A Message from the Chair

Professor Perry Leo, chair, Senate/Faculty Consultative Committees

This semester has been yet another busy semester for shared governance at the University of Minnesota, continuing the trend from the last few years.  The past few years, and especially the past year, have been challenging times for higher education, with uncertainty over research funding, changes in priorities in areas including DEI and student scholarship support, and an erosion of support from the state. On top of this, we have experienced important local stressors over the past year, including the Medical School negotiations, the transition to central services via the PEAK process, the continuing discussions on unit statements, and the changes in University leadership with the inevitable loss of institutional knowledge.  While I am grateful for the support for shared governance from the president, provost and Board of Regents, there is still a fragility to the enterprise that requires not only our vigilance but also good faith efforts to help find solutions that benefit the entire University community.

With that said, here is a recap of the discussions the University and Faculty Senates have been having this Fall.  

Trust

Committees and the senates have had multiple discussions about trust. This is a national issue that extends well beyond shared governance and was the topic of much discussion at a recent Big Ten Academic Alliance meeting of Big Ten plus faculty senate chairs and staff. At the October 23 University Senate meeting, we had an open discussion on trust in the context of shared governance at this institution and how we keep productive lines of communication open among each other and between the senates and the administration, the Board of Regents, and the public. The discussion revealed the challenges of developing trust between the different senates, where there are real power differences between tenured faculty and staff, for example. The discussion also reflected continuing dissatisfaction over the Board of Regents’ March 2025 Resolution Related to Response to President’s Task Force on Institutional Speech Report. I do think the task force report offered a good path forward, and I hope the Board is open to further discussion on this topic.

Strategic Plan

The FCC, SCC and the senates have had several discussions with administrators about the strategic plan framework that the Board discussed in November. There was robust discussion about what should and shouldn’t be in the plan. There was also gratitude that the work of governance on Workforce Reinvestment was a significant part of the road map. I look forward to working with Provost Ritter and college deans to flesh out the roadmap at the campus and college level.

Term Faculty & Academic Professionals

There has been a multi-year focus in shared governance concerning term faculty and P&A instructional staff. Work to date includes a statement from the Term Faculty and Academic Professionals Subcommittee (TFAPS) that was approved by the FCC and Faculty Senate. A task force sponsored by the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (AF&T) also submitted a report to the Senate that was tabled last spring and (is scheduled to be) discussed again at the March University Senate meeting. Finally, Beth Lewis and Ole Gram, vice provost and associate vice provost, Faculty & Academic Affairs, have been working on these issues. There are differences in the reports about the best path to improve employment conditions for P&A instructional staff and term faculty (and by that, I mean clear paths to promotion, multi-year contracts, etc.) and to guarantee academic freedom in the classroom. There is, however, a broad consensus that the University of Minnesota could do better in these areas, and that this is a topic that shared governance can and should champion with the administration.  

To conclude, I want to thank Provost Ritter, President Cunningham and their staffs, for all their engagement and support this fall. I want to thank all my colleagues on the FCC and SCC as well as all the senators I have spoken to this summer and fall.  Regardless of whether I agree with you, I always appreciate the passion every one of you brings to bettering the University of Minnesota. I want to thank my vice chair, Professor Timothy Johnson for his help and support this fall. Finally, the University Senate Office staff, in particular Amber Bathke and Laurie Cooper Stoll, have been invaluable partners this semester. Thank you. 

The Big Issues

Medical School Negotiations

Negotiations between the University, Fairview Health, and the University of Minnesota Physicians (UMP) regarding the partnership between Fairview and the Medical School have recently been a hot topic, both outside of and within the University, including in shared governance groups. President Rebecca Cunningham and Executive Vice President and Provost Gretchen Ritter visited the Faculty Advisory Committee on the Health Sciences (FACHS) and the Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC) multiple times over the semester, but for most of the semester were unable to share details about the negotiations. The FCC also engaged with faculty senators from the Medical School to hear their perspectives, as did the Senate Consultative Committee (SCC). Following the announcement of the agreement between Fairview and UMP, the University Senate devoted two senate meetings to discussion of the situation.

At the regular meeting on December 4, 2025, senators heard presentations from Jakub Tolar, dean of the Medical School and Vice President for Academic Clinical Affairs; Jennifer Lohse, academic health sciences counsel, Office of the General Counsel; and members of the Medical School’s Faculty Advisory Council (FAC), who are also members of the University Senate. The senate then engaged in a lengthy discussion session, resulting in increased understanding of the complexities of the agreement and negotiations.

A special meeting of the University Senate took place on December 8, 2025. This meeting was called by senators from the Medical School (among others) for the purpose of action on a Resolution on Medical School Negotiations. After a period of debate, the senate approved the resolution with 120 votes in favor and 44 votes against. The president expressed her thanks to the senate for the robust conversation, and to the Medical School faculty senators for bringing this important issue to the deliberative body of the University. She told senators that she has set up an advisory committee that includes faculty senators from the Medical School to advise her in the ongoing negotiations, and expressed her commitment to a solution that is beneficial to all three parties involved, as well as to the State of Minnesota.

Resolution on the Compact for Academic Excellence

In October 2025, the U.S. government introduced the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, outlining a set of standards for universities seeking to continue receiving federal benefits. The compact emphasizes race- and gender-neutral admissions and hiring practices, institutional neutrality in political and social issues, and stricter oversight of grading, finances, and foreign funding. It also calls for standardized testing in admissions, restrictions on foreign student enrollment, and an annual certification of compliance by university leadership. Participation in the compact is voluntary, but it would be tied to continued eligibility for federal support.

