Provost’s Remarks on Emory’s Values

Provost Claire Sterk urged further discussion about the role of Emory faculty in promotion and tenure. “What should Emory’s practice be, what should Emory’s culture be?” she said. “This is a very important conversation and one that I actually think is perfect for the Faculty Council as a governance body to explore.” Sterk added that she and President Wagner have been in conversation with Emory deans to “to really think about Emory’s values and how those translate into what Emory stands for.” She anticipates additional discussion with the Council about “faculty quality and student quality and the student experience.” She stated: “I personally feel that at times we separate the two too much. But the reality is if we really want to have an identity as an institution, we need to start putting those two together.”

Faculty Governance in University Promotion and Tenure

Yount updated the Faculty Council on the work of the University Promotion and Tenure Task Force, which convened from April through October to explore opportunities for greater faculty governance in university-level promotion and tenure processes. The committee examined promotion and tenure decision-making through a document review of 15 peer universities and interviews with 10 faculty chairs, including an examination of issues such as the size and composition of committees, selection of faculty representatives, term lengths, and leadership. Please contact your unit representative for further information about the results of this document review. Draft resolutions will be presented in November for further discussion in January, as needed.

Visit from Chair of Board of Trustees John Morgan

John Morgan, chair of the Emory Board of Trustees, described what drew him to Emory as a student and, more recently, in service to the university as a trustee and benefactor during the Oct. 21 meeting of the Faculty Council. An Emory alumnus and business executive, Morgan (67OX, 69B) was elected board chair in November 2013, succeeding Ben F. Johnson III, who had served as chair since 2000. Morgan’s goals include enhancing communication within the Emory community, strategies that support the efficient use of resources, and building the university’s endowment. Among the trustees, he hopes to nurture a culture of trust, dedication, commitment, and personal responsibility. “The trustees’ purpose is really to support and to build the conditions right for the faculty to be able to advance learning and to teach, and for our students to have the environment they need to learn and thrive,” Morgan says.