By Kelly Canright
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The mechanism proposed for faculty to evaluate administrators was called into question at yesterday's Faculty Senate meeting.
The Committee of Eleven brought their resolution regarding evaluation of administrators to the Faculty Senate, which discussed the time frame of the evaluation and what mechanisms were appropriate for these evaluations.
"Current issues on campus will influence the faculty. This will only give us a snapshot pulse of the faculty at that time," said Anne Atwater, exercise and sports sciences department head.
"The use of a survey as an instrument to gather data is widespread. They would be tabulated and the results would be discussed accordingly. This is total quality management technique," said faculty chairman J.D. Garcia.
"I support the evaluation of administrators," said UA Provost Paul Sypherd.
But Sypherd also said, "I am very concerned about the poll. It sounds like a popularity poll. I am also concerned about the composition of the committee. Where are the students and staff? There is a much broader constituency than just faculty."
"My final statement is, 'What happens with the results?'" Sypherd asked.
"The committee recognizes that a questionnaire should not be the only mechanism. Other procedures are needed," said Dipankar Chakravarti, Committee of Eleven chairman.
Senators also voiced their concerns about the inclusion of the conflict of commitment within the conflict of interest policy and the amount of money that should be disclosed to the university. The proposed policy would require faculty and administrators to disclose any financial gain over $250 that is in any way related to their field.
"Two key areas the research policy committee wants to address here are fairness and representation," said Fulvio Melia, research policy committee chairman.
"It is inappropriate to include consulting because it qualifies consulting as being a conflict of commitment. Who decides what is a conflict of commitment?" asked Shlomo Neuman, hydrology and water resources professor.
The senate also discussed the
figure of $250 which was suggested by the committee as the appropriate amount for disclosure in the policy.
"This number was put up as a trial number. It was not meant to be final," Melia said.
The committee intends to raise that figure to somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000, Melia said.
"The $250 was somewhat arbitrarily set by the UA attorney's office. The number will be raised substantially," Melia said.
"We must insist on equality," said law Professor Roy Spece. "Otherwise, we will move to the lowest and most restrictive common denominator."
The Faculty Senate will vote on the policy during the spring.