Western Front - 1978 May 16

              Hiring policy meets disagreement
by SANDY CATT
A hiring policy disagree­ment
between the political
science department and James
Talbot, vice president for aca­demic
affairs, reached a log­gerhead
at Wednesday's Fac­ulty
Affairs Council (FAC)
meeting.
Ralph Miner, political
science department chairman,
said the department was con­cerned
with Talbot's reviewing
delay and eventual rejection of
the instructor choice it made.
Political science faculty
selected Donald Alper, of the
political science department,
on March 10. The nominee,
currently under a contract for
this year only, was not retained
for next year.
James Davis, College of Arts
and Sciences dean, approved
the choice on March 13 and
forwarded it to Talbot the
following day. Talbot requested
additional candidate interviews
in a May 2 memo to Davis and
did not approve Alper's nom­ination.
The political scientists re­fused
to invite another candi­date
to Western and continue
to support their original choice.
"We feel the vote is a good
Faculty asks
about tenure
by LAURIE DUNHAM
Like their own students ask­ing
how to prepare for an
exam, a number of Western
faculty met Friday with James
Talbot, vice president for aca­demic
affairs, for a question
and answer session on tenure.
Talbot said the meeting orig­inally
was suggested by Joan
Stewart, affirmative action of­ficer,
because women faculty
seem to be less certain how to
prepare for tenure and promo­tion
reviews. The meeting was
predominantly attended by
men, however.
Talbot discussed the areas
considered important in a ten­ure
and promotion review.
The university's Faculty
Handbook says tenure and
promotion are based on teach­ing
ability, scholarly or crea­tive
endeavors and service to
Western and the community.
The importance of teaching
evaluations is a common con­cern,
Talbot said. When an
instructor fails two or three
teaching evaluations, the ten­ure
and promotion committee
and the dean view this as
evidence of poor teaching abil­ity,
he said.
"We usually see a progres­sion
in teaching evaluations,"
Talbot said. "People I have
seen turned down (for tenure)
have generally not provided
that evidence. It has been
inconclusive or negative."
"Scholarship," as used in the
Faculty Handbook, is a broad
term, Talbot said. He defined it
as "a collection of professional
activities measured by publi­cation
in (nationally recog­nized)
journals." It also in­cludes
attendance of regional
or national meetings related to
the instructors' areas of re­search,
he said.
Involvement in the univer­sity's
governance system is a
"rather minor thing," Talbot
said.
"It's nice to be involved in
governance, but it's very easy
Continued on page 7
one, an appropriate one," Min­er
said to the FAC adding,
"we've reached a point where
all we can say is 'what mon
.can we do?'"
Miner solicited FAC support
for the department's decision at
the meeting. The FAC recog­nized
Talbot's authority to re­ject
a candidate in the hiring
process that requires faculty
selection and Davis', Talbot's,
University President Paul Ols-camp's
and the Board of Trus­tees'
authorization.
The council qualified its ack­nowledgment
of Talbot's au­thority,
however.
"I'm very concerned with
what I see as an increasing
frequency of the lightly-under­taken
overrule of a department
taking a responsible position "
George Witter of the compu­ter
science department, said.
"From what we see on paper,
the political science depart­ment
took a fairly reasonable
stand," he said.
"I don't see anything wrong
has been done," Joseph Crook
of the chemistry department
said, "except that you (Miner)
and the vice president disagree
on the candidate."
The FAC, Talbot, Davis and
Miner met in executive session
to address personnel issues for
approximately 50 minutes. Be­cause
the session yielded no
action, the FAC still recognizes
Talbot's authority in hiring. It
also encouraged further med­iation
toward reaching a settle­ment
as soon as possible.
Davis said Thursday, an
unscheduled meeting is
planned for Talbot, Miner and
himself. Another candidate will
not be invited for interviewing
until after the meeting, if at all,
Davis said.
Course assignments and for­mal
employment agreements
with Alper await Talbot's ap­proval
and the advancing of the
nomination to Olscamp and the
trustees. Rehiring depends on
whether the administration fol­lows
the political science de­partment's
recommendation,
Davis said.
The political scientists made
their choice after screening 106
applications which came in
response to advertisements in
January issues of the American
Political Science Newsletter
and the Chronicle of Higher
Education.
Faculty members voted for
two finalists from eight candi­dates
selected by the screening
committee. The eight nominees
were chosen according to "very
specific and detailed rules,"
Miner said. Interviews for the
two finalists followed affirma­tive
action guidelines, Miner
said.
Vol.70.No.48 Tuesday, May 16.1978
WESTERN FRONT
MAKING A KEY FORTUNE - Marcia Phillips, who makes keys for Western students, is one of many peddlers making her living
on the Viking Union Plaza.
Tower and state flower on Sehome Hill
by D A VDD HATCHER
Imagine for a moment what
the scenery would be like if you
were elevated 30 feet above
Sehome Hill's highest view­point.
A lookout tower of that height
and location is one of two
projects in a budget request
approved Thursday by the Se­home
Hill Arboretum Board of
Governors. \—,—
Part of the tower project
included planting a garden of
rhododendrons, the state flow­er,
on a slope below the tower.
The second project is improving
pedestrial access around or
through the condemned tunnel
near Sehome's summit.
'Dylan' a success
f \ 1 "Dylan" might be the year's best play. See
V l r review page 8.
'Victory1 at sea
Western's new sailboat "Victory" is now
ready to sail. Read how to get the necessary
skipper's card on page 15.
The projects were chosen
from 13 listed in the Sehome
Hill Arboretum Master Plan
released in January. The doc­ument,
prepared for the city
parks office by Jones and Jones
Architects, includes plans for
new trails and improving exist­ing
ones for use by the elderly
and handicapped, benches, an
extensive sign system and in­formation
centers.
Ron Taylor, chairman of the
board, said the $30,000 capital
budget request still must be
approved by Western's plan­ning
office! and Board of Trus­tees,
the state legislature and
Gov. Dixy Lee Ray.
Taylor hoped final approval
will be given by next spring and
construction would start after
July 1, 1979, the beginning of
the fiscal year.
According to the master plan,
the overlook tower should be
built of wood stained dark
brown and of open-air design.
Located on the existing pave­ment's
outer edge, the struct­ure
will be practically invisible
when viewed against a back­drop
of trees.
Visitors will view Belling-ham,
the bay, the Nooksack
Lowlands and the North Cas­cades,
according to the master
plan.
Taylor said the scenery from
the upper overlook now is
partially blocked by maples and
Douglas Fir which need repeat­ed
trimming to maintain the
view.
Except Tor some outstanding
specimens, all trees will be
cleared off a 75-foot by 65-foot
area on the steep slope below
the planned tower and planted
in rhododendrons which are
not now found on Sehome,
Taylor said.
Sehome Hill Arboretum
should serve as a site for native
plants, according to the master
Continued on page 6