The majority of the University Senate voted in favor of a motion affirming THE General Body’s efforts to increase diversity, transparency and shared governance throughout Syracuse University.

The senate also pledged to adopt those same values moving forward, but not without nearly 45 minutes of deliberation, confusion and discussion — most of which centered on affirming that the University Senate does not support all of THE General Body’s grievances and demands presented to the administration.

THE General Body, a coalition of student organizations, held an 18-day sit-in in Crouse-Hinds Hall last month and engaged in a series of negotiations with administrators over its list of grievances and demands.

The motion about THE General Body was introduced by Crystal Bartolovich, an associate professor of English, Mark Rupert, a professor of political science and Thomas Perreault, a professor of geography, at the final University Senate meeting of the semester. The group also issued a motion that called for the university to affirm and adopt the Centennial Declaration of the American Association of University Professors in its “guiding principles,” according to the motion.

Following a report from the Senate Agenda Committee, Chancellor Kent Syverud spoke about issues of strategic academic planning, promotion and tenure policies and the two motions.

“It’s been a year with a very steep learning curve for me,” Syverud said. “I’ve learned a lot about the governance structures at the university and a lot about how we communicate and how we fail to communicate on issues of shared interest.”

Syverud supported the values of both motions, specifically the points concerning transparency and shared governance, adding that those values are essential before he can expect the university to trust the administration.

He also requested that the senate provide formal input on the Board of Trustees draft vision and mission statements, which were approved in November.

After the senate held a closed session to vote on honorary degrees, Bartolovich, Rupert and Perreault introduced the motion to affirm the AAUP’s Centennial Declaration. The 10-point declaration states that the university is a “public good, not a private profit-making institution,” that university management should resist cutbacks and prevent the “multiplying of senior management posts, many of which are unnecessary,” in addition to several other clauses regarding shared governance and academic freedom.

“The declaration actually provides guiding principles for us as the senate and hopefully for the institution,” said Bruce Carter, an associate professor of psychology and child and family studies. “If we keep these principles at the forefront of our minds as we go forward, we may not come up against issues or divisions that tear us apart, even if we may disagree on them.”

The first motion passed unanimously. The second motion spurred conflict among the senate though, because many members feared it would assert that they approved of THE General Body’s list of demands and grievances, as well as its decision to stage a sit-in in Crouse-Hinds.

With respect to THE General Body’s efforts, Don Siegel, a professor of earth sciences, said he does not support the coalition.

“There are lots of ways I think the students could have addressed their grievances, short of demands and I don’t demand anything from my administrators. My faculty in my department doesn’t demand anything, we discuss stuff. We come to compromises,” he said. “I caution us in our enthusiasm for certain philosophical views, to watch out for the details that are being proposed here.”

Sam Gorovitz and Robert Van Gulick, both philosophy professors, each proposed amendments to the motion requesting it be rewritten to explicitly say the senate rejects some of the demands of THE General Body. If the motion passed in its current state, Van Gulick said it would “invite misunderstanding.”

Some senators felt that the motion clearly expressed the senate’s position on THE General Body’s list of demands and grievances, and that if the chancellor endorsed it, the motion was worth passing.

Paula Johnson, a professor in the College of Law, said the motion was created because faculty noticed that many of its core principles were left out of the university’s mission and vision statement.

“THE General Body’s own document is not specifically attached to this, but it certainly has inspired the faculty to examine our role,” Johnson said. “What the motion does then, is not to attach that document specifically, but it does ask us to consider what the concrete actions are to be taken in respect to those values.”

Neither Gorovitz nor Van Gulick’s amendments passed, despite Gorovitz’s amendment garnering 32 votes out of the nearly 70 senators present. The motion to affirm and applaud THE General Body’s efforts passed with 43 votes.

Now that the motion has been passed, Bartolovich said the senate and the students will need to continue to make sure they’re involved in administrative discussions and decisions.

“Since the senate is an advisory body in its current form, we will depend on the communication with the administration and the Board of Trustees being stronger,” Bartolovich said. “We’re going to have work on that in a number of fronts, but I am enormously encouraged both by what the chancellor said and by the way the senate behaved.”

Other business discussed:

— Because the meeting ran longer than expected, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Affairs’ report was pushed back to next semester.

— Doug Armstrong, a professor of anthropology, resigned from his position as senate moderator and chair of the Agenda Committee due to research responsibilities. Can Isik, associate dean for academic and student affairs in the electrical engineering and computer science department, was appointed to replace Armstrong for both positions.

— Sam Leitermann, internal vice president of the Graduate Student Organization, was appointed as parliamentarian — a newly created position in the senate.

— In a report from the Committee on Curricula, new courses were added to the School of Architecture, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, Martin J. Whitman School of Management and University College.

Published on December 4, 2014 at 1:04 am

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu