By Mary Jo Frank

Faculty leaders will meet in March to consider a plan to restructure faculty governance, including providing financial rewards for the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) chair, SACUA members and some SACUA committee chairs.

Senate Assembly members, members of Assembly committees, and members of school and college executive committees will meet 8 a.m.– 3 p.m. March 2 at the Michigan Union to discuss the plan that was introduced at last Monday’s Senate Assembly meeting by George J. Brewer, a member of the Subcommittee on Faculty Governance.

Faculty are being asked to review and perhaps restructure faculty governance, and to develop constructive approaches to a variety of issues facing the Univer-sity, including pay for faculty and administrators.

Brewer said that in many ways the U-M’s faculty governance system is better off than those at most other universities.

“Positives” include the size of its budget, office space, the tradition of an elected Senate Assembly and SACUA that meet regularly, access to the president and provost, and its monthly newsletter “Faculty Perspectives.”

Weaknesses, real or perceived, include: ineffectiveness when it comes to contributing to administrative decisions, lack of respect by faculty, and lack of faculty representation because Assembly has no formal means of assessing general faculty views.

Restructuring plans call for:

Additional pay for faculty who participate in faculty governance, including $10,000 for the SACUA chair, $3,000 for each SACUA member other than the chair, $1,000 for Assembly members who participate in at least one Assembly committee, and and an additional $1,000 for those who chair certain Assembly committees. These rewards would not be provided to any person serving in these organizations at the time the plan is approved.

Development of faculty assembly organizations in each college that would be integrated with central faculty governance. SACUA would have electronic links with these organizations and their chairs, and each unit would have electronic links among the unit’s faculty .

Increased SACUA interaction with administration, including regular meetings with the executive officers as a group.

Increased SACUA interaction with the Regents through regular meetings.

Faculty also plan to discuss:

Faculty and administrative reimbursement.

Undergraduate teaching and changes in the nature of the professoriate.

Procedures, processes and grievances involving faculty.

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