Faculty Senate	Minutes	Senate home | Comments
Tuesday, 20 January 2004   See Agenda   Meeting 04-05

Roll call

Absent: Adams (Nursing), Cami-Vela (FLL), Clark (Business), Clifford (English), DePaolo (Chancellor), Emslie (Biology; Buildings & Grounds Committee), Ervin (Research Committee), Frankel (Social Work), Perko (HAHS), Rosen (Information Systems; Admissions Committee), Scheuring (Nursing), Walker (Curricular Studies), Webster (Biology), Wilcox (Art & Theater)

Approval of minutes

December minutes were approved.

Special order of the day

Rebecca Lee (Creative Writing) was elected as Vice President for the remainder of the 2003-2004 academic year.

Individual reports

1. Senate President Daniel Noland reported as follows:
   • The Ad Hoc Basic Studies Committee chaired by Tim Ballard has been charged by the Chancellor.
   • A Q&A session for junior faculty on RTP will be held Monday, 26 January, at 4 p.m. in Cameron Auditorium.
   • Motion to revise RTP procedures will be presented to the Senate in February.
      
2. Faculty Assembly delegate Jimmy Reeves reported on the debate about using campus-based tuition increases for salary increases. This creates a dangerous precedent, with the state shirking its traditional responsibility to support the university and placing that burden on students. Increasingly private funds are being used to support public higher education. Lack of raises and shrinking benefits are causing faculty to leave and hindering recruitment. Provost Hosier stated that his policy is to adjust salaries of highly productive, mobile faculty. The Faculty Assembly is to consider salaries and campus-based tuition on January 23 [see Assembly motions].

Committee reports

1. Pam Seaton of the CAS Dean search committee reported that 99 applications were evaluated, 11 candidates were given telephone interviews, and 5 of 6 candidates have accepted invitations for on-campus interviews. Interview schedules will be announced in Campus Communique.
    
2. An ad hoc committee to revamp the Campus Communique is considering ways to make campus information more accessible to faculty and staff and to end e-mail notification of events. A trial publication tentatively called @UNCW is undergoing usability testing. Comments can be sent to UNCWrelations@uncw.edu.
    
3. University General Counsel Eileen Goldgeier reported that the Ad Hoc Intellectual Property Committee has recommended that the Board of Governors policy on patents and copyrights be adopted verbatim as UNCW's policy (see draft policy). The BOG has stipulated that not less than 15% of royalties from inventions shall go to the inventors. Under UNCW's proposed policy, 40% of royalties will go to inventors, 30% to the inventors' local unit (usually the department), and 30% to a Chancellor's trust fund to support faculty research.
    
4. The following motions from the Steering Committee were adopted after amendment:
    
   1. [Motion 04-05-14; adopt mediation policy; carried] That the following documents be amended as follows [additions, deletions] to bring UNCW policies into accord with new Board of Governors policies 101.3.1 and 101.3.2:
        
      1. Insert the following as a new section V of Policies of Academic Freedom and Tenure (subject to Board of Governors approval), with current sections V–XI renumbered accordingly:

         V. Mediation of Faculty Grievances

         The university encourages faculty to resolve grievances in an amicable fashion whenever possible. As a result, the university provides faculty the opportunity to participate in mediation conducted by trained mediators. In order to learn more about the mediation services and to access those services, a faculty member should contact the Provost, the president of the Faculty Senate, the chair of the Faculty Professional Relations Committee, or the chair of the Faculty Hearings Panel for the name of a contact person at the approved mediation company that the university has contracted with to perform such services. Upon the filing of a grievance, the chair of the Faculty Professional Relations Committee, or in the case of a request to review a nonreappointment decision, the chair of the Faculty Hearings Panel shall determine whether the faculty member has considered mediation as an alternative dispute-resolution process and provide information about this process for the faculty member to consider. Entering into mediation will suspend the time limitations for the filing and/or the formal resolution of the grievance or a hearing for the duration of a mediation being conducted.

