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Providing InputFaculty Senate addresses presidential search process
In recent weeks, Baylor's Board of Regents has expressed a commitment
to better understand the concerns of Baylor's various constituencies as
part of the process of unifying the Baylor family during a time of
transition in the president's office.
On September 9, one of those constituent groups--the Baylor
faculty--stepped forward to provide input about their concerns and to
make suggestions concerning the process of selecting Baylor's next
president. On that day, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution titled
"Resolution Concerning a Representative and Inclusive Presidential
Search," the text of which can be found below. Composed of thirty-five
senators elected by their respective academic units across the campus,
the Faculty Senate serves as the collective body and voice of Baylor's
faculty.
"Ultimately, our goal is the appointment of a president who has the
support of all Baylor constituencies--a necessity if this person is
going to be charged with continuing efforts to unify the Baylor
family," Dr. Georgia Green, chair of the Faculty Senate and professor
of music education and director of the Division of Music Education at
Baylor, said of the group's intention in passing the resolution.
"We are fully aware that the Board of Regents has the final authority
to hire a president, but we would hope a representative search
committee could be formed that would include voting members from all
Baylor constituencies, and that the search committee would then
recommend a candidate to the Board of Regents for final approval and
appointment," Green added. "In fact, an examination of best practices
among leading American universities in recent presidential searches
reflects just this kind of search process."
Dr. Howard Batson, chair of Baylor's Board of Regents and pastor of First Baptist Church of Amarillo, told the Baylor Line
he was grateful that Baylor's faculty recognized the regents' attempts
to reach out to them and take their input seriously, as the Faculty
Senate's resolution indicated. "The goodwill between the faculty and
the board is much better than I have experienced in many years. The
responsibility of selecting a president, however, and the method by
which a president is selected belongs to the board. Even SACS makes
clear that the selection of the president properly resides with the
board," Batson said, referring to the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools, an accreditation agency.
"It would be inappropriate for me to promise 'voting rights' to any
party outside of the Baylor Board of Regents," Batson continued,
commenting on the recommendation found in the Faculty Senate's
resolution.
"I hope that a search committee would take seriously the advice and
recommendations of the various members of the Baylor family. In the
selection of the interim president, the vote resided solely with the
Board of Regents," Batson continued. "At the same time, however, the
board received input from various Baylor constituencies in good faith.
At the present time, we are looking at best practices for presidential
searches. Of course, we will not be bound to any one model, but we will
consider both what Baylor has done in the past as well as models from
other universities. The board would like to continue to strengthen its
relationship with all members of the Baylor family."
The following text is the entirety of the resolution passed by Baylor's Faculty Senate on September 9, 2008.
Resolution Concerning a Representative and Inclusive Presidential Search
Whereas the Baylor Board of Regents, in an effort to unify the Baylor
University community, reached out for significant input from the
faculty and other constituencies in the recent naming of an interim
president and interim provost;
Whereas the Baylor faculty desires to broaden and deepen these efforts
at communication between the Board of Regents and the faculty;
Whereas Baylor's standing in the larger academic community and its
ability to raise institutional funds has been significantly hampered by
transient leadership, perceptions of disunity, and perceptions of
non-standard procedures and searches;
Whereas many of America's greatest academic institutions provide
appropriate models for presidential searches; and the models at these
universities always incorporate full and robust participation of
faculty and regents;
Whereas presidential search processes at America's best universities
are characterized by the following traits: full faculty participation
with voting rights, inclusive search committees that are centered
around regents and faculty, and voting participation from students,
staff, and alumni; and
Whereas the Baylor faculty desires not only to abide by the best
academic practices, but also to facilitate the regents' call for
building unity among all Baylor constituents; now, therefore, be it
Resolved that Baylor's faculty requests that the Baylor Board of
Regents form a presidential search committee constituted according to
the following four principles:
• That faculty representatives serve on the presidential search committee with full voting rights;
• That the balance between regents and faculty on the search committee reflect best practices at other leading universities;
• That the search committee also include, with full voting rights,
appropriate representation from Baylor's other constituent bodies
(e.g., the Baylor student body, the Baylor staff, the Baylor Alumni
Association, the Baylor AAUP, and the Baptist General Convention of
Texas, etc.); and
• That the search committee members be selected by the appropriately
elected bodies they represent, according to procedures to be set up by
these bodies.
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