The newsletter of The Akron-AAUP at The University of Akron
November 18, 2015
The American Association of University Professors at The University of Akron

The HLC Report on Shared Governance at UA

On November 5, 2015, the administration emailed the campus community an update on the report from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC, the accreditors) on shared governance at UA.

The administration’s email began on an upbeat note: “I am pleased to report that on October 29th, the Higher Learning Commission notified the University that it ‘…concurred with the evaluation findings and affirmed that the institution is addressing the concerns related to (a) relationship and roles of faculty in shared institutional governance and (b) assessment of student learning in general education and in undergraduate and graduate majors.’”

Although the university’s email did quote this section of the letter from the HLC accurately, the HLC letter also went on to say that, “although the institution has made progress on shared governance and assessment of student learning, concerns remain about the sustainability of this progress” (https://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/acb8b77e-0cf3-4ada-b7cf-c1b87909a725.pdf).

When the Akron-AAUP Executive Committee met with the HLC early in the 2015 spring semester, we expressed cautious optimism regarding the state of shared governance on campus. We were encouraged that the administration was engaging in conversations with the various campus constituencies, formally and informally. We also saw it as a positive sign that Akron-AAUP leadership was being included in discussions surrounding the formulation of the new budget.

However, shortly after the HLC left the campus, we were dismayed by a number of decisions made without meaningful faculty input - notably, the rebranding of the university as a polytechnic and the rushed introduction of the Gen Ed “Core 13” classes. We believed that it was incumbent upon us to write the HLC (http://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/6080b27e-9acb-47a7-9134-6b76e) to update them about these concerns.

Unfortunately, HLC released their main report before they received our letter, but they did acknowledge the seriousness of our concerns in the addendum to their report:

 

"After submission of the final Report of a Commission-Mandated Focused Visit, the team chair received a registered letter dated May 8, 2015 from the President of the University of Akron AAUP…...The site visit team has reviewed the initial complaint letter, the request for information from HLC, and the response from the institution. The team has determined that an additional visit is not warranted at this time, but does amend the original recommendation pertaining to shared governance. The team stands by the original recommendation pertaining to assessment of student learning."

 

The addendum continued:

 

"In the Assurance Section of the Focused Site Visit Report, the team noted that it was difficult to determine if challenges in shared governance observed during the site visit were due to residual attitudes resultant of a long-term history of adversarial relationships between faculty and administration or if they reflected ongoing concerns. Given signs of movement toward a more cooperative climate, the team decided to give the institution the benefit of the doubt to reinforce positive changes that had been made and allow the institution to direct its energy toward strengthening shared governance practices. However, it appears that those signs of movement toward a more cooperative climate have not been realized. Instead, newly presented evidence indicates that there persists significant concern associated with the two of the three structures that form the foundation for shared governance at the University of Akron. Specifically, the University Council’s role in shared governance has yet to be enacted. At the time of the site visit this body continued to operate without formally endorsed by-laws and there was lack of clarity of the role of this body in shared governance. In addition, the recent complaint from the University of Akron AAUP President indicates ongoing challenges between administration and this aspect of faculty governance."

 

"As a result, the site visit team amends the original recommendation and now recommends an embedded monitoring report on shared governance within the scheduled 2017 year four review of Standard Pathway. This report should confirm that the University Council is fully operational and that the role of both University Council and the AAUP has been clarified to realize their potential contribution to shared governance. It is clear from the University of Akron response to the AAUP complaint that administration takes the issue of shared governance seriously and that structures are in place to support effective shared governance at the University of Akron. However, it is also clear that shared governance continues to be a challenge and, as noted in the body of the Focused Visit Report, will require an adaptive, collaborative spirit from both the faculty and administration to make progress in this area."

        

The report went on to make the following recommendations:

 

• "The AAUP Collective Bargaining Unit’s goal of making communication a focus of upcoming negotiations is on target and has the potential to positively impact shared governance. Revisiting contract language to clarify areas of ambiguity will likely assist in more clearly defining the role of this group. Successful negotiations will require willingness to collaborate and cooperate on both the part of the faculty and administration."

 

• "Given the long history of challenges in shared governance and lingering impact of past adversarial relationships between faculty and administration, the institution might give serious consideration to engaging a neutral third party, external to the University, in order to capitalize on the opportunity presented with the new presidency and guide the institution in a more collaborative direction to build the future course for the University of Akron."

 

The complete assurance section of the HLC report, with addendum, can be found here (http://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/166d936a-1ee4-4660-a873-7f4a6635f2bc.pdf).

We heartily agree with the HLC’s first recommendation that clarifying contract language will help to improve shared governance on campus. Our Negotiating Team is working right now with the administration to improve language in Article 10 Governance - stay tuned for updates on their progress.

The administration already has begun to address the HLC’s second recommendation: in the administration’s October 29th email, the campus was informed that “the University’s Board of Trustees has engaged the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) to help assess the current shared governance structure and practices of the University. We anticipate that an AGB representative will be on campus for several days during early December to interview a broad cross-section of the campus community concerning their perspectives on the status of and attitudes toward shared governance.”

Although we are pleased that the University has engaged a third party to help address “challenges in shared governance,” we also believe that inviting the Faculty Senate, the University Council, and the Akron-AAUP to put forward their own recommendations for neutral parties before one was selected would have been more in keeping with the meaning of shared governance. Our own national organization, the AAUP, is a widely recognized national authority on shared governance and has a long history of strengthening shared governance structures on college campuses. Who better to consult on which neutral party to bring to campus?

In conclusion, the Akron-AAUP remains committed to the principles of shared governance for all of the stakeholders of The University of Akron.

We will continue to ask questions about embedded monitoring, what it will entail, exactly when it will take place, what groups will be met with, and what this means for the university. As we learn more, we will inform the faculty. Be assured that Akron-AAUP maintains its commitment to transparency in all our communications with the university community.


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