Faculty Policies, Resources and Development at Ohio State

Susan S. WilliamsVice Provost for Academic Policy and

Faculty Resources

September 8, 2009

Faculty at Ohio State

• 18 Colleges

• 110 TIUs (Tenure Initiating Units)

• Joint appointments

• Centers and Institutes

Multiple Tracks

• See Faculty Rank Title Codes (Handbook Tab 7)

• Regular Faculty• Tenure Track

• Clinical Track

• Research Track

• Auxiliary Faculty• Lecturers, visiting, adjunct

Regular Tenure Track Faculty

• Professor: 1,164

• Associate Professor: 964

• Assistant Professor: 815

• Instructor: 19

• Total: 2,962

(Statistics via Faculty Analytics)

Regular Clinical Track

• Approved in 11 colleges

• Professor: 67

• Associate Professor: 150

• Assistant Professor: 327

• Instructor: 7

• Total: 551

Clinical Track

• Track must be approved by the University Senate (see list on Handbook pp. 47-48)

• Hired for 3 – 5 years for specific duties

• Department must have criteria for appointment, reappointment, and promotion

• Can be promoted through the ranks

• No time limit of time in rank

• May switch from tenure track or give up tenure to be promoted in clinical track

• Reviewed during penultimate year

Regular Research Track Faculty

• Approved in 10 colleges

• Professor: 4

• Associate Professor: 4

• Assistant Professor: 58

• Total: 66

Research Track

• Contract for 1 – 5 years

• Salary must be supported from non-general funds

• Department must have criteria for appointment, reappointment, and promotion

• Reviewed during penultimate year

Leadership Role

• Chair vs DEO (Department Executive Officer)

• Manager

• Leader

• Facilitator

• Agents for quality work: “convene faculty conversations that, precisely because they raise tough questions, evoke meaningful answers defining the nature of their community’s work” (Departments That Work, 126)

Transitioning to a New Role

• Shift your thinking from individual success to collective success. The criteria for success as an individual faculty member are not the same criteria for success as a department chair/dean.

• Get into a learning and listening mode. Map out what you need to learn and identify from whom you can learn it. Develop relationships with those who have information/resources you need.

• Identify opportunities to build personal credibility.

Shadow of the Leader(Senn-Delaney)

Shadow of the Leader

Departments that work have chairs who

• Are good listeners

• Introduce difficult conversations

• Frame issues clearly, delineate options, and lay out consequences of those options

• Create settings for quality work and remove barriers to such work

• Create ways for the department to think critically about its work as a unit (Wergin, 138)

Develop Trusting, Credible Relationships

• Relationships are made up of conversations• As a leader, you will survive or fail one conversation at a time.

(See Seattle Post-Intelligencer article)

• Each conversation you have with another, enhances the relationship, flat-lines the person, or takes the person down.

• The manner in which you have a conversation is more important than the content of the conversation.

• Enter into conversations with a listening, inquiring approach. Be present in the conversation.

• Be real; be authentic; be respectful.

Professional Development as a Leader

• CIC Department Executive Officers Seminar

• CIC Academic Leadership Program

• Academic Leaders Series

• Coaching

• NSF ADVANCE Project CEOS at Ohio State

• College programs (e.g. MED, FAES Leadership Institute)

Professional Development Beyond OSU

• American Council on Education (ACE) workshop for chairs and deans http://www.acenet.edu//AM/Template.cfm?Section=chairs_workshop

• Professional organization programs

• Magna Publications: http://www.magnapubs.com/(Academic Leader newsletter)

• The Department Chair (e-journal in OSU Libraries)

Characteristics of a high quality department

• What are the criteria by which academic programs are evaluated?

• What are the criteria by which you wish academic programs were evaluated?

• How does this list compare to Wergin’s list on pp. 120 and 125?

Social Contract

Institutional Mission

Value added to institution

Criteria for department choices

Departmental Work

Value added to department

Criteria for faculty choices

Individual faculty work

Discipline/profession

“Framing”

“Focusing”

“Differentiating”

“Integrating”

The Engaged Department: Centrality of Faculty to Academic Mission

• Inside-out approach

• Beginning with the work faculty are doing and linking it to collective expectations (p. 21)

• Examine what the individual pieces add up to

• Ask the collective:• How does the collective whole add value

• How are we more than just an aggregate of individual faculty activity?

• What is it about our collective strengths, interests and experiences that makes our group unique?

• How might we best contribute to the good of our students, Ohio State and our discipline?

