On June 4th, Principal Deane announced that a committee had been formed to advise him on the Faculty of Arts and Science Dean search. This announcement came on the heels of debates within the Senate about the process by which deans are chosen and the lack of substantive faculty representation on decanal search committees.
Notably, the announcement follows the formation of two similar committees in Business and Education that elicited letters from concerned faculty members about inadequate representation. Faculty in Arts and Science have similar misgivings about their process, given that the committee is composed mainly of senior administrators, with only one non-administrative faculty member appointed to serve.
The lack of collegial processes governing the appointment of Deans and other administrators goes beyond this particular committee. As noted by outgoing QUFA President, Cella Olmstead, in the May issue of QUFA Voices, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) recently gave Queen’s an ‘F’ on transparency and collaborative decision-making when it comes to “Searches for Senior Administrators”. As Olmstead writes:
[O]fficial policies such as the Decanal Appointments and Renewals Policy (from 1971) specifically restrict full participation of faculty in decision-making processes. Proposals for a revised policy were turned back twice at Senate because they lacked any substantive change. For example, faculty representation on these committees would have moved from approximately 20% to 27%, which is still far below comparator institutions such as Western (73%), York (64%), Waterloo (64%), Toronto (more than 50%), McMaster (more than 50%), and Ottawa (30%).
If you share these concerns about the advisory committee, please consider signing this letter from Arts and Science faculty to the Principal: https://forms.gle/R9TTxYkbJPw92ceZ7
Queen's Coalition Against Austerity 