Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday. ,ugusf 27, 196$ Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, August 27, 1968 r aculty tries to set stable intellectual climate 4 By LUCY KENNEDY "Why anyone would want to sit through a faculty meeting is be- yond me," one faculty member commented recently. "They're so boring." The meetings may be boring, but students found them impor- tant enough to demand and fi- nally obtain this year permission ~to attend, Faculty approval of student concerns such as dorm ,regula- tions or the draft have been found to carry enough weight with the Regents to make faculty govern- ment a matter of great concern. The all important intellectual climate of the University is also a major responsibility of faculty government through decisions in areas such as classified research, All University governing bodies (University Senate, Faculty As- sembly, and Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs) are the principle voices of the faculty's stand on ,'University policy. Led by the University President, the Senate, made up of all 2200 full time faculty members, is pos- sibly the most impressive of these bodies.' Due to its bulk, however, the Senate meets only twice a year and acts as little more than a body for final approval. Policies brought 0p the Senate for ap- proval have sometimes been in- stigated by the time the Senate's bi-annual meeting comes around -a practice which some Senate members have protested. Initiation and discussion of f a c u 1 t y resolutions generally comes from the Faculty Assembly, a 65 member group elected by the various schools. The number of members a school has on Assem- bly is proportional to the number of faculty members that school has in the Senate (i.e. the lit- erary college has the highest number of representatives on both the Senate and Assembly). Most of the actual- work done by the Assembly is carried on by standing subcommittees. The six standing committees are fairly autonomous and can initiate consideration of anything they consider relevant to their area, without reference to SACUA or Assembly. The Student Rela- tions Committee, for instance, ap- pointed a subcommittee to start work on course evaluation. Area committees advise, and sometimes pressure, vice presi- dents in their areas and keep SACUA informed of any note- worthy events. One SACUA mem- ber is on each standing commit- tee. SACUA meets on a regular weekly basis and as such provides the best link between the faculty, as a whole and Regents, admin- istrators and students. SACUA consists of nine mem- bers elected by Assembly from its membership for three year terms. No more than three members of SACUA are from the literary col- lege and no more than two may be from any other school or col- lege. SACUA elects the officers of Assembly, nominates and co- ordinates the subcommittees of Assembly. In its function as co- ordinator of Assembly commit- tees, it supervises most of the work done on Senate (all-fac- ulty) or Assembly resolutions. Individual schools and depart- ments are organized much like the all University bodies. The literary college faculty is a typical example. Every tenure faculty member in the literary college is eligible to vote in the monthly faculty meet- ings, but as in all University de- cisions, much of the initiation and discussion of ideas goes on in a smaller executive committee. At weekly meetings the execu- tive committee discusses matters of educational policy such as pass-fail, salaries, teaching fellow status, or the college's stand on a University or national issue that might be relevant for monthly all- faculty meetings. The executive committees in most schools and colleges as well as crucial committees such as cur- riculum frequently are quite auto- nomous and make decisions in- dependent of the faculty as a whole. Schooland college faculties also determine standards of admission and budget allocations. In many of the larger schools (particularly the literary college) much of the work on budget allocations and faculty promotions is handled at the departmental level. One member of Psychology de- p a r t m e n t commented, "the amount accomplished with a spirit of support and agreement in a large department such as this is difficult to conceive." Faculty cooperation and agree- ment, however, sometimes ap- pears less than complete., Admission of students to meet- ings of Assembly and Senate was one area of sharp disagreement. The reasons for the faculty's hesitancy to allow students to at- tend their meetings underlie their hesitancy to take on decisions that could increase their respon- sibility in relation to the adnin- istration. Faculty members seem quite conscious of their role as the permanent members of the Uni- versity's academic community. Many do not like to be seen Ill- prepared, as in spontaneous de- bate, and most, hesitate to take on a task unless they are sure they can do it well. One SACUA member commented, "Faculty members are stuck with with , anything they do for a lot longer than, students. They gen- erally put in so much time on a project that they are possessive about it-hurt by criticism and determined to see it done well." Cautious about competing with each other at the governmental level, faculty groups last year re- fused to take stands on the issue of academic discipline pending the release of the Hatcher Commis- sion Report. Faculty members were also re- ticent to admit students to their meetings because they feared dis- ruption-as they fear disruption on the campus along civil disobe- dience