Ousted Senate chair defends actions
BY Cynthia lee
Today Staff Writer
The UCLA professor who was removed as chair of the systemwide Academic Senate March 13 defended his efforts to represent the views of faculty and denied allegations that he did not do his job well.
“In my opinion, nothing in my behavior or representation of the UC Senate/faculty warrants my removal from office,” Professor Clifford Brunk said March 15 in an e-mail. “I strongly disagree with the action of the Assembly and the procedures they employed to remove me.”
In an unprecedented move, the UC Academic Assembly, the systemwide Senate’s governing body of faculty representatives from every campus, voted to remove Brunk as chair of the Senate at a special, closed-door meeting on March 13. The vote was 50 yes, 2 no with 2 abstentions.
Assembly members first passed a resolution of “no confidence” that Brunk could perform the duties of his office and represent the views of the UC Academic Senate. The Assembly then adopted a motion to remove him.
The Academic Council, faculty leaders of the Senate and the Assembly, is consulting legal counsel about whether more information can be released, said chair of the UCLA Academic Senate Adrienne Lavine, who did not comment further.
According to news reports, faculty representatives who supported Brunk’s ouster were unhappy with the way he represented the faculty’s views and his treatment of staff members. Brunk, a molecular biologist, served as chair of the UCLA Academic Senate in 2003-04.
In his lengthy written statement, Brunk described the difficulty of trying to express the “outrage” of faculty on the compensation issue when he was called to testify before a California Senate committee.
“There was also a deep concern that while expressing this ‘outrage,’ that I in no way provide testimony that would lead to permanent damage to the University of California,” Brunk wrote. “As upset as the faculty are, they are not ready for the legislature to intrude more directly into the operation of the University.”
The job of effectively presenting the Senate/faculty viewpoint to the regents, the president and the public was challenging, Brunk maintained.
“It is impossible to please the entire myriad of individual faculty members,” he explained. “It is even difficult on some occasions to arrive at a common rational faculty position. I believe I have done an exceptional job in meeting this challenge because of my background and dedication.” |