The Engaged Department

• Patterns of Administration

• Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Documents

• Mission statements

• Hiring

The Engaged Department

Semester conversion as an example of Wergin’s “Disorienting Dilemma” (p. 20)

• Relation to University Steering Committee

• Workload issues

• On duty/off duty issues (Task Force on Nine Month

Appointments)

• Curriculum issues

The Engaged Department

• Program Review• See http://oaa.osu.edu/irp/programreview_intro.php

• On a six-year cycle determined by OAA and deans

• Program review consists of

• Data-informed self-review

• Visit and report by external team

• Goals and initiatives that emerge from internal and external reviews are integrated with department and college strategic plans

Program Reviews

• Ritual of “apparent compliance” or opportunity for critical reflection and integration with the work of the faculty? (p. 29)

• “Culture of evidence”• Office of Institutional Research

• OSU:pro

The Engaged Department InvitesStrategic Conversations

• Create opportunities for faculty to engage in critical reflection and have open discussion

• Set aside specific time for critical reflection. Formats might include:

• Half-day retreats

• Extended faculty meetings where business is suspended

• Consider the use of a facilitator to structure and facilitate discussion

Supporting Faculty:Questions for Discussion

• What characteristics describe a valued colleague in your unit? (p. 43)

• How do you support autonomy while also supporting other institutional goals?

• How is autonomy related to academic freedom? (p. 15)

• How are faculty valued and supported within a “high performance academic culture”?

Supporting Faculty:Annual Reviews

• Look at accomplishments as well as future plans

• Include planning for leaves (FPLs) and other professional development

• Niche vs rut (Departments that Work, 21)

• Opportunity for goal setting and reflection

“A department chair can treat post-tenure review as one more externally imposed rule and find ways of complying that will not disturb or disrupt the status quo. Or a department chair can decide to seize on the policy, misguided as it may be, as an opportunity to address larger issues about teaching and scholarship” (Departments that Work, x).

Supporting Faculty:Promotion and Tenure

• Discuss procedures and criteria with new faculty

• Roles of P&T committee chair and chair in review process

• OSU:pro

• Fairness in process is key

• “Eligible faculty” for P&T review

• Quorum

Extending the Tenure Clock

• Three ways to extend tenure clock:

• Birth/adoption of child (guaranteed but must notify OAA)

• Adverse events beyond one’s control—requires approval of P&T committee, dean, OAA

• Part-Time (currently 47 faculty take this option)

Supporting Faculty

• Provide clear deadlines and schedule for the academic year

• Pay attention to orientation and mentoring opportunities for new faculty

OAA New Faculty Toolkit at http://oaa.osu.edu/faculty_staff.php

MentorNet http://www.mentornet.net/

Supporting Faculty:Nominations and Awards

• OSU awards

• Be proactive re national academies and other national awards

• Develop and/or support departmental or college awards committee

• Get the word out

Supporting Faculty:Compensation

See Handbook Tab 1, Chapter 5 (begins p. 65)

Annual Merit Compensation Process

http://hr.osu.edu/comp/

Office of Academic Affairs Programs

• Counter offers (p. 69)

• Dual Career Hiring Program (p. 61)

Supporting Faculty:Compensation as Recognition

“Faculty need evidence that someone’s paying attention. That’s why so mahy salary disputes in higher education seem so symbolic: Money, even in miniscule increments, symbolizes recognition…. Other symbols of recognition, while simple are surprisingly powerful….Recognition is public validation, and it’s exceedingly powerful: hearing unsolicited compliments from students or colleagues, getting quoted in a research article; fielding requests for assistance in an area of professional expertise” (Departments that Work, 17)

Supporting Faculty:Managing Conflict

• Respond to conflicts quickly; don’t let them fester

• Use your best listening skills…the more you understand the problem, the better you will be able to help

• Gather the facts; remember that each person involved will have a new/different perspective

• Invite those in conflict to talk directly to each other, and/or to talk with you together

• If those in conflict cannot resolve their issue, then resolve it for them and be clear in your expectations for moving beyond the conflict

Supporting Faculty:Compliance

• Balance between individual entrepreneurship and institutional risk

• Conflict of Interest forms must be submitted annually

• Conflict of Commitment policy

• Leave forms

Create a Positive + Collegial Environment

• Set and maintain expectations for civil discourse and rules of engagement.

• Address inappropriate behavior.

• Set guidelines for meetings; reduce the stress associated with faculty meetings.

• Always refer cases of workplace violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination to the Office of Human Resources (2-2800)

Supporting Faculty:Leadership Development

• CIC Academic Leadership Program

• President’s and Provost’s Leadership Institute

• Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Bryn Mawr Summer Institute

More information at http://oaa.osu.edu/LeadershipDevelopment.php

Leadership Partners

• Organization and Human Resources Consulting (2-2800)

• Office of Legal Affairs (2-0661)

• Office of Academic Affairs (2-5881)

• Council of Deans, monthly

• Quarterly chairs meetings

• Chairs collaborating with chairs

• Office of Student Life

• The Women’s Place (2-3960)

• Graduate School (2-6031)

• UCAT