The Committee on Admissions approved a change in a admission requirements for freshman beginning Spring 1996. The change was made in the academic elective course requirement, #6, which will now read:
G. James Burns was elected Chair for 1995-1996.
For the first time this year, student athletes with a voice and a vote were present on our committee.
Committee membership also includes:
J. David Waugh, Chair
The Board of Governors met monthly with the exception of July and August. Special meetings of all or part of the Board were called as necessary.
The year included modest growth in membership overall but with some loss in corporate membership. The latter is attributed, in part, to changes in regulations concerning entertainment and lobbying.
In addition to regular meal service, several successful special events were scheduled for members. These ranged from a reception for new faculty to wine tastings and theme dinners. The special bus to and from home football games remained very popular.
Meals and receptions related to weddings and private parties account for a substantial part of total Faculty House activity and revenue. Catering services outside the House also were in demand.
A major upgrade of the kitchen facilities was begun during the year and is to be finished by the opening of the fall term. Plans were also made for certain refurbishing of the foyers and stairwells; this is to be completed during the fall term with no interruption in service.
In late June, Ms. Cathy Gustafson decided to leave her position as Club Manager to accept a position on the faculty of the College of Applied Professional Sciences. The Board applauded the outstanding work of Ms. Gustafson over the years and noted that this year she had achieved the coveted designation of Certified Club Manager (CCM). The Board is, however, very pleased that she has the opportunity to pursue her aspirations. An interim manager has been appointed and a new Club Manager should be in place by mid-October.
Many private clubs, nationally and locally, are experiencing difficulty in both membership and finances; several have been forced to close. The Board is very proud to report that Faculty House had an excellent year financially and remains in a very strong financial position.
The members appointed to the Bookstore Committee for 1994-95 were: Beverly Busching, Education, Chair; Roger Amidon, Public Health; Sarah Gable, School of Medicine Library; Alan Nairn, Geology; Karl Heider, Anthropology; Lynn Zoch, Journalism. One complaint about book orders was received. Mr. Bruce Darner, Bookstore Manager, responded.
In a series of meetings of the committee and communications with the Faculty Affairs Committee, the overlap in responsibilities of this committee and the Bookstore Oversight Committee (appointed from the President's Office) was investigated. Committee members agreed that a faculty-appointed committee is needed to insure that faculty interests are represented. The Oversight Committee is established in the contract of the bookstore with USC. It was decided that the two committees would meet together to review the performance of the Bookstore based on the established contract, and that our committee would continue to receive comments and complaints from faculty as needed.
Two members, Beverly Busching and Karl Heider, completed their terms of service, and were replaced by Keen Butterworth, English; and Steve Borgatti, Sociology. Keen Butterworth is the new chair of the committee.
The Committee has dealt with over 275 courses and curriculum changes from the following units, departments or colleges on the Columbia campus in 1994-95.
Alan D. Bauerschmidt James C. Moeser,eEx officio Michael Smith Louis Terracio Marcia G. Welsh Sarah B. Wise Richard G. Zingmark
The charge of the Faculty Budget Committee includes consultation with the University of South Carolina Administration on all matters concerning the University budget, academic planning for the Columbia campus, and the financial implications of all degree programs submitted to the Graduate Council.
Monthly reports on University budget initiatives and activities were presented by Dr. James C. Moeser. Other University Officers also briefed the Committee on the University budget from their perspective.
The Committee considered new funding elements of several graduate degree programs.
Representatives of the Faculty Budget Committee attended the Administrative Budget Hearings which were held in May, 1995. The Committee was also represented in other meetings which involved budgetary planning for the University of South Carolina system.
Respectifully submitted on behalf of the members of the Faculty Budget Committee.
During the Academic Year 1994-95, there were 19 meetings of the Grievance Committee. The Committee was approached 12 times by faculty requesting assistance from the Grievance Committee. These requests resulted in seven (7) formal grievance procedures.
In addition, proposed changes to the Faculty Manual which might affect the faculty grievance process were considered, and recommendations for revision were made.
To ensure fairness and consistency, the Committee developed a set of operating procedures. These are included with this report to generally inform the faculty. Each individual appealing to the Grievance Committee will be informed of these operating procedures at the time of the initial contact.
