During the two hours and forty-one minutes for which it stretched, the Senate considered the ten items on the agenda. Or rather, ten agenda items were ticked as "done" with intermittent engagement of the braincells gathered in the room.
I suppose one should expect it, really, when the documentation - 3kg of paper - only arrived the day before the meeting, in a language not recognisable as English and not following any of the conventions commonly associated with what we know as "grammar", but nonetheless those of us who still cling to archaic notions of the University as a place of debate and critical engagement shuffled down the Hill and filled our seats. A bit like children still pretending to believe in Father Christmas in the hope that he still believes in them enough to continue with the presents...
The Campus Guide Plan was presented, sort of. A couple of bad overheads were put up, and the point made that we're moving from a "suburban" model to an "urban" one, which seemed the thrust of it. Everyone around me bristled, and none of the noises I heard were good, but this somehow translated into Senate support for the initiative, which now goes to Council for more support. In the absence of a vote, I'm not entirely sure how the Chair could distinguish positive grunts from negative ones, but perhaps the idea of high-rise buildings, increased smog and street children huddled in our doorways appeals on an emotive level to allow him that interpretation. The good news, though, is we're unlikely ever to be able to afford any of it, so for now it's business as usual.
The Admissions Policy proposed by a task team which was not the task team as constituted, nor chaired by the appointed chair, for 2007, was also debated. In a curious sequence of events, the policy was presented, a proposal made by the presenter for its adoption, and a seconder sought before any questions of clarity or debate was allowed. But once that can of worms was opened, it became abundantly clear why - the longer debate was allowed to run, the more issues were raised and the stronger the lobby for rejecting it grew. After several aeons, and some panic about What To Do On 1 Jan When Faculties Needed Guidelines To Work With, the thing was squashed and the status quo ante invoked. Whoever constituted the task team that wasn't the constituted task team must now be slitting their wrists over the time wasted on the activity. One can only hope their line managers, during their performance appraisals, are more generous.
By the time the last few items were discussed, there were few survivors. When it came to thanking the outgoing Dean of Science for his contribution, they had to be wakened to participate in the standing ovation. As the meeting was closed and people fled out of the doors, the universal sentiment expressed was "now I remember why I never go to these things!".
It also sheds light on the policy of no weapons on Campus....