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The Arts and Science Council unanimously passed a resolution “strongly condemning” the proposed restructuring plan put forth by the Committee on Strategic Organization at their first meeting of the semester last Tuesday.

The resolution states multiple reasons for the ASC’s condemnation.

“Any plans to reorganize the [College of Arts and Sciences] should include a clear statement of demonstrated need for such a reorganization, include a clear statement of projected goals for such re-organization, respect the responsibility of faculty to oversee curriculum and enhance student centeredness, allow departments to strengthen and enhance their programs and be in cooperation with involved faculty and students,” the resolution reads.

The resolution further states, “any future plans which directly apply to the CAS should be developed and discussed with the [ASC] before any decision is made, lest meaningful self governance of the College and its faculty by contravened.”

UT President Lloyd Jacobs is scheduled to make his decision on the proposed reorganization on Sept. 24.

Chair of the ASC Linda Rouillard, associate professor of French, said the council’s resolution of strong opposition has been given to Jacobs along with the UT Board of Trustees, Faculty Senate and Main Campus Provost Bill McMillan.

The message the council wants to send, according to Rouillard, is faculty need to be more involved in these types of discussions.

“Most of the people on that committee were administrators,” she said. “Two of them are chairs of departments, but that is still an administrative position. That is very different than a discussion among faculty.”

Rouillard said the council is working to set up a meeting with Jacobs to discuss the proposal further next week.

“The Arts and Sciences Council executive committee met with the provost over the summer after our July meeting, and we had a good conversation and I think the provost recognized some of the shortcomings in the CSO’s plan, but obviously this is not his decision,” Rouillard said.

Rouillard characterizes the proposal as “secretive, poorly thought out and prohibitively expensive” in a press release.

“The CSO had a month long series of meetings that were closed,” Rouillard said. “We, in fact, asked our dean, Nina McClelland, if she would ask Dr. Jacobs if he would allow more representation from the Arts and Science Council faculty on that committee and we were told no.”

According to the press release, Rouillard invited the head of the CSO, Beverly Schmoll, to attend the ASC meeting where the resolution was passed, but Schmoll declined.

One component of the CSO’s plan includes having executive deans and senior executive deans that will serve as “stewards” and oversee all of the programs included in their particular school under the restructuring plan.

Though the CSO calls for these positions to be filled in rotation by existing deans, Rouillard said she does not believe money will not be spent on these positions.

“I fail to believe any of our deans will take on these positions without bonuses, stipends, staff to assist them in these positions or anything else that is going to cost money,” she said. “If we’re going to spend money we should be spending it on students’ education.”

When asked if the council plans to fight the CSO’s proposed plan until Jacobs makes his final decision on Sept. 24, Rouillard said, “You can count it.”

“We are all very concerned about the future of the institution in these economic times,” she said. “We have been told repeatedly by administrators such as Dr. Scott Scarborough that the budget year 2012 can be terribly bleak at best and catastrophic at worst. We cannot afford to take onto our payroll more expensive administrators. Not when we have not been hiring faculty for years, not when in the past year we have undertaken layoffs. Not when unions are being denied five percent pay increases over three years. If we can’t afford to do a five percent increase, we cannot afford to hire legions of deans.”