Faculty Policies Committee Minutes

March 30, 2009

 

Members present: Rob Bledsoe, Tom Crute, Mark Fissel, Wayne Mixon, Jana Sandarg, Bruce Saul, Mike Searles, Robert Smalley, Steve Weiss.

 

1)  Tom called the FPC Committee to order at 2:35pm.

 

2)  Minutes from 23March were approved after corrections were accepted. They will be posted soon.

 

3)  Rob and Bruce gave an Election Subcommittee summary, noting that the primary election went well and Rob, Bruce, Robert, Mike and Jana counted ballots. Bruce will send out the sample general election documents on 30March and the Subcommittee will count votes on 1April. If a tie occurs, the run-off will be on 14-15April.

 

4)  Mark distributed the current draft of the Student Code of Conduct section of the Augusta State University Jaguar Student Handbook for inspection. Tom suggested that Mark make a list of topics removed from this section of the Handbook so that Joyce Jones could place them elsewhere. The FPC discussed the relationship between this revised section and Section 525 in the Faculty Handbook. This should be revisited in the next academic year. The Committee voted unanimously to accept the corrected draft of the Student Code of Conduct. See Attachment a.

 

5) Tom asked that the FPC consider the latest draft of descriptions for Lecturer and Senior Lecturer for inclusion in the Faculty Manual. The verbiage was considered to be in agreement with the BOR descriptions. The FPC voted 8 (for) to 1 (against) to accept the changes and send to the University Council. See Attachment b.

 

6) Steve’s Study Abroad Subcommittee materials were discussed and modified. The FPC voted unanimously to accept these materials and forward them to Dr. Sullivan.

 

7) The FPC was asked to consider on campus policies regarding the presentation of films in club meetings. Discussions included: club versus class settings; approval process; ownership issues and educational use. Tom will gather some background material and we will revisit the topic.

 

8) Tom presented Ted’s summary of suggestions to rewrite the post-tenure review of Chairs. This will be discussed next time.

 

9) Other items will be moved to the meeting on 13April09.

 

 

Adjourned at 4:15 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Bruce Saul

 

 

Attachment a:

Student Code of Conduct:

 

I. The following principles shall be the foundation of the Augusta State University Student Code of Conduct. Students are expected to adhere to ASU’s code of conduct and to the institution’s honor code.

 

A. Honor Code:  Every student who applies to and is accepted by Augusta State University, as a condition of acceptance, agrees to abide by the honor code so long as he or she remains a student at Augusta State University. By his or her continued attendance at Augusta State University, a student reaffirms his or her pledge to adhere to the provisions of the honor code.

 

1. Augusta State University students will conduct all academic work within the letter and spirit of the honor code, which prohibits the giving or receiving of unauthorized aid in all academic processes.

2. Students are expected to take the initiative to learn the recognized techniques of proper attribution of sources used in the preparation of written work, as such knowledge is part of a college education.

 

3. Augusta State University students must consult with faculty and other sources to clarify the meaning of plagiarism in the context of the discipline in which they are studying.

4. Augusta State University students shall comply with faculty regulations designed to reduce the possibility of cheating, such as removing unauthorized materials or aids from the room and protecting one's own examination paper from the view of others.

5. Augusta State University students shall maintain the confidentiality of examinations which have been conducted by divulging no information concerning the content of such an examination, directly or indirectly, to another student yet to write that same examination.

 

B. Augusta State University is a learning environment in which students are expected to conduct themselves with civility toward each other as well as toward employees of the University.

 

C. Students are entitled to the exercise of academic freedom, and expected to understand the nature of academic freedom.

 

D. Students are protected under the prevailing municipal, county, state and federal laws and required to obey those laws, including the Official Code of Georgia Annotated [OCGA].

 

E. Students are entitled to a measure of self-government, embodied in the Student Government Association.

                         

F. Unless otherwise stated in the course syllabus, students will follow the code of conduct. Students are entitled to a safe and sufficient learning environment in the classroom.

