Who is best suited to fill the Griffin Chair?

This question – though the answer seems obvious – has plagued the political science department since last fall, when administrators took control of the search for a replacement.

The administration should return control of the search to faculty, who best know the department and its students’ needs.

It’s challenging to find a viable argument for the chair to be controlled by a committee of senior administrators, including a member of the Board of Trustees. The spot is a major position at the university; perhaps its renown alone warrants the oversight administrators now provide.

But providing oversight and taking direct control are two different things, and it’s unlikely the latter will be a more effective approach.

Senior administrators, on the whole, lack the political expertise of faculty. They are not intimately involved with the department’s day-to-day life – they neither teach classes nor frequently meet with students.

As leaders, administrators should acknowledge when they are not best able to make a certain call. They should trust the judgment of those more familiar with the topic at hand. In this case, it’s faculty, and administrators should defer to their judgment.

If administrators would like more control in the process, the answer is a slight touch rather than a stranglehold. The department reasonably could control the search process, select candidates and endorse their pick. Administrators then could have their say; if they disagree, the ultimate decision would be theirs.

But as it is now, the entire search has been commandeered. Faculty are altogether cut out of the picture – even though they know best what students need from a candidate. If faculty select a group of candidates and administrators have the final say, at least there is assurance that the pick matches the department’s needs, regardless of whom exactly is selected.

If this is in any way a response to the political controversy pertaining to former Griffin Chair and now Congressman Gary Peters, transferring control is no solution. Whatever conflicts of interest could occur among faculty are equally likely among administrators.

It’s a shame that the conflict resulted in an empty chair, and a course cancellation, this spring. However, faculty are reasonably outraged. They want and should have control in the selection process.

And administrators should give it back to faculty – for the sake of them as well as students.

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