Category: General News

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.

 

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.

 

Standing Committees Report on 11-12 Plans

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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.

Joint Session with Senate on Student Arrests

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On September 20, the Faculty Council and the University Senate held their first meeting of the 2011-12 academic year as a single joint session devoted entirely to the allegations of Students and Workers in Solidarity (SWS) about subcontracted worker mistreatment against the Sodexo food service provider at Emory and the arrest of several students protesting on the Quad on April 25, 2011. Representatives from Sodexo, SWS, and the Emory administra- tion each spoke, followed by a question-and-answer period with the Senate. Two representa- tives from Sodexo, Tom Mackall, Vice President for Employee and Corporate Relations, and Joe Mitchell, the district manager who oversees the Emory contract, spoke in defense of the corporation’s international human rights record and its employee relations on this campus. “We are recognized as an industry leader in creating a great place to work . . . ,” Mackall said. “Our employee retention rates are far above industry norms.”

Next to speak was Eric Bymaster, assistant vice president of finance and operations in Emory’s Campus Life division, detailing a response to SWS’s allegations and demands relating to Sodexo, including clarifications of contract employee hearing mechanisms, transportation access, and due diligence in reviewing contracted vendors’ human rights records. “We are sat- isfied with the overall comprehensive package of benefits that Sodexo provides its employees,” he added. “It’s not only competitive in the market but it’s affordable for their employees.”

Several members of SWS then presented statements. Meghan Jordan, an Emory College student, read from testimonials said to be provided by Sodexo workers on campus. She read from a testimonial she said was from Ms. Clara Greene: “ ‘I earn $10.50 an hour and have worked at Emory for four years. I have nothing to save after bills and health insurance. I don’t know how I’m going to pay for car insurance and get a tag and groceries.’ ” Jordan added, “The crux of this issue is the administration’s tendency to dehumanize the issue and instead present it as an issue of retention rates and other quantitative data.”

University President James Wagner followed with an update on the student arrests, explaining that Emory had offered to seek dismissal of the charges if the charged students would agree to honor university policy on use of facilities and grounds and not to initiate civil proceedings against the university. That offer, he said, still stands.

Following the Q&A, Faculty Council/University Senate Chair Brownfield announced the formation of an ad hoc committee to further examine and make recommendations to the Senate on whether the University should continue its contract with Sodexo.

 

Welcome from the Chair

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Welcome to the 2011-2012 academic year! I am excited to serve as chair of the Faculty Council and welcome your thoughts and suggestions as we continue to refine the Council’s role and effectiveness as the main governance body for issues around academic affairs and faculty concerns. The Council’s Executive Committee has been busy over the summer meeting with various faculty mem- bers and leaders across campus and generat- ing ideas and enthusiasm for this year. We look forward to updates from last year’s rec-

ommendations such as Open Access, faculty grievance policies and procedures, and class and labor at Emory. We also look forward to new discussion topics such as the life cycle of a faculty member, the future of liberal arts and research universities, and topics that will give the Council an opportunity to further engage academic deans across campus. I look forward to serving you this year!

– Erica Brownfield, Chair, Faculty Council, Associate Professor of Medicine

 

Faculty Feedback for Finance EVP

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Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Mandl reported to the Faculty Council at its April 19 meeting that a new Faculty Advisory Committee is currently being formed to provide feedback for his areas of responsibility. This new advisory body results from yearlong conversations between Mandl and the Executive Commitee of the Council. The committee, which will consist of eight to ten faculty members with at least three from the current Council, will offer guidance on potential changes in practice and policy, advise on priority areas of focus that support faculty in their work, and provide channels of communication between the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration and the larger Emory faculty community. Particular areas of consideration include human resources, finance, campus services, master plan, internal audit, investment management, and two areas of shared responsibility with the provost and EVP for health affairs, information technology and research administration. The committee, now being populated, will meet four to six times per year beginning next year.

President Serves on University-Government Panel Examining Research Funding Relationships

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At the April meeting, President James Wagner discussed his service on an American Association of Universities committee to advise a National Research Council study on university-government research partnerships. “We were asked for a list of suggestions that are budget neutral but that would improve our access to funds or our ability to carry out the national science agenda,” he said. “We’ve identified a handful of policies that have accreted over the years that cost us money and do no one any good.” For example, he said, there may now be some traction for eliminating NIH effort reporting while allowing universities to retain related funds. Also being reconsidered, however, is the calculation of indirect costs, so that the percentage provided in federal research support to cover facilities and administrative costs would be uniformly applied to all universities, Wagner explained. “We have a negotiated rate in the neighborhood of 55 percent,” but with uniform application, that rate could be significantly adjusted, affecting university research support. President Wagner added that he would like to identify a faculty group to “become experts” on this issue.

 

Other Reports: URC, Emory Healthcare and St. Joseph’s

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From other reports the Faculty Council heard at its April meeting:

  • Professor of Marketing Doug Bowman reported that the University Research Committee had allocated more than $1 million in short-term grants to 38 faculty in 2010-11.
  • Wright Caughman, executive vice president of health affairs and CEO of the Woodruff Health Science Center, updated the Council on the agreement between Emory Healthcare and St. Joseph’s Hospital to form a joint operating company. “We put forth a partnership in which Emory Healthcare would have controlling interest . . . but it would be a partnership to operate St. Joseph’s as a part of Emory Healthcare,” Caughman said. “There will be lots of planning over the summer, but the contractual relationship will not be finalized until after Labor Day.” Caughman also noted that the “core assets” and strategic direction of Emory Healthcare and the Woodruff Health Sciences Center would not be compromised, but “only enhanced in terms of education and translational research.”

 

Committee to Examine Class and Labor Issues

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At the Council’s February meeting, Provost Earl Lewis announced that on February 3, 2011, he and Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Mandl charged a new committee to examine issues of class and labor on the Emory campus. Composed of faculty, students, and staff and chaired by Professor of Psychology Nadine Kaslow and co-chaired by Vice President and Deputy to the President Gary Hauk, the committee will begin by focusing on Emory’s non-academic labor force, including questions of compensation and benefits, advancement, retention and turnover, and supervisory skill levels across the university.

 

“We see this as the first of a three or four phase conversation” to take place over twelve to eighteen months, Lewis said. “The first phase would deal with non-academic labor, the second with academic labor, and the third with relationships between members of the academic and non-academic labor forces. A fourth phase would involve our students and their relationship to both academic and non-academic labor.”