lines or in the area of funds and prerogatives. A report of the Assembly's Re- search Policies Committee re- leased this spring largely sup- ported the University's participa- tion in classified research. The report argued, "classified projects are accepted primarily because this is the only way at the mo- ment to secure financial support for certain significant research projects. One must submit to the nuisance and restrictions involv- ed in-order to secure support for certain types of research." Generally, however, f a c u it y members acting in governmental bodies are friends of the student. Last year, for instance, SACUA agreed with Student Government Council's resolution that "driving regulations should be abolished and the Assembly's Student Re- lations Committee recommended that students be allowed to make their own rules. 4i What did you do at the U today, Daddy? By DANIEL OKRENT Feature Editor No, that scholarly man stand- ing up there in front of class does not earn his salary for lec- turing for maybe six hours a week to word-deadened ears. In Fact, it's hard to say ex- actly what he's getting paid for. As a member of the wildly and widely-ranging University fac- ulty, his time and his abilities are so varied that they defy reasonable definition. At the end of the 1966 aca- demic year, there were 2174 professors like him in the Uni- versity's 17 separate academic units. Thirty per cent were full professors and 15 per cent were teaching fellows; the remainder filled the ranks of associate, as- sistant, lecturer and instructor. Professors may be involved in classroom work, departmen- tal administration, service on faculty committees, or en- grossed in writing for the schol- arly and professional journals. He may be temporarily on leave or he may teach all three se- mesters of the academic year. He may be compiling data for the Kerner Commission or test- ing infrared spotting devices for Prince Bhumibol of Thai- land. Thomas N. Tentler teaches history and hates to go to meetings. As assistant profes- sor, the rank most often en- countered in the lecture hall by the freshmen and sopho- mores, he teaches a 500 student survey course for the history department, one of the literary college's largest and most pres- tigious units. Tentler may go a semester without meeting one- tenth of his students, and he feels badly about this. But large classes are necessarily the bur- den of the assistant professor, the newcomer to the staff. Prof. Tentler wakes up at 8 a.m. in order to make a nine o'clock. He'll spend the rest of his non-classroom day in de- partmental meetings discussing next year's course schedule, or in his office, grading papers and meetini with students. fie goes to faculty lunches, he goes to his teaching fellows' classes, he spends anywhere from thirty minutes to day pre- paring his next lecture. Marvin Felheim, a full pro- fessor in the English depart- ment, came to Ann Arbor 19 years ago and has had more than his share of meetings. Having served on committees ranging from SACUA's Student Relations Committee to the ex- ecutive committee of the Eng- lish department, Felheim can speak from experience. "Committees are an obliga- tion that the faculty has to the University," he explains. The committees that men. like Tentler and Felheim serve on address themselves to every- thing from the selection of new deans to arbitration of student- faculty differences. They're oft- en the kind of affair that is closed to students, and Felheim has a "hey, buddy, let me tell you something" attitude when the topic turns to their closed- a lecturer who comes in and reads off of yellowed notes," Felheim insists. "I remember when I was a student and had to listen to lectures that were three years out of date." So the early-rising Felheim secrets himself away each day to put together a new lecture. "But never in my office; I wouldn't get anything done." When he is in his office, how- ever, he keeps the door open, and finds himself talking with a coed about her pregnancy as much as her pentameters. The few hours a week he devotes to office hours prove to be a run- ning, uninterrupted conversa- tion with his students, some- thing else he sees as a profes- sor's obligation. But, he admits frankly, he enjoys it. required to turn out scholarly material, and there is a reason- able justification. "Academic departments at major universities are national departments., The criteria are universal, and for every deduct- ible reason, you've got to pub- lish," Felheim says. When a school is trying to attract the best students and the biggest foundation grants, it has to have a noteworthy reputation to boast. And, a fac- gty member's published works are the only available determin- ants of reputation. Students may all love a pr6fessor for be- ing a stimulating, exciting teacher, but this is the kind of information that never makes it off this campus and onto other campuses, or into the of- f~ of the Fnrd Fnid itin r Prof. Felheim finds meetings boring Faculty salarles ____________________________________________________________________do___r- -doo tuaure.Three reaenmberofothrnumbe0r11Wruf roitheriii "Strategically, for the admin- functions that necessarily fall Then there are the PhD com- istration, it actually would be into the professor's pattern. mittees to chair, the local best to kep the meetings open. Just as Tentler, an assistant speaking engagements to 'at- They're so damn boring, the professor, supervises a group of tend, the graduate school rec- students would lose interest im- graduate teaching fellows, Fel- ommendations to write, even Unediately." heim and others of his rank the faculty parties on Saturday Of course, the professor's life supervise the assistant profes- nights. O U V E'at the conference table. Fel- partment is almost as struc- out banew one is beginning heim devotes his mornings to tured as a corporate entity. Cram it all into the trimester class preparation, something he And professors write, too. The system - something openly ab- feels is one of the most critical "publish or perish" legend is no horred by most of the Univer- jobs a professor performs. cliche. Faculty members at a sity faculty - and you can see "There is nothing worse than school like the University are what they're getting paid for ' t ProbDably wondered what the _,ft . 