Happy Holidays
A good amount of information has been passed along on this blog and through other means of communication over the past few weeks. I have heard from the deans, faculty, students, trustees, and administration. We hope early in the New Year to have an interim provost and to aggressively pursue the search to fill the provost position. I will continue to work closely with the deans and officers to review the most pressing issues.
This blog will be dormant during the holiday vacation and re-open for posts and comments on January 5, 2009. At that time I will continue to welcome constructive comments, suggestions, and ideas on issues concerning The New School.I would like to thank everyone in the university community for all your hard work and dedication.
I look forward to continuing our work in 2009. I wish you a happy holiday and a healthy New Year.
On Yesterday's Student Protest
Yesterday, students from The New School and other universities, as well as other individuals, barricaded themselves in the cafeteria of a New School building at 65 Fifth Avenue. Our first reaction was to be tolerant of the protest and to accommodate the students. Our hope was that by this accommodation we could eliminate all security concerns and minimize the disruption to the operation of the university. However, by late morning a number of incidents changed our evaluation of the security issues. Due to these concerns, it was determined that the best course of action was to cancel the Student Senate meeting that was to take place yesterday evening.
To resolve the protest peacefully, senior staff worked through the day and night yesterday, talking to student representatives, listening to their demands, and closely monitoring the situation. Early this morning approximately 50 demonstrators quietly vacated the cafeteria. An agreement was reached to make changes in university policies to accommodate some of the concerns raised by the students. We believe that the agreement reached is reasonable and will improve the shared governance of our university. Today, 65 Fifth Avenue has resumed normal operation for our students, staff and faculty.
Tomorrow's Student Senate Meeting
I understand that the University Student Senate is holding an open forum on Thursday evening to discuss the recent events that have unfolded on campus. I encourage you to attend and present your views to those who represent you and your concerns. I plan to meet with the leaders of the Student Senate in early January so that they can share the issues raised in the forum with me.
The New School has a long history of supporting dialogue and dissent, and to see our students adding their voice is not only expected but also embraced. Many students have reached out to me to share their support; others have used the occasion to bring to light their frustrations. Please know that the number one priority at The New School is our students. Both the faculty and I have expressed that we have one common goal: to continue our work in making The New School a vital place for higher learning.
Update from today's faculty meeting
Today I met with the faculty of The New School in what will be the first step in establishing a new process to enhance shared governance of the university and open up lines of communication. In the meeting, I updated the faculty on my progress on several of their resolutions. I have made the decision not to serve as an interim chief academic officer as we move ahead with an important search for a new provost. I intend to work with our deans, faculty, and students, as I did on two previous occasions, to set up a selection process for this essential position.
In order to keep the university moving forward, faculty and administrators alike must work together through constructive dialogue. And in that spirit, I appreciated the frankness and openness of our faculty during today's meeting. It was a positive start of what I am confident will be a productive relationship, where together we can advance a shared vision of academic excellence at The New School.
My first post
Welcome to my blog. I look forward to having a direct conversation with you about the future of the New School. Thanks. Bob