Grievance Committee Procedures:
......... .....SEPT...OCT...NOV...DEC...JAN...FEB...MAR...APR...MAY...JULY...TOTAL
GRADE CHANGES
REQUESTED.........93....60....28....36....18....12....185....32....35....195....804
REJECTED..... ...7....15....2......4.....2.....6......6.....3.....3.....16.....64
APPROVED.... ...86....45...26.....32....16...116....179....29....32....179....740
FIVE YEAR SUMMARY:
..........REQUESTED......REJECTED........APPROVED......PERCENT APPROVED
1994-95......804....................64......................740...................92.0%
1993-94......880....................88......................792...................90.0%
1992-93......884....................89......................795...................89.9%
1991-92......815....................45......................770...................93.4%
I appreciate the hard work of other committee members: Joseph Byrd, Gail Ford, Dianne Ward and Stephen McNeill. Joseph Byrd, Engineering, will serve as chair for 1995-96. Special thanks to Jeanna Luker in the Faculty Senate office for all her help in handling the grade change paperwork.
Janet Nussbaum, Chair
The committee meets together annually and generates separate work groups to accomplish the task of student record reviews and interviews. This year 68 students were interviewed, generating 408 letters to 125 schools. The average student had 6 letters sent to various schools. Overall, 61 of the 95 students (64.2%) applying to health professions schools were accepted. Of those students applying 34 (35.7%) were women, with an acceptance rate of 64.7%.
The majority (58.7%) of health professions students applications are for medical schools. Students who were successful applicants had average MCAT scores of 26.97 and GPA of 3.505. Again this year, 17 or our students were admitted to MUSC School of Medicine with 20/44 being accepted to USC's program.
As outgoing chair, I extend a sincere note of thanks to all committee members, and especially EF Thompson, for their dedication and work on the committee.
Continuing Members:
George Handy - Chemistry
Bonnie Drewniany - College of Journalism and Mass Communication
Eugene Mayer - School of Medicine
A. Alexandro Bernal - Department of Spanish, Italian,& Portuguese
Dwight Underhill - School of Public Health
Janet Cambre - Thomas Cooper Library
EF Thompson, Advisor - Biological Sciences
Outgoing Members:
John Eady - School of Medicine
Edward Kimbrough - School of Medicine
Kathy Graham - Department of Physical Education
Welcome to new members:
Jeremie Sherman - College of Nursing
Ed Beardsley - History
Alan Waldman - Biological Sciences
Duane Yoch - Biological Sciences
Members of the Committee:
Rob Coleman, chemistry; John Gardner, regional campuses and continuing education; Maria Girardi, mathematics; Thavolia Glymph, history; Don Greiner (ex officio), Office of the Provost; Walt Hanclosky, media arts; Ed Intemann, theater and speech; Jerry Jewler, journalism; Teri Kuhs, education; John McFadden, education; Carolyn Matalene, English; Ed Piepmeier, pharmacy; Suzanne Stroman, applied professional science; Lori Tombs, statistics; and Marco Valtorta, mathematics.
A. Major Activities of the Chair
December, 1994--at the request of the Provost, presented a report to the Board of Trustees on the teaching focus of the University, (see attached report, Teaching: A Major Focus of USC Faculty/Doc 1). February, 1995--met with the Council of Academic Deans to get them to encourage their faculties to complete and submit the Faculty Instructional Development Survey.
B. Major Activities and Accomplishments of the Sub--Groups of the Committee
1. The committee met monthly throughout the year with the vice provost and dean of libraries and the director of public services. Other heads of divisions also met with the committee when their areas of expertise were under discussion. The committee wishes to thank all of them for assistance throughout the year.
2. Library officials supplied and the committee forwarded budget figures for fiscal 1995. (They appear in the April Senate Minutes.) Here, the committee wishes only to note that the total library budget is up nearly 5% over fiscal '94 budget, in part because of monies made available through the Futures process. 80% of these funds have been allocated toward strengthening collections. However, serials--for which allocations are up approximately 12%--continue to present a serious challenge to a budget that has no surplus. How best to deal with the rising cost of journals has been one of the chief areas of discussion during meetings between members of the Library Committee and various departments.
3. During the spring semester, members of the Library Committee and the director of public services for the library responded to invitations to visit fourteen departments representing a wide variety of disciplines. Convenient access to an adequate range of serials proved to be a continuing source of concern. Accordingly, the library will henceforth circulate a list of pending serial cuts to all departmental library representatives, so that-- hopefully--no serial essential to one department will be inadvertently cut by another without adequate consultation.