 

II. Classroom Expression and Course Related Behavior

 

A. Students can expect faculty to set the tone for expected course behavior at the beginning of each term by addressing policies regarding attendance, tardiness, decorum, student misconduct, withdrawal policies, and by referring the student to the Augusta State University Jaguar Student Handbook. 

B. As posted on the Augusta State University website, the definition of student misconduct includes physical or verbal abusiveness toward faculty members, staff, or other students. Obscenities, aggressive tone, disruptiveness are all behaviors that should be quickly addressed and appropriately reprimanded by the faculty member.

C. If a faculty member is threatened or if student misconduct is of an abusive nature, the faculty member has recourse to the assistance of Augusta State University’s Office of Public Safety and/or may file charges against the student through the Dean of Students.  To initiate the procedure, a signed written statement citing the particulars of the problem shall be formulated by the aggrieved party and submitted to the Dean of Students.  Copies of the statement shall be submitted to the faculty member’s college dean and the department chair, as appropriate.  In extraordinary circumstances the student may be suspended pending consideration of the case.  If suspension is imposed, a hearing shall be held within three (3) class days.  Within seven (7) days after the presentation of the written statement, The Office of the Dean of Students shall make a preliminary investigation by informally consulting with the faculty member and the student to determine if the charges can be disposed of, by mutual consent of both parties without the initiation of disciplinary proceedings.  Such disposal shall be final, and there shall be no subsequent proceedings or appeals.

 

If a mutually satisfactory agreement between the individuals has not been reached within the seven day period, all charges shall be presented to the accused student in written form and he or she has seven days to respond. A time shall be set for a hearing which shall not be less than seven or more than fifteen days after the student’s response. If no response is received after fifteen days from written notification, the Office of the Dean of Students will schedule a hearing for the case with the Student Government Association after consulting (or making multiple attempts to contact a non-responsive party) with both parties as to time and place. The accused student does not have to be pres­ent at the judicial hearing. On the composition and procedures of the Judicial Cabinet, see the Constitution of the Student Government Association.

 

D. The use of all electronic devices, personal or public, in an Augusta State University classroom is determined by the policy of the faculty member for the course.

 

III. Procedures for dealing with academic dishonesty

 

Procedures upon encountering a violation of academic honesty by a student:

For all incidents the faculty member should first discuss the matter with the Chair and then must:

 

1. Confront the student and make the charges known.

 

2. Discuss the matter thoroughly with the student so that each position is clearly delineated.

 

3. Decide upon the action that is appropriate to the incident.  The faculty member may request informal consultation with the Chair and/or Dean when making this decision.

 

4. Remind the student to refer to the Student Academic Appeals and Student Academic Grievances procedures outlined below.

 

5. Summarize the incident in writing with a brief rationale for the action taken.  Materials relevant to the incident such as copies of papers or exams must be included.

 

6. Submit this report to the Chair of the department in which the incident occurred, who will then report the matter to the Dean of that college.

 

If the action is less severe than a WF for the course, the faculty member must decide whether the incident shall be made part of the academic dishonesty file in the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

 

If the action is WF for the course the following procedure applies:

 

1. The faculty member initiates a WF withdrawal form to accompany the report of the incident.

 

2. The Dean shall send the withdrawal form to the Registrar and request that the Vice President for Academic Affairs enter the violation in the academic dishonesty file.

 

3. The Dean shall (a) notify the student in writing of the action taken, (b) remind the student of his/her right to appeal as outlined below, and (c) inform the student that if he/she plans to appeal, the appeal must be filed within five calendar days of receipt.

 

4. The Dean shall provide the faculty member and the Dean of the college that houses the student’s major a written report of the action taken.  The student’s Dean may choose to put the report into the student’s file in that college.

 

5. The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall, upon a student’s second offense requiring a WF for a course, expel the student from Augusta State University and direct the Registrar to enter the phrase “Ineligible to Register” on the student’s permanent record.

 

6. The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall maintain the academic dishonesty file so that all appropriate administrators have access to the record of violations but also so that the student’s rights to limited access shall be safe-guarded.

