Statement for the Open Town Meeting

Associate Professor Katherine A. Hermes, J.D., Ph.D.

Central Connecticut State University

December 3, 2007

I would like to thank Tim Craine for inviting me to speak on this panel on moving CCSU forward, and I would like to thank my female colleagues with whom I met last Friday in an open group to discuss collectively our goals, resources, ideas and problems, two of which I will address here: transparency and expertise.

It is clear that a significant number of members of AAUP and eligible members of SUOAF-AFSCME took time to make their voices heard. This vote must not be treated as a win/lose election. It was not an election. It was a referendum on no confidence. The president and those who have confidence in him cannot afford to ignore the very significant number of faculty who don't. As Stan Simpson wrote in a column in the Courant, given President Miller's accomplishments, it is on its face astonishing that a vote of no confidence was taken.  "Leadership style" and "campus climate" may be amorphous terms, but these are keys to understanding what happened; they are the things that need to be addressed and rectified. We need leadership action, not style, which is why I have chosen to speak about what may seem at first as a rather mundane example of the leadership on the campus that has resulted in many people's feelings of alienation, the perception of sexism, and the belief that no one at the top is listening.

There is a thick curtain obscuring the governance of the university, which has had a principle of shared governance. We do not have transparency in the way the university is being run. Ad hoc committees are one example of how the university is becoming mired in a bog of its own creation. These committees about special issues are proliferating on campus. Assessment. Diversity. Advising. Learning Communities. Journalistic Integrity. The selection for the members of these committees has no apparent criteria. One is simply asked to serve. These committees are not always well-known among the campus community and thus their results, with a few exceptions, are not always made public in an optimal, accessible fashion. There are full professors, many of them female, who are no longer asked to serve on, let alone chair, these committees.

Some committees, in existence for years, worked hard to produce reports, only to have much of their work discarded by the administration.  Indeed members of long standing have resigned in frustration. Where, for example, is our Strategic Plan? Shelved! While it is understandable that a new administration may come in with new ideas, it is not respectful or thoughtful to throw out the work of committees simply because it was done under a different president and provost. What is happening with committees reveals the problems that are more broadly framed as leadership style. It is apparent to a good number of people that the president is not listening to ideas that he dislikes, for whatever reason. There is a perception that female, and possibly oppositional voices, are being marginalized. If these perceptions are untrue in fact, and the president really is listening, if he actually does want the input of those who may disagree with him, now is a good time to show it. Our most iconic leaders, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, included oppositional voices in their cabinets, on purpose, in times of trouble. One has to listen to the pros and cons to make reasonable decisions, and right now 256 people think the president is not listening.

It is reasonable to believe the president is not listening when women and minority faculty of both sexes are excluded from important committee work for which they can be rewarded, but are expected to perform the many unrecognized tasks that are necessary for our community to function. Administrations often believe women and minorities should be eager to perform these tasks, involving student programs, speakers, community service, and additional advising. A gay associate professor invariably gets the call when there is a GLBT issue on campus. The Africana Center must mobilize when a tragedy occurs among a member of its community that affects us all. Community liaisons that enhance the quality of the educational experience for all of us fall on the shoulders of associate and untenured professors who cannot count them as creative activity for promotion no matter how creative they are. This is all in addition to the work they are paid to perform and on which they are evaluated. They do this out of devotion but at a cost to themselves. The activity cannot go on a C.V., despite its essential nature.

The real expertise of one's faculty needs to be known and utilized. When people whose scholarship is specifically on the subjects of assessment, diversity, and learning communities are not put on committees dealing with those issues, one has to wonder about the integrity of the process of forming the committee. If the president is unaware of the expertise of his faculty and staff, then he can use the institutional memory of the people who have been at the university a while to assist him, but ultimately it is his job to know his faculty and staff. It is not good to have the same people serving on every committee or chairing every committee, but it is imperative that those serving on committees come with an interest in serving and a basis for serving.

Lastly, I will raise one more way to help this campus. Incivility here is a problem. I propose that the office of ombudsperson be extended to include both a man and a woman who each serve in the position at least 3/4 if not full-time. As an independent person who can hear the concerns of faculty, staff and students and have the direct ear of the president, the ombudsperson provides significant services, especially to a campus torn in two. The office must be given resources and there should be both a man and a woman to turn to. We have long valued this position at CCSU.

In closing, let me say that I am explicitly not advocating here that the faculty put aside its differences. It is desirable to have differences. Divergence of opinion, if it is listened to, will help us move forward. In the end we want the same thing, for CCSU to be the best it can be for the students who come here to learn. Civil discussions in which there is disagreement and controversy are a positive means for reaching positive ends.  We need more transparency, more openness, and more inclusiveness. The administration now has the results of the Employee Satisfaction Survey and the American Association of University Women's report on women at CCSU. We are awaiting their distribution to the larger community. We need to get the strategic plan in motion. We have the means to figure out quite precisely what the problems are and fix them. I have experienced collegiality, witnessed the incredible dedication of faculty and staff on this campus, and watched with pride as our students accomplish great things and launch their careers. To continue our mission our leadership must be the foremost example of the transparency, inclusion and civility necessary to get our work done.