The Faculty Senate unanimously affirmed a new appointment policy to University-wide and Board of Trustees committees on Friday. The policy goes into effect immediately and has received the approval of University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J.

For several years, the senate has been working to change the appointment process to these committees. In the past, the Faculty Senate would submit three names for each open position. From that list of names, Biondi would select one to sit on the committee.

Under the new policy, a representative of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee will discuss the open position’s requirements with an administrative representative. From that information, the Executive Committee will develop a list of candidates and determine each candidate’s desire to serve on the committee. The Executive Committee will then select one nominee and present that name, in confidence, to the administrative representation, who will in turn present the name to Biondi or the Board of Trustees for ratification. A nominee may be rejected only if a “principled reason that the nominee should not serve” is provided.

The new policy was developed in a meeting between the University administration and Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

Randy Sprague, M.D., president of the Faculty Senate, thinks the compromise was a good one, and he credits Interim Provost Joe Weixlmann with developing much of the final language.

Assistant to the President Bridget Fletcher confirmed Biondi’s approval of the policy. “It was important to the (faculty) senate to make their own appointments,” she said.

A long-time participant in the senate, John Slosar, was involved in the policy formation and strongly advocated the senate’s right to select its own representatives. He said, “If these people are to represent the faculty, they should be chosen by the faculty.”

Slosar, a former president of the Faculty Senate, explained that in the past, he thought the “safe choice” was frequently being chosen from the list submitted and not always the best representative.

Sprague also noted at the meeting the importance of having a good reason should a nominee not be selected. “‘I don’t like this guy’ is not a good enough reason,” he said. He also said that a “principled reason” for rejecting a nominee would probably be some issue regarding the nominee of which the Faculty Senate was not aware.

The new policy is set to be re-evaluated in the spring of 2005.

In other business

Sprague informed the Faculty Senate that the FY 2004 budget process begins in October. In past years, the budget has been presented to the Faculty Senate, after its ratification by the Board of Trustees.

“I am the only faculty representative in the room when the budget is discussed, and I have no idea what all the needs of your departments and schools are,” Sprague said.

In order to get more faculty involvement, Rob Altholz, vice president for business and finance, will speak at the next senate meeting on.

Some questions were raised as to the extent to which Sprague can speak with faculty about the budget. Richard Breslin, Ph.D., said that since the vice presidents can speak with their staff about the budget, he would expect the same flow of information for the faculty.

Later in the meeting, Interm Provost Weixlmann spoke to the assembled faculty. He first began by emphasizing the importance of shared governance. “We need to hear and heed all the various perspectives we have,” he said. “I see it as one of my charges to improve and increase the communication with faculty.”

Weixlmann also discussed the North Central Accreditation report which should be finalized soon.

The topic of a Riverfront Times article regarding problems at the Medical School arose.

Luis Salinas, M.D, a professor of pathology, explained, “People resort to public media when they feel their regular channels are not working.”

Weixlmann encouraged people to use the vehicles that are available for such discussions.

After concluding his remarks, Weixlmann was asked if he is a candidate for provost. He replied that he intends to consider it but noted that he turned down several provost jobs before coming to SLU last year as the dean of Arts & Sciences.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will be held Oct. 22 at a location to be announced.