Present: Charles Brooks, Jim Dolhon, Howard Fedrick, Bernie Healey, Jayne Klenner-Moore, Mark Marchese, Fred Sauls (Chair). Guest: Nick Holodick.

Dave Baggett has resigned from Faculty Council, effective immediately. His term runs through 2007, and Group C will need to elect his replacement.

Dr. Sauls distributed samples of administrator evaluation forms for Council members to peruse in preparation for upcoming discussions. The plan is to take what we need from these forms and use that to run a pilot study, involving Dr. Holodick and Ms Peck.

Members discussed the draft that included changes reflecting discussion from the last Council meeting. There remains concern that some possible uses of funds (e.g. child care) stated in the proposal might cause problems. These uses raise broader issues of family vs. work responsibilities. Dr. Sauls noted financial support in the program is designed to provide resources for faculty to pursue scholarship, and these resources can be broadly defined. Problems will be addressed as they arise.

Council voted on a Fedrick/Klenner-Moore motion to approve the Senior Faculty Development proposal. Motion carried 7-0. The Chair will forward the proposal to Fr. O’Hara. (final version below)

Council began discussions on the proposal from A&P. Considerable discussion focused on the sentence: "The President maintains the right to remove the department chairpersons from office with just cause." Some members felt the final three words should be deleted because chairs serve at the pleasure of the President, and may be similarly removed. Other Council members felt that removal should be accompanied by some sort of explanation for the decision. Dr. Marchese agreed to draft alternate phrasing.

Chairman Fred groaned at the cumbersome title, "Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of the Faculty," repeated throughout the document. Council agreed to substitute "Dean/AVP" for the lengthy version. This decision was not taken lightly, out of awareness that some faculty may think our Dean also manages the local airport at Avoca.

Discussion of the proposal will continue at the next meeting, scheduled for February 17^th.

Senior Faculty Development is a formative review process for all faculty members who are tenured, on academic appointment, as well as professional specialists who have been promoted to associate clinical/technical professor or clinical/technical professor.

The Senior Faculty Development provides a review of a faculty member's professional work and a plan to develop long-term academic and professional interests.

The College will provide the faculty member with assistance, including dedicated funds, to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

The faculty member will create a plan and report his or her performance as part of the annual report. This performance will be reviewed annually with the chair. (See PART III, Section VII).

The results will be considered as part of applications for promotion, tenure, or merit pay.

 

The purposes of the Senior Faculty Development Program are to: (1) encourage the professional growth of senior faculty members, (2) provide College resources to assist that growth, (3) account for use of those resources, and (4) report on the professional development of the faculty member.

It is mandatory for all regular faculty members holding tenure or an academic appointment, and for professional specialists above the assistant (clinical or technical) professor rank. The first plan will be prepared the year after the faculty member’s receipt of tenure or an academic appointment, or promotion to associate (clinical or technical) professor; progress will be reported annually. The cycle will repeat at five year intervals.

The faculty member will form a committee consisting of the department chair (who will chair the committee), the Dean (and MSB Director if appropriate), and one other senior faculty member. If the faculty member is the department chair, another senior faculty member to chair the committee will be selected in consultation with the Dean or MSB Director.

The faculty member will submit to the committee:

(a) A current curriculum vitae.

(b) The last three annual activity reports.

(c) A brief (several pages) self-evaluative report on teaching, professional development, and service. If the faculty member has been tenured or promoted within the last 2 years, the P/T application may simply be referenced.

(d) A professional development plan addressing questions such as: How do I fit into the College future, i. e. what can I contribute over the next 5 years? How can I meet the standards for promotion or merit pay? How can I improve my teaching? What areas do I need to develop in order to do these? What resources do I need? How do I propose to use the money available? How will I be evaluated?

The plan must explain the goals, how these fit the needs of the department and College, the resources required, and the expected outcomes. It should include any proposed sabbaticals or use of the Differential Workload policy. Criteria for judging the achievement of these goals must be specified.

The proposed uses of the funds must directly advance the faculty member’s development. They may be used: (1) to provide tangible items, such as books, computers, equipment, etc. These remain the property of the College, although they are dedicated to the faculty member’s use. (2) For travel to professional gatherings or to use resources not available locally; (3) to free time for scholarly work (e.g. "buying" a course reduction, paying a research assistant, paying for child care, …); (4) other purposes clearly serving to remove impediments to the faculty member’s professional development.

The committee will evaluate the plan in light of the likely benefits to the students and College. Upon committee approval of the plan (including the proposed use of funds), the College will establish a faculty development account containing $3500 for the faculty member’s exclusive use. Access to the funds will require the approval of the faculty member and the committee chair. The faculty member will receive an annual report on the account activity and balance.

The funds will be accounted for in a separate part of the faculty member’s annual report, which will be reviewed during the yearly meeting with the department chair (Dean or MSB Director for department chairs). The report must demonstrate that the funds were expended in accord with the plan. The chair will submit a brief report to the Dean or MSB Director, who will then forward it to the Dean.

The annual reports will also be submitted to the committee. During the third year, the committee will meet with the faculty member to review progress and make plan revisions if required. At any time, the Dean, MSB Director, or committee chair may call for a meeting to review the faculty member’s progress.

In evaluating the faculty member’s progress, the committee shall bear in mind that interests change and unexpected opportunities occur. Thus, the plan is not a contract. However, the committee must judge whether a sufficient level of appropriate professional development has taken place.

Satisfactory progress requires no action except a notation to that effect. If progress is deemed unsatisfactory, all disbursements will be halted as described below. Until the committee is satisfied with the progress, any faculty development expenditures will require the explicit approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

At the end of the fifth year, any remaining funds revert to the College’s general fund. The process will then repeat. Subsequent plans shall address the results of the previous plan.

Faculty who do not have an approved plan, or whose performance within that plan is judged unsatisfactory, will be ineligible for any College faculty development funds. That is, no monies will be expended on behalf of that faculty member – from any College account – without explicit approval from the Vice President for Academic Affairs. In addition, the faculty member will be ineligible for sabbatical leave or merit pay.