         The university shall pay for the mediation services, without charge to the faculty member, the department, or any individual administrator who is a party to the mediation. Mediation is voluntary, and both parties must agree to participate in order for mediation to proceed. The decision not to participate in mediation by either party will not be held against that party in any way, and no blame will attach to either party if mediation does not produce a settlement. At any time during the process, any party may withdraw and the mediation will end. If at any time during the process it becomes evident to the mediator that the parties cannot reach an agreement, the mediator may discontinue the process.

         The mediation is confidential to the extent allowed by law. If both parties agree, the parties may each have an advisor present. If mediation is successful and results in an outcome acceptable to both parties, neither party may pursue a pending grievance or a hearing or at a later date file a grievance or request for a hearing on the matters addressed in the mediation. A successful mediation may result in a written agreement signed by both parties. Any mediation which results in an agreement that obligates the university must be signed by a university official with the authority to bind the university concerning the particular agreement. No record of a failed mediation will be produced by the mediator other than a statement written to either the chair of the Faculty Professional Relations Committee or the chair of the Faculty Hearings Panel, as appropriate, that mediation was attempted but settlement was not reached. Within five days after an unsuccessful mediation, the faculty member has the responsibility to notify the pertinent chair that he or she desires to pursue the grievance. The grievance will then be reviewed by either the Faculty Professional Relations Committee or the Faculty Hearings Panel as appropriate and in accordance with the relevant policy. The parties must agree that the mediator will not be called as a witness in any subsequent proceeding and that anything done or said by either party during a mediation process may not be used against a party in any subsequent proceeding.

      2. Revise the current section V.D. (to be renumbered as VI.D.) of Policies of Academic Freedom and Tenure (subject to Board of Governors approval) as follows:
          
         4. Request for Review by Hearing Committee; Scope of Review
            Within five days after the faculty member receives notice of an unfavorable action resulting from the conference with the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, he/she may seek to mediate the matter or request that the Faculty Hearings Panel review the decision.
             
            
      3. Revise section V.2.b.i., "Faculty Professional Relations Committee," of the Faculty Senate Bylaws as follows:
          
         1. Duties. To fulfill the duties defined in Section 607 of the Code. The Committee shall be authorized to hear, mediate facilitate mediation, and advise with respect to the adjustment of grievances of members of the faculty.
             
   2. [Motion 04-05-15; specify right to appeal grievance and nonreappointment decisions; carried] That Policies of Academic Freedom and Tenure be amended (subject to Board of Governors approval) as follows [additions, deletions]:
        
      1. Revise part G of section V: Nonreappointment Hearings Procedure (to be renumbered as section VI by the previous motion):
          
         7. Procedure after Hearing
                If the Hearings Committee determines that the faculty member's contention has not been established, it shall, by a simple unelaborated statement, so notify the faculty member, the appropriate dean, and the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Such a determination confirms the decision not to reappoint. If the Hearings Committee determines that the faculty member's contention has been satisfactorily established, it shall so notify the faculty member, the appropriate dean, and the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs by a written notice that shall also include a recommendation for corrective action by the dean.
                Within five days after receiving such a recommendation, the dean shall notify the faculty member, the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and the chairperson of the Hearings Committee what modification, if any, he/she will make with respect to the original decision not to reappoint.
                If the dean fails to make a recommended modification in the original decision, the Hearings Committee shall submit a report to the Chancellor containing the committee's findings and recommendation and what it considers to be appropriate action by the Chancellor to resolve the matter.
                The faculty member has the right to appeal the Chancellor's decision not to reappoint in accordance with Board of Governors policy 101.3.1.
             
      2. Insert the following as a new part E of current section VI: Faculty Committee to Hear Grievances (to be renumbered as section VII by the previous motion):
          
         5. A faculty member has the right to appeal any grievance decision in accordance with Board of Governors policy 101.3.2

Announcements

Faculty are requested to announce details of the Undergraduate Research Fellowship Competition in their classes.

Adjournment

Minutes by Richard Veit, Senate Secretary