Prompted by President Roderick McDavis saying he “is not opposed” to Senate Bill 5, Ohio University’s Faculty Senate will discuss a resolution regarding the bill at its meeting Monday.
“By supporting or not opposing Senate Bill 5, I believe President McDavis has made it harder for Ohio University to recruit and attain top quality faculty. And that will certainly have an impact on academic quality in the future,” said Joe McLaughlin, president of Faculty Senate.
The bill, which prevents university faculty from unionizing, passed the Ohio Senate on March 2.
McDavis supports “increased flexibility and deregulation,” said Becky Watts, his chief of staff.
“(The bill) would maintain the current structure of shared governance,” she said, adding that faculty union involvement has “fundamentally changed” some universities.
Senate Bill 5 classifies faculty as management level employees because they are involved personnel, budget and curriculum decisions.
“By supporting or not opposing Senate Bill 5, I believe President McDavis has made it harder for Ohio University to recruit and attain top quality faculty. And that will certainly have an impact on academic quality in the future,” said McLaughlin, who called the bill “a bad deal for universities.”
Prior to S.B 5, the Inter-University Council, a group of higher education committees, sent a letter to Gov. John Kasich in January asking for fewer regulations. The letter specifically mentioned charter school, something McDavis is interested in learning more about, Watts said.
“He would sure like to learn more about it and learn what the benefits might be,” Watts said, adding that McDavis has already looked into how charter schools in other states work.
Inter-University Council President Bruce Johnson also authored the bill amendment that prohibits faculty from unionizing.
McDavis has not yet heard any feedback about his stand on the bill, Watts said in an interview this morning.
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