MINUTES OF THE FACULTY HANDBOOK REVISION COMMITTEE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER
12, 2007;
Mason Hall, room
D1; 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Present: Kevin Avruch, Associate Director and Professor of Conflict Resolution, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution; Lorraine Brown, Professor of English, College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Martin Ford, Senior Associate Dean, College of Education and Human Development; Dave Harr, Senior Associate Dean, School of Management; Suzanne Slayden, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Science.
Absent: Rick Coffinberger, Associate Professor of Business and Legal Studies, School of Management, Chair.
In the absence of Rick Coffinberger, Suzanne Slayden chaired the meeting.
Confirmation of changes made to Sections 2.12.2.1 and 2.12.2.2 at our previous meeting October 29, 2007:
The university and each college, school and
institute is required to have a standing committee charged to hear investigate
grievances in a timely manner concerning (i) alleged violations of
academic freedom; (ii) other conditions of employment, such as work
assignments, salaries, facilities, and support services (exceptions are those
types of cases treated in Sections
2.10.2.2 and 2.10.2.3);
and (iii) charges of unprofessional or unethical conduct brought by one faculty
member against another. Each college, school and institute will establish,
publish, and disseminate these procedures.
In all types of cases, procedures will reflect the fundamental principle
of due process that prohibits people from sitting in judgment of their own
actions, if those actions are challenged, i.e., grieved or appealed. These
committees are particularly charged to be alert to instances of inequitable
treatment and retaliation against colleagues who have filed grievances. In cases alleging discrimination in
violation of federal or state law or University regulations, the committee must
consult the University Equity Office early in the process. In cases of research and scholarship misconduct
(pending SS/RC/B Stevens). The University Grievance Committee hears
all grievances against Deans/Directors.
In addition to hearing
specific cases, the committees may initiate, as they deem necessary,
discussions with appropriate administrators about any matters that fall within
the committees' purview. In the course of such discussions, however, they may
not commit the faculties of their units to changes in grievance policy unless
specifically authorized to do so.
At their discretion, academic departments may also
establish grievance committees. Their procedures should be similar to those of
the collegiate committees.
2.12.2.2 Grievance Procedures – 2007 Revision in progress:
The following procedures apply to all grievances:
In cases of alleged
violations of academic freedom (except those related to matters of promotion
and tenure, for which Section 2.9 applies), the faculty of the college, school
or institute acts on its grievance committee’s recommendation by formal vote
the outcome of which is final.
In
cases of alleged violations of academic freedom (except those related to
matters of promotion and tenure, for which Section 2.9
applies), the following procedures apply:
The
procedures to be followed in other types of grievance cases are the same,
except that the committee forwards its findings and recommendation directly to
the appropriate administrator for final action if the grievance is against an
administrator. If the grievance is against a fellow faculty member, the
grievance committee's decision is final.
In all types of cases,
procedures will reflect the fundamental principle of due process that prohibits
people from sitting in judgment of their own actions, if those actions are
challenged, i.e., grieved or appealed. (moved to 2.12.2.1Policies Concerning
Grievances)
Dave
Harr and Martin Ford will discuss with the Provost Tenure Clock Exceptions to
Standard Policy currently in the Faculty
Information Guide. Meg will verify
whether any remaining items not yet resolved identified as issues of concern by
the Provost in his review of Handbook
text.
Discussion:
Mason Care Program; Inclusion of term “Clinical Faculty”
·
Clinical faculty as a group of term faculty who are not teaching or
research oriented term faculty. In earlier discussions with Shirley
Travis, did not (realize) that clinical faculty would be non-teaching,
non-research, but whatever “clinical” implies. Assume would be covered by Faculty
Handbook as term faculty.
·
Term
faculty deals with either teaching or research faculty.
·
Under older
definitions, before Mason Care Program, clinical used to be a transient
category, but now will be term faculty.
In sample term faculty hiring letters, is there a separate provision for
clinical term faculty? Would they be
treated the same as research faculty – hired for a fixed term, with some kind
of performance appraisal?
·
What is
(stated) in your contract is what you are evaluated on; eclectic cases in CEHD
with teaching load and other duties half-time; 2:2 teaching load. Faculty are
evaluated on these important assignments.
Assignment must be half-time or less, otherwise must be administrative faculty.
·
SOM matrix
for instructional faculty evaluation: teaching, research, service –
administrative piece falls into service.
Business minor coordinator doing in essence administrative work –
striving to clarify.
