EMU-AAUP president Howard Bunsis sent around an email about a variety of different union issues the other day, and one of the things it addressed were the ongoing concerns about security on campus (the other issues have to do with domestic partner health care benefits and paying for health insurance, which will start in the fall term).
Here’s the part about security:
In regards to safety, the Vice President of Business and Finance, Janice Stroh, sent an email to the campus community yesterday regarding safety on campus. There were several claims made in this email with respect to faculty that are disturbing, and the facts, as we know them, will be presented below.
If you go to: http://www.emuprofessors.org/security there is a general discussion of security issues, as created by Paul Leighton. Please check it out.
What we know is that in August of 2005, the master keys to several buildings around campus were lost. From that time until at least June 2006, very little, if anything, was done to re-key any campus dorms, offices, or buildings.
What is very troubling is that we, the faculty, were certainly not informed of the loss of the keys at that time. In the last year, actions were taken to secure the outside entrances to buildings, and in the last few months, most of the dorms have been re-keyed.
However, faculty offices have still not been re-keyed. When faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences asked Dean Hoft to have offices re-keyed, they were told that it was not going to happen, as it was an “unfunded mandate.� We are investigating what was communicated by EMU administrators over this time, and we are also investigating what funds were spent.
What is most disturbing is the following statement in VP Stroh’s email: “While a small number of them appear to be the result of someone using a key to enter an office, most of the larcenies have occurred because the person left a door unlocked or left their computer sitting unattended on campus.�
As you know, we have solicited from the faculty instances of equipment being stolen.
Here is what we have found:
• Over the last two-plus years, there have been 27 instances where faculty have had items stolen from their offices
• Of these 27 incidents, 19 were of computers (mostly laptops, though a few were desktops, with cables cut).
• Of the 19 computers stolen, 15 were from LOCKED faculty offices. The faculty involved has been unequivocal on this issue. Therefore, 15 out of 19, or 79% of the computers stolen from faculty offices occurred while these offices were locked. This solid evidence is in total contrast to the conclusions made by VP Stroh.
• Also troubling is that 16 of the 27 incidents occurred in the 2006-07 academic year. Of these 16, 13 were computers stolen from faculty offices. Of these 13, 11 were from LOCKED faculty offices.
Lastly, several faculty members who have had items stolen have let me know that they believe VP Stroh’s email had a “blame the victim� undertone. I agree with this conclusion, and I believe that the administration should try to be more supportive and work with faculty on this issue.
So what actions is the AAUP going to take? We are about to file a grievance on this issue, as we do not believe the administration has taken the appropriate steps to ensure a safe working environment. In addition, we are considering other legal options that the AAUP can take to make sure faculty feel safe.
Actually, I think the grievance is long over-due, though I do realize that the EMU-AAUP has had, er, “other things” on its plate over the last year or so.
“Why a grievance,” non-faculty-type readers here might ask? Two basic reasons, in my opinion. First, one of the basic things I think an employer ought to be able to provide to its workers is a safe workplace, and that would include the idea that you should feel reasonably sure that if you leave something in your locked office, it will be there when you return.
Second, the way faculty get complaints addressed at EMU, especially if the issues have been more or less ignored by the administration, is you file a grievance.
As an aside here: for a variety of reasons (including security), I moved most of my stuff to my home last winter. So, like many academic-types, my office at school isn’t really where I do most of my work– scholarship, teaching, etc. It’s where I meet with students and colleagues and store a variety of books and documents, and that’s about it. Still, I do have things in there that could be attractive for thieves– computers, for example. And of course, a lot of faculty do much of their scholarship and teaching in their offices.
