After an overwhelmingly negative faculty reaction, a proposed disciplinary process set forth by a UW System Board of Regents committee will move forward with some changes.
The Committee Regarding Faculty/Academic Staff Disciplinary Process discussed the reactions and proposals submitted to them by faculty organizations at the nine schools in the UW System.
The committee also set a May 5 deadline for responses from faculty boards that have not responded. The faculties expressed concerns regarding the proposal for dealing with staff accused of serious criminal misconduct, and a small contingent of faculty representatives was present to give these concerns greater voice.
Mark Evenson, president-elect of The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals, said that faculty members have drafted a new disciplinary policy to counter the Board of Regents' proposal, and the alternative proposal will soon be considered by the UW-Madison faculty senate.
Evenson said the alternative proposal is fundamentally different from that of the Board of Regents because it tries to preserve the existing rules and existing due process at the same that it addresses the public concern about professors' misconduct.\
""What we think of the [rule] proposed by the committee is that it's totally unworkable, in addition to being unjust,"" said Richard Schauer, chair of TAUWP's Academic Freedom and Tenure committee.
Schauer said the timeline for dismissal is one of the biggest problems with the rule. He said that the original proposal called for two months, and more time is needed for adequate protection of due process.
""Since 1980 I've been involved in most of the dismissal cases in the UW System, and not one has ever fit into that,"" Schauer said.
Regent President David Walsh said that it is this kind of discussion the committee wanted to provoke with its initial proposal.
""From that disagreement, hopefully we'll have some good alternative suggestions or rationale to change, and that's the process we're going through,"" Walsh said.
Walsh said that although some faculties have not responded to the proposal, including UW-Madison, it wasn't an indicator they are not concerned.
""The good news is, at the end of the day everyone realizes that people who engage in this kind of behavior have to be held responsible,"" Walsh said.
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