Green School releases new constitution

Written by Sudyen Navarrete/Staff Writer

The Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs released their constitution on Oct. 29, allowing the school to act independently.

The school is still in the process of becoming autonomous.

“The constitution was ratified with 130 faculty members present, and unanimously,” said John F. Stack, dean designate of the Green School.

Beginning in late August, the school was asked by the provost to write a constitution and have it ratified by the faculty, said Stack.

“The process took two months,” he said. “It guaranteed autonomy of departments, and integrity of the curriculum.”

Rebecca Salokar, the chair of the Department of Politics and International Relations and former chair of the constitution committee, wrote the constitution.

“There’s minor differences that don’t impact students but do impact the faculty,” said Salokar.

The constitution also added one amendment.

“The tenure, promotion and personnel committee members are going to be selected by the  departments, rather than a big at-large election,” said Salokar. “ Because we’re a much more smaller unit, it’s easy to have a committee of eight.”

Members in the College of Arts & Sciences are elected by a bigger committee, rather than by its departments.

Every member of the tenure, promotion and personnel committee will be elected by the departments of the Green School, based on the by-laws, or rules, of the constitution.

Members of the tenure, promotion and personnel committees are trained to be anti-biased to prevent any type of discrimination, said Salokar.

“We have addressed the role of directors by putting faculty involvement in the senators and institutes that are part of [the school],” said Salokar. “ We have so many of them, it was important for the faculty to play roles in those. “

Every academic degree must consist of a committee of faculty members from the school with the purpose of advising students in their academic success.

In April, the Green Family Foundation granted the school a $20 million gift to push the school to become a top academic center for students.

The family includes Ambassador Steven J. Green, his wife Dorothea Green and their daughter Kimberly Green.

“The gift from the Green family had nothing to do with our autonomy,” said Stack.

According to him, the Green school has been in the process of becoming its own school since March, which was when the provost announced his intentions of creating an autonomous school.

“The provost has to affirm the recreation of the school with the faculty senate, that’s the only thing missing,” said Stack.

Stack hopes the status of the Green school gets declared by the end of the fall semester.

“The fact that Steven J. Green’s goal is for the school to become a top academic center is a good enough reason for the name to be changed after him,” said Marilyn Coronel, a senior majoring in international relations. “It will be a great advantage for future and fellow FIU alumni to be part of a potentially prestigious school.”

After anonymous votes, faculty members voted for the school to become independent.

“We followed a number of procedures of consensus and collegiality about the creation of the school,” said Stack. “ All eight departments voted in favor, unanimously.”

Part of the procedure included a meeting with the College of Arts and Sciences to discuss the separation of the school from the college.

The Council of Chair and Directors in the CAS voted in favor.

“The Green gift also provided a $5 million dollar endowment divided between the Latin American and Caribbean Center studies and fellowships, scholarships and research support for students and faculty,” said Stack.

The LACC was renamed the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center earlier this year.

In addition to the endowment, Stack said that the new Kimberly Green scholarship and fellowship was created along with a new Dorothea Green Lecture Series.

Stack said that these changes will impact students and faculty in a positive way.

“It raises our reputation hugely, not only in South Florida, but also nationally,” said Stack. “ All of those are designed to enhance the educational opportunities of our students.”

-sudyen.navarrete@fiusm.com

Photo Courtesy of Sudyen Navarrete