UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FACULTY COUNCIL

Minutes

Tuesday, November 2, 1999

Ohio State Room (#343), Iowa Memorial Union

Members Present:   S. Aquilino, J. Carlson, K. Clark, C. Colvin, J. Cox, R. Curto, J. Jew, J.Kline, D. Manderscheid, G. Parkin, M. Pincus, P. Pomrehn, M. Stone, B. Wiley 

Members Absent: A. Bhattacharjee, C. Carney-Doebbeling, L. Geist, V. Grassian, G. Milavetz 

Members Absent (excused): D. Liddell 

Guests: L.A. Clark, J. Folkins (Office of the Provost); S. Eilers (Daily Iowan), J. McCurtis (I.C. Press-Citizen), Carol Tebockhorst (Senate Staff Secretary) 

I.                    President Carlson called the meeting to order at 3:34 PM. 

II.                 Approvals 

A.     The agenda for the meeting was approved.

B.     Professor Colvin moved, Professor Wiley seconded that the Faculty Council minutes of October 12, 1999 and of October 19, 1999 be approved. The motion carried unanimously.

C.     Professor Aquilino moved, Professor Clark seconded that the proposed Faculty Senate agenda for November 16, 1999 be approved. The motion carried unanimously. 

III.               Reports           

A.     President’s Report 

Earlier this semester, an event in Hubbard Park was approved that resulted in disruption and cancellation of classes because of the excessive noise created by the event. Following complaints by faculty, Vice President Phil Jones and Dick Gibson have appointed an ad hoc committee to advise on the use of Hubbard Park. Jon Carlson and Paul Muhly serve on the committee as faculty representatives and invite input and comments. 

At a previous Council meeting the Ombuds Office raised a concern that all academic units have not complied with the University Operations Manual in providing their faculty with written statements of expectations for promotion and tenure. Associate Provost Clark reported that the Provost has sent an e-mail to all collegiate deans reminding them of this requirement and requesting that copies of their statements be provided to the Provost’s Office by February 1, 2000. 

The College of Medicine wants to increase the limit placed on the proportion of clinical track faculty from 20% to 30%. When the policy for establishing a clinical faculty track was first approved and implemented, there was a requirement that the policy be reviewed after 5 years. Therefore, approving this change before carrying out the review is inconsistent with the policy that was passed. Can the conduct of the review be accelerated? It was noted that the College of Medicine has carried out its own internal review.

In addition to the request for expansion of the clinical faculty track, the health colleges have proposed the establishment of a nontenured research faculty track. A committee chaired by Professor Allyn Mark (College of Medicine) has been appointed to study this issue. 

Revisions have been made in the faculty developmental leave policy. The Council will have an opportunity to review the entire policy before forwarding recommendations to the Senate. 

B.     Professor Colvin indicated that a Teaching Recognition Committee, comprised of faculty from Faculty Council and the Council on Teaching, with Tom Rocklin in an advisory role, has met and will present a report at the next Faculty Council meeting.

C.     An interinstitutional Library Taskforce, comprised of representatives from the University of Iowa, Iowa State, and the University of Northern Iowa, has been formed to discuss and advise regarding common budget concerns, e.g., the high subscription costs for journals.

The review of the University of Iowa Libraries has been completed, and copies of the review may be obtained from the Provost’s Office.

IV.              Old Business 

A.     Tenure/Promotion standards. At its September 21 meeting, the Faculty Senate returned for reconsideration and clarification, the Council recommendation regarding standards to be applied when standards have changed since the faculty member’s initial appointment or promotion to current rank.

The Council considered and discussed three different versions of a revised recommendation that would address the comments raised by the Senate. Professor Curto moved, Professor Manderscheid seconded that revision #1 be forwarded to the Senate. The motion was amended to substitute the words “academic unit(s)” for the word “department” in the first sentence of the revision. The recommendation to be forwarded to the Senate reads as follows:

Resolved that: Operations Manual Sections III-10.1a(4)(b); III-10.1 a(4)(c); III-10.2; III-29.5f(2)(b) should be amended to conform to the following policy:

      “A candidate for tenure and/or promotion may elect to be evaluated under the relevant, clearly defined standards of the faculty member’s academic unit(s) that were in effect at the time of the faculty member’s initial appointment or promotion to the rank currently held, any such standards in effect since that time, or any such standards currently in effect, whichever the faculty member elects. However, no standards may be applied if they were superceded more years ago than the time specified as normal time at rank (adjusted to account for any extension, family leave or illness leave granted to the faculty member). For assistant professors, the normal time in rank is six years and for associate professors, seven years (see Operations Manual, III-10.5). The faculty member shall make an election by the end of the academic year prior to the academic year in which the faculty member is considered for promotion.”

B.     The Ombuds' annual report identified an area of concern related to faculty who have been granted developmental leaves and their obligations to their students. President Carlson related the example of a graduate student, who when abandoned by his advisor, who had gone on leave, decided to go to law school. Professor Kline opined that this was a tragic outcome. Associate Provost Clark stated that language has now been added to the developmental leave policy requiring the DEO to specify how the faculty member requesting leave will fulfill instructional obligations, including obligations to graduate students.

V.                 New Business

A question was raised regarding whether visiting faculty can vote in Senate elections. The matter will be forwarded to the Committee on Elections.

VI.              Announcements

The UI Health Fair, sponsored by UI WorkLife, is being held November 4, 1999 in IMU Ballroom from 10:00 AM– 3:00 PM.

President Carlson reported that he has received positive comments regarding the resolutions passed by Faculty Council and Senate regarding IWP. He thanked council members for their work on this project.

VII.      The meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                    Jean Jew, Secretary