Faculty Representative Assembly

President’s Report

September 12, 2003

            I think this should be a busy year for faculty governance. At the campus level, we already know several issues that we will be working on for the upcoming year. These include

• Revising and approving the Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure Policy. We currently have an interim policy. This policy will need to be reviewed at the unit level, with feedback given to the Deans. The revised policy will then be submitted to EPUS and return to faculty assembly for approval next spring.
• The campus research council has developed a research initiative. We are currently exploring ways that faculty governance can be involved with this initiative. You can expect to hear more about this in the future.
• We are developing a committee to explore ways to strengthen shared governance on campus. We currently have administrators who believe in collaborative relationships and we want to take advantage of developing structures for the future. We will be working with the Administration, Staff Council and PESA Council on this topic.

The system Faculty Council is also working on several issues that are likely to pass through our assembly. These include:

• Consolidation of the Health Sciences and Denver campuses. It will be important to think about the impact of this consolidation on all campuses. The system administration has two key assumptions as they move forward on the consolidation: Needs to be revenue neutral and Do no harm. Committees are being developed to begin planning the implementation of the consolidation. There will be representative from all campuses. If this is an issue that interests you, then contact me to find ways to get involved.
• Program Discontinuance Policy: The university currently has a very generous policy for program discontinuance that works as academic needs change but is very costly when we are in a budget crisis. The system wide EPUS committee is working on a new policy for discontinuance in times of budget crisis. This will need to be completed this year because if programs are to be discontinued then faculty will need to be told in the Fall 2004 semester if there is to be a one-year notice about a program being discontinued.
• Retirement Options: The federal climate has changed so that there are more retirement options available, although the state laws may be more restrictive. Policies are being developed so that people may be willing to retire (instead of needing to eliminate programs).
• Uniform Grading Policy: The faculty council approved a new uniform grading policy. However, under the old policy there is a requirement that all colleges across all campuses must approve any changes in the current uniform grading policy. We can expect to see this policy being voted on in the colleges during the year.
• Academic Bill of Rights: In the news recently there has been discussion of developing an Academic Bill of Rights and there has been talk of tying funding to this bill of rights. There is an article in the Silver and Gold this week. This may become an important issue for all campuses.
• Tuition Benefits. Mark Malone, President of Faculty Council, is working with Vice President Sweet’s office to see what is possible and what is feasible. Boulder campus is doing a survey on faculty interest in using such a benefit. This issue is likely to be brought forward to Faculty Coucil.