Three of his four proposals for improving the situation are imminently sensible. But Vohs makes a fourth proposal that should give every faculty member pause. But depending on how it is fleshed out, this vague fourth proposal could be dangerous. The only change in quorum rules that would solve the problem would be to lower the required quorum below 50 percent of the Assembly. Wrong-headed or not, it would be quite in keeping with the recent tendencies of the leadership of the division.
Most faculty are unconcerned with and unaware of the minutiae of divisional senate operations.
But the devil is in the details. And if recent proposals of the divisional leadership are permitted to go ahead, the access and influence of ordinary senate members will be severely restricted in the Davis division. A series of actions proposed by the divisional leadership all aim at restricting the access and influence of the broader membership of the senate. In the name of cost cutting, the leadership has violated Davis division and university senate bylaws in failing to circulate complete agenda, minutes of Representative Assembly meetings and committee reports to all the members of the division. The divisional leadership has proposed changes to the bylaws that would prevent ordinary members of the senate from challenging the legality of the leadership's own interpretations of the bylaws.