NT provost Howard Johnson said in an interview Nov. 18 that safety is the number one concern for the administration's decision to push three days of finals back one week.

Johnson, who has kept himself away from media inquiries for much of his first year at NT, sat down with Daily editors to discuss the two most controversial issues in which Johnson has played a key role: the tenure denials of 12 professors and the decision to move finals back into Dead Week.

Today, the Daily is publishing the interview with Johnson regarding the final exam schedule changes. The part of the interview discussing the tenure denial cases ran in the Nov. 19 issue of the Daily and can be found at www.ntdaily.com.

Daily: Who originally came to you requesting the finals schedule be changed and what were their reasons?

Johnson: It's not a who. I think we all came together collectively to talk in the Dean's Council about the possible impact it might have on our final exam schedule. There was safety concerns in respect to not only the students that are required to participate, but those students who desired to participate ... We didn't want students to have to try to drive to and from New Orleans to make sure that they didn't miss exams and so forth. As you well are aware, we had an unfortunate situation last year with students that wasn't engaged with our finals. We just can't afford to lose a student without trying to do all we possibly can to make the situation as safe as possible.

D: Some people would argue that students have personal responsibility and would not have the university watch out for them. What is your response to that?

J: Well, that's one part I think students have shown a level maturity. But I think we also have a responsibility to the community to support and look after each other.

D: When did they come to talk to you [about the conflict]? Rick Villarreal told us he came to the administration about this issue in May.

J: I don't recall being in discussion in May. I could have been though. It was nothing we could do about the calendar. Our calendar was set through 2007/2008. I don't have any input on when the bowl game calendar is set. And we tried to consent our end of the federation with TWU and Texas at Commerce, and we also tried to be with the Denton public schools. So those four calendars we try to put together. If the discussion was in May, and like I said I could have been a part of that -- I just don't recall a discussion in May -- there wouldn't have been anything I would have done at that particular time ... There was no knowing in May that we would actually go back to the bowl.

D: Would it not have been reasonable to decide, "We've been to the bowl game three years in a row, why don't we change it now, just so there's not a big commotion at the end of the year?"

J: I don't know how we would have changed it even in May. I'm not sure of the alternatives other than what we have done now. We couldn't have started the semester a week early. I'm not sure what our alternatives were even in May. And I ask you to give me some ideas. What could we have done in May?

D: What we were wondering earlier was perhaps it could have been possible to notify the faculty and the student body further in advance of one month before the exams.

J: You're probably absolutely correct. But I don't know if we had any reason to believe in May of '04 that we're going to be going to a bowl game. When it started out, we played Texas our first game and lost 65 to nothing. The second game was a similar type school. We lose our starting running back. And then the young men performed extremely well when they got into the conference, and I think we were all surprised.

D: Were you caught off guard?

J: I'm not caught off guard. For whatever reason, I'm not that close to following the football program. There are the kinds of things that really take my attention -- trying to put together our academic plan when we're working with all the schools and colleges as we're trying to move our academic plan forward. And to say that we're watching each turn of event with our football team just wouldn't be true.

D: Your own academic plan puts academics first. Yet in doing this, the administration is reducing class time and study time. How does this change fit into your academic plan?

J: Well the academic plan I don't think has anything to do with our final exam schedule. Our academic plan is really trying to chart the course for the institution as we move forward and let me say that it's not my academic plan, it's our academic plan. And I really hope that all of you will encourage others to go to our Web site and get your input in on this academic plan because that's what is the most important. We want input from everyone about the directions that the institution will take.

D: Speaking of input, there've been concerns that there's no attempt made to poll students prior to a decision being made. Would that have been possible?

J: You know, probably it should have been. Probably it should have been. I talked with the deans. I talked with the senate executive committee, we talked with the senate; the senate took a vote. We did talk with the president of the student association and just the president of the student association. Yes, getting input would have been helpful.

D: Would it have been appropriate, considering the considerable criticism that's come after it?

J: But I've also had as much support for the decision as we have received criticism. So I think it's a balance. I'm a firm believer in getting as much input as we possibly can. We've had just a wealth of support from students, faculty and staff for the decision.

D: What would you say to students who are now put an entire week ahead of schedule and have to make a lot of last minute changes?

J: First and foremost, all of the deans of the schools and colleges were there. They were in on the decision. So I would suggest that the students who are concerned should make sure that they talk to their instructors, the chair of that department and also the deans. I mean, this is not something that has gone undiscussed with all the schools and colleges.

D: We know that the meetings took place at least a week before the decision was announced. Was there discussion much earlier than that, and if there was, why was not any discussion made public before the announcement.

J: I thought it would be inappropriate to make any kind of announcement without first interacting with the Faculty Senate ... You were aware of the fact that had we won one of our last two games that we would probably win the Sunbelt Conference, and you knew then that the Sunbelt was scheduled to have its New Orleans bowl on the 14th.. So it wasn't that we were the only ones aware of that. At some point a decision had to be made. There was some concern that faculty would have had to write multiple exams. How would you be able to right two parallel exams and afford all students the opportunity to be evaluated correctly?

D: Was the university making money off of the bowl game an issue in this decision?

J: That was not an issue for me. We're going to be playing in the superdome. They seat, what 80,000 people? We're not going to get close to filling that. That was not a part of the issue, at least not in my way of thinking. If we were to break even, I think we'd be ahead of the game.

D: There was another question raised about the Texas Administrative Code and the number of contact hours it mandates. How have you all dealt with that conflict?

J: Well, clearly we've contacted the coordinating board and gotten some clarity on that particular code. We've sent them the appropriate information and I think we're OK.

D: If the students are paying a certain amount of tuition for a certain amount of contact hours per course, do you think students have lost some of the value of their tuition?

J: I don't think so. I don't think so. And when we talked about this, we also thought it was ample time for students and for faculty to make up a class.

D: Is there a way for a student, if they were so upset and wanted to follow through with financial compensation, is there a way they could do that?

J: I think that kind of begs the issue. We're trying to be flexible. We're trying to work as hard as we possibly can to support the educational community here at North Texas.

D: Do you have any response to the students and faculty who are taking these issues to heart?

J: What we're trying to do is to be thoughtful as an educational community and we look at everyone on our campus as an important individual on this campus. We want to be thoughtful, we want to be sensitive and we want to be caring. And I think if we look at those values of caring, of thoughtfulness, of civility, I think that will say a lot about our environment.

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