| Transcript |
Incoming president talks about system issues
Incoming Faculty Senate President
Karl Kadish challenged his fellow
senators to continue their fight to
be an integral part of the "shared
governance" of the University of
Houston and the UH System.
"The term 'shared
governance' has appeared in virtually
every new Faculty Senate president's
inaugural address, and I won't be an
exception," Kadish said. "We need
shared governance at this university.
The only problem is, how do we
define it and how does the
administration define it?"
Both Kadish, a chemistry
professor who was elected nearly a
year ago, and outgoing Senate
President Jerry Paskusz, an electrical
engineering professor, referred to the
Faculty Senate's role in bringing
about the drastic changes at UH and
the System during the past year.
Paskusz, in his address,
indicated that the Senate is in a
stronger position than ever before to
influence the decisions of both the
UH administration and the UH
System Board of Regents. He cited a
recent case in which the regents
decided not to use Higher Education
Assistance Funds to build the
proposed Center for Public
Broadcasting after Faculty Senate
member Giles Auchmuty presented
the Senate's objections to the board.
Kadish, who was first elected
to the Senate in the mid-1980s, noted
that shared governance is not a new
issue between the Senate and UH
administrators.
"Recently, I went back into
the Faculty Senate records, and I was
thoroughly surprised to find out that
photo by: Brian Dear
Kadish
the issues that had gone on 20 years
ago looked very similar to what has
gone on in the last 12 months," he
said.
Kadish said the role of the
Senate increased in visibility and
importance as the years passed.
"In the summer of 1975,
senators engaged in a heated debate
regarding the then-UH System
chancellor's attempt to appoint a
iw
president for the downtown campus
after only a two-and-one-half-month
public search," he said.
After the chancellor appointed
a president over the objections of the
senate, Kadish said a motion to
censure the chancellor was prepared
and almost passed.
"The press was invited (to that
meeting), and this wasn't done in
those days," Kadish said. "The
chancellor was furious, and the
president of the Faculty Senate had to
give a public apology for inviting the
press because this was an internal
matter."
The assembly's image has
obviously changed since 1975, with
Faculty Senate presidents speaking
with less restraint, sometimes even
aggressively.
Kadish said, "It seems that
every three or four years, we have to
battle for our right to shared
governance when each new
administrator or administration comes
in as a new boss and wants to do
things his or her way with top-down
management for the good of the
organization.
"However, there is absolutely
no reason for this to occur since the
Faculty Senate has now reached a
level of maturity where it is able to
share in the decision-making
process.
During his address, Kadish
added that during his term as
president, the Faculty Senate will also
focus on the university's budget.
"How we spend our own
money has always been of special
interest to the faculty - the magnitude
of their involvement depending, in
large part, on how close they get on a
specific issue," he said.
Kadish also touched on an
important point for faculty members-
pay raises and the pay scale for
faculty vs. those of System personnel.
"Almost exactly 15 years ago
today, Jan. 21, 1981, the president of
the UH campus was here talking to
the faculty and he was asked, vIs it
true that people who move from this
campus to the System are going to get
higher raises?' " Kadish said. "(The
president) said, vThey will receive a
higher pay raise because they are
taking on additional responsibilities.'
You may have heard that phrase."
Both Kadish and Paskusz
noted that 1995 was different from
any year in their memory at UH.
"We've had a turnover of
virtually all our administrative
leaders," Kadish said.
He also indicated that 1996
may bring changes nearly as drastic
as 1995.
"Now, we're making major
changes in the System and university
structure," Kadish said.
"There's no doubt that a
number of changes are going to occur
with task force and steering
committee recommendations. The
Faculty Senate has to be prepared to
address the changes, whatever they
are going to be."
He added that organizational
structure of the university and the
System will be the most important
issue the Senate will deal with in the
coming months.
"But we cannot neglect our
own house and our own internal
matters while we strive to make UH a
better place to live and work, no
matter what the outcome of the Board
of Regents," Kadish said. "We soon
have to hire a new provost, a new
m
president, a new chancellor, or maybe
a president/chancellor/provost or any
combination thereof."
Kadish challenged his
colleagues to consider how best to
approach the coming year's
challenges.
"We must also have a
proposed agenda for the good of the
institution," he said. "What should we
focus on? Should we concentrate on
internal issues or external issues, the
System, the surroundings, the local
community or the next legislative
session?
"Should we concentrate on the
budget, shared governance, searches
for new administrators, including just
about every dean's position? Or
should we worry about parking and
enrollment?
"Faculty involvement is
essential. We must never again return
to the days when, as has happened
many times in past years, the head of
the Faculty Senate Budget Committee
stands up on the floor and says, 'I'm
sorry. I just couldn't get any numbers
from the administration. I have
nothing to report.'"
— Bobby Summers |