The library is also considering alternative methods of providing access to particularly expensive titles. One approach might be to drop current subscriptions to the bound volumes and use the campus computer network to make their tables of contents available to all faculty members. The library could then provide users with copies of desired articles through inter-library loan or a document delivery service. The initial reaction to this approach by most departments was quite positive.
Whatever methods are finally adopted, the Library Committee understands the administration's reluctance to continue increasing the allocation for serials published in the traditional format, and it therefore endorses the search for satisfactory alternatives.
4. Space to house collections remains a continuing problem but one that appears on the way to solution. The University will construct a nearby off-site facility with approximately 10,000 square feet of stack area affording efficient storage space. Planning (with faculty membership in the steering and other committees overseeing the project) is already well underway. Although few if any library administrators and faculty members would choose to house materials in a storage facility if money were no object, the experience of other universities suggests this is the most satisfactory, cost-effective alternative.
5. The committee calls attention to several other items of note as well as one development that appears to be cause for concern: A. The Government Documents area is being renovated and reorganized according to plans endorsed by the committee. The much-needed improvements will include several new microform reader/printers.
B. As was announced earlier (in the April Faculty Senate meeting), the library now ranks twentieth among libraries belonging to the American Association of Research Libraries in the size of its government documents collection and eighth in the efficiency of its interlibrary loan department. This is the first year that it has had two departments in the top twenty since it became a member of the Association. C. At the committee's request, the library administration is exploring the feasibility of providing a small faculty lounge in Thomas Cooper. D. Less heartening to members of the committee than the above, recently released results from the College Student Experience Questionnaire administered in 1993 indicate a substantial drop in the frequency with which USC students use the library as a library (not merely as a place to study). They rank well below national norms in categories such as looking up references cited in assigned reading materials, etc. Stimulating intellectual curiosity is of course a major part of the faculty's job, but helping students to satisfy it is also a large part of a university library's function. Sufficient funding to make Thomas Cooper a convenient, undergraduate library--where students may browse the stacks and find multiple copies of standard works--as well as a first-class research facility, remains a high priority.
Professor Churchill Curtis (Applied Professional Sciences) has been elected chair of the Library Committee for 1995-96. The outgoing chair thanks members of the committee for their cheerful cooperation and diligent work.
During the academic year 1994-1995, the Patent and Copyright Committee (PCC) considered, and made recommendations to the Provost on, 13 disclosures submitted by faculty, staff and students at the Columbia campus. Many of these inventions and discoveries have potentially long range value to the research and medical community, to education and teaching, to the individual faculty or staff member whose ongoing work they represent, and to the University community as a whole. The Office of Technology Transfer and the Legal Department are proceeding with the patenting and/or licensing of a number of these intellectual properties.
The PCC has also been involved in reassessing the standard equity to inventors in those categories in which the University has provided significant assistance. During the 1993-1994 fiscal year, the PCC recommended that the standard equity for patents be increased from 30% to 40% for the inventor. The administration acted favorably on that recommendation. This year, the committee recommended that the disclosure process for copyrights be made congruent with that of patents, and standard equity for copyrights be increased to 40% for the inventor or creator of the work, with 20% each to the University, College and Department.
In addition, the committee recommended that the University's Software Policy
(#1.39 of the USC Policies and Procedures Manual) be removed from the jurisdiction of the Legal Department, and be included under the patent and copyright policy outlined in the Faculty Manual. This was done in an effort to centralize the receipt of disclosures of all-classes, and to streamline the process by which they are handled.
Among the discussions for the 1994-1995 fiscal year that will continue into the new year are redefining the role of the PCC in terms of policies and procedures, and in developing a system-wide policy to deal with the processing of patents and copyrights. Centralization of these procedures will be a key issue in determining how to coordinate the growth of patent and copyright applications, and efficiently and fairly deal with intellectual properties. It is the intention of this committee to insure that the interests of the faculty, staff and students involved in discovery be protected and secure during the process of their disclosure.
Committee Composition for 1994-1995:
Elected: Vance Cowden, Law; Donald Keating, Engineering; Sally Weinrich, Nursing; Marsha Baum, Law; Chris Kozma, Pharmacy; Loren Knapp, Biological Sciences.