·
Need to
review Handbook sections (such as 2.3.3 Procedures for Appointment
and Reappointment of Term Faculty) either to add “clinical” after
references to “instructional and research term faculty” or to remove
“instructional and research” to have references to “term faculty”, example
below in first paragraph :
Full-time instructional or research faculty on
fixed-term, non tenure track appointments are known
as Term Faculty. At the discretion of
the respective Dean or Director, and after appropriate faculty review, such
faculty may be offered single-year or multi-year contracts that expire automatically at the end of the
contract period. There is
no guarantee or right to reappointment from one contract to the next, whether
multi-year or single-year. If a
multi-year appointment is offered to a faculty member whose position relies
entirely or partially on non-state appropriated funding, then a multi-year
contract may be established with the caveat that this funding must be available
throughout the contract period.
·
Should
paragraph four be changed to remove language?
Criteria for reappointment
will emphasize strong performance in areas teaching or research, as designated in
the initial contract letter. The
reappointment process outlined below is not applicable for Instructors without
a terminal degree or postdoctoral appointments.
·
Would
clinical faculty have different requirements than term instructional
faculty? Committee members broadly in
favor of offering clinical faculty protection, should be covered by Faculty
Handbook.
·
Reference to 1.3.1 The General Faculty, paragraph
one – 2007 Revision
The General Faculty participates in
governance at the university level. All members of the University community may
attend meetings of the General Faculty and participate in the debate of matters
that come before it. The voting membership of the General Faculty consists of
all full-time instructional and research faculty.
· are administrative faculty included in the general faculty? to add “clinical”? to remove “instructional and research”?
Reference to 2.1.3 Other Types of Full-Time Fixed-Term Appointments – 2007 Revision (paragraphs 1 and 2, in which “clinical” is included):
Full-time instructional, research, and clinical faculty
on fixed-term, non-tenure track appointments are known as Term Faculty. Service in such positions cannot be applied
to consideration for tenure, although a
faculty member holding this kind of appointment can subsequently be considered
for a tenure-track or tenured
appointment.
Term faculty whose assignments focus primarily on teaching are appointed as instructional faculty. Term faculty whose assignments focus primarily on research are appointed as research faculty. Term faculty whose assignments focus primarily on clinical practice are appointed as clinical faculty. Some specific administrative or service functions may also be attached to the teaching, research, or clinical focus.
Mason Care is broader than just the health care arena, provides consulting activities. Need to ascertain what is encompassed in Mason Care program; where would faculty actually fit? Which units would have clinical faculty? Examples in accounting/finance/law: teaching very applied kinds of things vs. teaching broad theory, etc. Not sure why would need a new category if you are teaching, assumed it was more service. Clinical may include instruction and other things.
Part-time Faculty:
Faculty Handbook does not cover part-time faculty of any
stripe? Not the same as adjunct
faculty, whose contract is to teach a specific course. Recent AAUP documented that 48% of faculty
serve in part-time capacity. Part-time (separate from adjunct faculty)
typically hired without a search, have no evaluation procedures. As written in
2006 Revision 2.1.4 Part-Time Appointment
… Part-time term faculty positions are governed by the same appointment, rank, and title requirements as full-time term faculty positions except that the Dean is the final approval level and the maximum length of a part-time term faculty position is one year, with exceptions requiring the approval of the Provost.
as an informational
statement yes, but contractual statement no.
General idea to devolve to local level.
Need for consistency and simplicity in language. If this is not a
contractual document for part-time faculty; may need a separate Faculty Handbook; massive parts of Faculty Handbook do not
apply to part-time faculty. Some (GMU)
colleges may have a large percentage of part-time fixed term faculty – in
programs such as Continuing Education Program, or Physical Education Activity
classes. Many adjuncts are
professionals who teach one course and have a full-time job elsewhere. How many
adjuncts are full-time elsewhere? No
question the numbers are going up. All
concerned about how this transfers to FTE.
Faculty
Composition and Impact Upon SACS Accreditation: very
important to keep track of how faculty composition is structured in different
units; percentage relative to number of full-time instructional faculty.
Topics to
Discuss for Next Meeting:
·
Clarification
of Mason Care questions
·
Chapter Three;
needs for changes to 3.1 Salary
Schedule in view of change in
SCHEV peer group; revenue from combination of tuition increases approved by BOV
along with general (state) appropriation; etc.
Perhaps to remove as a section but place pieces of it somewhere
else.
·
Very important
to retain 3.3. Summer Salaries salary agreement negotiated by Faculty
Senate with the Provost.
·
Any remaining
Provost revisions to discuss?
Respectfully
submitted,
Meg Caniano
Clerk, Faculty
Senate