2017-2018 Committee Objectives

2017-18 Committee Objectives

Radford University Faculty Senate
Committee Objectives
Academic Year 2017-2018

Introduction

The following committee objectives provide a foundation for the Faculty Senate’s work in 2017-2018. Each committee should attempt to accomplish all objectives. These objectives are not intended to be all-inclusive—any committee member, other Senators, and the Faculty Senate Executive Council (FSEC) may refer other issues to the committee for consideration and action. Feel free to form subcommittees as needed to address specific objectives more expeditiously. Additional items will be referred to committees as new recommendations are made by members of our faculty.

 

All committees should record minutes of their meetings. Minutes and other committee documents (e.g., reports) should be forwarded to the Senate secretary (tchannell@radford.edu) for posting on the Senate webpage.

Faculty Senate Campus Environment Committee (CEC)

1.     Consult with John Brooks (new HR Director) about Family Leave policies in order to:

2.     Determine specifics about options for family/medical leave for faculty;

3.     Determine whether leave policies are clearly and consistently spelled out in different documents (T&R                Handbook,Personnel Manual, etc.)

4.     Consider creating a single document summarizing these policies

5.     Recommend changes/clarifications to T&R Handbook, if needed

6.     Review results from Faculty Morale Survey 2017 to identify relevant issues to be considered by the Faculty Senate (consult with Jake Fox for access to the Qualtrix account).

7.     Review results from COACHE Survey 2016 to identify relevant issues to be considered by the Faculty Senate (results are not yet published but Ebenezer K. has the reports) and report identified issues to the FSEC for further consideration.

8.     Consult with John Brooks (new HR Director) about his proposed plans for dual-career services for employees of Radford University

9.     Continue to Investigate the possibility of mobility assistance for Faculty who are temporarily disabled or injured. Use of electric carts has been suggested.

10.    Liaise with the Sustainability Steering Committee chaired by Joshua Nease (Sustainability Manager) to aid the of integration of sustainability and environmental stewardship in facility planning and campus operations.

11.    Implement Faculty Morale Survey Spring 2018.

 

Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee

1.     Continue to work with Governance Committee and with Assistant Provost for Academic Operations on proposed changes to the IG document that would impact curricular pathways.

2.     Review curriculum proposals.

3.     Work with General Education Task Force to report back to the Faculty Senate on the process.

4.     Continue work with Governance Committee on development of policy/procedure for termination of academic programs in the absence of fiscal exigency.

5.     Review new academic program policies that impact more than one department or school and develop an approval pathway with the registrar’s office.

6.     Review policies related to new cross-discipline/cross-college academic programs (e.g. responsibility for curriculum, approval pathway for curriculum/curriculum changes, or responsibility for the administration of evaluations (course and faculty)).

7.     Explore initiatives for a campus wide mandatory classroom attendance policy.

 

Faculty Senate Faculty Issues Committee (CEC)

1.  Continue to review proposed intellectual property policy in light of latest legislation and rulings. 

2.  Clarify whether and how non-tenure track faculty may be eligible for awards under the aegis of the Faculty Awards Committee.  Determine the feasibility of establishing awards for adjuncts

3.  Work with the office of assessment concerning any issues that may arise with student evaluations.

4.  Create and administer a survey to ascertain the degree of faculty satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the Activities Insight Digital FAR to be prioritize for Fall 2017.

 

Faculty Senate Governance Committee

1.     “Close the loop” with Provost Glynn regarding dean evaluations from 2016-2017 year.

2.     There is currently a Governance Committee document that details how to conduct the annual evaluation of the deans. Additional language should be added to the document to detail: a.The format and content of the letter,  b.The process by which the letters are written and reviewed by the Governance Committee members

3.     Liaise with the Internal Governance Working Group regarding the revised IG documents: a. Provide feedback on draft to the Internal Governance Working Group, b. Marshalling the draft through Faculty Senate for review and recommendation, c. Addressing inconsistencies or gaps between the IG document and the Faculty Handbook

4.     Liaise with Curriculum Committee and with Assistant Provost for Academic Operations on proposed changes to the IG document that would impact curricular pathways.

5.     Liaise with Curriculum Committee on development of policy/procedure for termination of academic programs in the absence of fiscal exigency.

6.     Revisit Quadrennial Review process for Chairs and Directors.

7.     In the fall, review the questions on the annual evaluation of the deans.

8.     Review process for choosing Associate Deans.

9.     Conduct the annual evaluation of the deans in the spring.

 

Charges for Resource Allocation Committee

1.     Continue development of a long-term compensation plan to address faculty pay imbalances within the university, and in comparison to our peer institutions.  In conjunction, research and report on cost of benefits over the past five years, i.e. Health care, retirement, parking, etc.

2.     Continue development of a faculty workload policy to consider,  The balance of teaching, research, and service as time commitments, i.e. if a faculty member has a research grant or demanding service responsibilities, should she be required to teach a 12-credit hour course load, if a faculty member works with undergraduate scholars, how is that counted in her workload, andhow is a course overload compensated for?

3.     Review equity in pay across sex and ethnicity and develop a recommendation to address inequity if it exists.

4.     Address the "Motion Regarding Budget Priorities" left on the table from Spring 2017 and determine if the motion should be         revised and/or reintroduced.