Appointed: Ardis Savory, SPAR; Russell Putnam, Legal Department; William Littlejohn, OTT.
The Committee, which consists of David Adcock, Department of Radiology; David Cowen, Humanities/Social Sciences Computing Lab; Leon Ginsberg, College of Social Work; Alan Nairn, Department of Geological Sciences; John Rich, USC/Aiken; Dan Ruff, USC/Salkehatchie; Ardis Savory, Sponsored Programs and Research; and Robert Weyeneth, Department of History, met twice during the 1994-95 Academic Year. At its fall meeting, members Ginsberg, Savory, and Weyeneth, were in attendance. At its spring meeting on March 30, members Adcock, Cowen, Ginsberg, Nairn, Ruff, and Savory were in attendance. During both of its meetings, the Committee reviewed current research and training grant activity between the University of South Carolina and its regional campuses and the Savannah River Site, which is channeled through SCUREF (South Carolina Universities Research and Education Foundation.) At its spring meeting, the Committee discussed its mission, which is to "...continuously review the relationship between the University and the consortium formed with Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina, and between the University and the Savannah River Laboratory. The committee shall be charged with making periodic recommendations concerning policy governing these relationships and shall have access to all information needed to fulfill this charge." The Committee asked that the University Senate reaffirm its mission and that the faculty senates at the involved regional campuses similarly reaffirm the Committee's mission. There was some discussion of modifying and expanding that mission to include advocacy for the development of projects with and for SRS. The Committee did not agree on any such change in its mission but suggested that the University Senate and related governance bodies at the regional campuses might want to examine such modifications. For the current academic year, the Committee has no recommendations concerning policy governing USC's relationship with SCUREF or with the Savannah River Site.
Thorne Compton, Chair
The University Committee on Standards and Petitions met ten times between August 22, 1994 and June 20, 1995. The meeting dates in 1994 were August 22, Sept. 15, Oct. 17, and Nov. 17. In 1995 the Committee met on Jan. 19, Feb. 23, Mar. 23, April 18, May 2, and June 20.
Members of the Committee were:
Richard Uray was elected Chair in June 1994. On Jan. 19, 1995 he resigned because of ill health. Prof. Compton was elected to succeed him for the spring semester.
Two petitions were received from students appealing decisions made at the College level. The Committee decided one was without merit and dismissed it. The second was heard and approval was recommended.
The Committee reviewed, suggested amendments in approved and recommended to the Senate catalog changes proposed by the College of Nursing, The College of Pharmacy and the South Carolina Honors College.
The Committee considered and approved with amendments a proposal from the Office of the Provost and the South Carolina Honors College to create an Accelerated Undergraduate Program which would allow highly motivated students to begin graduate study while completing their Undergraduate degree.
The Committee spent a great deal of time discussing proposed changes in the system for academic suspension. It disapproved a proposal from the Council of Assistant and Associate Deans to change our current 24 deficit system to a "divisor system." It was decided that the "divisor system" would not solve the current problems (students allowed to continue in school too long), and would create other problems. (See Appendix 2)
Considered a proposal from Student Government to extend the drop and add dates. This proposal was amended to extend the add date from 5:00 PM to midnight of the last add day. The Faculty Senate approved the proposal as amended.
Discussed and approved an amendment to the Academic Forgiveness Policy. The Senate referred this amendment back to the Committee.
Discussed at length the impact of an Academic Transition proposal. This proposal is still in the process of development.
Approved a change in language in the University's Admission policy.
Discussed but did not approve a proposal to exempt from petition the current policies on Academic Forgiveness and Graduation with Honors. While the Committee agreed that this might make these policies stronger and easier to enforce, it might also interfere with what are currently seen as responsibilities of the Faculty.
The Committee will begin the process of reviewing the report of the Assessment Advisory Committee in September. It will also continue to pursue alternatives to the current system of Academic Suspension.
I would like to express the appreciation of the Committee to the staff of the Faculty Senate; Fran Speach and Diane Dunkley of the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance; Associate Provost Greiner; the Assistant and Associate Deans; and the network of faculty and staff who are committed to improving the academic standards of our institution.
