University faculty members chose one of the main architects of the new tenure code to head their major consultative committee.
Law professor Fred Morrison was appointed chairman of the University Faculty Consultative Committee for the 1999-2000 school year.
The committee is made up of 15 University faculty members who act as a guiding force for the University Faculty Senate. As head of the committee, Morrison will serve as the communication link between the faculty and administration.
Morrison was the guiding author of the University tenure code, a task that earned him much respect among faculty.
“He has a lot of experience. He is very visible and people have a lot of confidence in him,” said Roberta Humphreys, astronomy professor and vice chair of the University Senate.
Every year, a nomination committee chooses a new chairperson, whose position takes effect July 1.
Morrison’s responsibilities include presiding over meetings, coordinating committees in faculty governance, collaborating with leaders of other University committees and attending meetings with University President Mark Yudof and the Board of Regents.
Morrison said he sees his appointment as “an opportunity to bring the views of the faculty and the students to bear on the administrators.”
“He’s been found trustworthy and thoughtful,” said Kent Bales, an English professor who has spent two years on the committee and has known Morrison for more than 20 years.
Morrison first joined the University faculty in 1969 after receiving a master’s from Oxford University and a doctorate from Princeton University.
Bales said that one of Morrison’s strengths is “his understanding of budget and planning, and how it relates to academic planning.”
Accordingly, Morrison feels that topics such as faculty health benefits, budget and financial issues and improving the University’s research funding status with the National Institutes of Health will be some of the major focuses in the upcoming year.
Morrison also named the outcome of the athletic inquiries and academic integrity as other issues of concern in the 1999-2000 school year.