Standing Committees Report on 11-12 Plans

During the October meeting, the Faculty Council heard from each of its standing commit- tees on plans for the 2011-12 year. Gray Crouse announced that the 2012 Distinguished Faculty Lecture would take place on February 6, and an announcement of the presenter is forthcoming. Speaking as chair of the Faculty Counselors to the Board of Trustees, Steve Everett introduced this year’s roster (found at this link). Pat Marsteller, co-chairing the Faculty Life Course Committee with Michael Kutner of public health, described plans to examine various faculty mentoring initiatives around campus. Ken Anderson of the Oxford faculty, chairing the Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee, described efforts to review school-based assessment plans and develop best practices that shape the culture of assessment at Emory, in particular examining the university’s strategic plan with a view to learning outcomes. Doug Bowman, chair of the University Research Committee, discussed its small, short-term research grants to Emory faculty, with attention to reaching out to junior faculty, tracking results, and external publicity for funded projects.

Faculty Life Course Committee Seeks Members, Ideas

The Faculty Life Course Committee of the Faculty Council addresses issues likely to enhance faculty life at Emory across the academic career, from junior faculty to emeritus status. This committee brings faculty concerns to the attention of senior administrators and the Faculty Council. Central concerns are to improve academic productivity, facilitate retention, and augment the quality of life and sense of community for faculty at Emory. This year and next the committee would like to focus on mentoring, changes in career pathways post-tenure, decisions around retirement and benefits, and progress toward the 2007 recommendations for non tenure track faculty. The committee is seeking new members interested in these issues and ideas that faculty would like us to focus on.

Please contact Pat Marsteller (pmars [at] learnlink [dot] emory [dot] edu) to bring up issues or to join a working group. And for more information, please see http://www.worklife.emory.edu/facultylifecourse/index.html.