[CED/CD/EAT] Threats to Shared Governance at the University of Arizona

Sat Sep 17 00:08:18 MST 2022

Dear Dr's Abraham, Lin and Maggert, thank you for informing me of this situation and the ongoing process. A special thank you for distinguishing between faculty self-governance and shared governance. I have cc'd all my administrative reports as well as key reports of my reports (most, but not all of whom are faculty) and have attached the documents you sent the deans. I will not impinge of the faculty self-governance process which I have confidence will appropriately inform faculty.

Regards
Shane

Shane C. Burgess
Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Life & Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension
Charles-Sander Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Forbes Building, Room 306 | 1140 E. South Campus Drive
P.O. Box 210036 | Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Office: 520-621-7621
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alvsce.arizona.edu<https://alvsce.arizona.edu/>
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We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O'odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

From: Abraham, Matthew - (mabraham1) <mabraham1 at arizona.edu>
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2022 9:20 PM
To: Hahn, David W - (dwhahn) <dwhahn at arizona.edu>; Poloni-Staudinger, Lori - (lorips) <lorips at arizona.edu>; Lin, Wei Hua - (whlin) <whlin at arizona.edu>; Maggert, Keith - (kamaggert) <kamaggert at arizona.edu>; VP for Ag, Life and Vet Sci, and Cooperative Extension <vpalvsce at email.arizona.edu>; Katz, Faith T - (faithkatz) <faithkatz at arizona.edu>; Garzione, Carmala N - (garzione) <garzione at arizona.edu>; Dean Kannan <dean at eller.arizona.edu>; Abecassis, Michael M I - (mabecassis) <mabecassis at arizona.edu>; Burgess, Shane C - (shaneburgess) <sburgess at cals.arizona.edu>; Durand, Alain-Philippe - (adurand) <adurand at arizona.edu>; Funk, Julie Ann - (juliefunk) <juliefunk at arizona.edu>; Hakim, Iman A - (ihakim) <ihakim at arizona.edu>
Subject: Threats to Shared Governance at the University of Arizona
Importance: High

Dear Deans Abecassis, Burgess, Durand, Funk, Garzione, Hahn, Hakim, Kannan, Katz, and Poloni-Staudinger:

The attached documents describe a very troubling situation at the University of Arizona involving the exclusion of faculty from full and fair consideration for service on the all-important Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure based on the use of a faculty blacklist kept in the Faculty Center office. Along with these two documents, we also include our 9-2-22 email to members of the U of A Faculty Senate (below).

Please feel free to contact us after you have reviewed these materials. We are hopeful that a number of our colleagues will be sufficiently alarmed by the information that has been uncovered so that corrective actions will be taken to immediately safeguard shared governance at the University of Arizona.

