AAUP
Academic Freedom for a Free Society
BSU Chapter:   Ralph Baker, President (c/o) Political Science Department, NQ 259American Association of University Professors
Academic Freedom for a Free y FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 15, 2004

Contact: Ralph Baker: 765-285-8786 (W) 286-1939 (H)

Joseph Losco: 765-285-8780 (W) 289-7226 (H)

AAUP Initiatives Cited in NCA Accrediting Report

“The Ball State faculty is pleased that the Higher Learning Commission adopted many of the recommendations advanced by the campus chapter of the AAUP in its recently issued accreditation report for the University,” according to Ralph Baker, President of the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

“Most importantly, the Commission recognized the need for greater communication and accountability by the Board of Trustees,” said Baker. The Commission accepted AAUP’s recommendation that the Board establish a genuine committee structure like that employed by other universities in the state and throughout the country.  The use of committees would require greater Board participation in planning and facilitate the understanding of many of the functions and operations which come before them for approval.  “Currently, the Board acts in a vacuum when it reviews recommendations from the administration,” Baker said. “They often have little independent knowledge about or understanding of the operations they approve or reject. A genuine committee structure will encourage oversight and force accountability by both the Board and the administration.”

The Commission also recommended greater communication between Board members and various constituencies within the university.  According to the report: “The faculty need to believe the principle of shared governance is respected by the Board, and students and staff need to also believe that their voice is likewise heard by the Trustees.”  Baker added, “The Board has refused numerous opportunities to confer with faculty and several years ago rejected a University Senate resolution asking for the Board to meet with faculty once a year to discuss matters of mutual concern.  Of course, the refusal of Frank Bracken even to meet with the University Senate during the recent secretive presidential search was just one more indication that the Board is out of touch with the campus community.”

The Commission also accepted AAUP’s recommendation that the Board create a formal evaluation process for presidential review.  “One of the reasons we lost Blaine Brownell,” Baker said, “is that the Board has no formal procedure for review.  As a result, Blaine was given no guidance as to performance standards for his evaluation.  The lack of a formal process for presidential review is a clear violation of accepted good practices for boards of any institution—let alone a public institution.” 

The Commission report recognized the need for the university to go forward with changes in the university governance system as suggested by AAUP.  “The current system does not meet the requirements of shared governance,” said Baker.  “A newly proposed system was just overwhelmingly approved by the faculty and other constituent groups that would bring our governance system into compliance with accepted national standards. The commission acknowledged that the proposed changes were a step in the right direction.”

Finally, the Commission report recognized continued problems with faculty salaries, especially at the associate and full professor levels. The issue of “salary compression,” they reported, “is critical to the continued strengthening of the academic programs of the institution and the development of future institutional initiatives.”

.

Overall, Baker said he was pleased with the NCA report. “The commission recognized the strengths of the programs faculty work hard to create and maintain.”

“The only point of disagreement we have with the commission,” he noted, “is their belief that the changes they recommend will occur without their continued oversight.  When we met with them to present our minority report--along with many of the recommendations they ultimately accepted, we encouraged them to return for a focused review within a few years to ensure these changes were made.  Let us hope that their optimism is well-placed. With a new president coming on board, we are faced with an opportunity to correct some of these problems and move forward to achieve new levels of excellence.”

AAUP is a national organization with over 45,000 members committed to advancing academic freedom and shared governance, defining fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and ensuring higher education's contribution to the common good.