Since the announcement in August, which a pending faculty motion has labeled an "extraordinary breach of shared governance," the Association of University Presses, the American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies and the Goethe Society of North America have joined Bucknell faculty in writing letters to university administrators, decrying the decision and asking them to reconsider. They argue that despite what the administration has suggested, Bucknell University Press is part of the university's value proposition-even if it's not a cash cow.
Shared governance is the great sacred cow of higher education. We all pay it constant lip service. Presidents are required to pay public homage to its principles. To say anything else is instant professional death. But is shared governance, the great third rail of our campus politics, the best way to think about university management? Or is it time for a new paradigm?
Aaron Krall, president of UIC United Faculty, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors, said the UI system circumvented shared governance. "This was a directive that came down and surprised everyone," Krall said. The system implemented a policy saying it and its universities don't consider race or the other factors in determining eligibility for need- or merit-based financial aid.