The senate is a long-standing legislative body here at Keene State College. It’s is made up of both professors and students, both equally important members of the KSC academic community. The senate makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees and to the college’s president regarding academic matters.
The recommendations of this body can have a large impact on aspects of academic life here at Keene State College, including policies and procedures. The decisions by the senate have far-reaching consequences for both faculty and students.
Considering how well a combined student and faculty senate has been working so far, the idea that the Keene State College senate is looking into becoming a faculty-only senate and getting rid of the student input is preposterous.
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The idea of the faculty-only senate came from a plurality within the senate itself, not a majority. The idea will now become something the senate explores, closely examining comparable schools who have a faculty-only senate.
A majority of other schools run their senate with faculty only, and it could very well work for them. However, Keene State should not bend to be like other schools. Students and faculty working together on matters of academics and especially the school itself should be a number one priority at this institution, regardless of what other similar institutions have done with their senates.
A large enough number of senate members have expressed interest in the idea of a faculty-only senate to create this study of alternatives to begin with. Many have expressed interest in seeing if the senate would be able to work more efficiently without students being a part of the senate.
Instead of using the idea of efficiency as the motivation for the interest in a faculty-only senate, the senate should be exploring ways they can run more efficiently and effectively with students remaining a part of the senate. Carrying on without students would be detrimental to the senate itself, the academics they are involved with and the students and faculty who are impacted by their recommendations.