Spectrum - Volume 18 Issue 07 October 5, 1995 - Faculty Senate schedules open meetings with administrators

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Faculty Senate schedules open meetings with administrators

By Netta S. Smith

Spectrum Volume 18 Issue 07 - October 5, 1995

The first of a series of three open meetings hosted by the Faculty Senate to allow faculty and staff members to interact with top university officials on an informal basis is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 12, from 4-5 p.m. in Owens Banquet Room.

Provost Peggy Meszaros is the invited guest. President Paul Torgersen will be the guest on November 9. Senior Vice President Minnis Ridenour will be at the December 8 meeting.

According to Faculty Senate President Tom Sherman, the meetings, which he is calling "Meetings with...," are designed to provide an opportunity for faculty and staff members to "ask questions the

There will be no agenda, and no prepared statements or speechmaking, Sherman says. "It will be an informal, unstructured situation where people can come in, ask questions, and share their concerns." He says these meetings provide the first opportunity he knows of for the faculty and staff to interact on an informal basis in a group setting with the three senior university administrators.

Sherman, who will moderate the meetings, says he hopes there will be "greater understanding of important issues so that this exchange will lead to more informed decisions by everyone." He says he sees the meetings as a way of "transferring the wisdom of the faculty and staff to the leadership of the university--and vice versa."

Sherman says that he has often heard people wonder why administrators are not asked certain questions, or why certain actions are taken and others not taken. "I hope that getting to ask these questions will give people an increased sense of being able to speak in a way that is heard." He adds that he hopes the idea of the meetings "will be a message that will grab people."