From patrick_conway@unc.edu Tue Apr 11 09:43:10 2006 Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 09:41:52 -0400 From: Patrick Conway To: Andrew J Perrin Subject: Re: Request for Information from Candidates for Faculty Office Andy: Here you go. Patrick Conway Andrew J Perrin wrote: > To Whom it May Concern - > > I am writing to you as a candidate for Faculty Chair, Faculty Council, > or another important elected office. I realize this is a busy time, > but I and some other concerned faculty would like to learn more about > the candidates' ideas on several important issues before we vote. I > would very much appreciate it if you could provide responses to the > questions below. Feel free to add more ideas or information as you > like. I will forward your responses on to other interested faculty, > and I will also post them to an informal website for the purpose at > http://perrin.socsci.unc.edu/fg . > > Thank you in advance for your time. Since balloting begins this > Wednesday (April 12), I would prefer to receive your response by > then. If, however, you can't make that time, I'll be happy to post and > forward your ideas whenever you can get them to me. > > 1.) To what extent to you believe faculty interests differ from those > of administrators? We share a common goal of building a diverse and vibrant university. Faculty typically see improvements of the research, teaching and learning environments as the key tools for achieving this goal. Administrators have a broader set of concerns, including attracting and retaining undergraduates and raising funding from non-traditional (i.e., non-state) sources. We faculty have the task of serving as a reality check for the administrators -- ensuring that their initiatives do not worsen the research, teaching and learning environments while reaching for some other objective. > > > > > 2.) How should we maintain academic integrity in the face of > increasing financial pressures? Academic integrity is a personal choice of the faculty member. We are hired to be independent, and it's up to us to insist upon that integrity. > > > > > 3.) What are your views on increasing inequalities within the faculty > based on, for example, tenure-track vs. fixed term appointments and > differing salary levels? I find it unfortunate, but inevitable in the current financial climate. We are a world-class university, and we pay on average substantially less than our peers. To maintain our productive faculty, we must match outside salary offers from peer institutions. That leads to inequalities. > > > > > 4.) How would you respond on behalf of the faculty if you found out > that administrators had circumvented serious faculty consultation to > pursue major outside funding for a controversial new curriculum? > > First, I'd check the facts. Your "hypothetical" includes three adjectives designed to bias the question -- serious, major and controversial. There is no value in clouding a debate on the merits with such descriptions. Second, I'd check the reasoning. I believe the administrators share the faculty's goals, but that they are often called upon to be creative in using scarce resources. Our job as faculty members is to serve as guarantors of the research, teaching and learning environments, and we must evaluate the new proposals in that light. Third, I'd check with my colleagues. My reading of the situation may be flawed in some way, and debate with my colleagues will sharpen our shared understanding. Fourth, if in the end I found the administration proposal wanting I would object to it, in Faculty Council and elsewhere. If I found it to enhance the university environment I would support it similarly. > > 5.) Would you prefer to see a faculty governance system that is > focused on prominent University issues (e.g., academic freedom and > educational policy) or one that is more focused on faculty's specific > needs (e.g., benefits and salary)? Or, alternatively, how would you > seek to balance the two? > Faculty governance should address all issues of importance to faculty. Certainly, the University has the responsibility to pay a living wage to all its employees, including faculty, and the faculty chair and Faculty Council should object if that is not our policy. On the whole, though, I view Faculty Council as a venue for considering issues important to the University's educational and research climate. Issues of relative salary and benefits should typically be brought to the administration through the salary-setting channels -- the departmental chairs. > > > > > Once again, thank you for your time. > > Very best wishes, > Andrew Perrin > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Andrew J Perrin - andrew_perrin@unc.edu - http://perrin.socsci.unc.edu > Assistant Professor of Sociology; Book Review Editor, _Social Forces_ > University of North Carolina - CB#3210, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3210 USA > New Book: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/178592.ctl > -- Patrick Conway Department of Economics Gardner Hall, CB 3305 University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3305 Telephone: 919 966 5376 Fax: 919 966 4986 http://www.unc.edu/home/pconway