The General Faculty Association at Humboldt State University has been calling for change for a while now. They lashed out at university President Rollin Richmond with a no-confidence vote last May, citing "a pattern of failed leadership" and asking him to step down.
So association members were none too happy when they saw one of the recommendations in the final report of a university reform committee: Get rid of the General Faculty Association.
"To eliminate [the GFA] goes beyond what’s appropriate," mathematics professor Martin Flashman told the Lumberjack, Humboldt State's student newspaper.
Flashman said the recommendation is an attempt by the administration to decrease faculty power and exact revenge for the association's vote of no-confidence in Richmond.
Richmond created the reform committee – called the Cabinet for Institutional Change – in March 2009 after accreditors raised concerns about the university's operations and an outside consultant recommended forming a panel focused on change, the Times-Standard reported.
According to an old release from the university, the cabinet was made up of faculty, administrators and students and was supposed to focus on "realizing the University vision; improving campus governance; achieving student success; creating a culture of evidence; and cultivating a collegial, respectful and responsive community."
A couple months later, the General Faculty Association voted 128-4 in favor of a no-confidence vote. They passed a symbolic motion demanding that Richmond step down in two months.
The issue at that time was Richmond's decision to appoint Provost Robert Snyder without conducting a national search. General Faculty Association President John Powell told the paper the faculty had been unhappy with the president for years, and Snyder's appointment was "the last straw." In addition to being the number two academic official at Humboldt State, part of Snyder's new job responsibility was also to work closely with the Cabinet for Institutional Change.
Now, after a year of meetings, the Cabinet for Institutional Change has issued its final report, laying out a series of recommendations for improving the campus culture and improving decision-making.
The cabinet advised the university to get rid of the General Faculty Association, calling its role confusing and duplicative. The panel recommended incorporating the GFA and the Academic Senate into a university-wide senate comprised of students, faculty, staff and administrators, with faculty remaining the majority group.
The report sparked outrage among some faculty members like Academic Senate Chairman Saeed Mortazabi, who told the Times-Standard that ”the faculty must have one more voice on campus."
While the university's academic senate voted to approve the cabinet's overall recommendations to restructure campus governance, they decided to let the general faculty decide whether to eliminate the General Faculty Association. As it turns out, change may not be so imminent after all.
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