This spring, the Faculty Council voted to support an open access policy that would enable immediate, unfettered access to Emory faculty authored scholarly articles. The vote re- sulted from almost two years of campuswide conversation requested by the Library Policy Committee (LPC) of the Council and facilitated by the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence with the Office of Intellectual Property Rights. The LPC presented a draft to the Council in October 2010, triggering a series of revisions that resulted in a unanimas vote of support on March 15. This vote expresses the Council’s support for the principle of open access as official University policy. Pending administrative approval of the proposed policy, the library staff will assess Emory’s existing Electronic Theses and Dissertations system for its readiness to be adapted for the new repository, as well as evaluate other open- source products for potential use. A prototype for the project would then be developed for testing.
Examining Grievance Policies Across Campus
In fall 2010, the Council formed an ad-hoc subcommittee to examine faculty grievance policies and procedures in place in the various schools within the university. Noting that the Faculty Hearing Committee, a subcommittee of the Council, examines disputes concerning contract terminations only, the Council began the examination because clear information on resolving disputes that do not fall into that category is not easily or readily available. Professor of Law William Buzbee chairs the subcommittee, which is charged with identifying existing resources and policies at Emory and options for a possible mediation process or ombuds role for faculty. The subcommittee, which aims to report to the Council in mid-fall 2011 with research results and recommendations, includes Cheryl Crowley (Russian and East Asian Languages and Culture), Steve Everett (Music), Sharon Lewis (Psychology, Oxford), and Randy Strahan (Political Science).
Faculty Voice in Governance Structures
In 2010-2011, the Council worked to improve faculty representation in administrative and governance structures around campus. As a result, Council representatives were appointed to the Business Process Improvement Governing Board, an effort to improve campuswide administrative efficiency and productivity led by the Office of the Associate Vice President for Administration. Also, the Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee, initially appointed by Provost Earl Lewis to provide faculty oversight of the university’s assessment plans, became an open-ended ad-hoc committee of the Council. And finally, a new Faculty Advisory Committee was formed to offer guidance for the executive vice president for finance and administration on potential changes in practice and policy and in areas of focus that support faculty work, and to serve as a communication channel between the finance division and the faculty. This committee will include at least three members of the current Council.
Faculty Feedback for Finance EVP
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
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
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.”
Council Supports Open Access
At its March 15 meeting, the Faculty Council unanimously voted to adopt a statement in support of a Universitywide open access policy to enable immediate, unfettered access to Emory faculty authored scholarly articles. This vote expresses the Council’s support for the principle of open access as official University policy. It calls for the creation of a digital repository for Emory scholarship, including an “opt-in” approach to faculty participation and a commit- ment to minimizing administrative burden by “harvesting” Emory faculty work already available in existing repositories. Pending administrative approval of the principle expressed in
the statement, according to Rick Luce, director of the university libraries, library staff would require some four months to review Emory’s existing Electronic Theses and Dissertations system and assess how it might be adapted for the new repository, as well as evaluate other open-source products that might also be used. A prototype for the project would then be developed for testing.
This vote represents almost two years of Universitywide conversation requested by the Library Policy Committee and facilitated by the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in collaboration with the Office of Intellectual Property Rights
Click here to read all Council Concerns reports on Open Access Scholarship.
President Leads Discussion on “Distinctiveness”
At the March meeting, President James Wagner continued a discussion he had begun in January on Emory’s particular distinctions. He explained why it is important to be able to articulate Emory’s uniqueness among its institutional peers. “We can do a better job in student recruiting and retention,” he said, “and in making our case to faculty and helping our alumni understand what we are becoming.”
Following discussions with other governance groups, deans, the President’s Cabinet, the alumni, trustees, and students, Wagner noted, “it was something about the character, the nature of being in the commmunity,” that repeatedly emerged as a quality that makes Emory special. He identified courage, collaboration, ethical engagement, generosity, and hospitality toward spiritual belief and practice, among others, as expressions of that quality. “This report will be advising how we talk about ourselves and how we brand ourselves,” he said. “I think it will find its way into some of our fundraising and recruiting literature for students.”
Click here to read all Council Concerns reports on “Identifying Emory’s Distinctiveness.”
Ad Hoc Committee on Grievance Policies Begins Work
Professor of Law William Buzbee spoke during the March meeting about the preliminary work of an ad hoc committee of the Faculty Council to examine the various faculty grievance policies and procedures in place in the various schools within the university. Buzbee, who is chairing the committee, suggested that tentative tasks for the committee included identifying the current policies and procedures at Emory; considering the possible need for a changed conflict or grievance process or an ombudsperson role on campus; gathering information on other universities’ analogous structures or procedures; and identifying best practices and structures for possible use at Emory. The committee members are Cheryl Crowley (Russian and East Asian Languages and Culture), Steve Everett (Music), Sharon Lewis (Psychology, Oxford), and Randy Strahan (Political Science). The committee, Buzbee said, aims to report to the Council in mid-fall about research results and recommendations.
Click here to read all Council Concerns reports on Faculty Grievance Policies.
Open Access Discussions Resume
At its February 15, 2011, meeting the Faculty Council heard a presentation from the Library Policy Committee (LPC) on the continuing campus dialogues on a proposal for a Universitywide open access policy. Such a policy would enable immediate, unfettered access to Emory faculty-authored scholarly articles. After receiving faculty feedback on questions of implementing an open access repository for Emory, the LPC proposed to present a revised draft of a resolution in support of an open access policy that would minimize administrative burden. The resolution would 1) invite faculty to opt in to participating (at least at first) in the repository, rather than requiring that they opt out, and 2) emphasize that Emory faculty work that already is available through existing digital repositories would be “harvested” for inclusion in the Emory repository as it is implemented. The Council agreed to review a revised resolution draft for a possible vote during the Spring 2011 semester. This vote would express the Council’s support for the principle of open access as official University policy.