 

Should the student desire to appeal the decision that a violation of academic honesty occurred, he or she may appeal that finding via the academic grievance process. A student who wishes to appeal shall submit a written grievance (as defined in stage two of the Student Academic Grievance policy) to the appropriate dean. The Dean will provide copies of the written grievance to the faculty member, the department chair, and the Academic Policies Committee and will ask the Academic Policies Committee to arrange a hearing in the manner set forth in this catalog under stage three of Student Academic Grievances. The grievance will proceed beginning at stage three, section A of the grievance process.  In the event of a hearing, the Dean shall notify all parties of the outcome.

 

IV. Prohibited Conduct

 

A. Students who violate the State of Georgia Criminal Code as annotated and/or federal statutes are subject to arrest and/or disciplinary action.

 

 B. All forms of dishonesty are prohibited and not limited to cheating, plagiarism (inappropriately using the ideas or writings of another as one’s own), knowingly furnishing false information, forgery, and alteration or use of institutional documents or instru­ments of identification (including JAG cards) with intent to defraud.

 

C. Disruption or obstruction of teaching, re­search, administration, disciplinary proceedings, or other institutional activities are classified as prohibited conduct. This includes threats, both verbal and written, and menacing gestures.

 

D. Augusta State University’s Office of Information Technology allows limited recreational game playing on campus computers that is not part of an authorized and assigned research or instructional activity. University computing and network services are not to be used for extensive or competitive recreational game playing. Recreational game players occupying a seat in a public computing facility must give up that seat when oth­ers who need to use the facility for academic or research purposes are waiting. Students will abide by the rules established by the Office of Information Technology.

 

V. Weapons, Explosives and Controlled Substances

 

A. Students are prohibited from possession of firearms on institutional property or at events sponsored or supervised by the institution or any recognized institutional organization, pursuant to Georgia law (Official Code of Georgia Annotated [OCGA 16-11-127]).

 

B. Unauthorized possession of weapons, explosives and controlled substances (including alcohol and drugs) is prohibited under OCGA 16-11-127 and by federal statute (as universities are recognized as “school zones”).

 

C. No student shall make unauthorized entry into any institutional building, office, or other facility, nor shall any person remain without authorization in any building after normal closing hours.

 

D. No student shall make unauthorized use of any insti­tutional facility

                         

E. No student shall make a false alarm or tamper with fire safety equipment.

                         

VI. Student Academic Appeals (including grading disputes) shall be conducted according to policies set forth in the Augusta State University Jaguar Student Handbook.

 

VII. Student Grievance Procedure shall be conducted according to policies set forth in the Augusta State University Jaguar Student Handbook.

 

VIII. Procedural Standards in Disciplinary Proceedings shall be conducted according to policies set forth in the Constitution of the Student Government Association.

 

 

 

Attachment b:

Lecturer and Senior Lecturer Ranks

Proposed changes to faculty manual to:

  • Add Lecturer and Senior Lecturer ranks to the corps of instruction, give qualifications for initial hiring, insert promotion criteria for senior lecturers, and specify ineligibility of these ranks for tenure.
  • Renumber section 400 accordingly based on insertion of new rank categories.
  • Make editorial changes throughout catalog replacing “instructor” used in the generic context (but not as a rank) with either “faculty member,” “teacher,” or other synonym that is not used to describe a particular faculty rank.

 

Proposed additions in underlined bold, deletions in strikethrough italics

 

105.1.1 Faculty Organization

105.1.1.1 Membership

The faculty shall consist of the Corps of Instruction, the President of the University, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice President for Business Operations, the Vice President for Student Services, the Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, the Associate Vice Presidents, Assistant Vice Presidents, the Deans, the Associate Deans, the Assistant Deans, the Director of the Library, the Associate Director of the Library, the Librarians, the Registrar, the Directors, the Associate Directors, the Assistant Directors, the Counselors, and such other administrative officers as are reported to the Board of Regents by the President as having faculty status.

