MINUTES OF THE FACULTY HANDBOOK REVISION
COMMITTEE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2006
MASON HALL, room D1
Present: Kevin Avruch, Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology,
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution; Lorraine Brown, Professor of
English, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and President of the AAUP
Chapter of George Mason University; Rick Coffinberger, Associate Professor of
Business and Legal Studies, School of Management, Chair; Martin Ford, Senior
Associate Dean, College of Education and Human Development; Dave Harr, Senior
Associate Dean, School of Management; Marilyn Mobley, Associate Provost for
Education Programs; David Rossell, Associate Provost for Personnel and Budget, ex-officio; Suzanne Slayden, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
College of Science.
Revision:
2.1.3 Other Types of Fixed Term Appointment:
Removal of “normally” from “An appointment for full-time employment for
a fixed term, in which service is not applied to consideration for tenure. The University can, but is not required to,
renew such appointments for additional terms.
The total duration of these appointments is normally five years, but
may be longer if dictated by circumstances and the needs of the University” to
add “Any exceptions must be approved by the Provost and the respective dean.”
Discussion: Leave Extending
Beyond Two Years Duration
- Recent
cases in which military service
extended indefinitely; one in third year of deployment, in violation of university policy two
year maximum leave period
- Early
90’s several tenure-track faculty deployed; contractual clock continued
but tenure clock stopped.
- Federal
law would supercede in private sector; perhaps to add statement such as
“Applicable federal law to cover military leave?” or create a separate
paragraph regarding military leave?
- Not to
penalize faculty in any way in such circumstances – an ethical as well as
legal question
- Impact
of timing of leave – whether in 1st or 2nd year of
tenure-track position vs. 6th year
- Did
faculty member voluntarily extend deployment; should they be penalized for
this? Does Human Resources have a
policy about this?
- Also
applicable to instances of extended illness; two years’ consecutive leave allowed, needs to be reworded
more clearly.
- To consult
University Counsel and Provost
Discrepancy between University Policies and Human
Resources Information: Faculty
member makes responsible effort to follow rules which contain
discrepancies. Although we are a state
agency, faculty do not fall under Virginia Personnel Act.
Should Research Faculty be covered by the Faculty Handbook?
- Matt Kluger, VP for Research and
Provost Stearns support this idea
- Instances in which faculty hired as
research professor, given tenure, then funding stopped
- New faculty inquired at orientation
whether research faculty may teach
- COS trying to accommodate research
faculty requests to teach
- Focus for research faculty to secure
sponsored program funding; OK to teach but not to create courses for them
to teach; must be based on enrollment need
- Administrative/professional faculty
teach; consistent for research faculty to teach
- Series of negotiations between
dean/director and chair – cannot legislate this; to have Faculty Handbook reflect reality, will be
allowed/disallowed by dean/director/chair; deans have targets for
enrollment
- How have Robinson professors handled
charge as great undergraduate teachers?
Some have fulfilled this quite well, some teach graduate as well as
undergraduate courses – how does the history of the Robinson professoriate
fit into GMU picture? What can we
learn from this regarding reorganization?
- Instructional faculty must teach at
least one course, whether tenured, tenure-track or term faculty. Teaching loads vary quite a bit.
- Do research faculty have contractual
right to teach? No, but they can
request to have a teaching load, must be specified in their contract. Does “Some research faculty may have
the right to teach (to include 2.1.3 Other Types of Fixed Term
Appointment” cover this?
Section 2.10.3 Exclusion of
Faculty From The Classroom
- Dismissal for
Cause/Exclusion from the Classroom – most cases deal with mental health
issues; post-traumatic syndrome – need to separate out better issues of
medical emergency from categories of misconduct; circumstances arise; very
sticky
- In criminal justice system, people get
administrative leave pending results of investigation- to create a new
category – administrative leave with pay?
Under present system is either “excluded from classroom” or “dismissed”
- Do you allow
to continue to teach if accused of plagiarism or scientific
misconduct?
- Timing is
crucial – how long it goes on; can you intervene?
- False
accusations
- Caveat about
faculty member going through treatment as admission needing help, becomes
part of record and a stigma; very hard to monitor once person involved has
accepted recommendation of committee/department; also did faculty have
legal counsel available?
- To research
AAUP policy; a quick survey of VA doctoral institutions.
- Some
situations (such as lack of English proficiency) should ideally be handled
at the hiring state; not to over-legislate. Dean/Chair responsibility to respond to complaints.
Respectfully submitted,
Meg Caniano
Clerk, Faculty Senate