STORY

Academic policy review continues

At first meeting of academic year, Faculty Council discusses concerns
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The review of Article 5 and Policy 5, contained in the Board of Regents laws and policies, continues to move forward this fall, including debate of details included in a passage addressing standards for tenure.

Members of the Faculty Council discussed concerns with 5.D.2.B. during the council’s first meeting of the academic year Aug. 30 at 1800 Grant St.

Faculty Council Chair Joanne Addison, who also attended last month’s meeting of the Board of Regents governance committee, said she’s suggesting that the campus Faculty Assemblies discuss language in the article and policy that could be interpreted as setting a higher expectation of “excellence in teaching or scholarly/creative work,” because it must “include evidence of impact beyond the institution, as determined in the primary unit criteria.”

A Faculty Council statement in a memo presented at the committee meeting says the language “significantly increases the standards for tenure even though the need for this change is unclear at best.”

Further complicating the matter is that standards for measuring external impact vary across the campuses.

To allow more time for review, Michael Lightner, vice president for academic affairs, who leads the review of academic policies, has advised that further consideration of the matter be delayed until the committee’s Oct. 17 meeting and the full Board of Regents’ November meeting. The board is expected to advance the rest of Article 5 Policy 5 during its Sept. 13-14 meeting at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

In other business at last week’s Faculty Council meeting:

  • Regent Stephen Ludwig and Patrick O’Rourke, vice president, university counsel and secretary of the board, took questions on the search for the next CU president. Addison said the council has asked for input from elected members of the campus Faculty Assemblies. The goal is to assemble a brief document around October that indicates the attributes and qualifications the faculty would like the next president to demonstrate.
  • Michelle Martinez updated the council on human resources issues. Martinez has taken on a newly created role, director of strategic benefits initiatives, and will be working closely with Faculty Council and Staff Council. The recently launched paid parental leave benefit has proven popular, she said, while Employee Services in the coming months will be reviewing disability and life insurance plans, a potential fertility treatment benefit, potential long-term care benefit and increased access for mental health care.