Jacksonville State Dissolves Faculty Senate

The Jacksonville State University Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to dissolve the university’s Faculty Senate in pre-emptive compliance with an Alabama law that requires faculty bodies to take on an advisory-only role by Oct. 1, The Alabama Reflector reported.

The university has a “responsibility to ensure Jacksonville State University complies with Alabama law while providing sound governance, accountability, and responsible stewardship of the public resources entrusted to the university,” Board Chair Randall Jones said in a statement to the Reflector. “Today’s action fulfills that responsibility while beginning the important work of developing board-approved policies that reflect the requirements of the law and support the University’s long-term success.”

Jacksonville State follows in the footsteps of Auburn University, whose board voted in June to dissolve its Faculty Senate. The Jacksonville State board also opted to end the university’s staff council, which is not required by law. 

David Dempsey, a math professor and now former president of the Faculty Senate, told the Reflector he was optimistic about working with university leaders to create a new body for faculty voices.

“I’m of course disappointed in that outcome, but I can say, in all honesty, that I am happy to report that the board members individually talked to me, the president, the provost—all of them are very supportive of having a mechanism for faculty voice and are eager to see what we come up with,” he said. “They assured me that there would be a mechanism for faculty voice moving forward. They’re just having to comply with state law.”