After retiring from his job as chair of the political science department at the University of Idaho in 2013, Don Crowley”s initial inclination was to turn down the offer he received for the position of faculty secretary last year from the former Chair of Faculty Senate Patricia Hartzell.
Yet, after reviewing the pros and cons, Crowley realized the benefits of the position vastly outweighed the negatives.
“I think it”s useful “¦ for me at least to be continually involved in things that I know something about and have been involved in over time,” Crowley said.
Crowley is now entering his second year as secretary. He said most of his duties include taking down the minutes of Faculty Senate meetings and answering questions about the faculty and staff handbook.
The role of faculty secretary isn”t the only role Crowley”s held with Faculty Senate. Scattered throughout nine years of his career at UI, Crowley has been involved in Faculty Senate in some way or another, he said. He held the title of chair in 2007.
During his time as chair of Faculty Senate, Crowley was involved in a debate about whether or not UI should expand and open up a new campus in Sandpoint, Idaho. Crowley said many administrators were all for the idea and attempted to push it through very quickly, but he was one of the few who tried to slow the process down. Though he said he didn”t think it was a bad idea, he knew rushing into it wasn”t smart either. Later, when the U.S. experienced a large economic crash, the university”s partner pulled out of the deal.
As chair, Crowley was involved in what he described as a long battle of whether or not to include the words “domestic partners” in the university”s family leave policy. While Crowley said he believed the president of UI was in favor of the added language, as was he, it was ultimately not approved because it conflicted with the Idaho Constitution. Despite this, Crowley said that it was one of his favorite moments of being chair of Faculty Senate.
“The university was almost 10 years ahead of its time,” Crowley said.
Crowley”s interest in protecting domestic partners at UI stemmed from his knowledge of civil liberties he developed while he was chair of the political science department for 20 years. He said aside from his knowledge of certain political issues, his position wasn”t as helpful or powerful as some people think department chairs would be.
“That”s probably OK, because I don”t really think power is what I was after,” he said.
Political science is often a subject that”s misunderstood by outsiders, Crowley said. He said people routinely ask him to predict the winners of presidential elections, but political science is more about studying the art of decision making. Students of political science understand political issues, but they also analyze how powerful figures make decisions.
For the most part, Crowley said UI hasn”t changed much during the approximate 30 years he”s worked there. The specifics of the important issues have changed, but the general themes of them have remained the same.
“I guess the bottom line for me is to be involved in promoting the notion that faculty and staff should have a legitimate role in their workplace,” Crowley said.
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer