A FOLLOW-UP PETITION TO THE UMUC ADMINISTRATION

UMUC Provost Nick Allen's response to the recent petition signed by 220 faculty assured us all that our suggestions to improve the University were appreciated. The signatories to the petition represent all three divisions of the University, from a wide range of disciplines, with a significant portion of the full-time collegiate instructors who collectively teach a significant number of classes for UMUC each year. We consider the original faculty petition and the administration response as the first steps in a process to improve our relationship for the good of the university.

We appreciate the Provost's assurances that some of the problems with our teaching evaluations will be rectified and that suggestions for improving the "common syllabi" are welcome.

However, it is not reassuring to learn that most of the academic matters addressed in the original petition--mandatory use of the introduction and objectives sections of the standard syllabi, mandatory inclusion of modules as course content in DE courses, and standard final examinations in some disciplines--are policies that have been already decided and will be pursued regardless of what the faculty find most productive and educationally sound.

The business of the University is teaching, and we are the teachers. The University has declared its commitment to "shared governance" which should give instructors input into such decisions. As far as is known, there was no significant input from non-administrative faculty in formulating or adopting these academic policies. These policies do not YET affect all classes and faculty equally, but the Provost indicates that they will--and thus they affect the University as a whole.

We ask that the administration go beyond declaring and elaborating on academic policies which will eventually apply to all instructors and classes in the University, and open these academic policies--as well as issues of fair and equitable compensation--to consideration by the faculty as a whole and especially our chosen representatives.

The desire to insure high quality education is not well-served by mandating uniformity in academic matters. We share the goal of improving the University, and again urge the administration to build upon UMUC's strengths. These have historically included not only respect for the creativity, commitment, expertise and diversity of the faculty, but also flexibility and responsiveness. UMUC faculty have long been flexible and responsive to the needs of our students and of the administration; we ask that the administration show similar respect for our concerns about the academic future of the University.

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