In the memo, Speck whines about the "lack of collegiality" in the Senate and says he won't have anything to do with the Senate until its members learn how to play nice.
Of course, Speck's emphasis at a time when it is growing more and more obvious that he intends on eliminating the jobs of some of those whose collegiality he is questioning is almost as ridiculous as someone writing and singing a song called "The Pink Slip Blues" during a similar time.
Speck's memo is printed below:
I made a decision after the October2011 Faculty Senatemeeting not to allow my directreports to appear before the Faculty Senate. I think therehas been some confusion about why I madethat decision and what has transpired sinceI made that decision, so hereare the facts about the issue as I know them:
• The Faculty SenateExecutive Committee in its joint meetingwith the President's Council prior to the October 2011 Faculty Senatemeeting requested that Jared make a presentation about athletics. The purpose of thepresentation, as was stated duringthat meeting, was to providegeneral information about athletics. Jared agreed to make such a presentation.
• After making comments at the October2011 meeting, I left and did not hear Jared's presentation, but immediately after his presentation, hecame to my office and wasagitated about what had happened. He told me that just prior to his presentation,Cliff told him privately that the Senatewould want to hear ajustification for athletics. After his presentation, afaculty member approached Jared and asked about the cases of beerthe athletic department providedstudents on the bus after an away-game. Jaredthought the faculty memberwas kidding, but soonrealized that she wasn't. In short, Jared felt set-up, and came to me to expresshis agitation at the situation.
• AJ told meabout the treatmentKelly Larson and Shanna Slavings receivedat the Faculty Senate when they reported on the courseredesign in communications. His report served to increase my concern about problems with collegiality in the Senate.
• At the November meeting between the FacultySenateExecutive Committee and the President's Council, I expressed my concern regarding what appeared to me violations of collegiality inthe Faculty Senate.AJ also expressed his concerns. I noted that I would need evidence that the leadership ofthe Senate was willing to address the issue so that should futureincidents of failed collegiality begin in the Senate the leadership would address those incidentsimmediately. I recommended astatement from the Executive Committee that would provideme with evidence so that I would be comfortable allowing my direct reportsto return to the Senate.
• At the November Senate meeting,AJ read a statement regarding his disappointment at failedcollegialityand, prior to the November Senate meeting, Richard Miller sent an
I email to Cliff expressing his concerns about failed collegiality atthe October meeting.
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minutes for November, the following was attributed to Cliff, "Toliver welcomed Senators
I and briefly reflected on the October 3, 2011 meeting. He noted that good work was accomplished. He encouraged all members to consider ideas,programs, and proposals and subject them to rigorous debatewhile treating all individuals humanely." That statement fell far short of what I anticipated regarding the conversation with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee before the November Senate meeting.• I scheduled an appointment with Cliffto inform him that I was not willingto have my direct reports come to Senate without assurances that future incidents of failed collegiality would be addressimmediately. Cliff told me that he thoughtthe October meeting could not have been handledany better, that AJ and Richard's views would not be endorsedby the Senate, and that what transpired was "academics engaged in proper
academic discourse regardingacademic issues." Cliff suggestedthat I listen to the audio tapeof the October meeting and make a judgment of what happenedbased on that tape. He assured me that I would find his viewpoint correct. I said that I would listen to thetape.
• I listenedto the entire audio tape of the October Senate meeting in preparation for the Januaryjoint meeting betweenthe Faculty Senate ExecutiveCommittee and the President's Council. I was unable to attend that meeting because I was called to JeffersonCity to testify before a House committee. Ultimately, Cliff cancelled the meeting.
• I attended the JanuaryFaculty Senate meeting,and no one asked me any questions about thesituation regarding my direct reportscoming to the Senate. However, a Senator,who was present at that meeting, chose insteadto write a letter to the school newspaper addressing the issue, without either asking any questionsat the Senate meeting or contacting me personally to ascertain the status of my concern.
• In listeningto the audio tape of the October Senate meeting, I could not always hear what wasbeing said. In fact, several Senators requested that a fellow Senator "speak up." Anaudio tape captures only so much of what is being transacted, but I did note the followingcomments: "I feel like we're attacking our colleagues"; Thank you for fielding our "aggressive questions"; "Sorry I said 'jerk' to you."
• I asked Kelley Larson to provideme with his perceptions of what transpired at the October Senate meeting, particularly in light of the 'jerk" comment, and he told me two peoplein the Senate called him a jerk. When I asked him about how he was treated,he said that there was a lack of collegiality.
Given these facts, I believe the Senate needs to address a serious lapse in collegiality that occurred in the October meeting. I really have little indication that either the Executive Committee or the Senatorsbelieves what transpired at the October meeting was a significant demonstration of violated collegiality. A clear statement by the Senate Executive Committee at the next Senate meeting will provide me with sufficient evidence to resume the participation of my direct reports in Senate meetings. Sucha statement must include the following elements:
• Clear acknowledgement that during the October Senate meeting the Senate failed to practiceappropriate collegiality.
• A statementof apology for such a lapse in collegiality.
• A commitment by the leadershipof the Senate to immediately address any furtherlapse in collegiality during a Senate meeting.
If you want to provide me with a draft of such a statementbefore the next Senate meeting in time to discuss whether the draft isaddressing the elements I have outlined, I am willingto review sucha draft.
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