Colleagues,
Whether or not you usually attend Faculty Assembly, it’s important that all of us attend the one coming up September 10. The oppressive new “Reporting Arrests” Policy is on the agenda. If enough of us attend, we can send it back to Senate for discussion and (hopefully) repeal.
The new policy asks employees to report on one another on pain of serious discipline. It requires all employees to report to University Counsel, within three days, any police reports, arrests, charges and indictments for a range of criminal behaviors by themselves or other employees. The kicker? If you fail to comply, you could be disciplined and even fired.
There’s more. The policy
- Creates undue risk to employees by providing the University with a ready means of disciplining or terminating anyone who—regardless of proven guilt—attracts the attention of law enforcement authorities (who often do not treat all populations equally).
- Allows a single office (General Counsel) to evaluate cases and make recommendations potentially destructive to faculty and staff careers—evaluations based not on established, objective facts about employee conduct, but on subjective and potentially discriminatory judgments made before relevant facts can be established.
- Places undue pressure on perhaps-traumatized victims and on Miami employees who are friends and family members to become informants.
- Is unnecessary. Does not respond to any specific legal requirement placed upon the University. Appears to be driven mostly by a desire to avoid adverse publicity. Numerous reporting expectations already exist under University conduct policies; these are more than sufficient to enable the University to carry out its legitimate protective responsibilities.
While the declared goal of the new policy is laudable—to ensure the safety and security of the University community—in fact, it will create multiple and significant risks for employees while doing very little to improve campus safety.
Miami Senate approved the overreaching new policy without being given time to consider its many implications. Mysteriously, it was presented to Senate as part of the “Consent Calendar,” usually reserved for noncontroversial items not worthy of discussion.
The policy is currently on hold. It has been appealed by a group of concerned faculty and awaits discussion by Faculty Assembly. A quorum at the September 10 Faculty Assembly — a large crowd — can send the Reporting Arrests policy back to Senate for an informed and substantive discussion.
While all employees are affected by the policy, only tenure-line and TCPL faculty are members of Faculty Assembly, and only they can vote this policy back to Senate. Continuing faculty, your vote must speak not only for you, but for all Miami employees.
See you at Faculty Assembly on Tuesday, September 10, at 4:15 in the Shriver Admissions Auditorium (ground floor).
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