Imagine returning to your apartment after a weekend at home, visiting family. You walk in and find your roommate moved out and now there is this new guy sub-leasing who doesn’t smell so good and steals all the clean towels.
Or, imagine you return to find that your roommates changed cable companies without informing you and now you are forced to pay $50 more each month just to get the Food Network.
Now imagine your apartment is the University and your roommates are the administration. Sounds like a bit of a stretch, but the University does makes changes all the time.
In the last few weeks University colleges and offices hired new deans and directors, Chancellor Mark Emmert proposed an Academic Excellence Fee increase in the legislature and the Rec Center started work on new features.
The peculiar thing is that several administrative changes occurred over weekends, Fall and Spring Break and semester breaks.
As a student journalist, I am accustomed to searching out these changes and reporting on them. But when the University makes changes during down time, it is hard for students to have a say and for student journalists to get the information out.
For example, spring 2002 I covered the University’s search for a vice chancellor and provost to replace Daniel Fogel once he moved to University of Vermont. During dead week, Emmert announced he would postpone the search because the committee could not agree on a candidate. On May 17, the Friday of finals week, while students were locked up in their rooms studying, Laura Lindsay moved into the office of interim provost.
Last spring, when Emmert announced the appointment of Risa Palm as vice chancellor and provost, he did so during Spring Break.
Another change that caused controversy involved the Union Bookstore in 2000. Rumors of Barnes & Noble’s possible privatization of the bookstore sparked much debate among students, faculty and bookstore employees. Students addressed their concerns to the administration in open forums and both sides presented their cases.
But when students returned from Spring Break April 25, 2000, they found out the administration took the vacation as an opportunity to seal the contract with Barnes & Noble.
Now, I trust the administration and understand they probably know a thing or two more about how to run a university than I do. Likewise, I feel confident that Emmert appointed a strong individual as our new provost.
What I don’t agree with is that these changes are made when no one is around. Is it because vacation time tends to spark productivity among administrators or does the break mean fewer people will be around to complain?
Coming back from Spring Break and seeing some things have been altered looks fishy regardless of the motives; and people will complain regardless of what holiday is around the corner.
In the case of the search for a new provost, I applaud the administration for holding open forums for students to question each candidate. But everything, including Emmert’s final decision, should have been kept in full view. The administration runs the risk of losing student interest and student support if they fail to do soencourage the administration to be open in future decisions, such as the proposed Academic Excellence Fee increase. Likewise, I encourage students to let the administration know when they aren’t being informed.
Just how communication is important between roommates, the same goes for the administration and
students.