The Illinois Student Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night in favor of a more timely University hiring process, which was sparked by Steven Salaita’s recently rescinded job offer.

Rather than taking a stance on whether Chancellor Phyllis Wise was right to rescind his offer, the senate voiced its concern over the time table of the University’s hiring process. 

The resolution passed in a 19-1 vote, with one abstention. This agreement came from the Senate’s mission to address the larger issues of the hiring process, including the examples of Salaita and former instructor James Kilgore, who had previously been a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Currently, appointments are not promised by the start of the school year and are up for approval by the Board of Trustees in September. Several senators voiced concern over how a professor could begin teaching before his job was even approved. Calvin Lear, graduate student, said 140 new professors were hired this fall.

Student Body President Mitch Dickey’s resolution urges administrators, the Academic Senate and the Board of Trustees to reform the appointment process to create a clear balance of power and to implement a rule enforcing all contracts be finalized by the beginning of the school year. 

The student senate debated Wise’s alleged violation of Title 9, addressing the issue of departmental autonomy and the process of hiring and rescinding hires. 

Senators voiced concern over how Wise did not consult with the American Indian Studies unit head before rescinding Salaita’s job, which was to be in the program. This led the student senate to add an addendum for a balance of power and a strict following of University rules. 

Senator Madison Scanlan, junior in ACES, addressed the main clause of the hiring process and the allowance of the Board of Trustees to override all hiring decisions.

“It’s not just Salaita, it’s James Kilgore,” Scanlan said. “It is the fact that they don’t consult with the departments. They override everybody.” 

Chancellor Wise admitted that her decision in rescinding the offer to Salaita did not follow the procedural rules because there was no meeting before the rescinded offer. 

“The departments don’t have to answer to Springfield, to Chicago, to British Petroleum or the University to make their academic decisions. That is what departmental autonomy is,” said Lear.

Lear discussed the addition of the clause, clarifying the University’s need to abide to its own rules. 

In response to Lear’s claim that statute revisions average a decade in length, president Dickey rebutted with an active change the ISS can make. 

“We can argue if Wise broke the statute from both sides for forty minutes or we can make an actual change within the hiring process” said Dickey. 

Tea can be reached at [email protected].