In an effort to increase their visibility in the University community, the Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers posed increasing the staff representation in the Senate from 10 to 20 members.
“We thought that the staff are not involved enough in the decision-making process, so we pursued different venues available for recommendation,” New Brunswick Campus Vice President for URA-AFT Kathryn Neal said. “Out of four different opportunities for shared governance, the Senate offers the only place for staff representation in shared governance.”
The other four are the Board of Governors, Board of Trustees, the University Senate and the New Brunswick Faculty Council.
“We would like to participate in the president’s goals for Rutgers, but we can’t if we’re disenfranchised, and we want to be able to shape them as well. If we’re in such small numbers in the Senate, we don’t have much of a say,” Neal said.
The University Structure and Governance Committee received the details for the charge Friday and they will be reviewing it until December, said USGC Co-Chair Peter Gillett, an associate professor.
“This charge is now scheduled to be discussed in detail beginning at the committee’s next meeting in October, and recommendations to Senate will be developed; the committee’s response is due to be submitted to the Senate Executive Committee by January 2010,” Gillett said. “Prior to these detailed discussions, the committee naturally has no position on the proposal.”
The staff wants to become a bigger part of the University community and participate more in the decision-making. Neal said they cannot support the administration if they are not connected. When management talks about the University community, the staff is commonly an afterthought.
“The initial proposal to include staff members on the Senate came from me,” said University President Richard L. McCormick. “I proposed it in an annual address, and it was adopted in the course of the following year, so I’ve long believed that the staff belong in the Senate.”
He wants to see what the Senate will find when it talks about doubling the staff representation in the University Senate, he said.
“The principles are correct, but I’m interested in the pros and cons of the specific proposal increase,” McCormick said. “It is highly likely that my administration will be supportive of whichever direction the Senate proposes to go. We will be waiting to hear that conversation.”
And so will the staff.
“The staff wants a larger representation and a bigger role in shared governance,” Neal said. “Shared governance is a seat at the table when important items regarding University governance. Items include such issues as global economic crisis and its effect on Rutgers, intercollegiate athletics, enrollment and admissions.”
Two issues that connect are planned improvements and intercollegiate athletics. The staff supports athletics, but they may want to see the daycare facility finished if they had more say in governance, she said.
There are 700 staff members for one representative, and it is difficult to truly represent the feelings of 700 people, Neal said. The ratio for faculty is one representative for 45 faculty members.
There are more than 56,000 students in the University and 58 student representatives, Neal said. This is also an issue of quality of working lives. Staff work full-time, and the bulk of their time is spent at work, so if they have increased representation, they can control and improve their quality of life at work.
“It’s not going to have direct immediate impact [to the ongoing contract negotiations,] but in the long-term, if management are exposed to us more, they will respect the work we do more, which is sorely lacking at the moment,” she said.
Union proposes increase in Senate staff members
Published: Monday, September 28, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
1 comments
the AFT is corrupt
The AFT needs to get out of Rutgers completely...not get more representation. They don't represent anyone but their own CORRUPT interests.
