Sexual Assault Response Training

December 16, 2014

During a Title IX presentation, Associate Vice Provost Lynell Cadray, who leads Emory’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, recommended a plan to provide sexual assault training to all Emory faculty and staff, to be implemented over the next three years. The plan would offer guidance, for example, on when and why faculty and staff are required to report sexual misconduct, what steps to take if a student confides that they were a target of sexual assault, and when and how to refer a student for counseling or support services. Faculty council members voted to approve a motion to support mandatory university-wide sexual assault training for all Emory faculty and
staff. Training will be provided to all new faculty and staff hires starting January 2015. Current faculty will be provided an online training module, with classroom trainings to be made available to current staff.

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Provost’s Remarks on Emory’s Values

October 28, 2014

Provost Claire Sterk urged further discussion about the role of Emory faculty in promotion and tenure. “What should Emory’s practice be, what should Emory’s culture be?” she said. “This is a very important conversation and one that I actually think is perfect for the Faculty Council as a governance body to explore.” Sterk added that she and President Wagner have been in conversation with Emory deans to “to really think about Emory’s values and how those translate into what Emory stands for.” She anticipates additional discussion with the Council about “faculty quality and student quality and the student experience.” She stated: “I personally feel that at times we separate the two too much. But the reality is if we really want to have an identity as an institution, we need to start putting those two together.”

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Faculty Governance in University Promotion and Tenure

October 28, 2014

Yount updated the Faculty Council on the work of the University Promotion and Tenure Task Force, which convened from April through October to explore opportunities for greater faculty governance in university-level promotion and tenure processes. The committee examined promotion and tenure decision-making through a document review of 15 peer universities and interviews with 10 faculty chairs, including an examination of issues such as the size and composition of committees, selection of faculty representatives, term lengths, and leadership. Please contact your unit representative for further information about the results of this document review. Draft resolutions will be presented in November for further discussion in January, as needed.

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Visit from Chair of Board of Trustees John Morgan

October 28, 2014

John Morgan, chair of the Emory Board of Trustees, described what drew him to Emory as a student and, more recently, in service to the university as a trustee and benefactor during the Oct. 21 meeting of the Faculty Council. An Emory alumnus and business executive, Morgan (67OX, 69B) was elected board chair in November 2013, succeeding Ben F. Johnson III, who had served as chair since 2000. Morgan’s goals include enhancing communication within the Emory community, strategies that support the efficient use of resources, and building the university’s endowment. Among the trustees, he hopes to nurture a culture of trust, dedication, commitment, and personal responsibility. “The trustees’ purpose is really to support and to build the conditions right for the faculty to be able to advance learning and to teach, and for our students to have the environment they need to learn and thrive,” Morgan says.

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Faculty Council examines governance

September 23, 2014

Faculty governance will be a central theme that will guide the work of the Emory Faculty Council during the 2014-2015 academic year, according to Council Chair Kathryn Yount. The prospect of increased faculty governance advanced with the Faculty Council voting at its Sept. 16 meeting to approve a task force to help define the criteria. The vote followed a presentation by Justin Remais, associate professor of environmental health at the Rollins School of Public Health, who outlined the recent history of shared governance at Emory and suggested that the council create a structure for more specific study and action. The discussion that followed among the council members examined whether Emory’s existing governing bodies are sufficient, where faculty voices might help fill gaps, how university governing bodies should be structured, and the future of faculty governance at Emory.

 

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Creating a process for faculty mediation

September 23, 2014

A new faculty conflict and mediation process may be in the works after the Faculty Council voted at its first meeting of the 2014-2015 academic year to create a special committee to study this potential. The vote followed a presentation by Sheryl Heron, professor at the School of Medicine, and Michael Sacks, associate professor at Goizueta Business School. They noted that costs associated with unresolved conflict include lower job motivation, lost work time, departure from the university, increased health care costs, and damage to the university’s reputation. They also called for a program tailored to faculty needs, which currently are being unaddressed through existing options (including consultations with the Faculty-Staff Assistance Program and with the general counsel’s office). Council chair Kathryn Yount suggested that a faculty process for mediation could enhance the capacity to improve working relationships. Marc Bousquet, associate professor of English, and Deb Houry, past council chair, suggested that the committee involve faculty from different ranks.

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Provost’s welcome to new academic year

September 23, 2014

Provost Claire Sterk took the opportunity of the Faculty Council’s first meeting of the 2014-2015 academic year to welcome new faculty, and she encouraged council members to visit the provost’s website to learn more about their new colleagues. She called on faculty to consider interdisciplinary opportunities as the implementation phase of recommendations presented by the Commission on the Liberal Arts begins in earnest. With the addition of new programs, including a master’s degree in environmental sciences and a neo-natal nurse practitioner program, Sterk also suggested that the council look closely at the role of master’s degree programs at Emory and the opportunities they present for the university.

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Faculty Dining Room Future Discussed

April 24, 2014

 

At its April 15 meeting, Dave Furhman, senior director of food services administration, reported to the Council on plans to convert the Faculty Dining Room in the Dobbs University Center over the summer into a “campus convenience store.” The dining room currently serves “a small group of repeat customers of about 40 to 45 folks,” Fuhrman said. “It does not provide a great service to the wider community.” He added that the Faculty Dining Room operates at a loss of more than $100,000 per year, a loss that is subsidized by student meal plans. “We have seen a decline in the quality and service in our student meal plan program at the DUC in part because of this and some other subsidies we’ve had to finance over the years,” Furhman said. He cited several factors that have come together to instigate this change, including recommendations from the Committee on Class and Labor to eliminate exclusive spaces on campus; an expressed student desire for more informal interaction with faculty; student feedback requesting more dining variety on campus during evenings and weekends; the need to eliminate the financial loss; and the opportunity to test a new retail option as a new student center is being designed. The new store will provide high quality deli sandwiches as well as some speciality products, such as gluten-free, halal, and kosher foods.

 

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Council Chair Reflects on Year’s Work

April 24, 2014

 

Outgoing Faculty Council chair Deb Houry took several minutes of the final meeting of 2013-14 to review the Council’s work throughout the year. Among the highlights:

  • In early fall, the Council conducted a faculty governance survey based on the AAUP  “Indicators of Sound Governance” instrument.
  • The Faculty Handbook was thoroughly reviewed and revised with an approval vote from the Council in September.
  •  In January, following a review of the conflict of commitment policy outlined in the Emory Faculty Handbook, the Council voted to revise the policy.
  •  The Council also reviewed and approved an update to its own bylaws, as well as accepting a proposal from the School of Nursing to change their representation  to the Council to allow any member of the faculty (and not only a tenured faculty member) serve as a representative.
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Campuswide Faculty Grievance & Hearing Processes Considered

April 24, 2014

 

James Hughes, chair of the Faculty Hearing Committee, reported on his review of grievance processes across the university, from school-based processes and policies to the purview of the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs. While a 2012 committee recommended the appointment of a university ombudsperson to mediate grievances that “fall through the cracks,” Hughes concluded that the mechanisms on campus relating specifically to termination, suspension, or transfer of employment are “fairly robust.” The problem, he added, is the challenge of locating this information: “We haven’t done a good job of letting folks know about school-level grievance policies,” as well as existing resources to manage minor conflicts. The Faculty Council website offers a list of appointment, tenure, and promotion appeals and other grievance mechanisms at the school level, though the list may not be complete.

 

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