The Graduate and Professional Student Council received support from the Faculty Senate in an attempt to improve shared governance among constituencies throughout the University.

GPSC created a resolution in October 1997 that supported the concept of shared governance. They met with the executive council of the Faculty Senate, and the Senate agreed Tuesday to support shared governance with GPSC.

The resolution stated that GPSC would have liked to have voiced their opinion on such issues as the implementation of Select 2000, the new University logo, and the decision not to allow the Student Programming Council to assist with Carbondale Main Street Pig Out.

Advertisement

Steve Jensen, president of the Faculty Senate, said a primary reason for the resolution was that student government was not being heard on many issues this year, including the athletic fee controversy.

They felt the athletic fee was an issue where they weren’t being heard, Jensen said. There have been numerous instances where student government wasn’t being heard.

If we as a University believe in shared governance then we made a move in the right direction.

The resolution GPSC brought to the Faculty Senate stated they wanted to be informed of potential administrative decisions and policy changes before attempts at implementation. They also want to allow all constituencies ample time and opportunity to question, provide input and receive explanations and justifications for the proposed changes.

Ed Ford, vice president for GPSC, said the athletic fee prompted his organization to propose this resolution to the Faculty Senate.

I think it was the whole athletic fee issue, Ford said. We decided that instead of writing a resolution for each of the issues we had, a good approach was to put the whole issue together and present it.

Ford said all constituents were pleased with their meeting prior to Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

Advertisement*

We did have [Undergraduate Student Government] present at the meeting, Ford said. But I’m not sure if they will do the same. I think we’ve had a pretty good reaction after the meeting by the two government bodies.

Jensen said he believes that USG will support shared governance.

I think they will develop their own resolution, Jensen said.

Dave Vingren, president of USG, declined to comment on whether or not they will adopt a similar resolution.

Ford said he is weary of this being the first move toward true shared governance.

Hopefully this is not just a piece of paper, Ford said, Hopefully it is something that people will follow.