared governance issues aside, Walsh said the faculty should be more concerned about what the state Legislature would do if the regents and faculty cannot come to an agreement.
The issue of whether to suspend faculty members charged with criminal conduct was pushed to the forefront when an audit discovered 40 UW System employees have been convicted of felonies. That audit was commissioned after three UW-Madison professors were found to be convicted felons.
Feeling pressure from the Wisconsin Legislature and the public to respond to these findings, the Board of Regents drafted an amended Chapter Seven of the UW System policy regarding procedures for dismissing faculty.
According to Walsh, both the Legislature and the public are looking toward the university to act on the issue.
"The comfort the public has that we are moving forward on this, … that's what this is all about," Walsh said, adding the faculty is "fortunate nobody did anything when they took 18 months to act on the termination of someone."
However, despite a possible disagreement, Walsh said he was "confident" the regents and faculty can work together to find a policy acceptable to everyone.
"We don't need to fight about this," he said. "We need to carry on a constructive dialogue."