Table 1. Committee on Scholastic Standards and Petitions 1994-95 Summary of College Petitions and Standards
College...........Total......Appr......Cond......Dis......OtherAppl Prof Sci.. 41.........33........ 0 ....... 8....... 0
BADM............66.........18........35........13....... 0
Cont. Ed ....... 6..........6.........0........ 0 .......0
CRJU............20.........10.........4.........6........0
ENGR...........132.........23........10........96........1
Health..........47......... 0........28........19........0
HSSC
(Lib Arts).....396........141.......178........74 3
JOUR ...........29 .........6........15.........8........0
MUSC........... 26.........15.........3.........7........0
NURS...........131........103.........7........21........0
PHAR............15..........7.........8.........0........0
SCI MATH.........1..........6.........3........11........0
SCHC............ 0..........0.........0.........0........0
TO: University Standards and Petitions Committee
FROM: Thorne Compton
DATE: February 23, 1994
RE: Suspension System Recommendations
The problems we were asked to address in reforming the University's academic standards were:
Students are allowed to continue in the University until they fall so far behind that it is extremely difficult for them to enter the major of their choice or to complete a degree.
There is not an adequate safety net to catch students who find themselves falling into academic difficulty.
Divergent standards among the Colleges have created a class of students who pursue academic programs because they qualify for them rather than because they are motivated to study these areas.
A class of students has been created who qualify to pursue a degree, but who do not have a reasonable chance of completing an academic program.
The current suspension system is unduly complicated and difficult to explain to students.
Solutions which have been proposed by the Assistant and Associate Deans and by members of this Committee solve some of these problems, but no one proposed system solves all of the problems without creating some new difficulties.
The "100 Divisor" system. There are two possible ways of applying this system. The first is to suspend on the basis of the cumulative and yearly GPA. This system would suspend approximately 20% more students as the present system, and the distribution would be significantly different.
It would actually suspend a smaller percentage of students in the Freshman and Sophomore years (48.03%) than the present system (51.66%). A negative consequence would be a decline in tuition by approximately $500,000 on the Columbia campus.
Using the same divisor by applying it only on the cumulative GPA would result in suspending approximately 20% more students than we presently do and suspending them later.
It would suspend 44.77% in the first two years versus the present system's 51.66%. On the Columbia campus there would be a decline in tuition of approximately $150,000.
Using the same system as above but using a divisor of 75 would suspend significantly more students overall, but a smaller percentage during the first two years. Applying the 75 divisor for cumulative and yearly GPA would result in doubling the number of students suspended, but suspend them later than the present system (44.84% in the first two years vs 51.66% in the present system). The decrease in tuition on the Columbia Campus would be approximately $725,000.
Using the 75 divisor only on the cumulative GPA would increase the number of suspensions on the Columbia campus by approximately 70% but also suspend them later (43.34% in the first two years vs 51.66% in the present system). The decrease in tuition in Columbia would be approximately $550,000.
The "divisor system" may well be easier to explain and understand, but it appears not to give students an earlier warning. Both the 75 and 100 divisor systems would suspend more people and would result in a net loss in tuition. While tuition loss is not an issue with which this is charged to discuss, it is a context in which decisions are made.
Neither the present system nor these proposed systems actually address getting academic assistance to students, nor do they necessarily solve the problem of "academic boat people."
J. Thomas Davis, Chair
In accordance with the policy as stated in The Faculty Manual (1987), College committees on scholastic standards and petitions are required to submit "an annual report on the number of petitions received and the disposition of each to the University committee by September" (page 20).
College: Continuing Education
Academic Year: 1994--1995
Total petitions received--6
Early Reinstatement from Suspension-- 0
Relief from Admissions Requirements-- 0
Relief from Progressions Requirements-- 0
Relief from Graduation Requirements --0
Other-- 6
None-- 0
Approval without conditions--6
Conditional approval-- 0
Disapproved--0
Other--0
APPOINTED MEMBERS:
Dennis Pruitt, ex officio
Richard Bayer
Carl Stokes
Amy Griffin
Byron McKie
Carrie Sicora
J.J. Gentry
Sheila Swanson
Rhonda Green
The Student Affairs Committee met three times during 1994-95. During the fall meeting, ex officio member Dennis Pruitt presented an overview of major issues facing students and the division of Student Affairs. We discussed these issues, none of which required our action. Committee members requested that the second meeting focus on student media. Chris Carroll, Director of Student Media, met with us in November to give an overview of student media's operations and budget. He then answered questions of committee members and noted suggestions to convey to student media editors.
