From rjw@med.unc.edu Mon Apr 10 21:54:12 2006 Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 01:52:16 GMT From: rjw@med.unc.edu To: Andrew J Perrin Subject: Re: Request for Information from Candidates for Faculty Office ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrew J Perrin Date: Monday, April 10, 2006 9:36 pm Subject: Request for Information from Candidates for Faculty Office To: candidates@perrin.socsci.unc.edu > 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? > There are of course differences in the interests of the two groups. I believe however that the Faculty Council can be most effective and constructive by focusing on areas of common interest. > > 2.) How should we maintain academic integrity in the face of > increasing financial pressures? Academic integrity is above all the responsibility of the University Faculty, who act as moral and intellectual leaders to set the academic tone of the campus. > > > 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? As an underpaid fixed-term faculty member, I have a personal interest in pay equity; nevertheless, I believe that the market in some respects provides a better way to determine pay than any reasoning from first principles. > > 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? I would request a prompt and clear explanation of these actions. This question may refer to the Pope family's interest in supporting a curriculum in Western Civilization. I believe that while the administration may have been less than forthright with its plans and intentions, that the forceful and highly vocal opposition expressed by a minority of faculty was poorly considered. > > 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? I believe the Faculty Council serves several different functions, as a forum to air faculty concerns, as an organization able to resolve certain kinds of governance and administrative problems, and as an institution responsible for circumscribed functions, like the granting of honorary degrees. > > 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 > >