At times like these, it's really important to recommit to these democratic processes. Because of the difficult decisions facing NLU, we need to ensure that all faculty have opportunities to express their thoughts and feelings, even if they are different from other faculty's opinions. In fact, because these are important questions, it's likely that there will be diverse opinions and, therefore, a need to discuss and consider each faculty member's data. In addition, faculty with expertise in certain areas should have time to do some research and investigation as part of our deliberative, democratic process. The questions I posted from Camille, which were important for the budget discussion, are a good example. Other faculty members have promised to investigate more about clinical appointments at different universities, to help us with the P&T discussion.
It's also important for us to act democratically because we want the administration to do likewise. If we cut a corner now, it will be very hard to hold administration accountable for acting democratically. Administrators would most likely not need calls to allow time for faculty to contribute to a process or a decision if we say out of one side of our mouth that our democratic tradition is vital, but don't act that way when we are engaged in an issue.
I frequently have to remind administration that in order to get faculty input, they need to wait for a particular meeting, especially faculty meetings. It's hard to get them to agree if they perceive that we do not follow our own espousals.
So far, this administration has been very eager to get input from faculty. In fact, at least one administrator has complained that she does not receive enough information from faculty. So there is willingness to engage with faculty from the administration.
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