Our final meeting was March 20, during which we heard a report from the Student Fee Receipt Task Force, a group of faculty, staff, and students who had been working for eighteen months to suggest how to re-engineer the student activity fee. Members of the Task Force who met with us were Jerry Brewer, Woody Carothers, and the following student government officers: President Amy Bigham, former treasurer Brad Holt, 1995 Treasurer Jermaine Britton, and Senate Finance Chair John Martin.
This Task Force, appointed by the Vice President for Student Affairs, had as its mission to:
1995 Lowdnes Stephens, Chair
Actions regarding the following activities of the University Committee on Tenure and Promotions (UCTP) were summarized in a four-page memorandum to the Faculty Advisory Committee dated November 6, 1994. The memorandum is included as part of the report of the Faculty Advisory Committee (see Faculty Senate Minutes, November 18, 1994):
That report was a mid-year report to the faculty and this report covers actions of the committee during the spring and summer 1995.
UCTP's consideration of candidates for tenure and promotion is reflected in the ballots completed by panel members and by each eligible UCTP member who attends the meeting of the committee of the whole at which a case is discussed. These ballots and the justification statements on the ballots collectively reflect the votes of UCTP members.
The UCTP considered a total of 98 cases for tenure and promotion during the year. In 98% of those cases the vote of UCTP (";Yes,"; defined as one more ";yes"; than ";no"; vote, or ";No,"; defined as one more ";no"; than ";yes"; vote), the Provost and the President was the same. In two cases the UCTP supported candidates not supported by the Provost or the President. The level of agreement between UCTP and the Deans was 83% and between UCTP and the Unit (faculty votes) 72%.
General Faculty Vote on T & P Changes in Faculty Manual
UCTP brought three recommendations to the general faculty for first ";reading"; on May 3, 1994, and explained its rationale at the September 7th general faculty meeting (see minutes dated April 21, 1995). Letters were written to deans and T&P chairs inviting a dialogue on these recommendations; members of UCTP attended several departmental faculty meetings during the year to discuss these recommendations and proposed amendments. The Faculty Advisory Committee recommended a process for getting faculty input which involved filing amendments with the Office of the Secretary to the Faculty. After extensive consultation with members of UCTP, the Provost, the Faculty Advisory Committee, the Parliamentarian, Deans and Department Chairs, and several faculty members, the UCTP chair wrote a letter November 15 to President Palms requesting that he call a special faculty meeting to consider the UCTP recommendations and amendments to them. President Palms called a Special General Faculty meeting for April 3, 1995. The Secretary to the Faculty sent a memorandum to all faculty on February 24 announcing the special meeting. His memorandum included the recommendations of the UCTP and amendments submitted to the Secretary to the Faculty. The faculty met in the Law School auditorium on April 3 for three hours and voted on these recommendations and amendments. The results of that vote are summarized in the minutes circulated to the faculty April 21, 1995. Recommendation 1 was approved with the following replacing paragraph four:
The University is committed to achievement in all three areas of its mission. Collectively, the faculty profile of the University and of any academic unit should reflect a record of high quality teaching, research, and service, but because it is recognized that the strength of any university lies in its diversity of talents, not every faculty member need demonstrate exemplary achievements of promise in each of them. Promotion and tenure will generally be awarded, as long as the evidence presented shows that a candidate's research/scholarship/performance accomplishments are excellent and the candidate's teaching and service is also strong, or if a candidate's teaching accomplishments are excellent and the candidate's research/scholarship/performance and service accomplishments are also sufficiently strong to meet the requirements for promotion.
It will be unusual and exception to award promotion and tenure merely on the basis of strong performance in only one of these areas. In every instance, the record of teaching, research (scholarship or creative performance), and service shall be thoroughly documented,in compliance with UCTP guidelines, with unit criteria regarding what constitutes high quality to serve as the basis for such decisions.
Several methods of evaluation should be used, and the record should be thorough enough to indicate not just past performance, but a reasonable likelihood of continued excellence.
Recommendation 2 was approved without change. It recommended deleting the ";relevant data"; list on page 30 of the Faculty Manual and inserting there this paragraph:
A candidate and the academic unit should follow UCTP guidelines for putting files together. These guidelines include among other things that the unit is responsible for 1) providing a synthesis of evaluations of the candidate's teaching performance and a summary of supporting evidence in the file; 2) providing assessments of the candidate's performance from appropriate referees employed outside the University.
