Dear Colleagues,

as you are aware the Provost held an academic town hall on October 21 and there will be Chancellor’s Zoom Forum tomorrow, November 14 at 12:00 noon.

The Federation submitted the following questions, hoping for a response from the Chancellor.

• recently, faculty and staff have found themselves locked-out of the temporary spaces in Balsam and have found that regaining access was very difficult (and impossible on weekend and after hours) despite reaching out to Public Safety, CITS, Facilities, Student Affairs and the building RA on duty.  As these temporary spaces will be used for at least the next two semesters, what actions will the Administration be taking to ensure that faculty and staff have the 24/7 access to these spaces that was promised and, should a similar incident occur in the future, will there be a designated contact on campus who will be able to resolve such issues in a timely manner?
• given the uncertainty regarding the funding of federal research agencies, will the Administration commit to revisiting the expectations for scholarship in the tenure & promotion standards should fewer research awards become available over the next few years?
• will secure storage spaces near to classrooms be provided for those faculty displaced by the LARTS refurbishment so that they do not have to carry all of their personal belongings and class materials to every class that they teach each day?
• In light of the attacks on institutions of higher education, what commitment will the Administration make to protecting academic freedom in general and, specifically, to protecting those members of the campus community exercising the rights provided for by the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution?

As we have done in the past, we are holding a watch party.  Apologies for the short notice, please join us in the Faculty Federation conference room tomorrow to hear what the Chancellor has to say.

In Solidarity!