By CHRISTINE VIDAL
Contributing Editor

President William R. Greiner has asked the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to be prepared to take a look at the process involved in the appointment and dismissal of departmental chairs, an issue he said he anticipates may be brought before the body some time this year.

Greiner's request came during his report at the FSEC's Sept. 5 meeting.

"I'd like to make a few comments on an issue that may come to the senate in one form another: the appointment and disappointment of departmental chairs," Greiner said. "This is a very important issue I would like the senate to consider, although it's your call."

Greiner outlined the administrative-appointment processes, starting with appointments at the vice presidential level, and noted that at all appointment levels, the process "involves a lot of stakeholders," and is guided by SUNY policy.

"Appointment (of vice presidents) in the end is left to the president of the college, and requires no further approval," with the exception of salary approval, he said.

Academic deans, he said, are appointed by the provost with the approval of the president. Departmental chairs also are appointed by the provost, acting on the recommendation of the school's academic dean.

"I do not get involved in the appointment of chairs unless asked by the provost," Greiner said. "Deans are expected to take primary responsibility and authority for the appointment. Department chairs are selected by the provost, acting on the advice of the deans."

Chairs are appointed for a three-year term, and serve "at the pleasure of the college president, which is delegated to the dean and provost," and removal occurs only with the agreement of the dean, the provost and the president, Greiner said.

"It is rare for us to remove a department chair during the middle of a term," he said "and we don't take that kind of action without my concurrence."

Administrative positions do not affect the individual's status as a faculty member, Greiner noted.

"On the academic side, officers responsible for academics have faculty rank and tenure. The bulk of the university's vice presidents, provost, deans and chairs have faculty appointment and tenureÉA person may step down or be removed, but does not relinquish his or her rights as a faculty member," he said.

However, faculty rights do not always mesh with administrative responsibilities, Greiner noted.

"When a person holds an academic rank and has tenure and all the privileges that go along with that, it gives the faculty member extraordinary latitude for expressing oneself," he said.

But when a faculty member takes an administrative position, "some of that privilege is truncated."

The courts, he added, have made clear there is a difference between the rights of a faculty member to self-expression and the rights of an academic chair, "which is a faculty member of some responsibility."

UB functions in a collective-bargaining environment, as well as within the policies of the SUNY Trustees, Greiner added.

The bulk of UB's administrative personnel are represented by a bargaining unit, Greiner said.

"As chair, assistant dean or associate dean, they don't get much protection from collective bargaining. One of the things we need to grapple with...is the effect of collective bargaining" on administrative decisions.

Noting that the issue of faculty vs. administrative responsibility came up during the past summer, Greiner said, "at some point that matter may come before the Faculty Senate, and you may want to have a conversation about it."

In other business, the FSEC heard a presentation on the role of faculty governance in large university by D. Bruce Johnstone, professor of higher and continuing education and acting director of the Comparative and Global Studies Center.