Recommendation 3 called for changing the last sentence of the first paragraph in Amendments and Transitional Provisions on page 32 and adding a paragraph between the first and second paragraphs in this section. The last sentence of the first paragraph was approved with this amendment:
No change shall be made in the University-wide tenure and promotion regulations except by vote of the full voting membership of the University faculty or by direction of the Board of Trustees. In no event shall any change in tenure and promotion regulations be made retroactively for faculty hired before January 1, 1995, unless the faculty member chooses otherwise.
The additional paragraph recommendation was approved without change:
Faculty members hired into the tenure track after January 1, 1995, will be responsible within their probationary period for meeting the unit tenure and promotion criteria and University standards in effect at the time of their hiring. For all subsequent promotions the faculty member will be responsible for meeting unit criteria and University standards in effect at the time of their application for that promotion.
Subcommittee Actions
UCTP approved minor revisions in the tenure and promotion guidelines of one unit, recommended additional changes in guidelines submitted by two other units, and visited with two other units concerning their proposed guideline revisions. UCTP received proposed revisions from one other unit and will work with the unit on those revisions next year.
Timely review of revised guidelines submitted to UCTP is a problem the Subcommittee on Criteria and Procedures is working on over the summer. Bob Oakman, chair of the subcommittee in 1994-95, is working with Jeanna Luker of the Faculty Senate Office, to schedule meetings with units that have not yet had any feedback from UCTP (School of Music and Department of Educational Leadership and Policies).
The UCTP wrote a letter to each unit T&P chair on September 15 asking that s/he send a copy of the unit's current T&P guidelines to Jeanna (so we could compare what is in UCTP files with what the units regard as their most current guidelines) and to let us know if they were awaiting feedback from UCTP (a tracking form was included). This year we assigned 12 members to the criteria and procedures subcommittee. Next year, the intention is that each subcommittee member will be assigned five or six units to contact to determine if they need any assistance from UCTP.
The Subcommittee on Internal Rules, chaired by Nancy Wolfe, brought several recommendations to UCTP this year which the committee of 24 accepted. One recommendation called on the chair to notify the Provost, Deans, Chairs and Unit T&P chairs that UCTP would delay voting on files that lacked evidence needed to determine if the candidates meet unit standards and criteria for tenure and/or promotion, until that information could be obtained.
This year three units were asked to provide evidence and a synthesis of evidence on teaching effectiveness. They did so and the files in question were reviewed and voted on two weeks later. The procedure calls for the panel chair (files are initially reviewed by three panels) to notify the UCTP chair if panel members vote to delay review of a file on grounds of insufficient evidence.
The panel chair clarifies what kinds of documentation are missing and requests that the UCTP chair contact the unit directly to determine if the evidence can be provided.
The subcommittee also recommended that UCTP advise the Office of the Provost not to request age and place of birth on any tenure and promotion forms. UCTP accepted the recommendation, advised the Provost and he has accepted the recommendation.
The subcommittee also coordinated requests from unit chairs for three general counsel opinions on tenure and promotion matters. (NOTE: These opinions are attached to the hard copy of this report which is in the Faculty Senate Office and was part of the printed agenda for the September 6, 1995 General Faculty Meeting.) In one opinion counsel concludes that the ";goldenrod"; booklet (A Guide to USC- Columbia Tenure and Promotion Procedures (last revised November 1, 1990) is indeed interpretive, not a controlling authority. In another opinion counsel concludes the Ethics, Government Accountability and Campaign Reform Act of 1991 precludes a faculty member from voting on the promotion or tenure application of his or her spouse. Three faculty units asked UCTP for an opinion on this issue. In another opinion, counsel argues that the Faculty Manual precludes allowing just full professors to vote on the adoption of criteria for promotion to full professor.
UCTP voted at its March 29 meeting to establish an ad hoc committee next year to revise the so-called ";goldenrod"; booklet to reflect changes in internal rules, the vote of the General Faculty (on April 3) to change the language in the Faculty Manual on tenure and promotion, and to include the three opinions from general counsel this year.
Grievance Hearings
The chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee invited written response to faculty grievances of tenure and promotion decisions and attendance by the chair of UCTP at grievance hearings during the summer 1995. The chair has responded in writing to each of these grievances and has attended one hearing to date.
