2019-2020 Committee Objectives
Radford University Faculty Senate
Committee Objectives
Academic Year 2019-2020
Introduction
The following committee objectives provide a foundation for the Faculty Senate’s work in 2019-2020. 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.
Committee Charges 2019-2020
Campus Environment Committee (CEC)
1. Consult with HR regarding Family Leave policies (2018)
a. Specifics about options for faculty leave
b. Are leave policies clearly and consistently spelled out in different documents and websites?
c. Consider working on a single document that summarizes these policies
d. Recommend changes to T&R Handbook, if needed
2. Review results from COACHE Survey 2019 to identify relevant issues to be considered by the Faculty Senate.
3. Consult with HR to learn about status of dual-career services for employees of Radford University (2018)
4. Continue to Investigate the possibility of mobility assistance for Faculty who are temporarily disabled or injured. Use of electric carts has been suggested. (2018)
5. 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. (2018)
6. TOP PRIORITY: Review the state of the Faculty Morale Survey, recommend revisions if necessary. Revisions would need to be approved by Senate before spring implementation of Faculty Morale Survey.
7. Implement Faculty Morale Survey Spring 2020.
8. Explore the possibility of a satisfaction/feedback loop for projects and requests submitted to Facilities Management (there was an initial exploration of this last year) and report results or recommendations to the Faculty Senate. (2018)
Curriculum Committee
1. Review curriculum proposals.
2. Work with the General Education review committees and report back to the Faculty Senate on the progress.
3. Review the Honors Academy to Honors College transition.
4. Review curriculum pertaining to the Jefferson College merger.
5. Advise the REAL Implementation Steering Committee on Curriculum Procedures
Faculty Issues Committee (FIC)
1. Contract addendums for 12-month T&R re leave administered as AP Faculty
a. Broader leave issues
b. This goal is referenced in the goals suggested by the FSEC; it has many implications, both for the RUC faculty and other faculty and will be an important part of our work
2. SEF revisions : this is a follow-up to the motion that was put forth in the spring and did not pass because of questions raised about the new versions of the form; members of the IG on SEFs will be contacted and asked to join in the discussion and inform us of their plans
3. Title IX process referenced in T&R handbook: not a new issue but one which we have not made progress with yet
4. Faculty sabbaticals particularly for small departments: submitted to us at the end of the spring semester
5. Faculty evaluation of a chair as faculty member; although a standard form was developed to evaluate chair as chair, none was developed to evaluate chair as faculty [work with governance on this]
6. Faculty awards—rather than pursuing the question about the lack of awards for non-tenure-track faculty, we feel that the current faculty award process is not adequately transparent
7. Revisit a former motion that did not go through entire process, although passed by FS, we will consider how to address the motion to create a University IG committee for issues affecting online and face-to-face teaching; it seems as pressing, if not more so, than before
Governance Committee (GC)
1. Liaise with the REAL Implementation Committee regarding policy changes to academic governance and the T&R Handbook. Review and shepherd motions coming from ISC through Faculty Senate.
2. Revise the dean’s evaluation for the College of Graduate Studies and Research.
3. Liaise with the Student Evaluation of Faculty Committee to revise the timing of the evaluations during the semester.
4. Administer the annual faculty evaluation of the deans in spring, 2019.
Resource Allocation (RAC)
1. Review equity in pay across sex and ethnicity in conjunction with Human Resources and develop a recommendation to address inequity if it exists.
2. Review faculty benefits in conjunction with Human Resources and develop a recommendation on benefits policy if supported by evidence. Items to investigate:
a. Cost of benefits over time
b. Timing of VRS contributions
c. Balance of VRS vs. private plans
3. Liaise with the Division of Finance and Administration to get an update on the budget and resource allocation regarding the Strategic Plan.
4. Conduct a faculty workload analysis to address the President’s response to previous motion.
5. The 133% Rule? I have a query in with Chad Reed for this, so we might not need RAC to take this on in any special way.
6. Investigate the possible impacts of a differential tuition model for online vs. face-to-face courses and program.