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10C - Fall 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandailv.com
I
TAKE THE FIELD
SLOTTOW
From Page 6C
In a letter to colleagues in
the University's Office of Busi-
ness and Finance, Slottow said
the country's future relies not
only on institutions like the Uni-
versity, but also on those more
focused on meeting the needs
of non-traditional, mid-career
adult students. With the Univer-
sity of Phoenix's online program,
a college education is available to
a larger number of students and
professionals.
"As you know, I am passion-
ate about higher education and
believe deeply in the important
role the University of Michigan
plays in preparing future leaders
and helping to solve many of our
most vexing societal challenges,"
he wrote. "We know, too, that
our country's competitiveness
will rely on the full spectrum
of higher education opportuni-
ties to educate our workforce so
it can meet its potential and fuel
U.S. economic development."
The departure also poses an
additional challenge for Univer-
sity President-elect Mark Schlis-
sel, who will need to fill multiple
interim positions at the begin-
ning of his term. S. Jack Hu is
currently serving as the interim
vice president for research, and
Michael Johns will fill in as
interim CEO of the University of
Michigan Health System follow-
ing Pescovitz's departure.
During his 12 years in the posi-
tion, Slottow led the University
through a number of cost-saving
initiatives designed to keep bud-
gets in check during a period of
decliningstate funding.
Slottow piloted programs such
as strategic sourcing - procure-
ment measures designed to save
money by buying equipment
and supplies in bulk across mul-
tiple University units - and the
Administrative Services Trans-
formation Project - an initiative
that will centralize department-
level employees in a shared ser-
vices center.
"Collectively we have met the
largest and smallest challenges
- posed by our external environ-
ment and rapidly changing cam-
pus needs - with innovative new
ways of doing business," Slottow
said in his statement.
In October, Slottow
announced the University's
endowment reached an all-time
high of $8.4 billion over the fiscal
year. The endowment is now the
second-largest of any public uni-
versity, according to the National
Association of College and Uni-
versity Business Officers and the
Commonfund.
During Slottow's time at the
University, the endowment has
increased from $3.5 billion in
2003 to $8.4 billion.
I
I
Members of the University Marching Band practice at Elbel Field on September 4, 2013.
CSG
From Page 1C
port. Proppe's motionto reconsid-
er Resolution 3-050 then passed
with only three dissenting votes.
Despite an amendment to line
105 of the resolution, adding the
phrase "pending the results of
the ad hoc committee," the pro-
posal did not pass. It was voted
on in a secret ballot, an amend-
ment to the rules decided by the
assembly to ensure the safety of
individual representatives.
LSA senior Suha Najjar, one of
the original authors of the reso-
lution, said while it wasn't the
complete outcome that members
of SAFE wanted, she was happy
their voices were not silenced
this time.
"I am upset. I am disappoint-
ed. But more so, I am very proud
of what we've accomplished,"
she said. "Last week there was a
decision to indefinitely postpone
and resolutions like that don't get
called back in here, but because
of our persistence and because of
our determination we came back
and we fought and we got to say
what we wanted to say."
She added that the sit-in is now
over and SAFE members will not
no longer occupy the CSG cham-
bers.
After the vote, supporters of
the resolution left the chambers
in silence to rally at the Cube in
front of the Fleming Adminis-
tration Building. Speakers at the
Cube shared their plans to take
a divestment proposal to the
University's Board of Regents,
thanked the resolution's sup-
porters at large - particularly
the large number of non-Pales-
tinian supporters - and advised
all members to remain cautious
on their way home given the per-
ceived hostility on campus after
last week's vote.
During the Community Con-
cerns portion of the meeting,
selected members of the audience
are given a three-minute time
allotment during which they are
allowed to make statements to
the assembly. During the bill's
second reading, authors of the
resolution continued the discus-
sion. Guest speakers opened the
meeting, followed by 90 minutes
of Community Concerns. Usual-
ly, only 30 minutes are allocated
for Community Concerns, but
the CSG assembly voted twice to
extend this time limit.
Max Blumenthal, a Jewish- Conflict," delivered a presenta-
American author and journalist, tion on the history of the conflict.
served as guest speaker on behalf LSA senior Bayan Founas, a
of SAFE. He was the first speaker SAFE member, said the group
of the meeting and opened by was not consulted by CSG about
praising students of SAFE who which professor would be pre-
have been protesting for the past senting to the assembly. She
week. SAFE members responded added that several students vis-
with sign language applause, ited with Lieberman and asked
since audible cheerswere banned him not to speak because they
by assembly rules. disagree with his interpretation
Guests on behalf of Hil- of the history of the West Bank
lel discussed alleged flaws in conflict. Founas said SAFE mem-
the divestment resolution. Four bers requested that Proppe find
speakers on behalf of Hillel were a different speaker a few hours
,present, including Yael Aronoff, before the meeting, but were
associate professor of interna- informed it was too late.
tional relations at Michigan State In response to a question from
University, and four University of LSA sophomore Jacob Ruby, an
Michigan law students. LSA representative, Lieberman
Law student Scott Bloomberg said he believes the passage of
said he objected to the resolu- the divestment resolution would
tion's statement that there is further the broader Boycott,
already a broad and consistent Divestment and Sanctions cam-
consensus on divestment, one of paign against Israel.
the University requirements for Speakers heard in random
adopting a divestment proposal. order during Community Con-
He said due to the diversity of cerns included students both
views regarding this issue, no for and against the resolution at
such consensus currently exists. hand. Several students in support
History Prof. Victor Lieber- of divestment shared personal
man, who recently received the stories of life in the Middle East
Golden Apple Award for teaching and Palestine specifically. Stu-
and currently teaches the course dents against the resolution reit-
"The History of the Arab-Israeli erated sentiments that passage
of this resolution would further
divide the student body.
