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The University of Michigan’s Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs gathered in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building Monday afternoon to hear from Gretchen Keppel-Aleks and Lucy Hartley from the American Association of University Professors and Michael Atzmon and Nick Tobier from the Davis, Markert, and Nickerson Academic Freedom Lecture Committee.
The meeting was conducted as an “executive session,” meaning the door was closed to the public in order to discuss confidential personnel matters. The Senate Assembly discussed the lack of protection for faculty members at the University and included the speakers in their conversation about institutional neutrality, which would position the University as neutral on political or social issues that are not directly connected to its internal affairs.
Rebekah Modrak, SACUA chair and Art & Design professor, provided more detailed information about the meeting in an email to The Michigan Daily. Modrak wrote about how the Student Relations Advisory Committee is taking action in response to the revisions made by the University’s Board of Regents to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities on July 18.
“(SRAC) is about to undergo the process of reviewing proposed changes submitted through Student Life for the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities,” Modrak wrote. “As many faculty are concerned about the July 2024 Regent changes to the processes and are planning to submit their own proposals for revisions, SACUA is helping to coordinate faculty submissions.”
In regard to the lack of protection for faculty members, Modrak wrote that she cannot share much of the discussion as it was protected by the executive session’s confidentiality. However, Modrak said the bulk of their conversation was in relation to reporting obligations for faculty. The discussion involved personnel matters and SACUA plans to bring these issues forward to the Faculty Senate and anticipates sharing their concerns with The Daily next month, according to Modrak.
Modrak also highlighted that during the September 2024 Board of Regents meeting, Regent Sarah Hubbard (R) tasked Timothy Lynch, the University’s vice president and general counsel, to draft a policy for the Regents’ consideration. The draft policy will be reviewed during the Regents’ meeting later this month. She explained how the timeline does not give faculty adequate time to express concerns about the report, read the draft policy and discuss its implications for U-M faculty.
Heather O’Malley, SACUA and Senate Assembly vice chair and assistant research scientist of pharmacology, wrote in an email to The Daily about the timeframe that Hubbard’s decision imposes on SACUA members.
“I’m concerned that voting on a policy this month won’t allow enough time for those conversations to happen in an open and transparent manner,” O’Malley wrote. “Work that has been done to date that would inform a policy draft presented to the Regents represents an immense amount of effort on the part of a great many people, and provides an excellent basis for having an open and detailed examination of the advantages and disadvantages of any policy regarding institutional neutrality.”
Modrak wrote to The Daily that SACUA was concerned about the Regents’ shortened time frame because it does not allow for adequate collaboration and thorough conversations amongst faculty members.
“On Thursday last week, the SACUA chair wrote to University President Santa Ono to underscore the importance of elected members of faculty governance having the opportunity to review and comment on drafts regarding so-called ‘institutional neutrality’ policy,” Modrak wrote. “In particular, we suggested that this discussion could be scheduled for the November 18 Senate Assembly meeting.”
In the meeting’s concluding remarks, SACUA member Derek Peterson, professor of History and African Studies, said faculty members are concerned with the reality of institutional neutrality.
“We as a faculty government have communicated to the President and the Regents that we would like to have a voice in determining new policy around whether or not this institution ought to adopt a policy in institutional neutrality,” Peterson said. “We feel it is important as a representative body to offer the wider views of the faculty about such an important matter that goes to the basic public mission of our University.”
Daily Staff Reporter Patricia Leoncio can be reached at pleoncio@umich.edu.
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