The Faculty Senate met Monday to address wording changes to the University of Wisconsin’s Diversity Plan and define regulation of hostile workplace behavior.
The senate voted to repeal an amendment to wording in UW’s Diversity Plan that referred to diversity as a “complex and sometimes controversial issue.”
The original amendment was made by professor Donald Downs, who is also an adviser to The Badger Herald, to change the wording last spring when the document was approved.
Professor Timothy Yu made a motion to rescind Downs’ amendment because he said diversity is not a controversial topic.
“There’s nothing controversial about diversity and it should not be treated as such in a document encouraging diversity,” Yu said.
Yu said he believed that by calling diversity a controversial issue, the document actually discourages diversity.
Downs defended his wording of diversity as a controversial issue and said recently there have been pro-diversity advocates on campus who have gone to what he called extreme measures to reinforce their definition of diversity.
Rep. Christy Clark-Pujara, professor of African American studies, spoke in favor of Yu’s motion to rescind Downs’ amendment and said diversity is not, and should not be addressed as controversial issue.
Yu’s motion to repeal the amendment describing diversity as a controversial goal was approved.
Rep. Jo Ellen Fair, professor of journalism and mass communication, discussed what she said is a growing number of complaints of hostile and intimidating behavior among educators in UW’s academic setting.
She proposed a recommendation that would add definitive language in response to measures needed to be taken to protect against this behavior.
Faculty Senate members discussed several accounts of the hostile behavior. One speaker described a situation when “threatening looks” were given during a vote with the “aim of dissuading a faculty member from voting against a decision.” On a different occasion, a faculty member was said to have punched through a wall when an academic decision in his department did not turn out his way.
In another situation, one faculty member was quoted directly saying to another, “I will do everything in my power to make sure you do not succeed in this academic environment.”
Fair’s amendment to add the section on hostile and intimidating behavior was approved.
The Faculty Senate also heard a presentation from members of the Associated Students of Madison University Affairs Committee on textbook affordability for students.
Student speakers brought attention to the fact that students are unsure of what textbooks they will need for a class until the last minute, at which point textbooks become less available and more expensive.
“Advantages for early textbook adoption include lower prices, more time for shipping, longer buy-back periods and more used books available,” ASM member Kate Wiedel said.
