Here is a statement by the Rutgers chapter of the American Association of University Professors/American Federation of Teachers attacking the process. I do not warrant the veracity of this statement, but pass it along because it might be interesting:
The AAUP-AFT Executive Council has been following with keen interest
the intense discussions among our members concerning the Board of
Governor's decision to award an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to Dr.
Condoleezza Rice and to invite her to be our 2014 Commencement speaker.
We would like to raise serious concerns about the process by which Dr.
Rice was nominated and selected. Shortly after President Barchi arrived
at Rutgers in the fall of 2012, he appointed a tiny committee charged
with screening and nominating honorary degree recipients and
commencement speakers. The committee included only two faculty
representatives and no students. He made himself the chair of the
committee thereby placing himself in the unusual position of advising
himself.
This new process stands in stark contrast to the one that we used at
Rutgers before the Barchi presidency; Our process, moreover, was similar
to those used by every member of the CIC and other peer institutions we
consulted. Our process involved the participation of a
screening/nominating committee made up of twenty or so faculty and
students. This committee, chaired by a faculty member, canvassed widely
and openly among all members of the Rutgers community for nominees,
discussed them thoroughly, and then came to a considered and collective
recommendation to the president and to the Board of Governors (BoG).
Much about the Barchi-instituted process remains cloaked in secrecy and
thus far attempts to gain more information about the exact nature and
reasons for the change have been unsuccessful. What we do know is that
the decision to designate Dr. Rice as 2014 Commencement speaker was
hidden in a November 2013 quick call for nominations for honorary degree
recipients, well before any action by the Board of Governors (BoG).
Furthermore, the contractually required prior notification to the
AAUP/AFT about the BoG Feb. 4, 2014 agenda item formally to approve her
invitation, was never done. Like the rest of the world, we only learned
of this
fait accompli after the BoG made its decision, without
allowing any appropriate opportunity for input from faculty, students,
or the citizens of New Jersey. No matter the decision, such a closed
process is never acceptable and in fact violates the contract between
the AAUP/AFT and the University.
We intend to defend vigorously the rights of the union to receive
advance notification of BoG agenda items as required by the Collective
Bargaining Agreement. We fully support the efforts of student and
faculty groups to get to the bottom of what happened here and to press
in all venues for re-institution of an open, democratic process for
nomination and selection of candidates for honorary degrees and as
Commencement speakers.
Sincerely,
Executive Council of Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rutgers AAUP-AFT
11 Stone Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Office phone: 732-964-1000
Fax: 732-964-1032
Website:
www.rutgersaaup.org
Twitter handle: ruaaup
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