2 February 2001

Message from the President

Welcome back. I hope everyone took some time over the Winter break to rest and prepare for the Spring semester.

During the break, Chancellor David Scott announced that he will resign as Chancellor at the end of this academic year. I wish to express to Chancellor Scott my personal gratitude for the integrity he brought to his position, his open and participative management style and his delightful sense of humor. I have also appreciated the stability he brought to the campus. I have been a member of the faculty at UMass-Amherst since 1989. In the first four years of my tenure we had three chancellors, and an equal number of provosts and presidents. Strategic plans came and went, and it was difficult to sustain any initiatives. This is a challenging campus to lead, and while I haven’t always agreed with Chancellor Scott’s decisions, I am sincerely grateful that he remained engaged and committed to the university throughout his seven years as chancellor. Thanks, David. I wish you the best.

The President’s office has indicated that it will be appointing an interim chancellor at the end of this academic year. On the one hand, an interim appointment is unfortunate since strong leadership will be needed to guide us through this period of budget difficulties. On the other hand, a comprehensive search with full campus participation requires an extended period of time. Accordingly, the MSP has urged the president’s office to appoint an interim chancellor with a strong academic background and to provide for extensive participation of the campus in making the selection for both the interim and permanent chancellor positions. We believe a strong academic background, even for the interim chancellor, is essential for setting appropriate budget priorities and for earning the trust of the campus.

UMass Online

As most of you know, the CEO for UMass Online has been announced. His name is Jack Wilson. He has a Ph.D. in Physics from Kent State University. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Physics (apparently an endowed professorship) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is Co-Director of The Servino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship. He is also the former Chairman and Founder of LearnLinc Corporation, an e-learning company. We are hopeful that his strong academic background and extensive experience will result in a highly collaborative process for developing the online initiative.

The relationship between this new, centralized entity (UMass Online) and the five campuses is not yet clear. In conjunction with the MSP, the Faculty Senate Outreach Council and the Intercampus Faculty Senate produced a document outlining our vision for ensuring quality in the distance learning initiative. In essence, the document urges that current governance structures extend their academic oversight to the online programs, including program/course approval and the appointment/evaluation of online instructors. We have also urged the continuation of a campus-based advisory body.

In addition, Dan Georgianna (president of the faculty union at UMass-Dartmouth) and Jane Giacobbe-Miller (MSP president) drafted a set of proposals recommending (among other things) that:

1. All online courses and programs be developed by regular faculty;
2. The ratio of adjuncts to regular faculty in the online programs does not exceed that of the regular campus programs;
3. Courses provide for significant, "face-to-face" instruction;
4. Courses be cancelled if departments determine that qualified faculty are not available to teach them;
5. Intellectual property agreements and compensation be collectively bargaining with the campus faculty unions.

As your union representatives, we are particularly concerned that faculty have adequate intellectual property protections. Without collective bargaining rights, each faculty member will be in a position of obtaining legal counsel to review individual contracts, or (worse yet), signing these contracts without legal advice. WE CONTINUE TO URGE THE FACULTY TO REFRAIN FROM SIGNING ANY CONTRACTS WITH UMASS ONLINE UNTIL THESE ISSUES ARE RESOLVED.

Lobbying

As many of you may have read in the local press, our budget situation for this year is bleak and could get much worse. In response, the MSP and Faculty Senate are planning a lobbying effort again this year. We have coordinated our message with the administration and will be focusing on faculty renewal (the replacement of faculty as they terminate their employment), deferred maintenance and financial aid (both of which are draining money from the operating budget).

Our success in this effort is dependent on your participation. We are asking you to donate one day, sometime during March or April, to talk with legislators. As in the past, we will provide you with a list of scheduled appointments and "talking points". We have also incorporated the advice many of you gave after last year’s effort by providing more background information about the legislators with whom you will be meeting.

Please contact the MSP office at msp@external.umass.edu if you are willing to help with the lobbying effort.

Professional Development Funds

Surplus professional development funds will be made available to faculty and librarians who were not eligible under the current contract. This round will include chairs returning to the unit and those who were hired after the eligibility date (9/30/98). You who are eligible for funds will receive a letter soon stating the amount and giving instructions for using these funds.