Author: aadam02

Governance structures vary around campus

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During the February meeting, Council chair Erica Brownfield presented an overview of the workings and structures of faculty governance by school across the Emory campus, based on her review of each school’s documentation. Brownfield focused on the relationship between faculty governance in the individual schools and the central structures such as the Faculty Council and University Senate.

Overall, she concluded, Emory faculty play a signficant role in governance throughout the university. The specific roles of these gov- ernance bodies, however, vary widely and are at times unclear—for example, whether the structures are authoritative or advisory, and whether their members are appointed or elected. Brownfield also noted that with the exception of Emory College, which has cross-representation between its governance committee and the Faculty Council, individu- al schools do not have a defined relationship to the university-level governance bodies.

 

Around Campus: College and Graduate School

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The challenges of securing space for academic programs around the university, the need for sabbaticals for non-tenure-track faculty, and increases in class enrollments were dis- cussed during the February meeting, as part of the practice of asking two council members to report on discussion topics from their schools. Emory College professor Holly York spoke about those issues, prompting Provost Earl Lewis to note that an effort is underway to clarify the use and associated costs of campus spaces. York and Cheryl Crowley also noted a recent rise in the number of students in classes for whom English is not their first language. The ESL program staff will present to the Council in September 2012. Laney Graduate School dean Lisa Tedesco also reported, noting that funding remains a priority action area, and that Emory must sustain competitive financial packages for graduate students and help students become more competitive for tightening job markets.

 

Changes coming to COI rules

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At its January 17 meeting, the Faculty Council heard a report from David Wynes, Vice President for Research Administration, on major changes forthcoming from the government to conflict of interest rules governing individual faculty receiving federal research funding. The new regulations will take effect with grants awarded in August 2012. Among the changes:

  • The threshold for review of interest in outside activity is now $5,000 in combined income and equity;
  • All outside activities related to professional appointment (not just research) must be reported;
  • All travel directly reimbursed to an individual and not funded by an institution of higher education or the government must be reported within 30 days to the institution;
  • The institution is required to either post on a website the names of all individual faculty with a financial conflict of interest or alternatively to provide the information to anyone who requests it within five days;
  • Every faculty member who receives external support must undergo an initial and ongo- ing training every four years in conflict of interest policies.

 

Improved Faculty Access to Emory Clinic

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At the January meeting, Emory Clinic direc- tor Doug Morris presented an overview of options available to Emory faculty for improved access to Emory Healthcare. He first described Emory Employee Health and Wellness and Occupational Medicine, located in the basement of Emory Hospital, room HB53. It is chiefly responsible for occupa- tional injury management but also serves as an employee clinic for minor ailments. Hours are Mon through Fri, by appointment only, but a nurse practitioner is on call 24 hours for work-related injuries at 686-8587. Morris also discussed the Emory Employee Line (8-EVIP), which provides appointment access within 14 days, and the new Patient- Centered Primary Care program, a pilot for a new model of coordinated care between providers, specialists, and other settings such as the ER. Morris urged faculty to enroll in this new program by contacting 8-2050 or visiting emoryhealthcare.org/pilot.

Around Campus: Law School & Emeritus College

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The inherent tensions between the changing economic environment of the practice of law and the aims of a legal education were discussed at length during the January meeting, in keeping with the new practice of asking one or two council members per meeting to report on discussion topics from his or her school. Law professor Barbara Woodhouse spoke about that issue, as well as desires to increase diversity among law school faculty and students, expand university support for cross-departmental collaborations, and iden- tify the school’s areas of strength and distinction. Emerita professor Yung-Fong Sung also presented an overview of Emeritus College concerns, emphasizing its goals of doubling membership by next year, developing a research fellowship, expanding its mentoring programs, creating guided excursions and tours of other institutions’ emeritus colleges, and hosting an annual meeting of such organizations in the near future.

