Policy changes tend to elicit controversy. Especially when money is involved. We can't fault Faculty Senate for opposing Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit allotting percentages to deans for the merit pool. It's natural to try and get the most money possible, but we think this adjustment to merit pool policy is positive.
It was unfair for Benoit to implement new restrictions on the merit pool without talking with Faculty Senate first. She didn't attend the meeting or send a representative to the meeting, which hardly is an arduous time commitment.
Beyond the concept of shared governance, it was disrespectful of Benoit to not inform Faculty Senate. We understand why Steve Hays would say 50 senators are less than pleased with Benoit; no one approached them during the decision making process, period.
However, this is a merit pool. Some faculty are more deserving than others. Fair means different things to different people, but many deans agreed with Benoit's decision. If an exemplary faculty member needed a larger portion of the merit pool in order to stay at the university, give it to them. They shouldn't be hampered by giving money to someone who just didn't do as good a job.
There's only so much money to go around, and budget cuts have tightened spending even more. In order to stay competitive, Ohio University needs to have a strong faculty lineup. Students and administrators can't afford to have exceptional faculty leave, especially when it could be avoided with a set up like Benoit's for the merit pool.
Competition is another reason Benoit's policy is beneficial. If everyone receives merit pool funds, what is the incentive to up the ante? This is another reason for faculty to extend themselves - to go above and beyond, which ultimately improves students' experiences in class and their quality of education.
The only question we would forward to Benoit is why she imposed specific percentages for each college. She has control in the hiring process and the administration has given power to these deans. Enforcing specific percentage ranges makes it seem as though they aren't trustworthy enough to decide for themselves who to give merit pool money to. She might have done this to alleviate pressure on the deans to give money to every faculty member, but we can't be sure.
At the end of the day, this is a good thing. More competition will help out students. Benoit should have given Faculty Senate a heads up, but, faculty should take this in stride and do the best they can to earn merit pool money.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post 's executive editors.
4 Opinion
