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     Senate;..i:....;;.Part 1 
     
    
   
   
    
     Tfié“Senate"of the univer- 
     
     sity isva Véry powerful or— 
     
     ganiZation in the structure 
     
     of the university. It con- 
     
     trols and makes all decis- 
     
     ions which are not fiscal 
     
     in nature. "Academics" is 
     
     their speciality, therefore 
     
     the Senate is the supreme 
     
     court of university educa— 
     
     tion. Influencial senators 
     
     and administration deter— 
     
     mine what courses students 
     
     are to take and how they 
     
     are going to be taught 
     
     (to some extent). But what 
     
     is really ironic about this 
     
     university is that it is 
     
     very easy to get in but 
     
     the Senate determines whe- 
     
     ther or not you are going 
     
     to get out with their degree. 
     
    

    
     The biggest problem of 
     
     our Senate right now, is I 
     
     the effectivness in deal- 
     
     ing with specific.problems.' 
     
    
   
   
    
     Therg?   e:  1   ,1, 
     
    
   
   
    
     in consensus  a lot 
     
    

    
     of time is Wasted in det— 
     
     ermining whether problems 
     
     are really problems or not. 
     
     Their ineffectivness lies 
     
     right here. The Senate has 
     
     a history of not dealing 
     
     with problems as they are 
     
     happening. Instead, the 
     
     senate spends alot of time 
     
     deciding whether a sugg- 
     
     estion or proposal should 
     
     be tabled for later dis-4 
     
     cussion. Therefore they are 
     
     not serving the purpose for 
     
     which a Senate was created. 
     
     Infrequent meetings, poor 
     
     notification of meetings 
     
     and agendas and lack of 
     
     reality of facts stops the 
     
     Senate from fulfilling its 
     
     purpose. This is not to 
     
    

    
     say that everything should 
     
     be rushed through without 
     
     due consideration, but, 
     
     that senators are confused 
     
     or don't know in what cap— 
     
     acity they should be acting 
     
     as members of Senate. This 
     
     is the problem - lack of 
     
     jOb interpretation. U.P.E.I. 
     
     is not the only university 
     
     with a senate that has this 
     
     characteristic. It is common 
     
     all across Canada. 
     
    

    
     Last week I came upon the 
     
     book Towers Beseiged by 
     
     Cyril s. Belshaw of U.B.C. 
     
     Here is what he says about 
     
     Canadian University Senates. 
     
     In this time of studying 
     
     the Objectives and goals 
     
     °f Our university it is 
     
    
   
   
    
     very relevant. Belshaw 
     
     writes of the dilemma of 
     
     the creative university. 
     
    
   
   
    
     "Reform, then, is not always 
     
     easy. Academic Senates have 
     
     great difficulty in know- 
     
     ing whether elements in 
     
     curricula are being taught 
     
     mechanistically or creat- 
     
     ively, and whether they 
     
    

    
     are technically necessary. 
     
     They are too gentlemanly 
     
    

    
     to question too deeply the 
     
     specific operations of their 
     
     colleagues. When they do 
     
     discover flaws, members of 
     
     Senate do little to correct 
     
     the situation, more from 
     
     the dislike of intervention 
     
     than from problems of law. 
     
     There are very few Senates 
     
     which have disestablished 
     
     courses of instruction over 
     
     the objections of those who 
     
     are giving them; very few 
     
     have used academic criteria 
     
    
   
   
    
     ~to turn down programs app- 
     
    
   
   
    
     roved by_a Faculty. (The 
     
     criteria used are usually 
     
     administrative, fer example 
     
     that the course overlaps 
     
    
   
   
    
     with another already given, 
     
    
   
   
    
     that there are insufficient 
     
     staff or students, or that 
     
     the theme is the property 
     
     of a rival Faculty). ' 
     
     Senates and Faculties in 
     
     this respect set a very 
     
     bad example to students. 
     
     By acting as administrators 
     
     rather than as academic 
     
     judges they fail to demon-’ 
     
     strate in their own affairs 
     
    
   
   
    
     'the powers of judgement the 
     
    
   
   
    
     university should stand 
     
     for, thus failing to educate 
     
     students and the public in 
     
    
   
   
    
     an. 
     
    
   
   
    
     \ 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE CADRE, NOVEMBER 12, J 974, page 5 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     the nature of academic jud— 
     
     gement, and losing control 
     
     of their destiny. 
     
    

    
     In part, this is the 
     
     result of a feeling that 
     
     the only judges of academic 
     
     activity must be those thor— 
     
     oughly familiar with and 
     
     specialist in their field. 
     
     This is the theme which 
     
     runs through university 
     
     life. There is no doubt that 
     
     in many elements of aca- 
     
     demic judgement, the feel— 
     
     ing is justified. Academics 
     
     confuse the role of expert 
     
     witness with that of judge. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘What sort of courts would 
     
    
   
   
    
     we have if judges refused to 
     
     judge when confronted with 
     
     the arguments of an expert 
     
     suppliant, or, when two 
     
    

    
     such suppliants were arguing, 
     
     refused to take action,,but 
     
     told them to go away and 
     
     fight it out themselves? 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     .1 
     
    
   
   
    
     Senates, the highest aca- 
     
     demic judges in universities, 
     
     usually behave in just this 
     
     way. ..." 
     
    
   
   
    
     Do we want to change? 
     
     Do we dare change? 
     
    
   
   
    
     More next week. 
     
     P.S. Senate meets Thursday 
     
     night in the faculty lounge. 
     
     Qrop in and see what goes on. 
     
    
   
   
    
     This week's "Poke in the 
     
     Ribs" goes to Jack "Recru— 
     
     iter" Blanchard of Student 
     
     Services. If you sing dance 
     
     or even hum, he'll be after 
     
     you for Campus Cabaret. He 
     
     has the highest number of 
     
     recruits to his credit of 
     
     any of the directors. 
     
    
   
   
    
     I'm gonna get you Jack. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
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