Focus on Class and Labor

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At its November 15 meeting, the Faculty Council heard a report from the ongoing Com- mittee on Class and Labor. Committee chair Nadine Kaslow (psychiatry) offered an overview of the group’s work. “There are going to be multiple versions of this commit- tee,” Kaslow explained, referring to this first of a three- or four-phase conversation, later phases of which will examine academic labor. She then outlined the five main points of the committee’s charge in this phase: 1) examine whether class and the status it affords is a significant factor that influences relationships at Emory; 2) knowing the basic contours of the non-academic labor force and the attendant labor market; 3) gather data on promo- tion, advancement, and self-improvement within the non-academic labor force; 4) factually identify structural impediments to employment and career advancement; and 5) under- stand the role of contracting on campus. The Council then divided into smaller groups for a “focus group” discussion with committee members as part of their data gathering work.

Provost: Libraries Undergoing Five-Year Review

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At the November meeting, University Provost Earl Lewis outlined the external review process taking place in the university libraries in 2011-12. Noting that all schools and units undergo such reviews periodically, Lewis said that this review will focus on the main Woodruff Library and the Health Sciences library.

The review process will include both an internal self-study and a visit from a team of external reviewers, which will involve librar- ians from other institutions. The process also provides an opportunity for confidential letters to be submitted to him that will be read only by himself and by President James Wagner as part of the review.

A final report will be written by the team of external reviewers. The unit head will then be given an opportunity to respond to that report.

 

Questions raised about retirement fund rules

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During the November meeting, the Faculty Council heard from Sidney Stein, chair of the University Senate’s Fringe Benefits Committee, and Ken Walker, both of the School of Medicine, about concerns over rules governing the rates at which an employee may withdraw mandatory contributions and University-contributed funds early from a retire- ment account. (Current rules state that a “pre-retirement cash withdrawal” is available to employees who have reached 59 1⁄2 years of age. This is available on employee contribu- tions only.) Stein and Walker argued that more funds, especially for faculty (for whom retirement is not mandatory) who are well beyond the age of 59 1⁄2 , should be accessible for pre-retirement withdrawal. “We have, I think, a university interest in people having money kept available to them for retirement, versus the interest of an individual who is interested in having access to that money,” Stein said. At a meeting later in the year, the Faculty Council will hear from a Human Resources representative, who will clarify the university’s position as the Council considers the request and the issue.

The Future of the Liberal Arts

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At its October 18 meeting, Provost Earl Lewis introduced the Council to a new university-wide structured inquiry about to launch: “Are we willing to spend some time looking ahead 25 years from now and asking what a liberal arts education at Emory should look like? What should be the interplay between the liberal arts curriculum at the undergradu- ate level and the professional and graduate schools? What should a liberal arts education contain? What changes do we want to begin to make?” Lewis said a committee would be formed in the coming weeks to spend a year in a systematic and far-reaching examination of these questions, toward “a framework for Emory University going forward, as we imag- ine the liberal arts.” To help begin to shape the discussion, the Council then spent some time in discussion of questions such as, “How large do you envision our student body becoming over the next quarter century?” and, “Are we structured properly to insure the quality we imagine for a first-rate liberal learning experience?”

 

Around Campus: Report from Theology School

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At the October meeting, Chair Erica Brownfield introduced a new practice of asking one council member per meeting to report on discussion topics from his or her school. This month, Timothy Jackson from the Candler School of Theology reported on three con- cerns raised by his colleagues:

  1. The declining condition and overcrowding of campus shuttles;
  2. The paucity of prompt, available appointments in the Emory Healthcare system for Emory employees; and
  3. Concerns that the Blackboard course content management system is outdated and too expensive.

These concerns prompted the following announcements:

  • The entire campus shuttle fleet will be replaced in 2012.
  • •Blackboard, which is reviewed in comparison to other content management systems regularly, will undergo a massive upgrade very soon.
  • Brownfield offered to invite Doug Morris, director of the Emory Clinic, to speak to the Faculty Council.