Heres the statement from DefendUS re: the meeting with Interim President Barnhart this morning: This morning, a small group of DefendUS organizers made up of students, faculty & alumni met with Interim President Barnhart. This meeting was instigated by the Interim President after he received the open letter we crafted in late May, that was signed by over 1000 people. At the time of submitting the Open Letter, DefendUS called for President Barnart to organize a large scale public meeting. The DefendUS Open letter also included four areas of concern: lack of consultation, lack of transparency with the budget, concerns with TransformUS, and lack of collegiality on campus. Based on the letter we sent, and feedback received from the people who signed the letter, we had several requests for the President this morning. Here is a summary of our requests and Dr. Barnharts responses: 1) We discussed meaningful consultation and we agreed to meet again in the fall to discuss in more detail what meaningful consultation might look like. At this time, we are inviting members of the campus community to share ideas with the President’s office about creative consultations that have worked in the past. If people prefer to share ideas anonymously, they are welcome to share with us and we will pass those ideas on. 2) We asked him to stay-the-course on ending “perp walks” and disrespectful termination practices for faculty and staff to help re-establish collegial governance. He indicated a firm resolve to ending “perp walks” and went so far as to say, “There will be hell to pay if that happens again.” 3) We asked for an independent inquiry into how we got where we are today: both what went wrong with TransformUS and how the firing of Professor Buckingham occurred. President Barnhart did not respond on that point and we will look for a further response from him in the future. 4) We asked for clarity on the alleged deficit; this implies a full opening up of the books. A public discussion on this with a representative from the USFA and a follow-up report would go a long way to restoring trust. He said that the budget is open, online and audited, but that projections forward are unknown and that has been the source of much confusion. We would like to see more clarification on these projections and he is asking campus community to consider creative ways of increasing revenues and decreasing expenses in the future. 5) Interim President Barnhart has spoken publicly about changing the name of TransformUS, or simply no longer using the name given the poor reputation it has developed lately. We asked that he not change the name of TransformUS. If he thinks it is a legitimate process, he should stand by it; if he thinks it is a poor process, he should do away with it altogether. Changing or dropping the name without changing the process or outcomes is dishonest and misleading. He did not clearly respond to this point and we will be watching what happens from here. 6) We also recommended that Barnhart commit to having no program closures or layoffs until collegiality, consultation and transparency have been established. He has acknowledged that there are difficulties with the process. What we are requesting is analogous to a court injunction- stop the process until we can collegially evaluate the costs and benefits of going forward with them. Given that the legitimacy of the findings of TransformUS have been seriously called into question, we expected a response on this point and are disappointed that we didn’t receive it. Overall, we were impressed with Dr. Barnhart’s willingness to engage critically with us and the rest of the campus community. He showed a respect that we haven’t seen in a long time on this campus and was open and not defensive. However, it is our position that the most costly thing the U of S can do now is stay the course. As an institution, we have suffered reputational, morale and material damage over the last year. We know that Dr. Barnhart did not cause these problems, but he has a chance now to rectify them, to show the kind of administration he will lead and that the U of S deserves. TransformUS is happening amidst a political climate of austerity and corporatization on most North American campuses and in many public institutions. The TransformUS process is certainly not the only austerity or program prioritization process to have harmful results for people, relationships, teaching & learning in our society. What we are seeing at the U of S is the inevitable result of flawed logic and bad process. The U of S has a unique opportunity to change direction, to do something unexpected and inspired, to be a leader in meaningful consultation, transparency, collegiality, and creative problem solving. We look forward to seeing how Interim President Barnhart will signal the kind of leadership that he will provide and the kind of direction the University will go. Contact: defendus2014@gmail defendus.net It can also be read at defendus.net
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 21:06:58 +0000
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