Letters to the Chronicle

Academic enterprise is alive and well

As the academic year closes, I invite the entire campus community to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable strength and resilience of our academic enterprise, even in challenging times. Although budget uncertainty and the impending departure of many valued colleagues contribute to a sense of loss, the potential for renewal also exists.

There is widespread agreement that faculty hiring must be a priority, since our reputation in research, teaching and academic outreach depend on faculty renewal. I am excited at the prospect of bringing new scholars to campus, and I also recognize this as an opportunity for us to develop new and better ways of mentoring and developing young faculty.

Our commitment to student success and progress also remains a priority. The Faculty Senate's ad hoc Committee on Undergraduate Education last week issued a call to sharpen our focus on the elements of an effective undergraduate education detailed in the Boyer Report: enhancement of large class instruction as well as small group, inquiry-based courses in the freshman year; advanced "capstone" courses in the upper years; opportunities for hands-on research with senior faculty; the integration of writing and speaking expectations across the curriculum; encouragement of interdisciplinary and collaborative learning; and a more sophisticated use of electronic technologies. There are many exciting examples of reforms of this kind throughout the campus, and the commitment to high-quality teaching remains strong.

We are still a competitive research university with excellent programs for graduate and undergraduate students. We began the semester with a renewed sense of community, let us support one another still as we strive for excellence to build a better university.

CHARLENA SEYMOUR
interim senior vice chancellor
for Academic Affairs and provost

'Dismayed' by senate stance on protesters

I was dismayed to the Faculty Senate's resolution urging the administration to drop punitive actions against the recently arrested students for their role in a pro-resident assistant union sit-in. In one breath, this body exhorts the administration to obey the law and recognize the RA union, while in the next asks to negate the consequences of civil disobedience. I thought the point of civil disobedience was to break the law with the understanding and willingness to be penalized. It seems protesters are willing to break the rules yet are reluctant to face the consequences. This smacks more of entitlement and privilege than of civil disobedience. Does the Faculty Senate recognize this contradiction?

CHERYL L. DUKES
coordinator,
Advocacy Programs

Vote aimed at defusing tension, says Story

The Faculty Senate passed a motion May 9 urging the administration to drop its opposition to the resident assistant union, to begin talks on RA work issues with RA representatives, and to refrain from punitive action against protestors seeking union recognition.

The last part of this motion, which I drafted, is not intended to undermine the Picketing Code but to defuse a difficult situation and push the administration to do the right thing by the RAs and, most importantly, the campus.

In fact, I strongly support the Picketing Code. But even good policies can be applied flexibly and in proportion to the infraction, which was not the case here. Moreover, this particular protest differed from many previous building sit-ins in its peaceful, non-threatening, non-intimidating, non-violent character. In this respect it was completely different from the Graduate Employee Organization behavior of some years ago or the takeover of Memorial Hall more recently or, for that matter, the obnoxious demonstration at the private home of a University administrator a few weeks ago.

I do not, and certainly the Senate does not, endorse further building sit-ins, which can frighten staff, damage public property and disrupt important work. It's time for the RAs and their supporters to undertake labor actions rather than social protest actions - they're different and usually more effective in these situations.

But even more, it's time for the administration to jettison its adamantine disdain for the new union, which is now a fact of life.

RONALD STORY
professor,
Department of History