Senate approves term faculty tracks

New titles, career tracks and terminology for nontenure-eligible (NTE) faculty positions are some of the changes approved May 1 by the Faculty Senate in its final meeting of the academic year.

The proposed changes were divided into three parts prior to the final discussion, requiring three individual votes. All were approved, with a round of applause after the final piece passed.

Among the approved changes:

• Terminology, changing the description from NTE to term faculty
• Consistent processes and policies for appointments, reviews and career advancement
• New professor of practice track, with assistant, associate and full professor of practice titles
• Revised titles for instructional faculty: lecturer, and assistant, associate and full teaching professor

The changes were two years in the making. A 2016 joint task force of senate and provost office representatives studied the status of term faculty, developing a set of recommendations in 2017. After collecting feedback across campus, the senate's executive board introduced the proposed changes at the March 20 meeting.

P&T details

Senior vice president and provost Jonathan Wickert provided some details about 85 promotion and tenure cases considered this year. Three promotions were denied -- one to associate professor with tenure and two tenured faculty to full professor. One candidate was granted a tenure-clock extension. Tenure was granted to 29 faculty (28 of whom also were promoted to associate professor). Among tenured faculty, 52 were promoted to professor.

P&T decisions by gender and ethnicity

"This was a year in which we had more cases move forward, which of course reflects hiring decisions that were made a number of years ago," Wickert said.

"The success rate here is something to be proud of," he said. "It represents an incredible amount of hard work on the part of our colleagues and hard work on the part of the faculty who served on promotion and tenure committees either at the department or college level."

Wickert said 80 faculty post-tenure reviews were conducted by colleges, the most since 87 evaluations were done in FY15. Five reviews received "below expectations" evaluations, requiring implementation of an action plan for improvement.

Business proposal

Senators voted in favor of allowing the Ivy College of Business to split its supply chain and information systems department into two -- the department of supply chain management, and the department of information systems and business analytics. The request cites "significant growth" in both programs, and that they are "distinct academic disciplines."

The proposal requires approval by President Wendy Wintersteen and the state Board of Regents. If approved, the changes will be effective as of July 1, 2019.

Policy cleanup

Proposed changes for the Faculty Handbook were introduced that simplify the discrimination and harassment policy (section 7.2.2.2). Revisions would eliminate redundant information and align definitions with the university's policy library. The request also would move the "Harassing Behavior" subsection (7.2.2.2.2) to its own section to address "bullying" behavior. The changes will be up for a vote when the senate reconvenes for the fall semester.

Other business

• Now past-president Tim Day (biomedical sciences) passed the gavel to 2018-19 senate president Peter Martin (human development and family studies). Jonathan Sturm (music) assumes the office of president-elect and Annmarie Butler (philosophy and religious studies) will serve another term as secretary.
• Proposed policy changes for classroom disruptions introduced at the April 17 meeting did not appear on Tuesday's agenda. The proposed changes were sent to the governance council for more work.