The Arizona International Campus of the University of Arizona will be up and running this fall - without the approval of the Faculty Senate.

The Senate's displeasure over issues such as AIC's curriculum and hiring and tenure policies culminated in a vote to postpone approval of AIC at its meeting March 4.

"The vote not to approve AIC is an expression of the UA faculty's lack of confidence in the administration of AIC. It means that AIC is further encouraged to be sure that the UA faculty is informed and participates as much as possible," said Faculty Sen. Edward Williams, political science professor and chair of the Senate's oversight committee.

"Part of the problem is that the administrations of the UA and AIC did not come forth to encourage faculty participation," Williams said.

Much of the controversy centered around whether AIC was a branch campus of the UA.

The Faculty Senate maintains that AIC is a branch of the UA, but UA President Manuel Pacheco said in the last Faculty Senate meeting that it is not a branch campus.

Sen. Marlys Witte, professor of surgery and member of the Committee of Eleven, a university "watchdog" group made up of faculty, said, "Either the AIC is a branch campus or it isn't. If it is, there's a set of rules and regulations they must abide by, and they haven't been abided by on recruitment, curriculum, tenure."

David Gnage, AIC senior officer for finance, asserted that AIC is not a branch of the UA and points out that within a few years, AIC will be established as a completely separate university.

Sen. Ken Smith, chair of the Committee of Eleven and professor of educational psychology, said, "Whatever they want to do with the word 'branch,' the fact is that their own certification is dependent upon their being a campus of the UA."

The Senate also objects to AIC not working with a tenure system.

"Nationally, most universities have tenure," said Anne Atwater, presiding officer of the Faculty Senate and associate head of the department of physiology.

"There's a fear that if they went to a non-tenure system there would be a temptation for the university to say, 'We'll take you for three years and then move on to someone cheaper,'" Atwater said.

But Edward Clausen, director of academic programs at AIC, disagrees. He left a fully tenured position at Pacific Lutheran University to come to AIC on contract.

"In my 20 years in academia I've seen a lot of people hurt by the tenure process. I'm very happy where I am," Clausen said.

Professors at AIC will be hired on one- to five-year contracts.

Williams said although some faculty members feel there has been no formal input into the curriculum at AIC, the majority of members on the AIC curriculum committee are UA faculty members.

Some of the classes AIC will be offering are experimental, such as the introduction to AIC, and are viewed with distrust by the Faculty Senate members who are concerned about accreditation.

Smith said that for AIC to get accreditation it must follow UA policies and accreditation procedures.

"It's very important to us that AIC function in accordance with state law and established UA procedures. If it does not, there is no certainty of the credit ever being usable for a college program," he said.

Clausen said that the Faculty Senate does not understand the quality of the curriculum.

"There is a perception that we feel we'll be a better institution than the UA. We'll just be different and another alternative, but (that perception) causes a sense of competition between the two institutions," Clausen said.

"The image of AIC looking down on the UA in a negative light inhibits dialogue and conversation that would allow us to strike up a more creative relationship," he said.

Williams said the idea of AIC looking down on the UA is "quite ill-conceived."

"I think that if people understood what was happening, there would be tremendous support for the program," said Celestino Fernandez, AIC executive vice president and provost.

Atwater said, "It's a very sticky situation that has sometimes become personal € things are moving fast and we don't know what the control is. It's very political.

"We need to be working toward resolving the differences, not pointing fingers," she said.

When asked of any reservations about the affiliation of AIC with the UA, Williams said, "It is only a temporary situation, and I favor that.

"We already have a University of Arizona. We need something different, and the sooner (AIC) becomes freestanding, the better off the citizens of Arizona will be," Williams said.