"Controversy" was the word of the day at the May 11 meeting of the Academic Council.
In a meeting that lasted more than two hours, faculty and administrators discussed issues ranging from the validity of black faculty recruitment to the role that faculty governance should play in University decision-making.
Delivering an annual progress report on the black faculty initiative, George Wright, director of the African and Afro-American Studies department, said that during the 1994-95 academic year, the University added six full-time black faculty members and lost three.
Wright praised the University's commitment to the initiative, citing a $500,000 fund for black faculty hiring efforts established in the spring of 1994 by the president and the provost.
He also emphasized that retention of faculty is important to the success of the initiative. "It is fair to say that we're doing a much better job of retaining black faculty throughout the institution," he said. "We're hoping that over a period of time, this will really help to increase the number [of black faculty]."
Still, the University has more work to do, he added. "While we're nowhere near the goal we set out for, we're definitely taking a step in the right direction."
After Wright's report, John Staddon, James B. Duke professor of experimental psychology, delivered a rebuttal.
Staddon said that he felt "uncomfortable" with the proposal, and asked the council to adopt a resolution calling for the termination on all race-based hiring initiatives "as soon as practicable."
"Why are we allocating hiring resources in a way that systematically and intentionally favors one racial group over others?" he said. "Why, in short, are we funding racial discrimination?"
Staddon said that ending initiatives such as the one regarding black faculty would not mean that individual departments could not participate in such searches. "The present proposal represents a devolution of responsibility, not a major change in policy," he said. "Traditionally, hiring initiatives have come from the departments. I propose to return it to them.... What this proposal will do is end the skewing of University resources in favor of disciplines where black faculty are thought to be especially necessary."
Although they voted to defer discussion on his proposal until the next meeting, some members of the Academic Council were not very receptive to the ideas it contained.
"I've only been here two years, but the plantation setting of Duke is something I still tremble over," said Gil Greggs, an assistant professor in the Divinity School.
Another highly-contented item on the agenda dealt with the fringe benefit package for administrators, faculty and employees.
Provost John Strohbehn and Charles Putman, executive vice president for administration, informed the council of impending changes to the benefits package. The proposed changes include cuts in long-term disability insurance, the tuition grant program for dependents and the educational systems programs, which currently covers 90 percent of the cost for employees who want to take classes at the University.
These cuts are contrary to an April recommendation by the Faculty Compensation Committee, which stated that the benefits package was not the place to look for short-term budget cuts. The package's efficacy, low cost and the potential impact that the cuts could have on lower-level University employees prompted this recommendation, said Ed Shaughnessy, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and a member of the committee. The same amount of money saved by the cuts could be saved by cutting less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the faculty salary increase for next year.
Shaughnessy said that the Academic Council should support the recommendation not to make the cuts, a motion that passed with about five dissenters. While he acknowledged that the vote was not likely to affect the final decision by the administration, it is important for the governing body of the faculty to support the recommendation of its committee, he said.
Despite the recommendation of the Academic Council, the Board of Trustees approved the cuts at its meeting last weekend.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: Ken Knoerr, a professor in the School of the Environment, raised questions about the University's new managed care plan. He pointed out a $52 difference between the amount that Sanus-New York Life pays the Medical Center to provide health care, and the amount that the University pays Sanus for coverage.
Toby Kahr, associate vice president for human resources, said that the difference exists because the managed care plan does not cover such items as industry fees, home health care, mental health and substance abuse charges and pharmaceuticals.
Law professor Jim Cox, chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Resources, reported on the committee's work in the past year. In addition to reviewing a panoply of budgets and planning efforts, PACOR also discussed funding for the proposed recreational facility, a planned annex to Cameron Indoor Stadium and impending campus-wide changes in computing technology.
Gordon Hammes, vice chancellor for Medical Center Affairs, informed the council of proposed changes to guidelines for research conduct policy, which would increase the protections for the person being accused of misconduct and institute a new appeals process. After some discussion and an amendment to the proposal's wording, the council passed it unanimously.
In the last action of the day, the council also unanimously approved changes to the University's sexual harassment policy. The changes will guarantee that in a case where the respondent is a faculty member and the complainant is a student or employee, the six-person review panel will consist of at least two non-voting members from the complainant's affiliation, rather than simply one member as per the previous guidelines.
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