Faculty have the best perspective to set academic policy at UK | Opinion

In a surprise move, the University of Kentucky (UK) Board of Trustees directed President Capilouto to recommend changes to the university’s governance structure for consideration at their next meeting. The changes are expected to diminish the role of faculty in setting academic policy by relegating them to an “advisory” role.

This is a mistake. We urge the Trustees to reject the proposed changes and reaffirm the longstanding shared governance structure that delegates academic policy to the faculty and administrative policy to the President.

Those pushing for these changes have not explained why they are needed, other than to say they aim to make UK more responsive to the state’s needs. But we are already responsive, especially in initiatives to meet Kentucky’s evolving workforce needs.

Our own College of Engineering recently started Kentucky’s first Aerospace Engineering program, and a new Engineering Technology program through a unique partnership with Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Both programs meet a growing workforce need, both were possible due to the expertise of UK faculty, and both were strengthened through meaningful engagement with both faculty and administrators.

The same story occurs throughout the university. As researchers, professors understand where a field is heading and adapt their educational activities accordingly. Sometimes entirely new jobs emerge from our labs. It is a ground-up process that cannot be replicated by a top-down view.

Without transparency, we assume that the changes are motivated by actions the President plans to take, to which the faculty may object. Two possibilities appear likely.

One possibility is that the President seeks unchecked authority over the creation and termination of academic programs. Our neighbors offer an example of how this may progress. In 2017, West Virginia University (WVU) enacted governance changes aimed at making the university more “nimble and responsive.” The WVU president then spent lavishly in an effort to grow. When enrollment instead fell, the university was left with a sizable budget deficit, and is now cutting academic programs.

As engineers, it might be easy for us to take solace that the humanities and the languages were hit hardest. But our students benefit from classes across the whole campus. At the Civil Engineering Career Expo this week, employers told us repeatedly that they need engineers who can write and engineers who embrace their role in serving the public good. Such factors are built into our accreditation standards, which require that we train balanced professionals who can “consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.”

Innovation often occurs at the intersection between fields, so we need engineers who can write, but we also need linguists who can code. The remarkable rise of artificial intelligence over the past year was enabled by the study of ancient languages. A responsive university is one with diverse expertise that can quickly adapt to new developments, not one that has been gutted in the interest of short-term efficiency.

A second possibility is that the President seeks full control over academic standards, including admissions and graduation requirements. Such control would make sense in an environment where the financial incentive is to maximize enrollment. But it is UK’s professors who are in the classroom, who are helping our students through their struggles and celebrating their successes, who are best able to assess their preparedness and their learning. It would serve neither our students, nor their future employers, for a University of Kentucky degree to become little more than an expensive participation ribbon.

In both scenarios, shared governance serves as an important check to balance competing interests. UK faculty have a genuine interest in serving our students and serving Kentucky—we ask the Trustees to continue to empower us to do so.

Greg Erhardt and Tim Taylor are professors of civil engineering at the University of Kentucky. The views expressed are the writers’ own.