Faculty & Staff

How will the faculty and staff of the university be set up? President, dean, professors, etc.

Will they be elected, appointed, etc?

Should we have a board, or should it be a combination of the staff members?


Ideas?

I don't see the need to elect 'professors' etc. I guess the MoCE would be the nominal head of the uni, at least as far as accountability and the like goes. They could appoint someone to head up the uni if they wanted or do it themselves. It would be down to them to appoint professors/lecturers/etc, presumably with some kind of sign up thread somewhere.

If it actually gets off the ground and becomes really active it may be that we come and revisit this, but atm I don't see the need to go down the route of legislation which would be required for making new elected positions, etc. The MoCE doesn't really have much to do, so I don't see why they can't function as the elected head of the uni, although it would be good to hear what JAL thinks about this.

I think there should be a semi-official group of leaders of the university, kind of like what is in the NPA. This would create organization in the university and, hopefully, keep it active.

Here's my idea:

President - The MoC&E is the President of the University and they appoint the Directors of Admissions and Academics. The President shall be the head of the University and oversee the other departments. With the Directors of Admissions and Academics the president will help to establish course requirements for certification, etc. The president will also handle public relations with the government of TNP and outside regions.

Director of Admissions - They will organize the students in the university into classes and set up course schedules.

Director of Academics - They will organize each course, choose professors and curriculum for each course.

I would rather have a more stable leadership of the University, in particular, I think that there should be a Chancellor who's appointed for six-month terms. I don't think that we'll move into the next term with both a MoC and MoCE, and I'm also concerned that one inactive leader could kill the entire program of the University.

I think that the Chancellor should have the authority to appoint whatever support staff he or she thinks necessary.

I'm still not sure who ought to be empowered to appoint the Chancellor if that's the way we want to go. I don't think that this is a question which is necessarily appropriate to go to the Cabinet, but I don't see any other clear group to turn.

Unterwasserseestaat:

I would rather have a more stable leadership of the University, in particular, I think that there should be a Chancellor who's appointed for six-month terms. I don't think that we'll move into the next term with both a MoC and MoCE, and I'm also concerned that one inactive leader could kill the entire program of the University.

I think that the Chancellor should have the authority to appoint whatever support staff he or she thinks necessary.

I'm still not sure who ought to be empowered to appoint the Chancellor if that's the way we want to go. I don't think that this is a question which is necessarily appropriate to go to the Cabinet, but I don't see any other clear group to turn.

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That is a good idea. I was hoping the University would be fairly independent of the cabinet. But how to choose the Chancellor...

Yea, I agree with Unter as well.

Perhaps the entire cabinet could vote to appoint, and the Chancellor would hold a life-term until he either steps down or is removed by the cabinet?

How would teachers be appointed? Would there be permanent teachers, or just guest teachers? Or a combination of the both?

Should course just be threads you read and then tests you take, or should they be discussions as well among students/professors?

Should the classes be very short (a couple days long) or longer (1 week, month, etc)?

What should exams be like?



Just some questions to get input on how this should be run. I'll post my opinion after I think about it

Ator People:

How would teachers be appointed? Would there be permanent teachers, or just guest teachers? Or a combination of the both?

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Combination of both IMO.

Should course just be threads you read and then tests  you take, or should they be discussions as well among students/professors?

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Combination of both would be best I think, although that may depend on the course.

Should the classes be very short (a couple days long) or longer (1 week, month, etc)?

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I think a couple of days is too short. Again, I think it may vary between subjects, but I think something like a month or so would be best.

What should exams be like?

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I'd leave that down to the instructors of the courses. It would probably vary between 'tests' and essays or whatever, depending on what the subject is.


On a sidenote, about the Chancellor, perhaps a logical way of doing it would be to follow a similar procedure to the Chief Justice?

I have several thoughts on university goverane and faculty.

First, I think we should recognize that the selection of faculty needs to be as flexible as possible. While it isn't unreasonable for one to expect that much of the faculty is probably resident within TNP, we're not the only source of talented faculty, and to me, the point is having an outstanding faculty enriches the university more. So I would hope that the system that is offer preserves the greatest possible flexibility.

As to the organization of the university, I tend to want to see a chancellor or CEO (whatever the title) along with a board of (take your pick -- trustees, regents, visitors, whatever) that works with the CEO/chancellor on university decisions. The chancellor would be selected for an extended term by the board, and if wanted, we can have the RA approve the nomination.

The governmental connection would be that the MoCE would be the non-voting chair of the board, who would only vote in case of a tie. In the event of an emergency then the cabinet minister involved could take the issue to the Cabinet or to the Regional Assembly. We'd also need to provide for who would act as chancellor in the event the chancellor is unavailable or resigns until a new chancellor is put in place. The board could be elected/selected for shorter terms than the chancellor/CEO. With a minister as a non-voting chair, then that minister can take any appropriate issues to the Cabinet or the Regional Assembly where necessary or appropriate.

The primary area that I don't have a preference about is how the board would be selected and put into place. (perhaps a SC-style election in the Regional Assembly?)

I like Grosseschnauzer's idea. And I think an SC like election would be good for the board.

I also tend to agree with a structure in which an elected board (thereby maintaining some input for the people in what will, effectively, be a public university) appoints the staff of the University. In specific, I have no qualms with Grosse's structure as outlined in paragraph 3.