Some faculty, however, are balking at the idea of business leaders from outside the university having a say in its curriculum, a responsibility usually delegated to a handful of internal administrative bodies. Ahead of the announcement, the university faculty senate passed a resolution expressing displeasure at MSU for not going through the proper academic governance channels to propose the initiatives.

"New curricular proposal should come from the faculty because Academic Governance Bylaws spell out that faculty have the right to 'establish and maintain the intellectual authority of the university,'" Faculty Senate Chair John Aerni-Flessner wrote in an email to The State News. "The faculty at MSU do not take this responsibility lightly and therefore we look forward to more productive partnership with the President and the Green and White Council as we all worked toward the shared goal of ensuring MSU remains a global leader in faculty-led teaching and research."

MSU, meanwhile, has maintained that the initiatives proposed by the council are still nothing but recommendations.

"In no way do those recommendations supersede the university process around implementation for any changes around curriculum or any of the other initiatives themselves," university spokesperson Amber McCann told The State News.

The controversy regarding the Green and White Council's first public announcement began the day before its initiatives were set to be unveiled, during a Tuesday meeting of the university faculty senate.

There, some faculty members who had received a draft of the press release began zeroing in on the first initiative proposed by the council, the creation of AI-centric courses and certifications that are meant to prepare students to "flourish in an AI-driven economy." 

"I think it could be reasonably read that there might be an idea to introduce curriculum by outside business leaders, perhaps circumventing the policies and procedures we have in place and circumventing faculty input," Associate Professor of Pharmacology Jamie Alan said during the meeting.

MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz, also present at the meeting, responded by saying that the language in the press release would be tweaked, and emphasized that faculty do hold the power to establish curriculum. He added that some of the proposals within the "AI-Ready Spartans" initiative are already in motion, with a number of courses related to AI being developed by faculty across campus.

Another issue raised by faculty was the inability to share the draft press release with faculty who aren't part of the senate.

"We have bylaw processes by which we look at this curriculum, we examine it, we have the expertise to do so, and then we discuss it, we debate it, and we have a process through which curriculum is designed and approved," James Madison Associate Professor Andulana Borcila said. "And while my understanding is that faculty have been involved in this process, I also see this as a bypassing of our university bylaws, our academic governance bylaws, the role and expertise of the faculty in this process."

Guskiewicz responded by saying that "nothing is etched in stone" regarding these initiatives and that the purpose of a discussion with the senate was to gather feedback from faculty leaders.

Assistant Professor of Spanish Victor Rodriguez-Pereira said during the meeting that making a public announcement of the three recommended initiatives — which included a press release sent to the media — could create unnecessary limitations to future discussions about the initiatives.

"It still sets the agenda, as if this is being placed forward as something that is somewhat set in stone, or at least in semi dry clay," Rodriguez-Pereira said. "And I worry about that, because then we are defining the parameters and the boundaries of our discussion, as opposed to perhaps incorporating broader ideas."

In the final act of the meeting, Alan, the pharmacology professor, introduced a resolution expressing displeasure with the administration not adhering to academic governance procedure, arguing that the initiatives were developed without the "requisite legislative approval of the University Committee on Curriculum (UCC), the University Committee on Undergraduate Education (UCUE) or the Faculty Senate."

The resolution also asserted that no "foundational AI course," "AI certificate" or "Career-Connected" degree requirement be implemented or listed in the University Catalog until it has been "proposed by an academic unit and approved through the established faculty governance."

The final part of the resolution called upon Guskiewicz to "immediately pause" the implementation of these initiatives and submit them to the proper channels for review.

Some faculty, like Associate Professor of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education Matthew Brodhead, were apprehensive to the resolution, saying that university leadership seemed receptive to feedback and that the senate should wait until the recommendations become public to act. 

Associate Professor of Engineering Rebecca Anthony added that although she supported pausing the announcement, she didn't think that the resolution was necessary, since the language does not explicitly state "a rejection of the stated protocols for curriculum revision and that being a faculty driven process."

The resolution passed 27-17.

The other two initiatives announced by the council, titled "Career-Connected Spartans" and "Spartan Catalyst," respectively aim to strengthen career prospects for students and to connect MSU researcher with business and industry in the state.