How many people voted in the elections of the University Senate, the campus’s most important policy-making bodys elections two weeks ago? How many faculty, students and staff voted? Has voter participation increased or decreased over time? Did the successful candidates win by large margins or small ones? Which races were contested and which were not? Who knows?
All these questions are important to our community. As student leaders, we are naturally curious what the reach of this crucial election was, and if there are ways we can get more participation in choosing the representatives who will vote on such crucial decisions as approving the university’s new strategic plan. There is a problem, however – we are not permitted to know.
A request for data on the actual voter tallies of the senate election made to the Chair and Executive Committee last week was rejected on the grounds that “some of the candidates might have concerns” about it being made public. Instead, we were invited to contact the Office of Legal Affairs and file a request under the Maryland Public Information Act (our state’s equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act).
We feel this is outrageous. Refusing to make public the results of an open election to a body like the senate flies in the face of the spirit of accountability so essential to democratic government. Transparency is fundamental to the credibility of elected bodies and the senate – as the most powerful institution of shared governance at the university and the only one that is directly elected by every member of our campus community – should uphold the highest standards.
The Graduate Student Government, Student Government Association and many other elected bodies on the campus all disclose the full results of their elections. Why should the senate not do the same? With all due respect to the candidates, we find it hard to imagine what could cause concern if results were made public. When you sign up to run for elected office in a public university, should you not expect the results of that election to be announced?
More troublesome still, this seems to be part of a creeping culture change on the campus. Increasingly we have found ourselves asked to file FOIA requests for routine data needed to fulfill our responsibility to provide sound advice on policies affecting our constituents. Although there has been reluctance to speak out about this issue, we are not alone. Other institutions of shared governance and campus voices have encountered the same obstacle.
It is worrisome to see this trend emerge at a public university, a place that puts such emphasis on the free exchange of ideas and information. We fully understand the reasons why the Public Information Act exists, but for years, advocates and members of shared governance on the campus have been able to depend on open and convenient access to important information affecting our lives and policies. If that is no longer the case, it signals a sea change in our culture of mutual accountability and responsibility. That would truly be a great blow to what has been become one of the strongest and most vibrant systems of campus government in the country.
We call on the university administration to reverse this trend. This Friday, the Graduate Student Government Assembly will vote on formal resolutions echoing this request. We strongly encourage our fellow leaders in the campus community – students, faculty and staff – to join us in insisting on transparency. Furthermore, we condemn the referral of routine requests by shared governance organizations to the Office of Legal Affairs. This practice clearly violates the spirit of the Board of Regents’ policy, which calls for all participants to “be informed on the issues … confronting their institutions,” and makes “sharing appropriate information and providing timely feedback” and a core value. It erodes confidence in the campus leadership and reflects poorly on the majority of administrators who work diligently and in good faith to create an open, inclusive and accountable culture at our university.
Devin Ellis is chairman of the University System of Maryland Student Council and Laura Moore is the president of the Graduate Student Government. They can be reached at ellis.devin@gmail.com and lauracat@umd.edu.
