Navigator News

Issue date: 2/1/10 Section: Campus

Media Credit: Josh Clark Instructor David Seiler

There is a movement that has been circulating the halls and offices of campus as of late. It is a push to create a greater voice for Lake Land faculty members through the creation of a faculty senate.

The purpose of a faculty senate is to create a body of faculty members who participate more actively and have a more direct say in the activities and policies that take place at Lake Land College.

This initiative, encouraged strongly by the actions of history instructor David Seiler, builds on the idea of shared governance. Shared governance is the concept that all members of the college should have a strong and equal say in how their campus is run.

Faculty members already comprise a large portion of the many committees that operate and work in coordination with administration. However, Seiler says, "It is a clumsy system that doesn't really allow us to participate very well."

One of the largest concerns Seiler has observed in his ten years of being a faculty member at Lake Land is a problem of communication. "The faculty feel like they don't hear what's going on," he said, "because we don't have a structure that allows us to really participate." Seiler strongly believes this can be remedied by the creation of a faculty senate.

How a faculty senate could be comprised and implemented is still undetermined. Seiler explains that there are no set guidelines as to how a faculty senate would be constructed and how it would operate. Each college has unique environments and unique situations that must be taken into account.

There are several ways that the faculty senate could operate. One of these could be to have administration take direct input from the senate and consider that in the policies and actions taken by the administration. Another way could be for a faculty member to act as a representative of the senate on the board of trustees.

Seiler has gotten mixed results from his fellow faculty members regarding the idea. There are some who believe that there is no need for such a body of faculty members and that the current system of committees is adequate. Still others fear the senate might act more as a roadblock to administrative actions than as a constructive partner.

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