Resolution in Support of APSU Senate passed September 23, 1999
The Austin Peay State University chapter of the American Association of University Professors endorses the proposals of theUniversity's Faculty Senate that the procedures described in the national AAUP policy document, "Faculty Participation in the Selection, Evaluation, and Retention of Administrators" (1981), be implemented in the search for a new president of Austin Peay State University.
We also find the September 17, 1999, memorandum from the Chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents to the Austin Peay State University Faculty and Staff distressing in both its tone and content.
1. As Faculty Senate President, Dr. Gupton is the chosen spokesperson of the Austin Peay faculty and was appropriately conveying the concerns of the body over which he presides.
2. The Resolution was intended as a set of proposals for discussion, and it is unfortunate that they were interpreted as demands.
3. The proposals were fully consonant with AAUP standards, whose general principles that Chancellor has previously endorsed.
4. The proposals were consistent with TBR policy 1:03:03:00 which reads in part: "The Board shall establish a selection process for each presidency based on the Board's appraisal of the most appropriate method to be used for the selection of a president at each institution."
5. It is in the light of that policy that the Senate requested a reconsideration of the Board's "Uniform Process for the Selection of a President," adopted by the Board in September, 1995.
6. The precedent for such action is clearly established. The Faculty Senates of other institutions, most notably the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, have been able to make similar suggestions to governing boards and their staffs without provoking public denunciations and threats of retaliation.
Last updated on September30, 1999.