[Uosenateexec] Senate Executive Committee Meeting Reflection

[Senate President]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for continuing thoughtful discussion as a Senate Executive Committee.  Our meetings are significant to helping me understand direction during a swirl of activity that surrounds the Senate.  I want to thank Beth for initiating our discussion about the context of our work and the election.

There are two questions that surfaced for me when thinking about our discussion last night.  These questions are:


  *   How do we move from a strong academic freedom policy to materially supporting the work the policy gives space to?  We are always teaching in turbulent times - we need something beyond existing resources (helpful websites) to sustain our work when federal policy will likely deny the existence of members of our community, undermine the research that affirms that existence, and literally threaten the removal of members of our community.  What resources, partnerships, or actions can be created (or already exist) to support and protect academic freedom beyond policy?
  *   While we understand the aspiration of flourishing - how do we engage in that aspiration amid a political context that willfully excludes people from belonging?

Do you have anything to add or edit to these questions?  If so, please email.  The questions will help frame my thinking in how to set the groundwork for the remaining weeks of fall for actions we make choose to take as a Senate body in the Winter (and beyond).  These types of questions help maintain focus on the tangible actions (safeguards and tools) that I heard were important and urgent to you in our discussion.  I appreciate the call to be proactive and not reactive - the Senate can lead these discussions for our campus and in our role in shared governance.

If you would like to follow up, I will gladly meet in-person or via Zoom.

Sincerely,
Alison
Alison Schmitke, PhD
University Senate President
Senior Lecturer II
Undergraduate Degree Program Director
Education Studies
College of Education
University of Oregon

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.uoregon.edu/pipermail/uosenateexec/attachments/20241114/18edee8a/attachment.html>