Sincerely,

Matthew Abraham, Ph.D.
Wei Lin, Ph.D.
Keith Maggert, Ph.D.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Abraham, Matthew - (mabraham1) <mabraham1 at arizona.edu<mailto:mabraham1 at arizona.edu>>
Date: Fri, Sep 2, 2022 at 9:52 AM
Subject: Threats to Shared Governance at the University of Arizona Revealed
To: Addis, Ilana B - (iaddis) <iaddis at obgyn.arizona.edu<mailto:iaddis at obgyn.arizona.edu>>, Alfie, Fabian R - (alfie) <alfie at arizona.edu<mailto:alfie at arizona.edu>>, Behrangi, Ali - (behrangi) <behrangi at arizona.edu<mailto:behrangi at arizona.edu>>, Bolger, Molly S - (mbolger) <mbolger at arizona.edu<mailto:mbolger at arizona.edu>>, Bourget, Carine - (bourgetc) <bourgetc at arizona.edu<mailto:bourgetc at arizona.edu>>, Brummund, Barry T - (brummund) <brummund at arizona.edu<mailto:brummund at arizona.edu>>, Cai, Haijiang - (haijiangcai) <haijiangcai at arizona.edu<mailto:haijiangcai at arizona.edu>>, Casey, Cheryl - (ccuillie) <ccuillie at arizona.edu<mailto:ccuillie at arizona.edu>>, Citera, Barbara W - (bwcitera) <bwcitera at arizona.edu<mailto:bwcitera at arizona.edu>>, Cooley, Janet Heather - (cooleyj) <cooleyj at arizona.edu<mailto:cooleyj at arizona.edu>>, Cui, Hong - (hongcui) <hongcui at arizona.edu<mailto:hongcui at arizona.edu>>, Dial, Sharon M - (sdial) <sdial at arizona.edu<mailto:sdial at arizona.edu>>, Domin, Christopher J - (cdomin) <cdomin at arizona.edu<mailto:cdomin at arizona.edu>>, cooley at pharmacy.arizona.edu<mailto:cooley at pharmacy.arizona.edu> <cooley at pharmacy.arizona.edu<mailto:cooley at pharmacy.arizona.edu>>, Downing, Theodore E - (downing) <downing at arizona.edu<mailto:downing at arizona.edu>>, Duran, Javier D - (duran) <duran at arizona.edu<mailto:duran at arizona.edu>>, Dysart, Tessa L - (tdysart) <tdysart at arizona.edu<mailto:tdysart at arizona.edu>>, Fellous, Jean-Marc - (fellous) <fellous at arizona.edu<mailto:fellous at arizona.edu>>, Fink, Wolfgang - (wfink) <wfink at arizona.edu<mailto:wfink at arizona.edu>>, Gerald, Joe K - (geraldj) <geraldj at arizona.edu<mailto:geraldj at arizona.edu>>, Gordon, Paul R - (pgordon) <pgordon at arizona.edu<mailto:pgordon at arizona.edu>>, Goyal, Ravi - (goyalr) <goyalr at arizona.edu<mailto:goyalr at arizona.edu>>, Guzman, Roberto Z - (guzmanr) <guzmanr at arizona.edu<mailto:guzmanr at arizona.edu>>, Hammer, Ronald P - (rhammer) <rhammer at arizona.edu<mailto:rhammer at arizona.edu>>, Harris, Samantha - (samharris) <samharris at arizona.edu<mailto:samharris at arizona.edu>>, Little, Kristin L - (kll) <kll at arizona.edu<mailto:kll at arizona.edu>>, Spece, Roy G - (specejr) <specejr at arizona.edu<mailto:specejr at arizona.edu>>, Sult, Leslie A - (lsult) <lsult at arizona.edu<mailto:lsult at arizona.edu>>, Linares-Gaffer, Ashlee L - (alinares) <alinares at arizona.edu<mailto:alinares at arizona.edu>>, Lin, Wei Hua - (whlin) <whlin at arizona.edu<mailto:whlin at arizona.edu>>, Pau, Stanley K H - (spau) <spau at emailarizona.onmicrosoft.com<mailto:spau at emailarizona.onmicrosoft.com>>, ottuschpierre at arizona.edupierre<mailto:ottuschpierre at arizona.edupierre> <ottuschpierre at arizona.edupierre<mailto:ottuschpierre at arizona.edupierre>>, Lee, Jenny J - (jennylee) <jennylee at arizona.edu<mailto:jennylee at arizona.edu>>, Lee, Benjamin R - (brlee) <brlee at urology.arizona.edu<mailto:brlee at urology.arizona.edu>>, Lamb, Emily Christine - (emilylamb) <emilylamb at arizona.edu<mailto:emilylamb at arizona.edu>>, Knox, Kenneth S - (knox) <knox at arizona.edu<mailto:knox at arizona.edu>>, Jones, Jeffrey D - (jeffreyjones) <jeffreyjones at arizona.edu<mailto:jeffreyjones at arizona.edu>>, Hudson, Leila - (lhudson) <lhudson at arizona.edu<mailto:lhudson at arizona.edu>>, Haskins, Jack Edward - (jhaskins) <jhaskins at catworks.arizona.edu<mailto:jhaskins at catworks.arizona.edu>>, Hymel, Mona L - (mhymel) <mhymel at arizona.edu<mailto:mhymel at arizona.edu>>, Ijagbemi, Bayo - (ijagbemi) <ijagbemi at arizona.edu<mailto:ijagbemi at arizona.edu>>, Lucas, Pierre - (pierre) <pierre at arizona.edu<mailto:pierre at arizona.edu>>, Neumann, William T - (wtn) <wtn at arizona.edu<mailto:wtn at arizona.edu>>, O'Leary, Anna M - (olearya) <olearya at arizona.edu<mailto:olearya at arizona.edu>>, Ottusch, Timothy - (ottusch) <ottusch at arizona.edu<mailto:ottusch at arizona.edu>>, Pace, Thaddeus Wesley Warren - (twwpace) <twwpace at arizona.edu<mailto:twwpace at arizona.edu>>, Maggert, Keith - (kamaggert) <kamaggert at arizona.edu<mailto:kamaggert at arizona.edu>>, Kayi-Aydar, Hayriye - (hkaydar) <hkaydar at arizona.edu<mailto:hkaydar at arizona.edu>>, Zeiders, Katharine Hunsdon - (zeidersk) <zeidersk at arizona.edu<mailto:zeidersk at arizona.edu>>

To the members of the Faculty Senate,

Attached are two documents concerning all faculty at the University of Arizona.  The first is our letter of concern arising from undue influence by staff, and potentially administration, into faculty self-governance.  It is our understanding that these parties have enacted a "blacklist" operating through the Nominating Committee, to exclude certain faculty - deemed "troublesome" to the administration - from serving on faculty governance committees. Since the committee in question here, the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, is the body designated to adjudicate issues of tenure, academic freedom, and failure of administrators to follow University policy, the situation is a harrowing encroachment into the role of faculty and the checks-and-balances constraining administrative overreach.

