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INSIDE IOWA STATE
April 5, 2002
Senate resolute on Honors building naming
by Linda Charles
The 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:
- Secretary: Bill Summers, horticulture
- Academic Affairs Council: Tony Hendrickson, logistics, operations and
management information systems
- Faculty Development and Administrative Relations: Constance Post,
English
- Judiciary and Appeals: Clark Ford, food science and human nutrition
- Governance: Denise Vrchota, Greenlee School of Journalism
The next senate meeting will begin at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, in 260
Scheman.
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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.
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