Faculty Senate

History

The formation of a Faculty Senate grew out of several currents of debate that took place in the early 1970s. The appearance of "underground" student publications raised debate about censorship and academic freedom. The addition of student evaluations to existing administrative evaluations of the faculty prompted calls for a mechanism allowing faculty in turn to evaluate administrators. Faculty also desired a voice in the formation of university policies in general, and hiring and tenure practices in particular. The Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Visiting Committee gave encouragement in an August, 1973 report, suggesting the immediate creation of a “faculty advisory committee” in accordance with recently announced plans.

In spring 1975, Western’s chapter of the AAUP polled the faculty and found overwhelming support for the formation of a Faculty Senate. A ten-member ad hoc committee then assembled to study the idea and draft a constitution.

At the same time, other faculty lobbied the administration to designate a formal committee for the same purpose. On September 10, 1975 President Dero Downing responded by appointing a committee to conduct "a study of the ways and means through which members of the faculty participate in the development and formulation of academic policy recommendations, to identify alternatives by which faculty members may effectively express their reasoned recommendations and advice, and to recommend a plan for achieving the objectives of more effective participation and improved communications."

The AAUP ad hoc committee shared its work with the new 16-member Committee on Faculty Participation, which continued to focus on the formation of a Faculty Senate as the most desirable option. The Committee circulated a questionnaire to faculty, then drafted a Faculty Senate constitution. The draft was revised after receipt of faculty comments solicited in January 1976. The Committee also developed additional proposals for increasing faculty participation at the departmental and college levels of administration.

At its meeting on January 31, 1976, the Board of Regents voted to accept the formation of a Faculty Senate as an advisory body for the University. At their April 24, 1976 meeting the Regents approved the report of the Faculty Participation Committee, the Faculty Senate constitution, and a set of rules and procedures for the first election. The Faculty Senate held its first meeting on October 22, 1976. Dr. H. Philip Constans, Jr. was elected its first chairman. Over the next two decades the Faculty Senate dealt with contentious issues including administrator evaluations and assessments of the president's performance; hiring, salaries, promotion and tenure; athletic spending; state funding of higher education; collective bargaining; general education requirements; departmental governance; censorship; and fiscal reporting practices.

In 1997, the consulting firm of James L. Fisher, Ltd. submitted an institutional review which criticized Western's system of campus governance and urged the appointment of a special task force to recommend a single university governance body. In response, President Gary Ransdell appointed a Faculty Governance Committee with Provost Barbara Burch as chair. In the spring of 1999, the committee proposed combining the Faculty Senate and the Academic Council into a new body, the University Senate, and prepared a draft charter. After considerable debate, the faculty voted on January 25-26, 2000 to approve the proposal, as did the Board of Regents on January 28. The Faculty Senate held its last meeting on April 13, 2000 and the new University Senate held its first meeting on August 31, 2000.

For further information, see the University Archives vertical files on the Faculty Senate and University Senate.


Index to Collection
(B = Box number; F = Folder number)