4Reet .x STUDENT CO-OPS are all about the At Michigan there are six men's, five women's and one mar-k r ,+ ried couple's co-ops which house about 242 students; anT additional1 25 "boarders" take meals only. NICEST WHO OWNS AND RUNS THE CO-OPS? WE DO in each house each member, new or old, shares equal responsibility for all decisions;" what to eat, how much to spend, how much to work . . . i - The co-op houses are owned by the Inter-Cooperative Council (I.C.C), a corporation set Vup and run entirely by the students who live or eat in the houses. . %.,r;t.."... WHO MAY JOIN THE CO-OPS? Anyone beyond the freshman year or who is over 21 who agrees to participate in runningY the co-ops democratically is welcome. Members are accepted on a first-come, first-served k + u' h. } basis, without racial, religious or political discrimination. There is no pledge or initiation at. th e period.rt ,.jt s7 ; WHAT ARE THE LIVING & EATING ARRANGEMENTS? bKklA As a roomer, you are provided furnished living quarters as well as social space and eating privileges. As a boarder, you get 20meals a week. ' w .n.., q r 3s, r a r si "Guffing," or between meal snacking, is one of our most cherished traditions. Everyone s * has free access at all times to milk, bread, butter, jam, and leftovers. Other items are charged Any member may invite guests. There are adequate laundry facilities. Co-ops stay open G: during vacat ion periods and in the summer. ,:,x+~# ,.~',.,.Px u luw"s+' -:, t , HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Each house sets its own budget. Average costs for the past semester have been: Week Semester Room and Board $20.50 $328.00 Board only $13.25. $212.00 We have a tremendous stock of used books New members pay a $40 deposit when they join; it is refunded when they leave. for all your courses at the low SBS prices. WHO DOES THE WORK? WE DO All cooking, dishwashing, maintenance and management is done by the members. Any You need NOT reserve them . member, new or old, can be elected officer: president, house manager, food purchaser or accountant. It takes from four to six hours per member to run a co-op. The exact work time is Jecided by hous votem , aOpen till 9:0 P.M . for your convenience There are no maids, janitors, or hired cooks. p n :0 o -- --, - -':r .. ---..rrr - - 4r~rrrt fr. > c>. r ta i'rT7 Wi go from 'A' to 'B'' By PHILIP BLOCK Falling wage rankings are causing major problems for faculty recruiters at the University. Just ask Vice President for Academic Affairs Allan F. Smith. Indeed, the University's national ranking in terms of average compensation to faculty members has been falling since 1961 when it was among the top ten schools in this category. Last year the University, .dropped from 17th to 23rd in the nation according tb the American Association of University Pro- fessors' (AAUP) annual report. This decline was largely due to the drop in the University's AAUP average compensation rating for full professors from 'A' to 'B.' What does this drop in relative salary position mean to the recruitment of new faculty members? "We worry about a drop in our national standing because it takes the edge off of our competitive position," says Smith. "We are now finding that schools with whom we never had to compete before are now competitvely bidding with us for new faculty members." Fortunately for the University, salary is not the only factor which influences faculty recruitment. Prospective professors look at several other characteristics of the school where they plan to teach. The relative prestige of the institution, the general location of the school, and the atmosphere of the city in which the school is located are other major factors. Also important is the quality of the school's teaching staff, and the students whom the professors will be teaching. In the past the University has had many of these factors working. in its favor, namely the prestige, the highly cultural atmosphere of Ann Arbor, and the above average quality of its incoming students. However,;though these factors may help slow down any decease in the quality of the school, the fall in relative wage rates will eventually make an effect. In its annual' report of 1963-64, the SACUA Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty emphasized this fact: "Just as it may take several years before an institution that has only recently attained a, high salary level can be expected to achieve high academic status, it is likely that an institution whose relative salary position has deteriorated may; at least for some time, retain its high academic quality. As surely as the position of one institution will improve, the position of the other will certainly deteriorate." A I { i 3 { ! fi F YARNS Rug Making and Needlepoint Instruction Books, Buttons etc. For all your knitting needs, p A