Thomas A. Fields, an associate professor of communications and theatre arts at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, was elected president of the university’s Faculty Senate earlier this year. Here, he describes the next chapter in the life of the reconstituted Faculty Senate and the appeal of academia.
Thomas
A. Fields
Why were you interested in becoming speaker of the Faculty Senate?
I felt I had reached a stage and level of experience to allow me to present some different perspectives. I have both university and business experiences. I served on the task force to write our new Faculty Senate constitution and believed if we were to make the new constitution work, someone with those experiences might be helpful.
As I have served for a little while, I have discovered what a large job being Faculty Senate president is. I exult in the way the new senate, new senate officers and committee members have worked to make this new senate and constitution successful. Without the hard work of all those people, the necessary jobs simply would not get completed.
Had you served previously on this senate, or on a senate at another university?
I had not served on Faculty Senates at any other university. I was in private business immediately prior to the time I joined the faculty at Kingsville. While I had attempted election to the senate here, I had been unsuccessful until my department elected me senator to represent them under the new constitution for the 2006-2007 academic year. Under our new constitution, the president of the Senate must be replaced by a senator to represent the unit. A strict interpretation of the rules would suggest I served as a senator for approximately 45 minutes.
Shared governance is important on university campuses. What does the concept mean to you?
“Shared governance" is a term easily leading to misunderstandings between faculty and administration. No administrative official responsible to a higher governing board can share or delegate authority and responsibility.
However, all faculty members have direct, professional and personal concerns with the issues of their university. Faculty members have unique perspectives, skills and experiences to bring to the resolution of university issues. It is crucial the university administration, especially those at the dean’s level and above, include these skills, perspectives and experiences.
Without faculty inclusion issues tend to have less-than-favorable resolutions. The university must find processes so the inclusion of faculty knowledge and needs are used in the solving of university issues. The Faculty Senate enables us to do so.
The Faculty Senate was suspended last October and completely reorganized earlier this year. What has been the biggest change?
I believe I could make a change list extending across several pages. A larger senate, a more diverse senate, direct representation of departments and colleges, greater general faculty authority over senate actions, more specification of terms and limitations on senate and officer terms to ensure continued change in senate membership are all positive changes.
Some other changes are not negative but require rebuilding of process. These changes include loss of routine operating processes, different methods of electing senators and more responsibility for chairs and deans in the balloting process.
I believe our greatest challenge at this time is with the natural loss of protocols and processes by which actions were accomplished. We are just beginning to rebuild these processes so we can recover our ability to further faculty initiatives.
How does the new Faculty Senate constitution differ from the previous one?
The new constitution requires continuous change in the senate makeup and composition. Thus, more and different faculty will be assured meaningful decision-making roles.
There are many specific differences between the two constitutions. I believe the most important differences are the following:
Direct representation of identified units. Our new constitution requires each department to have one or more faculty senators, and the senator is directly elected by the department. The new constitution requires each college to have one or more senators directly elected by that college. A senator is now specifically responsible to a known faculty group. This difference has resulted in the largest and most diverse senate the university has ever had.
Transparency of action. Our new constitution requires that the Senate publish all potential acts or resolutions to the general faculty, and sufficient time must be given for the general faculty to submit their concerns to the senate. Under the new constitution, no action can be taken without adequate and specified publication of that proposed action.
Responsibility to general faculty. Our new constitution gives the general faculty the right and authority to reverse Faculty Senate actions.
Some faculty were critical of what they considered an undue emphasis on research over teaching in the tenure and promotion process at Texas A&M-Kingsville, even though the university is classified as a research intensive university and has 52 master’s programs and six doctoral programs. Do you think this is still an issue?
Overall, I think this is no longer as great an issue as it once was. The faculty recognize that universities must constantly evolve to meet the needs of students and the region, state and nation. While Kingsville is unique as to our location and the responsibility we hold for our region, we must assume change will affect us as well.
The changes here are neither radical nor different than the other universities I have observed. Funding processes, student recruitment and retention, and outside influences and directives are making some decisions for the university rather than those decisions being made by faculty and administration. My impressions suggest neither faculty nor administration is too happy with all of the directives and directions applied to this university. But we know that we must rise to the challenges before us, and we will.
The requirement for faculty teaching and research is traditional, and the emphasis toward research seems to be increasing. In an ideal world, of course, both the teachers and the researchers will be equally rewarded for doing what they do best.
What are some of the goals of the Faculty Senate in the coming year? What will be the most important factors in meeting these goals?
During that unfortunate period when the senate was suspended, some people were hurt, some were angered and some felt estranged from the university’s usual operating patterns. Yet, others were pleased that something different had happened.
Responsibilities and goals this senate must assume are to earn the confidence of our faculty, to earn trust from our administration and to build the necessary working relationships among faculty and between faculty and administration to bring our university to its highest possible productive level.
A more specific answer should include the development of rules and processes to implement new system policies, enhancement and clarification of our post-tenure review standards and learning how to use a new constitution.
How are President Juarez and other administrators informed of Faculty Senate decisions? Will you meet with them regularly?
Our new constitution has the president’s and provost’s offices included as ex officio members of the senate. Our dean’s offices are also ex officio. So, I do not have to schedule specific meetings with the president or provost to report on senate decisions, as these offices are represented at our senate meetings.
In addition, I attempt to summarize my impressions of all senate meetings and any other senate activities to the president and provost. I have met with these officials in private meetings and through our interactions in various committees or decision processes.
For example, the president of the Faculty Senate is an invited member of the provost’s Academic Deans Council. I have access to our president and provost when I need it: The few times I have requested a meeting with either of them, I have been in their offices within hours of my request.
How do you interact with your counterparts at other A&M System universities?
I recently participated in the System Advisory Council composed of the president/chairman of all of the system’s Faculty Senates. We anticipate meeting several times per year to discuss common issues.
During the most recent meeting, for example, we discussed shared governance, inclusion of faculty in administrative decision processes, questioned the increasing fees charged to faculty in insurance and retirement programs, promotion and tenure issues and post-tenure reviews. We had opportunity to directly pose our questions and concerns to the chancellor.
I should be cautious but my impressions based on this single meeting suggest all university components of the system have very similar problems. Until this meeting, in lieu of other information, I assumed the Kingsville campus had somewhat unique problems. While our new constitution is a unique situation, on general university issues, Kingsville is not strikingly different from the other universities. Even with our unique constitution/senate issue, I found Kingsville had better resolution on several issues than some of the other component universities.
You had a private practice working with children with speech and language disorders in Dallas for 12 years. What attracted you to academia and Texas A&M-Kingsville?
I worked in universities for approximately 11 years prior to starting my business. I started the business while I was working at a university because the university program where I worked was closed. Having that program closed hurt my feelings a little and I started a private business under the reckless assumption I would have sufficient control over things to prevent being hurt again.
Later, losing my first wife to lung cancer suffocated all of my energy and interests in business and the region. Returning to the university allowed me to help young professionals learn a profession I have loved. Being here has allowed me to begin a new life. I hope I can pay through my service to the university and to the region some small return for the support and opportunity I have been given.
