Dear Fellow Beacons,
We are pleased to provide an update on the successful conclusion of the mediation process that we began together in April.
As a result of a series of open and direct conversations, we have agreed to the following action items that we believe will constructively begin a renewed relationship of trust and shared governance:
- All future Dean searches will have a tenured faculty member from that college serve as a vice-chair of the search committee.
- Starting in September of 2022, all future campus-wide meetings with faculty will either be held live or else allow for live question-and-answer periods.
- The Chair of Faculty Council will receive two course releases per year instead of one per year.
- The Faculty Council Chair and/or the Assistant to the Faculty Council Chair shall be provided an up-to-date all-faculty email list each semester so as to be able to communicate directly with faculty.
- The Faculty Council and Provost will launch a joint working group in September 2022 to develop guidance for the campus regarding best principles and practices for shared governance that expands upon the foundation laid out in the Wellman document (BoT policy T73-098).
These are first steps, to be sure. However, we believe that trust and shared governance will be better built together, over time, and are as much a result as a prerequisite of our working together on the challenging issues facing our campus moving forward. We look forward to working simpatico toward continuing to strengthen an appropriate and equitable sharing of responsibility and authority in moving UMass Boston forward into the future.
Sincerely,
For the Faculty Council:
Heike Schotten
Eduardo Siqueira
Betsy Sweet
Kiran Verma
Kevin Wozniak
For the Administration:
Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco
Provost Joseph Berger