Leadership and Committee Membership in 1995-96
Tom Borg, Medicine, was elected chair of UCTP for 1995-96.
More than 300 colleagues cast ballots in the election of members to the 1995-96 UCTP. The chair of UCTP notified each candidate of the results in a memo May 11. The five candidates with the highest number of votes will serve three-year terms beginning in 1995-96. They are:
The President has appointed two members who were on the ballot this year (Professor Matthew Miller, Mathematics, and Professor Ralph White, Chemical Engineering) and another colleague who was not on the ballot (Professor Laury Christie, Music).
Three other members who were on the ballot this year stood for a UCTP election to fill a seat vacated by an elected member. Ron Wilder (Economics) was elected by mail ballot (to 1994-95 UCTP members) to complete the last year of Ann Bowman's (GINT) term. Professor Bowman received a Fulbright Award and will be in Denmark next year. Each candidate for this vacant seat was notified of the election results on July 11.
The Faculty Manual (p. 29) says; "No more than three elected members may be from any single college or school except the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Liberal Arts now) which may have up to six elected members."; The following table reflects the college affiliations of the 24 members who will be on the UCTP in 1995-96: On each line the first number is the year the term expires, the second item is the College/School, the third item is the number elected and the fourth is the number appointed.
96.....Business Administration.....1.....0
97.....Business Administration.....1.....1
98.....Business Administration.....1.....0
96.....Applied Prof Science........1.....0
97..... Education..................1.....0
96.....Engineering.................0.....1
98.....Engineering.................0.....1
96.....Liberal Arts................1.....0
97.....Liberal Arts................1.....2
98.....Liberal Arts................3.....0
96.....Law.........................1.....0
96.....Medicine....................1.....0
98.....Music.......................0.....1
97.....Nursing.....................1.....0
96.....Public Health...............0.....1
97.....Public Health...............1.....0
98.....Science and Mathematics.....1.....1
96.....Social Work.................0.....1
Totals............................15.....9
Richard G. Zingmark, Chair
The Committee on Faculty Welfare met at least monthly during the Fall and Spring Semesters of the 1994-95 Academic Year and more frequently when business required it.
The Committee dealt with several major issues during the year...some new and a few the committee felt obligated to track that were left over from last year:
The Faculty Senate resolution (Dec. 93) to change the language of our non- discrimination policy to include the phrase 'sexual orientation' is still on hold with the Board of Trustees until President Palms receives information about the policies of other academic institutions.
The policy statements concerning sexual harassment, passed by the Senate in May 93, did not require Board of Trustees approval and was administratively inserted into the USC Columbia Campus Policies and Procedures Manual. Subsequently, a system wide sexual harassment policy was adopted and promulgated by the other USC campuses.
The committee considered the final report of the provost's Salary Equity Task Force of Jan 95 and prepared a resolution that was submitted to and amended and passed by the Senate (Mar 95) designed to prevent the conditions of salary compression and salary inequities in the future. The Faculty Senate and Faculty Welfare Committee should continue to track the progress of the administration's enactment of the policies and procedures mandated in the resolutions.
The committee considered the faculty's desire to receive increases in compensation for teaching summer courses and submitted a report to the Senate (Apr 95) recommending that the percentage of the 9 month salary used to compute summer pay (15%) be raised to bring USC in line with other southeastern universities (20%) by Summer Session I, 1996. The Faculty Senate and Faculty Welfare Committee should continue to track the progress of the administration's actions in this matter.
The committee continued to consider faculty wellness issues. Professor Harriet Williams chaired a subcommittee that developed a questionnaire regarding the awareness of and the needs for health and wellness programs at USC. The results of the survey are currently being compiled and analyzed by Dr. Williams and a doctoral student in Public Health. This subcommittee will continue to function in 95-96.
The Senate (Apr 95) requested the Welfare Committee to look into the procedures necessary to unionize the faculty. The request came too late in the year for the committee to consider it carefully. Next year's committee should act on this judiciously.
A number of other matters brought to the committee by various faculty members were dealt with by the chair in cooperation with appropriate university offices.
The committee elected Eldon Wedlock (Law) as its chair for the 1995-96 Academic Year.
This page updated 22 September 1997 by the Office of the
Faculty Senate,
and copyright 1997, The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina.
URL http://www.sc.edu/faculty/senate/95/annual/annual.html