UAH Faculty Issues for 1998-1999
These are a list of issues brought up during faculty discussions and meetings. These are not to be considered either exhaustive or definitive — committees may interpret these "charges" as they deem necessary.
Students and faculty alike have complained about the lack of adequate service from administrative departments. A full review needs to be conducted of the services rendered to faculty and students, with the goal of improving the effectiveness of those services. We should consider the "total quality" point of view — i.e., the "end-to-end" quality of service as perceived by the student or faculty member.
The aim of this review is not to pick on any particular department or unit. Rather let us operate on the basis of an old Japanese proverb: "Fix the problem, not the blame." Students do not care about our internal organizational structure or our chain of command — they only perceive how "UAH" treats them. Any single failing will be attributed to "UAH" as a whole. We should look at every office involved in serving students and faculty.
Years ago, we were assured that on-line registration would be available for our students. What is the current status of this effort? This may be related to section 1.1 above.
UAH is developing a plan for "one-stop" registration process whereby the registration, fees, financial aid, etc. will all be handled at one time. The committee is asked to assist the Vice President for Enrollent Services in implementing and evaluating the plan.
Every student who wants an email account can get one, according to Mr. Quick. Can we make members of the community more aware of electronic communcation capabilities?
The state has mandated a state-wide student database for tracking students in their college careers, no matter what college or university they attend. How should this mandate be addressed at UAH? What local needs can it serve? What problems can we foresee and how can we address the problems.?What about privacy issues?
Activities concerning the Alabama legislature and government should be coordinated in the Finance and Resources Committee. Many of these may be shared with other Alabama campuses. Issues for the upcoming elections and sessions are:
Students should be encouraged to register in their home districts, and we should facilitate their filling out absentee ballots (by making a notary available, providing address lists, etc.)
Invite candidates to speak on campus, responding to questions we have given them.
Trips to Montgomery and other cities to meet with legislators and discuss our issues with them.
The committee was collecting information during 1997-98 and should be reporting to the Senate on its findings. Since there may be significant changes to salaries this year, the committee will want to compare last year's figures with this year's (hopefully higher) figures.
It has been suggested by the Administrative Science faculty that Senate representation be reduced from 1 senator per 7 faculty to 1 senator per 11 faculty. The committee is requested to consider this proposal and report back to the Senate.
As faculty members retire, UAH is starting to accumulate a considerable talent pool among our emeritus faculty. Is there an appropriate role for emeritus faculty in Senate business? The committee is asked to poll some emeritus faculty and current faculty to examine this issue.
This includes executive committee meetings, full Senate meetings and Senate committee meetings. This issue has come up several times. The full committee is requested to solicit opinions and determine the causes for concern and develop recommendations for any Senate actions that may address these concerns.
Some questions have been raised as to whether some Senate business may constitute a conflict of interest with the Provost’s Office. For example, the office administers elections for some faculty boards where the board members may become involved in administrative procedures that are appeals of Provost or Presidental decisions. The committee is requested to solicit opinions and again determine the extent of these concerns and report back to the Executive Committee and/or the full Senate.
Should the President-elect automatically become President? While we have obviously intended for the President-elect to succeed the President, shouldn’t we still have a campus-wide election, in case the faculty have other candidates in mind? Even if there is no opposition, having the President’s name on the ballot will increase the visibility of the office. The committee is asked to consider by-laws changes to address this.
There have been complaints about the effectiveness of the current activity report. An on-line activity report form is being developed, with considerable faculty input. What changes should be made to the forms? What procedures should be developed for dealing with them?
Many faculty are aware of efforts in other states to institute a post-tenure review process for tenured faculty. While our state is not yet focused on this issue, sooner or later it will come up. We would like to have an informed response if it does. The committee is asked to consider several questions that have come up, such as the following. What kinds of review(s) would/should faculty undergo after tenure? At what intervals should such review(s) take place? How should reviews be conducted and by whom? What is the purpose of the review(s)?
Some questions have been raised about the sick leave policy for faculty, specifically for faculty on nine-month appointment. Our current policy should be examined to see if any changes are needed. For example, should we have a policy whereby sick leave days are accumulated? Should we adopt some other policy?
Nearly every department on the UAH campus is affected by the articulation requirements. The committee is asked to coordinate faculty questions and concerns about articulation’s impact, and also serve as liaison between the Associate Provosts and the faculty Senate.
The committee is asked to consider the impact of viability on UAH’s programs, and act as a clearinghouse for information about ACHE’s plans for implementing viability criteria.
The committee is asked to evaluate the current catalog organization and suggest ways to make it more useful, particularly from an advising standpoint (coordinated with the Undergraduate Scholastic Affairs Committee). Ideas have been suggested, such as a flowchart showing where students need to go, and an organizational chart for the University. The committee should also explore how various degree and program requirements could be consolidated, so that students and faculty can find what they need in one place.
The Provost’s office is re-vamping the advisement structure in some areas. The committee should look into the plans and help the Provost’s office support better advisement services to our students.
Faculty have reported that in some cases, administrative actions regarding a student (e.g., granting academic bankruptcy, failure to pay fees, change to audit) are not reported to faculty in a timely manner. The committee is asked to identify what information is not being communicated adequately and assist the administration in developing procedures to inform faculty.
The committee is requested to follow up on our previous changes to various academic policies to determine if there has been any noticeable change in number of students put on probation, graduated with honors, etc. The aim is to "fine tune" the policies if necessary. Specific suggestions have been made, such as whether faculty should be able to initiate an administrative withdrawal, and whether the academic bankruptcy policy is well enough understood by faculty and students.