While CSG executive officers
are not permitted to vote on mat-
ters of the assembly, they did
address the room before mem-
bers of the assembly began their
debates.
Proppe advised representa-
tives to consider the strong divi-
sion of student opinion regarding
the. resolution when considering
its passage. He added that he
does not think those represen-
tatives who voted to indefinitely
postpone the resolution did so
with the intent to silence stu-
dents.,
CSG Vice President Bobby
Dishell, a Public Policy junior,
said as a student leader, he less-
ened his involvement with pro-
Israel groups once he became
a representative. He reiterated
that he remains pro-Israel, but.
does not want his own political
beliefs to influence his role as
vice president.
Dishell and LSA sophomore
Meagan Shokar, speaker of the
assembly, said the hostile cam-
pus climate in the wake of the
March 18 meeting threatens the
democratic process and would
not be tolerated. SAFE represen-
tatives told The Michigan Daily
that members have been receiv-
ing racist comments, have been
yelled at on the street by people
driving by and have been classi-
fied as extremists. CSG members
claimed to receive similar threats
and members of both groups
have reported some individuals
do not feel safe enough to attend
their classes.
Administrators have met
repeatedly with SAFE and the
members of the sit-in, as well as
other groups, hearing the vari-
ous accounts of threats received
by CSG representatives as well as
members. of the sit-in. In antici-
pation of the meeting, E. Royster
Harper, vice president for student
life, sent a campus-wide e-mail
early Tuesday evening remind-
ing students of the University's
policy regarding freedom of
speech and artistic expression
outlined in its Standard Prac-
tice Guide. She urged students to
remain respectful and tolerant of
diverse viewpoints.
Harper referred to a previous
Daily article, an official response
from Proppe and a statement
from Palestinian students and
allies to provide students with
context of the issue.
4
4
LETTER
From Page 2C
The center will also be gov-
erned by an institution-wide gov-
ernance council. The University
has not yet determined whether
these representatives will be
elected or appointed.
"There will be faculty who
truly do not believe in this as the
right direction for the Univer-
sity," Madden said. "But until the
center is stood up and can prove
the value-add that it brings to
campus, there's going to be that
segment of campus that doesn't
believe this is correct. But I fully
believe that once this service cen-
ter is stood up and proves this
works, many of these conversa-
tions will simply dissipate."
However, if last week's letter
to the regents from a group of
faculty is any indication, faculty
will likely attempt to keep the
pressure on the University. Even
though the shared services center
is moving forward, Mora said the
concerns are part of larger issues
with the University's administra-
tion.
"I think there are immediate
concerns about AST's proceed-
ings and we want to make sure
staff are protected and they are
going to be treated well, but ulti-
mately I think there is this coun-
ter pressure to do some house
cleaning in the upper administra-
tion as well," he said.
But as the August launch date
nears, preparations for the cen-
ter's full operational capacity
have not stalled. The shared ser-
vice center's director, Pam Gabel,
officially assumed her duties last
week, which Madden declared a
"significant milestone." He also
said the project team will contin-
ue holding town halls and meet-
ings within colleges to gather as
much feedback as possible.
"My full belief is that this orga-
nization will be a significant val-
ue-add," Madden said.
4
,
MADDEN
From Page 2C
interview in order to maintain his
job - referencing the University
staff members who will have to
re-interview for positions in the
shared services center.
Business junior Sumana Palle,
a SUM organizer, said the Uni-
versity's decision to replace
Miranda is almost certainly a
reaction to recent faculty and
student uproar. Palle said she
does not believe the timing of the
University's announcement was
coincidental.
"They thought maybe if we get
rid of this particular person the
protests will die," Palle said.
However, Palle said Miranda's
departure from overseeing the
shared services transition does
not translate into a total victory.
She said faculty and students are
still have broader concerns with
AST, such as the University's
approach to cost-cutting and
failure to gather input outside of
Fleming.
"This is not an overall success,"
Palle said. "This is a very small
victory in the fight against what
is going on at the University."
Palle said SUM plans to con-
tinue their fight against AST in
low-key forms such as letter writ-
ing or seminars as well as public
demonstrations. Protest, she said,
garner attention and educate the
campus community as well as
show administrators the pres-
ence of vocal and widespread dis-
sent.
Additionally,, Palle said the
University should have acknowl-
edged faculty and student con-
cerns as the cause of AST's
leadership transition. f
"That comes off as very uncar-
ing at a time when you have to
show staff who are very angry
with you that you genuinely
care," she said.
I
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