The University established a new “faculty advisory structure” after the UT System abolished faculty councils to comply with a new state law, President Jim Davis announced Thursday in an email sent to faculty, which was obtained by the Texan.
Texas Senate Bill 37 went into effect Sept. 1 and required institutions’ governing boards to restructure their universities’ faculty councils to represent each college, with members appointed by university leadership. The new two-part structure will include the President’s Faculty Advisory Board, with 12 faculty members, and the Faculty Advisory Cohort, with 60 faculty members. Provost William Inboden will provide a timeline of these changes as members are confirmed, according to the email.
“Our faculty members are the heart of our academic mission,” Davis wrote in the email. “The guidance and advice they provide — to me, our deans and our other senior leaders — remains essential as we navigate an evolving higher education landscape.”
The University declined to comment further.
The board will meet each month with the president and members of his leadership cabinet, and it is “charged with advising on institutional matters” related to the entire University, according to the email. The cohort, made up of “at least one member from each college and school,” will advise University leadership about “issues and opportunities concerning different aspects of the institution,” according to the email.
UT’s faculty council, which the system voted to dissolve in August, was made up of 70 faculty members, who were elected by the faculty. Now, the provost and deans will nominate faculty members to Davis, who will then select members to serve a two-year term, according to the email.
The faculty council made recommendations on policy and curricular changes to the University in the interests of faculty and students, according to the council’s website. This new structure follows SB 37, which requires faculty councils to advise university leaders with no “final decision-making authority,” according to the bill.
“Through the establishment of this new constructive system for faculty input, I look forward to a deeper, more productive partnership between our faculty and administrative leaders that will serve our mission well in the years ahead,” Davis wrote in the email.
