What’s your relationship to Emory’s shared governance? Are you duplicating the efforts of the College Faculty Senate or the University Senate?

While some of us are members (and even leaders) of the existing shared governance structures, we are not affiliated with any of these structures as a group. We understand the strengths and the limitations of the existing structures (e.g., the Senates have broad representation, and their role is codified by institutional bylaws; and yet they are not designed for sustained, multi-year efforts to affect the university’s priorities with a singular focus). Thus, we believe that a parallel group, such as the Faculty for Emory, is better suited to achieve the goals we are setting out for ourselves by infusing the existing shared governance bodies with new ideas and strengthening their influence.

Will the group work with the Emory chapter of the AAUP?

We look forward to working with any organizations promoting faculty engagement in university governance.   

What’s the leadership structure of this group? How are the decisions being made?

We are still figuring this out. At the moment, this is a loose group of concerned faculty. So far, we have been able to operate with a full consensus, and we will establish democratic procedures for committing to actions when needed.

What are you planning to do to achieve your goals?

At the minimum, we intend to be vocal in setting the agenda in public and private discussions around the need to reemphasize the institutional mission and for faculty to be central in university decision making. We will use the current governance structures, the media, and our connections across the institution to achieve these goals. We are developing additional tactical approaches, and are happy to listen to your ideas.

If I agree with you and want to support you, how much time will I need to invest in this?

It’s entirely up to you. One of our goals is to develop a culture of shared governance at Emory, and this will require the faculty, collectively, to cede less power to administrators, and to take a more active role in shaping institutional priorities. However, we understand that individual faculty members have a lot on their plates (we are faculty too!), and we are happy to have you on board, even if you cannot actively work on solving the institutional problems at this time.