Depts. denied due process

By Melissa Prentice

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Besides agreeing that neither journalism nor physical education should be eliminated, the two Faculty Senate committees agreed on one other item Ä that the processes were flawed.

Four aspects of the process to eliminate journalism combined in denying the department due process, the Faculty Senate review committee wrote.

ù The proposal to eliminate the department was made in complete indifference to the favorable reviews that journalism had received from university-wide committees and from the national Accrediting Council.

ù The Dean of SBS chose to exclude elected faculty from the SBS (Social and Behavioral Sciences) Strategic Planning Committee.

ù In April, 1995, the Dean of SBS, in initiating the plan to eliminate the department, assumed the powers and authority of the Board of Regents.

"These factors indicate an egregious violation of due process, as laid down by state law and the policy of the Board of Regents," the committee concludes. "Consequently the proposal to eliminate journalism should be rejected in its entirety."

The Faculty Senate committee studying the elimination of the physical education department echoed similar concerns.

ù Program reviews used by administrators to guide their decision were incomplete and, at times, contained inaccurate data.

ù The membership of the Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee was disproportionately comprised of administrators, despite the fact that the design and management of curriculum is a faculty function. Of the 21 members, only eight were not administrators, and of those eight, three were appointed by the administration.

ù The physical education program was targeted for closure despite a "meets criteria" grade at the university's internal PAIP review, while two other programs in the school of Health Related Professions were not targeted for closure despite failing to meet PAIP criteria.

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