Ellington

Since UW Provost Phyllis Wise was appointed to the Nike board of directors in November, advocacy groups around campus have voiced their opposition. ASUW and the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) have expressed concern over the conflict of interest this new position presents, especially in light of Nike’s questionable labor practices in relation to UW apparel manufacture.

As the first official response from a faculty group, the executive board of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) UW chapter released a statement Monday that explicitly calls upon Wise to step down from the Nike corporate board.

However, Wise has refused this suggestion and plans to follow through with her new appointment.

“I’ve said that I believe it’s really important for leaders in the academy to be in conversations and engaged with corporate boards before, and I continue to believe that that’s true,” Wise said. “And I believe that by serving on the Nike board, and by actually being on the corporate responsibility committee of that board, I will be able to learn a great deal and I’ll also have greater influence from that position.”

The AAUP statement outlines four reasons as to why Wise should rescind herself from the Nike corporate board: One, conflicts of interest with issues specific to the Nike corporation; two, the freedom of UW faculty with research expertise on issues related to Nike’s labor violations to speak publicly and critically regarding those issues; three, issues related to administrators’ positions on corporate boards; and four, the public image of the university.

“I don’t know of anybody who has anything personal against the provost; generally she’s well-respected and well-liked,” said Duane Storti, vice president of the AAUP, in response to Wise’s decision to remain on the Nike board. “We’re trying to keep her from making a mistake in this case. I’m sorry to hear that she doesn’t want to accept the suggestion to step down, [but] that’s not the end of the story.”

Another faculty concern regarding Wise’s appointment that was not addressed in the statement is the procedure through which the provost accepted the position. Along with her UW position as provost, Wise is also a faculty member of the School of Medicine as a professor of physiology.

In seeking work outside of the UW, faculty, librarians and academic personnel are required by the UW handbook to fill out a Request for Approval of Outside Professional Work for Compensation Form. The School of Medicine has its own policy for faculty on potential financial conflicts of interest and its own supplementary request for approval form. Both forms must be approved by the individual’s immediate superior.

Normally, a faculty member of the School of Medicine would have to submit these forms to the chair and dean of the department. Wise, acting in her capacity as provost, instead submitted both forms to President Mark Emmert, her immediate superior in the role.

“If she claims that as an administrator, she is not regulated by the same rules as other faculty, what rules do regulate the provost?” said Stephen Schwartz, member of the AAUP and professor of pathology in the School of Medicine. “My opinion is that the Faculty Senate needs to work with Dr. Wise to create a structure in which the administration is held responsible as faculty.”

He added: “Working with the Senate would, it seems to me, strengthen Dr. Wise’s role as a leader.”

The executive board of the AAUP also argues that Wise’s Nike appointment could present an added challenge to the president’s ability to advocate against state budget cuts during the upcoming legislative session in Olympia. The AAUP wrote that, since Emmert and Wise already earn “excessive salaries,” this acceptance of a corporate-board position seems an effort to “[cash] in on their public positions.”

The issues related to Wise’s appointment to the Nike corporate board will be raised in the Faculty Senate later this quarter. The provost has been asked to inform the Senate as to what process was followed when she sought approval for outside work with Nike and how she plans to manage conflict situations, Storti said.

“It’s understandable that on first sight, being asked to serve on a corporate board, anybody would see that as honor and an opportunity,” Storti said, “but she’s in a position here at the UW where it really needs a second look.”

Reach reporter Joanna Nolasco at news@dailyuw.com.