English Professor Victor Doyno, chair of the university governance committee, briefed FSEC members on his committee's findings and advanced eight specific reforms, including requiring each decanal unit to develop faculty governance structures, allowing Faculty Senate intervention into departments whose governance systems "break down," and the pay plan change. The proposals were slated for a first reading and debate by the full Senate at their Feb. 20 meeting.

"The committee sensed increasing pressures on the university to make it resemble simply another state agency," said Doyno, noting that not acting now to strengthen faculty governance at UB could have serious consequences. "We could change status, to become more like, say, an Indiana State at Terre Haute; that is a school where there is not a lot of faculty governance at all." Doyno did caution, however, that any change of governance structure runs the risk of encountering "the law of unexpected consequences."

The recommendation that received the most discussion by FSEC members involved a new pay plan for the chair of the Faculty Senate. Currently, the chair receives a flat stipend of $3,000 per year for his or her services. The new proposal calls for "a temporary salary override equal to the amount that would be paid if the incumbent were to change from a 10-month to a 12-month obligation." Most university faculty members are paid on 10-month contracts, although they may arrange to collect that sum in equal installments over the course of twelve months.

This, explained Doyno, would put the Faculty Senate chair on a parity with department chairs, most of whom earn a similar pay override for their administrative duties. "It also means that there would be an automatic cost-of-living increment built into the stipend," explained Powhaten Wooldridge, speaking in support of the change.

Several other FSEC members commented that a raise may well be in order for the chair; they also expressed reservations about the proposed change. "Perhaps a higher stipend would be in order, but it should not be based on a percentage of the incumbent's current salary," commented Management Professor John Boot.

Librarian Judith Adams agreed, explaining that, "in some cases, that could be $20,000 to $25,000 per year. That's a lot of money. We don't want someone to run for the Faculty Senate chair for money reasons."

In addition, the Governance committee urged conformance with a recently approved by-laws change that would enable the chair of the Faculty Senate to serve a second, consecutive two-year term.

Other proposals include amending the Bylaws of the Voting Faculty to specifically authorize "articles of governance for academic units" which would include, minimally, meetings of the faculty unit at least once per semester.