• First, we believe that the relation of the faculty and the administration must not be antagonistic--cannot be, in fact, any more than the right arm can fight the left. We are two members of the same body. This analogy suggests that faculty do not generally think of themselves as employees of the administration; traditionally they are the living body of the University, largely self-governing, in partnership with their administration. It may be that as the University has evolved in the last decade toward the new corporate business model, that traditional relationship has become obscured. Perhaps in your current round of meetings with various units, you could invite a senator from the unit you are visiting to participate in some way. That would increase genuine dialogue in the meetings and lessen the impression that the faculty and the administration are opposed parties.
• Second, we are concerned that since the Provost's duties have, of necessity, evolved more and more toward budget management, no one is now providing the articulation and implementation of the University's academic vision. (This vision should not be confused with budget priorities, nor with public relations, fund-raising or marketing campaigns aimed at the outside world, nor with new technology, nor with the brainstorming of the Process for Change.) Exactly how to address this concern is an open question, but you should at least be alert to the problem as faculty see it.
• Third, in the Town Hall Meeting and other venues for faculty/administration dialogue, we encourage you to listen to the full range of faculty concerns, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. We do not see the administration's job as to ``contain" the issues that affect faculty morale; rather, these should be invited into the open so they can be discussed, understood and addressed cooperatively. It is not necessary to defend the administration against every question or complaint; but it is necessary to listen to it, in order to understand the shape of the problem.

The Senate Executive Committee