Second is a response by the Nominating Committee.

When we reported this issue to our senators and to Senate Chair Leila Hudson, action was swift.  We were and remain grateful that this is being treated seriously, and with due gravity. It is our understanding that the situation is now in the hands of the Committee of Eleven, and we are glad C-11 will be investigating the situation. Nonetheless, and in light of the response by the Nominating Committee, we feel it is time to bring awareness of this issue to the entirety of the faculty. And we wish to use this as a venue to respond to their letter.

Our concerns remain unabated by the Nominating Committee's recent response.  Given the breach of trust in the nominating process - brought about specifically by the actions of the Nominating Committee - it cannot suffice that this response is the end of the matter. We obviously disagree that this is merely an isolated "procedural" error. Rather, it shows an unacceptable influence into faculty affairs, one that evidently has gone on for years, and may still be going on, and whose reach is yet unknown.

By the Nominating Committee's own recent acknowledgment, the Faculty bylaws (Article V, Section 9)<https://arizona.app.box.com/s/5o4s3pu146efd0h6qffskjs9kdmuapbn> were not followed in the context of choosing CAFT candidates last year and "unsubstantiated information" about us was presented as "facts" by a Faculty Center staff member. This situation was enabled by dereliction of Nominating Committee members. Without a thorough investigation, we will not know if the problem was indeed limited to 2021-2022, if undue influence by staff is limited to Ms. Jane Cherry or the Nominating Committee, or if the undue influence was in reality by specific administrators plying pressure to Ms. Cherry to act on their behalf.

It is both shocking and demoralizing that "unsubstantiated information about candidates was presented at meetings by a non-elected support staff," and that was sufficient grounds to remove us from consideration.  We, the accused, have a right to hear the accusations against us, and to know to whom those accusations were spread. At a minimum, we have the right to understand these accusations and to address them to clear our reputations. We call on the Nominating Committee to open their furtive innuendo about us and other faculty, and to assure a venue for us to respond.

We are hopefully not alone in being shocked by the admission that the Nominating Committee has previously - for years - ceded to University administrators its right to choose the slate of faculty nominees.

While we are thankful at the changes the Nominating Committee has begun to enact, it is inescapable that their dedication to policy and standards of ethics comes after their previous behaviors have been made public.  "As a committee, we were aware of the issues and were diligent in correcting them when possible," did not prevent the blacklist from existing, or from being used.  It did not compel the Nominating Committee to take action until we made it public. To us, assurance of better action only after being caught is no assurance at all. While we respect the role of the Nominating Committee, trust has been damaged. Until such time as it is restored, their process should endure higher scrutiny.

In the end, we do not believe that anything in the response by the Nominating Committee should offset or delay a full investigation by the Committee of Eleven.  Similarly, the entire Faculty Senate and their constituencies should be made aware of the situation as it unfolds. We request that you contact your constituencies to set the stage for further discussion.  What is the appropriate role of the Nominating Committee?  How can it be trusted to enact fair and equitable processes if it has not done so in the past?  How can unfettered governance be safeguarded, in particular self-governance to create and maintain our own committees, and shared governance to assert and maintain our role in a properly functioning University? Discussion of policy changes, as mentioned by the Nominating Committee, should be a broad discussion by all stakeholders, not just those who have been remiss in following them.

It is our contention that the current situation - staff and administrators "blacklisting" individual faculty based on unsubstantiated innuendo or personal animus - is not acceptable to the faculty. We hope that our experience can serve as impetus for positive change. We are willing to act or advise in any way necessary.

Kindest regards,

Matthew Abraham, Ph.D.
Wei Lin, Ph.D.
Keith Maggert, Ph.D.

Matthew Abraham
Professor of English
Rhetoric and Composition and the Teaching of English Program
486 Modern Languages Bldg.
1423 E. University Blvd., Rm 445
P.O. Box 210067
Tucson, AZ 85721
520-626-0775

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