AAUP Newsletters - B4, F8
Academic probation statistics - B8, F3
Arthur Anderson & Co. audit (1992) - B7, F6
Athletic Program Reviews - B12, F25-28; B13, F1-5, 7
Attorney General's Opinions - B7, F1
Audit (1992) - B7, F6
Bailey, Don - Correspondence - B6, F4
Budget and Expenditures, University - B13, F8-13
Bylaws - B5, F13-14
Chairs, list of - B6, F1
College Heights Foundation - B12, F17
Committee membership lists - B8, F2
Committees
   Academic Affairs - B8, F3-9
   Administrative Structure - B8, F13-14
   Administrator Selection and Retention - B8, F15
   Affirmative Action - B8, F16
   Bylaws, Amendments and Elections - B9, F2-5
   Committees, B9, F6-8
   Communications, B9, F9-10
   Departmental Governance - B9, F15
   Emeritus Faculty - B9, F16
   Executive - B10, F1-18
   Faculty Status and Welfare - B10, F24-31; B11; B12, F1-11
   Faculty-Student Relations - B12, F12
   Fiscal Affairs - B12, F14-28; B13, F1-14
   Honorary Degrees - B13, F15
   Institutional Goals and Planning - B13, F16-20
   Political Activities - B13, F21
   Presidential Search - B13, F23
   Professional Responsibilities and Concerns - B13, F24-28
Congress of Senate Faculty Leaders - B9, F11-13
Constans, Phil - Correspondence - B6, F2
Constitution - B5, F3-5, 10-14
Coohill, Tom - Correspondence - B6, F7
COSFL - B9, F11-13
Council of Committee Chairs - B9, F14
Enrollment - B13, F19
Evaluations
   Administrative Services - B8, F12
   Administrator - B8, F10-11; B14, F1-2
   Teacher - B7, F1; B8, F3; B13, F27, 31
Evans, Eugene - Correspondence - B6, F8
Experience and Academic Credits - B10, F26
Extended Campus, library services - B8, F3
Faculty
   Opinion/Morale Surveys - B10, F19, 21-23; B14, F4, 9, 10
   Part-Time - B12, F21  Pay for Outside Activities - B12, F13
   Recognition - B13, F26
   Regent - B7, F1; B9, F1; B14, F8
   Research Support - B12, F7; B13, F20
   Salaries - B10, F26, 30; B11, F2-23; B12, F1-6
   Tenure and Promotion - B12, F8-10
   Travel - B13, F17
   Workloads
      Part-Time - B12, F21; B13, F4
      Research - B8, F7
      Teaching - B10, F31; B11, F1
General Education Requirements - B8, F5
Graduate Faculty - B8, F3
Grievance Procedure - B13, F24
Health Insurance - B10, F27
Higher Education Funding - B7, F2
Higher Education Review (1984) - B7, F3
Honorary Degrees - B13, F15
Jones, Tom - Correspondence - B6, F3
Krenzin, Joan - Correspondence - B6, F5
Kuhlenschmidt, Sally - Correspondence - B6, F12
Leavy, Marv - Correspondence - B6, F13
Membership lists - B8, F1
“Men and Women at Western” - B8, F16
Meredith, Thomas - B10, F22; B14, F3, 5-7
Minority Recruitment - B8, F8
Minutes of Faculty Senate - B1; B2
"Moving to a New Level" - B7, F5
Murphy, Fred - Correspondence, B6, F9
Newsletters - B3; B4; B9, F9
Open Meetings Law - B7, F1
Parking - B13, F32
Post-Tenure Review - B13, F22
Procedure - B5, F15
Purchasing - B13, F17
Ransdell, Gary - B10, F23; B14, F11
Scholarships - B8, F4
Self-study - B7, F4; B13, F29
Smoking - B12, F11
Student Evaluations of Faculty - see Evaluations, Teacher
Student Recruitment and Retention - B13, F18
Summer Teaching Stipends - B12, F6
Termination/layoff policy - B10, F28
Title IX - B13, F5
Travel - B13, F17
Travel Funds - B12, F19
Tuition and Fees - B13, F6
Vos, Arvin - Correspondence - B6, F11, 14
"Vos Report" - B13, F1
Web Publishing Policy - B8, F3
Weigel, Richard - Correspondence - B6, F6
Western XXI - B13, F30
White, Bart - Correspondence - B6, F10
WKU Foundation - B12, F18
Women, Status of - B8, F16

Shelf List

	BOX 1 - Minutes and Agendas of Faculty Senate 1976-1985
	BOX 2 - Minutes and Agendas of Faculty Senate 1985-2000
	BOX 3 - Faculty Senate Newsletters 1978 - 1992
	Box 4 - Faculty Senate and Faculty Regent Newsletters 1992 - 1998
	Box 5 - Formation, Constitution and Procedures
	BOX 6 - Faculty Senate Chairs
	Box 7 - Miscellaneous
	Box 8 - Committees
	Box 9 - Committees; Congress of Senate Faculty Leadership (COSFL)
	Box 10 - Committees; Opinion Surveys
	Box 11 - Committees
	Box 12 - Committees
	Box 13 - Committees
	Box 14 - Restricted Access Material