The Corps of Instruction shall include full-time Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Instructors, Senior Lecturers, Lecturers, and teaching personnel with such other titles as may be approved by the Board of Regents. Full-time research and extension personnel and duly certified librarians will be included in the Corps of Instruction on the basis of comparable training

 

400 FACULTY RANK AND QUALIFICATIONS

The faculty ranks at Augusta State University are Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. The minimum criteria listed below for each rank are normally used for determining faculty rank when initially employed by Augusta State University and should not be confused with the criteria for promotion in Section 430 of the Augusta State University Faculty Manual.

400.1 RANKS

 

400.1.1 Lecturer

Lecturers are full-time faculty who are appointed on a year-to-year basis in departments outside of Learning Support.  They hold at least a Masters degree or appropriate experience that can be recognized as valid in an academic situation.  Excellent teaching abilities are essential.  Generally lecturers are either not eligible for instructor or professorial ranks or do not desire the level of service and professional development required of the other ranks.  Reappointment of a Lecturer who has completed six consecutive years of service to an institution will be permitted only if the Lecturer has demonstrated exceptional teaching ability and extraordinary value to the institution.  Lecturers and Senior Lecturers shall not comprise more than 10% of the institution’s FTE corps of primarily undergraduate instruction.

 

400.1.2 Senior Lecturer

Generally faculty are not initially hired at the rank of Senior Lecturer, but are rather promoted from the Lecturer rank during the sixth year of service.  Substantial achievement in service or professional development will be required as one component of promotion to this rank.  Reappointment of a Senior Lecturer who has completed six consecutive years of service to an institution will be permitted only if the Senior Lecturer has demonstrated exceptional teaching ability and extraordinary value to the institution.  Lecturers and Senior Lecturers shall not comprise more than 10% of the institution’s FTE corps of primarily undergraduate instruction.

 

 

431 Criteria

Three Four ranks may be considered as promotion categories at Augusta State University.  These are senior lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor.  Applications, recommendations and supporting evidence from individual faculty, promotion/tenure committees, chairs, and deans should address all relevant areas listed below.  Sections 431.1, 431.2, and 431.3 set out the levels of performance requisite in areas one (Teaching), two (Service), and three (Professional Development and Achievement).  Noteworthy achievement in area one is expected of all applicants for promotion.  For promotion to the rank of Senior Lecturer, applicants must demonstrate exceptional teaching ability, extraordinary value to the institution, and substantial achievement in either of areas two or three.  For promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, substantial achievement is expected in areas two and three, with noteworthy achievement in one of these two areas.*  For promotion to the rank of Professor, significant achievement beyond that for Associate Professor should be demonstrated in areas two and three, with noteworthy achievement beyond the level for Associate Professor expected in one of these two areas.  Appropriate Academic Achievement, area Four, and Length of Service, area five, should be demonstrated as well.  The Chancellor’s office has established guidelines that require special justification in certain situations or that clarify their interpretation of Board of Regents policy.  Those guidelines are contained in the Information Section of this manual.  Assessment of faculty achievement levels will be based on the Augusta State University Faculty Evaluation and Development System (Section 420), incorporated herein by reference, and the agreements between faculty members and supervisors required by the abovementioned Role Model (Section 421).  Faculty members and supervisors should carefully consider the criteria set forth in this manual for promotion to the various ranks.

 

440.6.3

Only assistant professors, associate professors, and professors who are normally employed full-time (as defined by Regents’ policies) by an institution are eligible for tenure. Faculty members with adjunct appointments, lecturers, and senior lecturers shall not acquire tenure.

 

440.6.6

The maximum time that may be served at the rank of assistant professor or above without the award of tenure shall be seven years; provided, however, that a terminal contract for an eighth year may be proffered if an institutional recommendation for tenure is not approved by the Board of Regents. The maximum time that may be served in any combination of full-time instructional appointments (lecturer,  as an instructor, or at a professorial ranks) without the award of tenure shall be ten years; provided, however, that a terminal contract for an eleventh year may be proffered if an institutional recommendation for tenure is not approved by the Board of Regents.