<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt;color:#000000;"><h3>February 22, 2011</h3>
<h1>Our View: Memo to ISU faculty: Just shut up and teach</h1>
<h2 id="byLine">
- Idaho Statesman</h2>
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.<p>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.</p><p>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?</p><p> 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.</p><p>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.”</p><p>Starting over? Sure. But only after the board made sure to give Vailas all the leverage, and marginalize his faculty critics.</p><p>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.”</p><p>How’s that for even-handed?</p><p>It’s remarkable that the State Board chose to choose sides, especially at this advanced stage of unrest. </p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>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.</p>“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@idahostatesman.com.</div><br>
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