The Faculty Council heard a brief presentation in November from Jennifer Jeffries-Gal- lagher, manager of the newly created Emory Dual Career Network. This new endeavor, launched as a partnership between Human Resources and the Office of the Provost, springs out of the initiative of the Work/Life Committee concerning dual couple recruit- ment recommendations. “We benchmarked with our peer organizations to see how they handled dual career recruitment issues,” Gallagher said, “and we found that almost all of them had dedicated staff or offices for this process.” The goal of the network is to provide job search information and assistance—both within and beyond Emory—free of charge to dual career spouses or partners beginning early in the recruitment process and extending for a year or until the individual is employed. In-depth information about the network, including eligibility and the process, is available at http://www.hr.emory.edu/emorydualcareernetwork/.
Author: aadam02
Open Access Policy Proposed
At the October 19 meeting of the Faculty Council, the Library Policy Committee (LPC) presented a proposal for a University open access policy that would enable immediate, unfettered access to Emory faculty authored scholarly articles. In April 2009, the Council approved a resolution to have the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence facilitate a series of conversations across campus exploring the possibility of an open access repository for articles by Emory faculty. The result of those discussions was the proposal endorsed by the LPC. Key points from the proposal:
- authors will retain sufficient copyrights to their own work
- an opt-out clause will be provided
- the open access digital repository must be easy to use for authors and readers
- the open access policy will be subject to periodic review and critique
For the next month, the LPC and Council encourage open conversation about the proposed policy; comments and questions are welcome at http://guides.main. library.emory.edu/OA. If faculty conversation indicates that the timing is appropriate, the Faculty Council will vote on a resolution to support the policy at its November meeting.
Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee Now Part of Faculty Council
Prompted by Emory’s upcoming reaffirmation of accreditation, last fall Provost Earl Lewis appointed a Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee to provide faculty over- sight of the University’s assessment plans. Its charge was to
- Review assessment plans from each of the schools and provide feedback
- Share best practices and strategies
- Help shape a “culture of assessment” that is uniquely Emory’s and that informs and strengthens the SACS reaccreditation process
- Report to the Provost on key opportunities and challenges related to assessment at Emory.
At the October Council meeting, Ken Anderson (Oxford) presented on the work of this committee, which he chairs, and proposed that the committee become an open-ended ad-hoc committee of the Council. After discussion, the Council voted to approve the proposal, with the committee’s membership provost-appointed but Council approved.
Discussions of Grievance Policies Continue
Continuing an examination begun at its September meeting, Faculty Council chair Steve Everett (College) presented a model for a faculty conciliation and mediation program from Case Western Reserve University, developed by that institution’s Faculty Senate and underwritten by its provost’s office. Drawing a distinction between a mediation process and a hearing process, Emory’s Faculty Hearing Committee chair James Hughes (Law) noted that “it’s difficult to find information to invoke the [hearing] process” and suggested that faculty may have rights they are not aware of because of a lack of accessible information. It was also noted that while a faculty hearing process was approved in 1998, a simultaneous proposal for a mediation process was shelved. Having approved the formation of an ad-hoc subcommittee on the issue, the Council agreed to appoint that committee and begin the task of identifying existing resources and policies at Emory and models and options for revisiting the possibility of a mediation process for faculty.
Subcommittee to Examine Grievance Policies
During its September meeting, the Faculty Council elected to appoint an ad-hoc subcommittee to examine the various faculty grievance policies and procedures in place in the various schools within the university. This subcommittee will gather information and examine options for improving and clarifying the processes and policies available to faculty involved in disputes. The Faculty Hearing Committee (a subcommittee of the Faculty Council) is charged with examining disputes concerning concerning contract terminations only. And in 1998 the Council passed a resolution outlining a mediation procedure limited to questions between a faculty member and his or her dean.
“There are places where we can get certain questions answered,” said Council President Steve Everett, “but there is not a clear sense for how to deal with grievance at this university. Many other universities have a clear website that points you to a team of people who are the first step in handling a dispute on campus.”
Four Areas of Focus for Council in ‘10-’11
During the opening meeting of the Faculty Council for 2010-11, on September 21, president Steve Everett identified four areas of focus for the Council this year:
- Faculty involvement in teaching and research (during the year, the Council will hear reports from various officials in research administration on specific issues and policies);
- Faculty development (assisting colleagues in career development and putting some focused support in place);
- Faculty governance at large (evolving out of discussions last spring on the ways faculty governance is structured in the university); and
- Grievance policies and processes (see above post for more details).
Throughout the year, the Council will be taking a focused look at these four areas of development. “I’m hoping that we can find some progress in these areas,” Everett said.
From Your Faculty Council
Welcome to the first post of Council Concerns, an electronic-only update of activities and issues before the Emory University Faculty Council. The Faculty Council comprises elected and appointed members representing all schools of the university. The Council is the main governance body for issues around academic affairs and faculty concerns. It provides faculty comment and perspective to the administrators responsible for a broad range of work in the university. Several committees of the Council address particular matters of interest to the faculty.
Please click here to view the .pdf version of Council Concerns. This new regular briefing document—which will circulate shortly after the monthly meetings of the Council—aims to keep Emory faculty members informed of issues and concerns before the Council and to encourage feedback to the Council from the faculty it represents. Please direct your questions and comments to a Council representative from your school (roster listed in right hand column).