Schedule of Meetings
Current Projects and Issues of Importance

1. Governor Culver's budget request to support higher education
   
   
2. Restrictions on Speech At its May 2, 2007, meeting, the Board considered amending its policy manual to include the language, "University teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an
   educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from
   institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes
   special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the
   public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence they should
   at all times be accurate, exercise appropriate restraint, show respect for the opinions of
   others, and make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution."
   
   Provost Hogan expressed faculty concerns over this change. Action was deferred to a later date.
   
   
3. Research Track The Carver College of Medicine held two forums on the creation of a proposed non-tenure research track for faculty on October 24 and November 1, 2006 (see CCOM policy document, PowerPoint presentation, summary document, or website). CCOM faculty voted unofficially in November to express interest in pursuing a research track.
   
   The issue is being considered by other colleges. AAUP's Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure wrote a position paper expressing serious concerns about the research track when it was first proposed in 2002. On February 24, 2007, the Faculty Assembly of the College of Liberal Arts heard comments from Dean Linda Maxson in opposition of a research track.
   


4. Symposia on Promotion and/or Tenure In 2006, we offered two separate workshops on promotion. One was geared toward promotion to Associate Professor, either on the tenure track or clinical track, as we have done in previous years. The other workshop provided advice to Associate Professors seeking promotion to the rank of Full Professor.
   


5. Unilateral Changes in Terms of Appointment The Executive Committee has learned of instances in which administrators have implemented changes in policy that have been neither reviewed nor approved by the faculty or its representative bodies. Such changes have included: (1) unilateral salary decrements; (2) unilateral reductions in the percent time of appointments; and (3) unilateral changes in faculty portfolios. It is not clear whether such actions are grievable. Some administrators apparently justify these actions because they are not explicitly forbidden in faculty handbooks or the operations manual. The Executive Committee finds these actions and the adoption of new policies to be both alarming and radical, and plans to look into them further with a view to appropriate action.
   


6. Extension of the Probationary Period in the College of Medicine According to the November 28, 2005, minutes of the Executive Committee of The College of Medicine, the College believes that the six-year probationary period does not provide adequate time for faculty with clinical responsibilities to establish their research programs. A postion paper written by James G. Andrews in opposition to extension of the probationary period has been adopted by the UI Chapter of AAUP Executive Committee.
   
   On February 20, 2007, the Faculty Council (see minutes) considered a proposal that would allow any college to extend the normal probationary period for new tenure-track faculty from a maximum of six years to a maximum of eight years. On February 24, the Faculty Assembly of the College of Liberal Arts heard comments from Dean Linda Maxson. The issue was briefly discussed at the Faculty Senate meeting on March 20.
   
   On April 24, 2007, the Faculty Senate approved the ability of Carver College of Medicine to vote on extending the tenure clock for the probationary period from six to eight years. This would apply ONLY to tenure-track faculty with significant patient care responsibilities. In addition, the Senate's action provides ALL tenure track faculty automatic extensions of one year for each child brought into the home during the probationary period or within two years prior to the initial appointment up to a total of two additional years.
   
   


7. Post-Tenure Review Reform The chapter's Executive Committee recently initiated a study of all UI college post-tenure review policies in response to a 1989 Faculty Senate mandate (See UI Operations Manual, III.10.7). The purpose of this study is to examine the consistency of the various collegiate policies, and their compliance with AAUP recommended standards.

   In our review, we are relying heavily on a 1999 AAUP policy statement, "Post-Tenure Reviews: An AAUP Response." This statement includes ten minimum standards for good practice. Our preliminary assessment of existing collegiate policies indicates both a lack of consistency across the university, and many instances where policies fail to comply with AAUP recommended minimum standards. The Executive Committee voted both to ask the Faculty Policies and Compensation Committee (formerly the Faculty Welfare Committee) to consider this issue, and to ask the Faculty Senate president to support our request that the committee take it up. When our review has been completed, we intend to consult with Faculty Senate Officers to determine how best to proceed.

   The AAUP's existing policy on post-tenure review states: The Association believes that periodic formal institutional evaluation of each post-probationary faculty member would bring scant benefit, would incur unacceptable costs, not only in money and time but also in dampening of creativity and of collegial relationships, and would threaten academic freedom.

See the Archives for chapter newsletters describing these projects.

 

last updated July 13, 2007
University of Iowa Chapter
American Association of University Professors
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