University Senate Governance & Communication Committee
Report to the Senate February 2, 2015
1. The G&C Committee met on Wednesday, January 21, 2015, on the Summerville campus. Our committee meetings alternate locations between the two major GRU campuses, and this month’s meeting is tentatively scheduled for 11:30am on Wednesday, 2/11, in the Greenblatt Library room AB-211.
2. We presently have five subcommittees working issues.
a. The Bylaws and Statutes Review Subcommittee (chair: Emam Hoosain, COE) is still waiting for the results of the faculty vote, which will change how future changes to the Senate Bylaws and the University Statutes are approved. There are a number of changes pending, including updating the Bylaws description of the Dispute Resolution and Grievance Committee. That description conflicts with the overall GRU Policy document on the subject (GRU Policy 8.2.3, Faculty Grievance Policy, http://policy.gru.edu/archives/454 ) promulgated by Human Resources. The two policies need to be reconciled.
b. The Faculty Evaluation of Administrators Subcommittee (chair: Lindsay Blake, Library) is following up on the Press-Gainey results. The next step appears to be the report from the President’s Cabinet.
c. The Intrafaculty Communications Subcommittee (chair: Walter Moore, MCG) is working with Dr. Karla Leeper, who is Dr. Azziz’s Chief of Staff, to generate an overall plan to formalize GRU faculty peer-to-peer communications. Dr. Leeper and her staff are working on a “strategic communication plan,” which is under development and expected to take multiple months with its rollout in an iterative process. She has stated that she is highly supportive of active faculty involvement in this process, and we are working to see whether we can speed up that “multiple month” timeline.
d. The Nomination and Election Subcommittee (chaired by Julie Zadinsky, CON) has recommended a timeline to the Executive Committee, to solicit nominations for filling University-wide and College-wide offices that will be due for a vote the end of this academic year. Dr. Pawl will be briefing this separately. Our committee concern is to make sure that colleges complete their elections for next fall’s University Senators and University Committee members this semester, with results reported to the Senate by the final spring meeting.
e. The Policy Review Subcommittee (chaired by Robert Scott, CoSM) reports that the University’s Policy Review Group (PRG) has not yet met this semester; the next meeting is scheduled for this Friday, (2/06).
i. Draft “Institutional Admissions Policy” (Policy Owner is the Office of Academic Admissions): was assigned to the Student Affairs Committee, for review in September, since the Bylaws task that committee with making “recommendations … on GRU admissions requirements.” Note that there is a requirement by the BOR for review and subsequent approval by the University Senate: http://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section3/policy/C337/#p3.2.4_faculty_rules_and_regulations . We are awaiting the results of that review.
ii. There may be further draft GRU Policies sent to Senate Committees following this Friday’s meeting, asking those committees to report their recommendations to the Senate during the 3/02 Senate meeting.
iii. The “Core Committee” chaired by Dr. Scott at the behest of Dr. Rychly, to recommend a new GRU Faculty Manual, met the week of 26 January. This committee consists of leadership members (usually the chairs) of the following Senate committees: Governance and Communication, Faculty Rights and Responsibilities, Student Affairs, Curriculum and Academic Policies, and Faculty Development. We have a “List of Proposed Contents” for Senate approval that was sent to all Senators earlier today (2/02),attached for the record at the end of this report. The next step is to ask various Senate Committees to draft individual sections, where possible not repeating existing GRU Policies but instead referring and linking to them. The goal is to have the document itself completed at least in draft form, by the end of spring semester.
Faculty Manual Ideas – Topics
● Introduction
○ Preface
○ Roles of Board of Regents; President and Administration; Faculty
■ Areas of Faculty Primary Concern (e.g., curriculum development, P&T)
○ Academic Organization of GRU (Chain of Command, colleges)
○ President, Provost, Vice Provosts, and VPAFA structure
○ Deans and Department Chairs
● Faculty Governance Structure (University Senate and college equivalents)
○ Description and links to University Statutes and Senate Bylaws
● Communications and Privacy
○ IT, Email, personal information and Student Communications
○ FERPA
○ HIPAA and other Privacy Rule
● Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
○ GRU Policy Library
○ Faculty Teaching Expectations
○ Faculty Research and Scholarship Expectations
○ Faculty Service Expectations
○ Faculty Grievance Policies and Procedures
● Faculty Involvement in Selection and Evaluation of Administrators
● Academic Freedom and Professional Ethics
○ Policy on Academic Freedom
○ Guidelines for Peaceful Assembly on Campus
○ Classroom Use of Recording
○ Intellectual Property Policy
○ Conflict of Interest Policy
○ Diversity & Inclusion
● Teaching and Curriculum Regulations, Procedures, and Academic Program Development
○ Record Retention Policy
○ Academic Calendar
○ Special Needs Students
○ Dealing with Troubled Students
○ Dismissal for Non-Academic Reasons
○ CURS
○ Pamplin Travel & Research Fund
○ First Year Experience (FYE)
○ Study Abroad
○ ITS Resources
○ Libraries
○ Socializing with Students
○ Use of social media for academic communication/reasons
○ Online Course Availability - eCourses, “office hours”
● Personnel Policies and Procedures for Faculty
○ Administrative Policies and Procedures
■ Safety Regulations: Biological, Chemical, Radiological, & Environmental
■ Faculty Development and Faculty Annual Performance
■ Student Course Evaluations
■ General Faculty Employment Guidelines and Benefits
■ Faculty Search, Appointment, Salaries and Promotion
■ Telework - GRU Policy
■ 9- and 10-month faculty and Presence on Campus
■ Affirmative Action Policies, Race/Age/Gender discrimination, etc.
■ Sexual Harassment Policy
■ Notice of Employment and Resignation
■ Faculty Practice - Personnel
● Definition
● GRU policy
■ Sabbatical, Leave of Absence
■ Faculty Orientation - Personnel
■ Summer Courses & Faculty Pay
■ Outside Professional Activities
● Definition
● GRU Policy
■ Travel Policy/Documentation
○ Professional Policies and Procedures
■ Faculty Rank and Qualifications
■ Emeritus status - link to USG policy
■ Faculty Workload – 12-month faculty, 10-month faculty, 9-month faculty
■ Part-Time Faculty Guidelines
■ Review process Faculty Retraining
■ Grants Procedures
■ Research Procedures
○ IRB and CITI training
■ Promotion and Tenure Guidelines (link to University guidelines – and discussion of college specific guidelines, where to find them)
● American Association of University Professors (AAUP) GRU Chapter
● (NOTE: We plan to ask IT to institute a “Search Box” for this manual on its Home Page)
○ (If possible, we will also include links to College Faculty Manual home pages, for colleges with their own manuals or college “Addenda” to this manual)