Barrington’s Announcements

1.       Chapters 1-5 of the latest iteration of the Faculty Handbook will be posted on the Senate website before the end of the term.  Please look at them and forward any comments, concerns, or questions to one of the Senate officers.

2.       We still have standing committees needing student members.  If you have any students to recommend, please forward their names to me.

3.       College Employee Satisfaction Survey.  PLEASE COMPLETE.   The survey contains:

a.       Campus Culture and Politics. Series of statements in which you rank importance and rank satisfaction. Sample questions:

§  The goals and objectives of this institution are consistent with its mission and values

§  There is good communication between the faculty and the administration at this institution

b.       Institutional Goals. Series of 9 goals to rank in importance:

§  Increase the enrollment of new students

§  Retain more of its current students to graduation

§  Improve the academic ability to entering student classes

§  Recruit students from new geographic markets

§  Increase the diversity of the student body

§  Develop new academic programs

§  Improve the quality of existing academic programs

§  Improve the appearance of campus buildings and grounds

§  Improve employee morale

Also a chance to introduce other goals.

c.        Involvement in planning and decision-making.

§  Your chance to indicate how much involvement different campus constituencies have.

d.       Work environment. Series of statements in which you rank importance and rank satisfaction.  Sample questions:

§  It is easy for me to get information at this institution.

§  I am empowered to resolve problems quickly.

§  My department has the budget needed to do its job well.

§  I am proud to work at this institution.

§  The work I do is appreciated by my supervisor.

e.        Section of demographics

4.       In October, the Senate Elections Committee conducted an election for three committees, the most prominent of which was the Promotion and Tenure committee. For the first time, they followed new procedures approved last spring in order to protect the interests of faculty from the smaller schools. After soliciting nominations for at least fourteen full Professors and at least eight Associate Professors—representing each of the four schools at each level—the committee then distributed instructions to all full-time faculty members.  From the more than 425 full-time faculty, 221 voted and elected:

   Full

Phil Halloran (at large, A&S) 2 year term (CHAIR)

Richard Benfield (Arts and Sciences) 2 year term

David Fearon (Business) 1 year term

Mitchell Beck (Education and Professional Studies) 1 tear term

Raymond Perreault, Jr. (Engineering and Technology) 2 year term

Barry Westcott (at large, A&S) 2 year term

John Mitrano (at large, A&S) 1 year term

              Associate

David Cappella (Arts and Sciences) 1 year term

Tomasz Jarmoszko (Business) 2 year term

Jesse Turner (Education and Professional Studies) 2 year term

Patrick Foster (Engineering and Technology) 1 year term

All members of the P&T committee have excellent records as contributing citizens of the university community and will serve the university fairly and wisely on this highly important committee.

Subsequent to the election, many of us were concerned that with the new procedures none of the nominated women or persons of color were elected.  What happened?  Well, as far as anyone can tell, nothing nefarious happened.  But rather than brush off these results as an unexpected fluke, I’ve asked the Diversity Committee, the Elections Committee, the Committee on Committees, as well as the Promotion and Tenure Committee, to review the way we currently elect the P&T committee and to recommend jointly a way for us to conduct the P&T committee election in a way that’s fair yet mindful of diversity and equity.  Please forward any concerns or suggestions to the chairs of these committees:  Carolyn Falahi, Neil Glagovich, Steven Cohen, and Phil Halloran. 

We will want to have the new election proceedings in place before the end of the spring term; therefore, I ask the four committees to submit a draft recommendation before 13 March.  The Senate will then circulate their recommendation and solicit input.  With that additional input, the committees will then bring a revised recommendation to the 13 April Senate meeting. 

5.       We’re closing in on getting P&T Guidelines from all Academic Departments.  If I still haven’t received one from your department, please expect to receive a copy of the email I send to your department chair.  Thanks for all your help.