A much-discussed senior faculty rank recommendation was again returned to the Faculty Senate Personnel Committee at the March 20 meeting.
The recommendation proposes creating a new ranking and salary for eligible fulltime university professors.
The problem this time concerned wording, according to Personnel Committee member Chuck Bailey. Some faculty expressed concern that its language should be consistent with the Greenbook, which is the faculty handbook.
Dan Hollis, associate professor of journalism, said he voted to table the recommendation because the floor discussion was becoming confusing.
"We were making so many little changes, I thought we were kind of getting lost on what we were actually voting on," Hollis said. "We want to make sure that we have all our T's crossed and our I's dotted."
Bailey said he thought senate members were being so thorough in order to give the recommendation a better chance of being signed by Marshall University President Stephen Kopp.
"I think they want to make certain that whatever he comes back with is either new or substantial," Bailey said. "Either he has a new problem with it or it's a substantial problem his cost study shows is more than the university can afford."
The recommendation has twice traveled through the senate and been disapproved by Kopp with suggestions for improvement.
The president's office has yet to complete a requested cost-analysis study.
Bailey said data will be a main factor in the recommendation's adoption or disapproval, but the Personnel Committee wants to do everything it can to work out any other disagreements.
"You want to try to get whatever the objections are out of the way so if it's a matter of 'we can't afford it,' okay, we can't afford it right now. That's a different story," Bailey said.
"The Faculty Personnel Committee will work on it as soon as possible after returning from break," said Committee Chairwoman Camilla Brammer.
Bailey said the senate is determined to do what is necessary to see the recommendation passed, regardless of the time it takes.
"I think the Faculty Senate will deal with it until it's passed, but it's the president signing it. He had problems with it before. Until it gets the endorsement of the president, it will bounce back and forth," Bailey said.
The senate has the option to pass the proposal as a resolution, which does not require the president's approval, Bailey said. However, funding is a crucial factor.
Bailey said the senate realizes it can't impose a burden onto a budget that can't support it, which is why the cost analysis is so important.
"The Faculty Senate can really pass anything, but we don't have to implement it, and that's the key," Bailey said. "You want to be fair to the Board of Governors, and you want to be fair to the president."
Morgan Unger can be contacted at unger6@marshall.edu.
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