The University Senate passed a resolution formally opposing the compact, expressing concerns that it conflicts with the University of Minnesota’s mission, independence, and commitment to academic freedom. The resolution urged University leadership to reject the compact and any similar measures that might constrain those values. (Left: Professor Kathy Quick presenting the resolution.)

In response, the University administration reaffirmed its dedication to academic freedom, inclusivity, and research excellence. Administrators stated that the University had not been directly asked to sign the compact and that any decisions regarding federal proposals would remain guided by its land-grant mission and institutional values. The administration also noted ongoing collaboration with national higher education organizations and the Minnesota congressional delegation to monitor developments at the federal level.

MN Paid Leave

Changes are underway for employee leave benefits. Starting January 1, 2026, the Minnesota Paid Leave program will provide University employees with payments and job protections when they need time away to care for themselves or their loved ones. Much like private insurance, the program is funded through premiums shared by employers and employees, and eligible individuals may apply for leave during qualifying life events such as a serious medical condition or welcoming a new child. Employees may take up to 12 weeks of medical leave and 12 weeks of family leave per year, with a combined maximum of 20 weeks, during which they will receive a portion of their usual wages and have their job protected. In response to this new law, four administrative policies were revised: Earned Sick and Safe Time, Family and Medical - FMLA, Parental Leave, and Academic Disability. Consultation of these policy changes involved a considerable lift by the Total Rewards team. Between October and December, they visited the Civil Service Consultative Committee/Civil Service Senate, the P&A Consultative Committee/P&A Senate, the Senate Consultative Committee, the Faculty Consultative Committee, and the Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs. More detailed information about the policy changes can be found in the University Policy Library. More information on the benefit changes can be found on the Minnesota Paid Leave webpage, including guidance on eligibility, applications, and how the program interacts with existing University benefits.

A Message from the Director

The Importance of Dignity Intelligence and Building Trust for Shared Governance

Laurie Cooper Stoll, PhD, director, University Senate Office

How to increase trust in shared governance is a topic the University Senate Office regularly discusses. Trust is after all the foundation of all good working relationships. Yet, trust in social institutions including higher education has been declining for years. In the Chronicle’s recent publication, Building Trust: How Administrators and the Faculty Can Work Together Productively, it noted that 140 faculty bodies took no confidence votes between 2012-21; in the preceding decade there were 50. 

The suggestions for how to build trust in the Chronicle’s publication are not novel ideas. As the authors note, “So much of the advice in these pages boils down to tenets of simple kindness and consideration. Cultivate empathy, always. Don’t lie or evade. Be personable. Solicit the views of your compatriots. Really listen to people. Stay humble. Be reliable.” (2025, p. 41) These suggestions may seem commonsensical, but they bear repeating. 

I spend a lot of time as the director of the University Senate Office reading and engaging in professional development on ways to facilitate and encourage productivity and collegiality in senate meetings. I have regular conversations with governance members and University leaders parsing the differences between what senators and administrators can do in meetings versus what they should do if they want to achieve their goals. So much of what I’ve learned comes down to the idiom, “you catch more flies with honey” or its more popular translation: “don’t be a…jerk.”

But what I think is perhaps most useful for shared governance as we go forward together is centering one another’s dignity. According to Donna Hicks (2011), dignity is different from respect. People earn and lose respect; dignity refers to the inherent worth and value of each person. In her book, Dignity, Hicks identifies 10 essential elements of dignity:

1. Acceptance of Identity: Approach people as being neither inferior nor superior to you.
2. Inclusion: Make others feel that they belong.
3. Safety: Put people at ease at two levels: physically, so they feel safe from bodily harm, and psychologically, so they feel safe from being humiliated.
4. Acknowledgment: Give people your full attention by listening, hearing, validating, and responding to their concerns, feelings, and experiences.
5. Recognition: Validate others for their talents, hard work, thoughtfulness, and help.
6. Fairness: Treat people justly and in an evenhanded way according to agreed-on laws and rules.
7. Benefit of the Doubt: Start with the premise that others have good motives and are acting with integrity.
8. Understanding: Give others the chance to explain and express their points of view and actively listen in order to understand them.
9. Independence: Encourage people to act on their own behalf so that they feel in control of their lives and experience a sense of hope and possibility.
10. Accountability: Take responsibility for your actions and if you have violated the dignity of another person, apologize. 

As Hicks writes: “If leaders want people to buy into and support their ideas about governance, understanding how to keep them feeling emotionally well balanced is fundamental. Treating them with dignity creates not only inner stability but a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.” (p. 67) 

How would each of us experience senate and committee meetings if they were grounded in the ten essential elements of dignity above? How might we work together differently? Talk to each other differently? How might our relationships grow if we begin from a place of curiosity rather than judgment? What more could we get accomplished? 

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from my leadership experiences over the years—whether as a tenured faculty member in the University of Wisconsin system, an executive director, an elected official, and now as the director of the University Senate Office—is that to be successful, you have to center relationships. Without good, working relationships it is very hard to get things done - both big and small. I look forward to continuing to work with governance and the administration in the new year to strengthen relationships, build trust, and get good things done for our faculty, staff, and students.