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INSIDE IOWA STATE April 5, 2002 Senate resolute on Honors building namingby Linda CharlesThe Faculty Senate stood firm March 26 in its resolve to ask the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, to rename the new Honors building despite warnings that such actions could embarrass the university's president. Earlier this month, the senate passed a resolution calling on the regents to rescind its decision to name the Honors building after former ISU president Martin Jischke. The senate cited, in part, a university rule recommending a five-year wait before campus buildings are named for former university employees. The senate recommends the building be called the Honors Building, instead. Action 'not appropriate' Senate resolutions must be presented to the regents through the university president. In early March, the senate forwarded the resolution to President Gregory Geoffroy, who responded in a letter saying, "The board made that naming decision two years ago, and I have decided that it would not be appropriate for me to ask the board to reverse its decision. I therefore must disagree with the action recommended by the senate." "I understand your motivation," provost Rollin Richmond told the senate. "It seems what you care about is whether the university violated the five-year rule. I suggest you pass a motion reaffirming the significance of the five-year rule rather than create an embarrassment for the president and the university." Ganesh Rajagopalan, aerospace engineering, agreed. "I think the faculty needs to stand up for its rights, but we don't want to weaken the president's ability to speak up for us," he said. Faculty concern Others maintained the president could make it clear he did not agree with the policy. "If the president has difficulty with it, he can tell the regents this is a faculty concern," said Carl Mize, forestry (who authored the resolution with John Robyt, biochemistry and biophysics, and Richard Hall, forestry). "This is our concern, not the president's." Mize, who admitted there was little possibility the regents would accept the senate's recommendation, suggested that if the Iowa State Foundation builds a new building, it could be named after Jischke. The resolution again will be forwarded to Geoffroy. According to senate bylaws, if Geoffroy continues to disagree with the resolution, it is to be presented to the regents, with both the university and senate presidents present to support their views. The senate also passed a motion asking Geoffroy to make the recommended five-year wait university policy. Under the senate motion, there could be no exceptions. In a related matter, the regents are expected this month to adopt a provision that, in part, says buildings will not be named for former employees until two years after their appointment ends or their death. Family leave policy The senate approved two motions that would add provisions to the proposed family leave policy. One motion would extend the tenure clock one year for faculty when a child becomes part of the family. Two one-year extensions would be allowed. The tenure clock also could be stopped for medical care of a relative. The second motion would provide family leave at full pay for six weeks, half pay for 12 weeks, or a variation of the two, in the case of the birth of a child or adoption. The two motions will be forwarded to Geoffroy. Senate election In other business, the senate elected the following officer and council chairs:
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Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111 Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu Copyright © 1995-2001, Iowa State University. All rights reserved. |