The Faculty Council on Faculty Affairs (FCFA) is a very busy one. Technically, FCFA is responsible for 鈥渁ll matters of policy relating to the interest of faculty, such as appointment, tenure, promotion, professional leave, compensation鈥cademic freedom, standards of academic performance, and professional ethics.鈥� [ 91探花Handbook, Section 42-33]. Practically, that means that any significiant issue affecting the employment relationship between the University and Faculty comes before our council.
Last year鈥檚 council drafted landmark legislation, amending the Faculty Code, to confer voting rights on lecturers. The Faculty Senate adopted that legislation last spring. This year, we have drafted proposed legislation in three areas: clarifying that the faculty who retire early may be eligible for emeritus designation, extending voting rights to part-time faculty, and permitting the use of e-mail for the Faculty Senate business and faculty voting.
The council also engages in long-term projects with significant potential for affecting policy and the quality of life at the University. For example, we are currently engaged in a review of salary enhancement and retention policies for those faculty able to secure non-state funding. We will be reporting later this year in response to a Faculty Senate resolution on the use of funds in settling a federal indictment against a faculty member, Richard Winn. We have just established a sub-committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the University鈥檚 dispute resolution processes and to compare those with peer institutions. Our goal is to determine what are 鈥渂est practices鈥� in contemporary dispute resolutions and to make recommendations for changes, as needed, on our campuses.
As chair this year, I am most grateful for the hard work and camaraderie of the council鈥檚 members, who have cheerfully attended meetings every two weeks in addition to working on sub-committees devoted to particular issues. Twelve voting faculty members represent diverse departments from all over campus; ex-officio members represent retired faculty, the libraries, professional staff and ASUW, and two other faculty councils, minority affairs and the Special Committee on Faculty Women.
This is one of a series of articles about the work of Faculty Senate councils and committees. Kate O鈥橬eill chairs the Faculty Council on Faculty Affairs.