The Academic Senate passed multiple resolutions at a meeting in the Engineering Building 285 on Monday afternoon.
Other agenda items during the meeting included a resolution that aims to modify the Academic Senate’s Constitution, increasing the level of clarity once a resolution has passed through the senate.
The resolution passed through the senate with a nearly unanimous vote in favor.
This resolution was made in response to a policy that was passed in the California State University’s Academic Senate in January that made three recommendations for each senate in the school system.
The recommendations include a deadline of 60 calendar days for a campus president to review and sign policies passed by the senate.
It also recommends that when the president decides to veto a policy, it includes a rationale that is reported back to the senate and campus community.
The final recommendation is that if the president takes no action following the 60 day deadline, then the policy would be considered inactive.
Another proposal that passed through the senate on Monday, gave emeritus faculty access to buildings on campus.
Emeritus faculty are faculty members who have retired and choose to stay at the university following retirement. Because of the implementation of tower ID cards to access buildings on campus, emeritus faculty lost access to most buildings.
The Academic Senate also unanimously approved a resolution in support of academic freedom and solidarity with faculty at public Florida universities and other higher education institutions.
The resolution is in response to Florida House Bill 999, a pending legislation revising academic and research excellence standards for preeminent state research universities, according to a Florida Senate webpage.
“This is, simply put, a breathtaking attempt to seize control of the curriculum and research at all of Florida's public institutes of higher learning,” said Rachael French, member of Academic Senate and department chair of biological sciences. “The Governor of Florida intends to destroy academic freedom, tenure and shared governance.”
During the meeting, a proposal was made for the creation of an Academic Freedom Committee that is separate from the Board of Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibility.
The goal of the proposed committee is to have a smaller board with easier access to membership in charge of monitoring academic freedom and education. It would also advise the SJSU community on policies that protect their academic freedom.
Another policy recommendation proposed during the meeting was an amendment to the criteria to promote faculty.
The amendment would require a formal performance review before any candidate can request consideration for tenure. It would also limit early tenure to two years.
