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March 10, 2006 One person, one vote for promotion and tenure decisions passes faculty senateby Dan Kuester At its March 7 meeting, the Faculty Senate approved changes that alter the voting process for promotion in many departments. The changes were recommended by the senate's Promotion and Tenure Task Force. The changes are designed to avoid undue or unfair influence on promotion and tenure decisions by limiting the number of times a faculty member can vote on a candidate. For instance, if a faculty member votes for a colleague's promotion in a department's promotion and tenure committee, then that faculty member can't vote again when that same colleague comes before the entire department for a decision. While applauding the intent to avoid undue influence, not all senate members thought this the correct way to mend the problem. Stephanie Madon said the change could have the opposite effect. Madon said it would be difficult for smaller departments to comply, and said the change "trades one problem for another." Senators also approved recommendations from the task force on how external reviewers are selected. The new policy would require that half the reviewers be selected from a list provided by the candidate, and half by the department. Anthony Townsend spoke out against the proposal, saying that the candidate should have the option to reject reviewers chosen by the department. In other senate business, these items passed unanimously:
Council chairs and the secretary also were elected for next year's senate. They are:
In new business, the senate heard a proposal to discontinue the secondary undergraduate major in pest management. The proposal is scheduled for a vote at the senate's March 28 meeting, which begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. |
SummaryChanges approved by the faculty senate to the departmental voting process for promotion decisions are designed to avoid undue or unfair influence by limiting the number of times a faculty member can vote on a candidate. |