March 24, 2008

Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues:

I am writing to notify you of a step I am taking that I know will be of interest to many of you.

Today I am approving the research-track-faculty policy that was adopted by the Faculty Senate last month. I will be forwarding that policy to the Regents for their endorsement. Once the Regents approve the policy, individual colleges will then be able to create a limited number of research-track faculty positions, but only with the approval of their tenured/tenure-track faculty, the Faculty Senate, and central administration. The proposed policy can be viewed here:

http://www.uiowa.edu/president/messages/faculty_research_track_012308.pdf

I am deeply grateful to the Senate and the Senate leadership for the hard work and serious thought that went into this policy. The research-track issue has been discussed at this University for over seven years, and I know it took enormous effort and skill to craft a policy that could gain majority support in the Senate. I intend to respect that effort by giving this policy every chance to succeed.

At the same time, many thoughtful people on campus have expressed deep oncerns to me about the implications of establishing a research track at this
University. Some people are worried about the financial impact of a research
track as well as its possible adverse impact on tenure. Other people are
concerned that the proposed policy inadequately addresses the needs of research scientists.

I want to see the research track succeed, but I also take seriously the issues
that have been raised about this new policy. For that reason, I plan to
carefully monitor implementation of the policy and to review it with care in
three years (two years ahead of the scheduled Senate review) to ensure that it
is doing the job it is intended to do and in a way that is beneficial for the
entire University.

Sincerely,
President Sally Mason