U.S. Naval War College has established a faculty senate to modernize the institution’s structure and increase the faculty’s role in shaping the college, administrators said.
Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley, Naval War College president, announced the action in a message to the faculty and staff on Jan. 14.
“As we begin the New Year, Provost (Lewis) Duncan and I are pleased to announce the establishment of the Advisory Faculty Senate, which is our path to increased faculty-shared governance and guidance of your Naval War College,” Harley said in an email.
The senate is made up of 21 appointed faculty members who Harley described as having strong reputations in their academic departments. Each was nominated by his or her respective dean.
Harley’s first request of the senate was to provide input back to him on criteria for faculty promotions.
“They will become the voice of the faculty that advises the provost and me as we strive to modernize the Naval War College to best suit the needs of today's great-power competition focused Navy,” Harley wrote.
Duncan has been working to “normalize” faculty life to more align with civilian academic institutions, a process that last year included the beginnings of a tenure system for professors.
Naval War College officials have said that in order to attract top faculty members, the college needs to appear similar to what candidates are familiar with.
Duncan said the creation of a faculty senate is a “landmark next step” in providing opportunity for faculty members to share in governance.
“It provides for explicit faculty counsel and participation in shaping our college's policies and practices, as well as a more formal means of bringing forward faculty interests and concerns,” he said.
Faculty senates – a trend that largely began in the United States around World War II—are now the norm in American universities and colleges, according to the American Association of University Professors.
A 2001 survey, the most recent by that group in conjunction with the American Conference of Academic Deans, found that three-fourths of the 882 institutions responding had a faculty or staff senate.
The first meeting of the faculty senate occurred Tuesday, Jan. 15.
Professor Sally Paine, the William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy and a faculty member since 2000, was appointed president of the new body.
The group agreed that its first tasks would be to establish bylaws and procedures for itself – in addition to responding to Harley’s request for feedback on faculty promotion criteria.