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October 24, 2003
3:00
Present:
Dr. F. Sauls (chair); Dr. Bower; Dr. Books; Dr. Boucher; Dr. Pavlac; Dr. Rose; Dr. Sterling; Ms. Tierney; Dr. Wallace
Announcements:
A. The procedure for scheduling CORE sections will be changed effective with the January scheduling session (for Fall 2004). CORE project team leaders will no longer be responsible for discussions with department chairs regarding number of sections, faculty assignments, etc. These will be handled through the VPAA’s office.
B. Resolving a longstanding problem of incomplete access to relevant information, the P&T and Senior Promotion Committees will now review the personnel files of candidates, along with the applications they prepare.
C. The President and Board of Directors have enthusiastically accepted the Differential Workload Policy and the Academic Program Review.
D. In response to popular demand, the agenda for Council meetings will be distributed to all and sundry before the meetings.
Revised Confidentiality Policy:
Council approved the Confidentiality policy as it appears below.
Revisions to the Faculty Handbook regarding confidentiality
p. 35 (part of the “College Policies Relating to Employment”)
Par. 2
Information about the student’s personal life, disabilities, health, financial status, [added] views, beliefs, and political associations which professors acquire in the course of their work shall be considered confidential. A teacher has the responsibility of exercising discretion in the use of this information in conformity with College Policy on Privacy (as required by the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and other applicable laws [added].
[Begin new paragraph] At the beginning of the semester, students must be informed of the criteria . . .
[Insert new section]
G. Confidentiality Policy
All information a faculty member obtains regarding a student’s academic performance, behavior, and other records, is confidential and may not be disclosed except in conformity with the privacy policies in the College Catalog (see General Information – Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act).
Information a faculty member obtains regarding colleagues via service on evaluating committees (e. g. Promotion and Tenure, Senior Promotion, ad hoc position search, senior faculty review) or as department chair or program director is confidential.
Faculty shall adhere to the published policies on information technology use (see Responsible Use of Information Technology Policy).
These policies do not supersede the legal requirements for reporting to appropriate authority:
Violations of law;
Suspected child abuse (of those under 18);
Those who appear a danger to themselves or others;
Allegations of rape or sexual assault.
[Reassign letters from present sections G, H to H, I]
Family and Medical Leave Act and the Faculty Handbook:
Dr. Rose’s preliminary report (below) will be referred to the Faculty Benefits Committee.
Updating the Faculty Handbook to reflect the Family and Medical Leave Act
(FMLA) of 1993
Preliminary Report from Margarita M. Rose
In its 1999 edition, the Faculty Handbook does not articulate a very generous policy on Family and Medical Leave. In fact, there is no mention in the handbook of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the only reference to emergency sick leave or maternity leave falls under the heading "Leaves without Pay" (page 49 in the 1999 edition of the Faculty Handbook). A brochure was published and distributed in 1999 concerning FMLA at King's, and there are two relevant documents in the Personnel Policies Manual (#507--FMLA and #506--leave of absence). However, these policies do not reflect the particular circumstances of teaching faculty, i.e. the fact that the academic calendar narrowly defines our employment time-frame and commitments. We also do not accumulate paid vacation time nor sick days. Thus, the articulation of the FMLA policy in the Personnel Policies documents is not relevant for the faculty.
In 1998, the Women's Studies Committee forwarded some recommendations concerning FMLA to the Personnel Policies Committee. Although we recommended updates to the Faculty Handbook to reflect FMLA, no move was made in that direction.
It is my understanding that faculty members who have given birth in the last decade have been able to make arrangements with the administration that have afforded them an opportunity to take some paid maternity leave. The same can be said for those faculty members who have taken leave for medical reasons (open heart surgery, prostate cancer, etc). So, the institution has provided paid leaves for these situations, even though the Handbook makes no mention of them. Fortunately, we seem to have a relatively good track record of accommodation/compensation.
However, given the uncertainty and lack of guarantee created by the written policy in the Handbook, I argue in favor of some statement of the de facto policy, especially for the benefit of newer members of the faculty. My only hesitation in moving this ahead is concern that a new stated policy may jeopardize the decent de facto policy up to this point.
Below are some preliminary thoughts and questions, of my own and other members of the faculty to whom I have spoken, to consider when attempting to clarify application of FMLA to the faculty:
1. Do we want to see a distinction between "medically necessary" leave (such as the 6 weeks after birth for a new mother) and "dependent care" leave that allows new parents time with their newborn/newly arrived children?
2. Do we want to see a statement of paternity leave? What would be the benefits and rights of paternal leave?
3. Should we articulate the circumstances of leave for parents of sick children/children of sick parents who are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, according to the law?
4. Who is responsible for finding someone to cover missed classes when the delivery date (or illness) occurs during the semester?
5. Can leave be postponed if the faculty member finds someone to cover classes?
6. Does the nature of the leave (duration, compensation) depend upon faculty status (tenured, tenure track, etc.)?
7. What should be the minimum leave benefit? Is it always 12 weeks of paid leave? ...6 weeks paid, 6 weeks unpaid?
8. Can a policy be articulated which at least reflects the minimum guaranteed by law, and at the same time protects the collegiality which has shaped accommodations for individual circumstances in the past?
Committee Reports:
C & T: Dr. Boucher distributed the minutes from the October 13th meeting of C & T, which included the committee’s brainstorming on the preliminary, general questions about the Core Review. Council discussed general issues related to the points addressed in the C & T minutes, including the need for historical perspective on the Core, questions about the Core’s size, questions about Alumni responses to the Core, and the role of interdisciplinary courses in the Core.
A & P:
1. Council moved and accepted A & P’s additions to the Guidelines for Proportion of Tenured Faculty. The paragraph in question reads (with the addition appearing in bold face):
The College is divided into four divisions as defined in the Constitution of the Faculty Council, except that library faculty will not be considered part of any division for the purposes of these guidelines. [Add] Tenured faculty currently holding full-time administrative appointments are not included in the divisional or departmental tenure percentages while they serve and for a period of 6 years after they return to the faculty full time. [End Add] The expected retirement age for tenured faculty is calculated as the average age at which tenured faculty have retired over the preceding 5 years, excluding those who were older than 80 or younger than 60. Ordinarily none of the four divisions will have more than 65% of its faculty tenured. The maximum rate of tenure in individual departments will ordinarily range between 60% and 80%, except for one- or two-member departments, which may be fully tenured.
2. A & P’s discussion of the category of Professional Specialist is ongoing
3. A & P’s discussion of Faculty Governance is ongoing.
Other Business:
The next meeting of Faculty Council will be November 7, 2003 at 3:00 in the Library Board Room.
Meeting Adjourned:
4:00p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Laurie Sterling
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