Resolution Opposing the Loss of Individual Department Chairs
Resolved: That the Academic Senate of Sonoma State University affirm the importance of departments chaired by faculty from within that department.
Resolved: That the Academic Senate affirm the importance of a fair workload for faculty and department chairs as stated in AS-3568-22.
Resolved: That the Academic Senate oppose the portion of the academic reorganization that re-quires all partnered departments to select one school chair to represent them.
Resolved: That the Academic Senate transmit this resolution and its rationale to SSU President Lee, SSU Provost Moranski, and CSU Chancellor García.
Rationale: Reorganization of Schools and Departments has raised a number of questions which remain unanswered.
The first set of questions is how will the new administrative structure of two or more departments within a school be administered by a single school chair? How will a school chair be chosen such that all faculty are equitably represented in all school matters (i.e., budget, scheduling, hiring)? Will smaller departments lose control over these matters while simultaneously losing regular contact with the dean of the new college? Will this concentration of power lead to a lack of diversity of expertise and viewpoints from chairs?
The second set of questions relate to workload and compensation of the chairs of these larger administrative units. How will compensation and workload be equitably determined? If the goal is to save money, then how will a single chair receive enough release time to properly do their job, which now includes learning the curriculum, accreditation requirements, faculty, and students of one or two external departments? If the chair doesn't receive enough release time for this job, will the departments be forced to volunteer for unpaid work to avoid losing students or accreditation?
Without a firm understanding of these issues, it is imperative the Senate weigh in on the reorganization with respect to the loss of individual chairs for each department.
The Academic Senate of the California State University resolution AS-3568-22 warns faculty not to relinquish compensation, which establishes past practice for future compensation. The ASCSU rationale for this resolution states that "…relinquishing reassigned units endangers fair workload for everyone".
Our Faculty Bill of Rights guarantees: "The right to participate fully in a democratically run department in which department policy is formulated by the department as a whole and implemented by an elected Chair".