[Vision2020] Statesman weighs in on ISU

[Joe Campbell]

Oops! I feel a bit like Roseanne Roseannadana. Nevermind!

On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 6:24 PM, Dan Carscallen <areaman at moscow.com> wrote:

> Joe,
>
> Did you read the editorial? From what I gather, they agree with you
>
> DC
>
> On Feb 22, 2011, at 17:58, Joe Campbell <philosopher.joe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Great advice! Maybe they should just shut up and stick to the news!
>
> On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:00 AM, Ron Force < <rforce2003 at yahoo.com>
> rforce2003 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> February 22, 2011 Our View: Memo to ISU faculty: Just shut up and teach  - Idaho
>> Statesman Seventy-six percent of Idaho State University’s faculty
>> senators have a problem with Arthur Vailas. Earlier this month, they cast a
>> no-confidence vote and urged their embattled president to step down.
>>
>> And 100 percent of State Board of Education members have a problem with
>> the ISU faculty Senate. On Thursday, the board voted unanimously to disband
>> the Senate — at Vailas’ urging.
>>
>> Well, that’s one way to try to make a crisis disappear. Who needs allies
>> on campus when you have a compliant State Board in your pocket?
>>
>> The message, for faculty and staff at ISU and other campuses, could hardly
>> be more clear. If you have a complaint or a criticism, the State Board
>> doesn’t want to hear from you or help solve problems.
>>
>> Of course, that’s not how the board spins it. “The impasse between the
>> leadership of the senate group and the administration has reached a point
>> where the prospect of any kind of progress was simply non-existent,” board
>> President Richard Westerberg said. “It’s time to start over.”
>>
>> Starting over? Sure. But only after the board made sure to give Vailas all
>> the leverage, and marginalize his faculty critics.
>>
>> Oh, there will still be a place for the faculty to have a say. Just on
>> Vailas’ terms. The board ordered Vailas to set up an interim advisory
>> structure and come back in April and propose what the board calls a
>> “reconstituted faculty Senate and a new faculty governance model.”
>>
>> How’s that for even-handed?
>>
>> It’s remarkable that the State Board chose to choose sides, especially at
>> this advanced stage of unrest.
>>
>> Vailas has been on the job since 2006, providing ample time for tensions
>> to degenerate into grudges. The problems aren’t likely to just go away. It’s
>> naive for the State Board to act as if that’s even a possibility.
>>
>> Faculty members have aired some serious issues that warrant more active
>> attention from the State Board — including complaints of closed-door budget
>> decisions and high staff turnover.
>>
>> These concerns should resonate under any circumstances — and especially
>> during a funding crisis that requires university leaders to make tough
>> budget decisions, explain policy publicly and clearly and get and keep
>> buy-in from key faculty and staff.
>>
>> “Sometimes we have to stand up and make our voices heard,” said ISU
>> Faculty Senate chairman Phil Cole, according to the Associated Press. “The
>> internal strife at ISU is killing ISU.”
>>
>> Turns out Cole was worried over nothing. The State Board of Education has
>> a foolproof plan for handling “internal strife.” Just tell all the naysayers
>> to shut up.
>> “Our View” is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an
>> unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman’s editorial
>> board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail
>> <editorial at idahostatesman.com>editorial at idahostatesman.com.
>>
>>
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