The Roanoke Times | File March

Radford University President Penelope Kyle hears questions last week from participants in a budget meeting.

The Radford University faculty senate could this afternoon call for an investigation into administrators as the battle continues over academic reviews.

The meeting agenda includes a motion "to establish an ad hoc committee to investigate allegations that administrative actions with respect to academic affairs have contravened the RU internal governance document or the core values of the Radford University 7-17 strategic plan."

The resolution posted on the faculty senate's Web site references "numerous, serious and credible allegations" brought to the senate's attention without giving specific allegations.

Provost Wil Stanton said today's discussion is just a part of being on a college campus.

"What makes a university such a special place is its openness and diversity of opinion," Stanton said. "The administration welcomes the opportunity to work with the faculty senate."

The resolution also mentions the creation of a student group formed in response to an expedited review of 24 academic programs the university is undergoing. The committee, if established, would consist of the faculty senate president and one tenured full-time professor from each undergraduate college. Its work would begin no later than April 20 and end no later than Oct. 1.

The university's Academic Program Review Committee made recommendations on academic programs last week, voting to discontinue one program and restructure several others.

The process calls for a review by the faculty senate before Stanton makes recommendations to President Penelope Kyle. The university's board of visitors would then vote on any programs recommended to be discontinued. That could happen at the board's April 22-23 meeting.

The university held a forum this week to answer questions faculty and students have about the expedited review of academic programs. A meeting about the university budget last week caused controversy when Kyle refused to answer questions about academic program review. Stanton has said the review of programs is not designed to fill in any gaps in the budget created by reductions in state support.

Another resolution the senate is expected to consider today would recommend continuing all programs under expedited review. It cites accrediting, professional and university documents in its argument that the expedited process is not legitimate.

The document argues that the expedited speed of the review is unnecessary since the review of programs is not designed to compensate for budget cuts.

It also argues that the programs were given limited time to provide information to the committee and the committee was "forced into a schedule that permitted only cursory discussion of at most 20 minutes per program."

The resolution also adds that several programs recently underwent review and did not have the chance to implement planned changes before being subject to another review.