After months of work to devise new regulations, the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees declined key changes proposed by faculty senate to preserve faculty authority and job security.
During the fall semester, the long process of overhauling outdated and redundant university regulations began with University Regulation 1-101, a ‘master’ regulation that spurred a debate about the balance of power between faculty, administration and the board of trustees. Since then, faculty senate has received initial versions of the proposed regulations from the trustees to review, revise and send back. Faculty Senate Chair Michael Barker, ex-officio member of the board, has helmed the senate’s efforts to draft revisions that might be acceptable to all parties. On April 20, General Counsel Tara Evans released final drafts of the regulations, due for a vote at the May board meeting, which did not include the faculty senate’s most debated changes.
“We have heard nothing on Fac Senate efforts until now and apparently all effort has been to no avail,” Professor of History Renee Laegreid said in an email to faculty. “The board of trustees did not incorporate any faculty senate changes for protecting tenure and extended term. No discussion, no explanation.”
Barker expressed disappointment in the decision at the April 23 meeting of faculty senate, giving updates and asking faculty to hold off on discussion while even more new regulations were introduced that day.
“The faculty are not satisfied that the board-proposed regulations have had sufficient debate from the stakeholders,” Barker said. “The board did not accept recommendations from the senate and they chose to not accept them without adequate discussion.”
Plans were made for Barker, faculty senate President-elect Donal O’Toole and Faculty Senate Member-at-Large Ken Chestek to meet with the board of trustees regulation committee to settle on a new course of action.
“We will know then whether the senate and trustees share common ground,” O’Toole said. “We should—it is called the University of Wyoming.”
That meeting took place this past Monday, April 30. According to Barker, the results were promising.
“We had a good meeting with the Board of Trustees Regulation Committee,” Barker said.
“We were asking the committee to pull the regulations from next week’s meeting and to adopt a more effective shared governance approach for revising these regs before they go to the full board.”
The regulation committee agreed to push back the vote on the regulations and a sub-committee consisting of Barker, Evans and Trustee John McKinley was formed to continue discussing potential changes to the regulations.
“This is very good news,” Barker said.
Board of Trustees President John MacPherson stated that now is not the right time to divulge details about the board’s decision.
“Given the fact that those matters are still the subject of ongoing discussion, it’s probably inappropriate for me to comment on those in any specific way,” MacPherson said. “I don’t want to do anything that jeopardizes the discussions. I’m not at liberty to delve into specific points, or even general points, while there’s still discussions taking place.”
Despite steering clear of discussing the motives of the trustees, MacPherson said the board hopes for the best outcome.
“The board is always interested in reaching the best possible result and it’s equally interested in having a good relationship with faculty,” MacPherson said.
Faculty members that are less bound by procedure have voiced their reactions to the news of the declined faculty senate versions of the regulations. Regulation drafts that would place additional power in the hands of trustees over the educational affairs of UW, such as expanded authority to eliminate programs and courses, have faced particular criticism. In addition to affecting UW’s offerings as a place of education, such removals could impact associated faculty positions.
“A group of people appointed by the governor could go through the course catalog and require that UW drop an individual course,” Associate Professor of Health Sciences Christine Porter said in an email to faculty. “The board of trustees is inventing these new powers for themselves out of whole new cloth. You may perceive that I feel that this Uni-Reg with no history also should have no future.”
