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Retreat 2010:Focus on FacultyFriday, September 3, 2010Joan M. HeminwayPresident, UTK Faculty SenateProfessor, UT College of Law

University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFaculty Senatehttp://web.utk.edu/~senate/index.html

+A Dedication – Loretta Kepler, 1955-2010

+“Keep Calm and Carry On;Now Panic and Freak Out” Stimulus funding expires after this academic year

Four years of flat compensation, no increases

Faculty effectively or actually doing more with less

Better theme: “Focus on Faculty”

Two core aspects: Focus on the representative nature of the Faculty Senate

Institutional importance Focus on highlighting and communicating the value of faculty

to the campus and the wider communities in which faculty operate in a professional capacity Personal importance

+Higher Education in Tennessee

Legislature Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) -

http://www.tennessee.gov/thec/ coordinates activities at Tennessee’s 51 public colleges,

universities, and technology centers (245,000 students) Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) - http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/

incl. 45 universities, community colleges, technology centers

The University of Tennessee - http://www.tennessee.edu/ Knoxville (UTK + Institute of Agriculture) Tullahoma (Space Institute) Chattanooga Martin Memphis (Health Science Center)

enjoys a working relationship with over 36 independent institutions (71,000 students)

+The Faculty Senate – Duties and Structures is a democratically elected, representative,

legislative body through which the faculty participates in campus and University affairs and shared governance

promotes policies and regulations regarding the general educational objectives of the campus through committees and councils and by senate member voting at meetings

considers, advises and recommends policies and procedures in other matters concerning the general welfare of the faculty, including criteria for faculty appointment, dismissal, promotions,

tenure, and retirement and the selection of the chief academic officer of the campus and other campus administrative officers;

priorities for the University budget and development plan; and

changes in physical facilities

+The Faculty Senate – Duties and Structures (cont.) may consider, advise, and recommend on proposed

policies regarding student life, rights, and responsibilities

ordinarily meets as a legislative body the third Monday in September, October, and November in the fall and on the first Monday in February, March, April, and May in the spring

has an executive council that includes committee and council chairs and meets a few weeks before each faculty senate meeting to vet matters for consideration by the full faculty senate

is financially supported through the Office of the Provost

+The Faculty Senate – Leadership President (Joan Heminway, College of Law)

jheminwa@tennessee.edu

President-elect (Vince Anfara, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies)

Past President (Toby Boulet, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Biomedical Engineering)

Secretary (Joanne Deeken, University Libraries)

Parliamentarian (Becky Jacobs, College of Law)

Information Officer (Stefanie Ohnesorg, Department of Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures

+The Faculty Senate – Caucus Chairs

Faculty in each caucus (typically, a caucus is a college, although the College of Arts and Sciences is split into three caucuses) elect senators to three-year terms.

Candidates for these elections are secured and the elections elections are coordinated through the Nominations and Appointments Committee, chaired by the President-elect of the Faculty Senate and consisting of the chair for each caucus.

One faculty member in each caucus serves as the caucus chair, elected by the caucus.

Caucus chairs are a key communication link between the Faculty Senate and faculty in the caucus.

+The Faculty Senate – Administration

Administrative Assistant (Sharonne Winston)

swinston@utk.edu

Graduate Assistant (Ashley Meredith, Ph.D. candidate, Higher Education Administration)

ameredi2@utk.edu

+Important Faculty Governance Documents

The Faculty Senate Bylaws (http://web.utk.edu/~senate/docs/2009-10/Bylaws%202009.pdf)

Faculty Handbook (http://provost.utk.edu/facultyhandbook/)

Manual for Faculty Evaluation (http://provost.utk.edu/evaluation/)

College and Department Bylaws (a list with links is available at http://web.utk.edu/~senate/collegebylaws/index.html)

+Affiliated Organizations – UTFC

University of Tennessee Faculty Council(http://web.utk.edu/~utfc/) includes as members the current Faculty Senate President from

each of the of the UT System campuses and one elected representative from the full-time tenured faculty India Lane, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences

faculty trustees also are members Toby Boulet, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace &

Biomedical Engineering dedicated to upholding and exercising the principles of

academic freedom, shared governance, tenure, and the faculty’s primary responsibility for the university’s curriculum

confers with, advises, and communicates with the President of The University of Tennessee system (and his/her staff, as appropriate) on system-wide matters of interest to the faculties (UTC, UTK, UTHSC, and UTM) and the President

+Affiliated Organizations – TUFS

Tennessee University Faculty Senates(http://web.utk.edu/~senate/TUFS/index.html)

composed of the Tennessee public university faculty senates and faculty councils that elect to become members

each faculty senate votes through a representative Joan Heminway, College of Law, represents Knoxville/Tullahoma

is designed to increase communication among faculty senates at the state's universities and provide Tennessee university faculty an opportunity to speak with a united voice on issues of importance at the state level

+But for Me, It’s All About You

The three-legged stool

Enhanced publication of faculty scholarly achievements

Need to similarly promote faculty achievements in teaching and service/outreach Personnel costs as the vast majority of our budget Frustration in challenging budgetary times that legislators,

voting citizens, alumni, and other constituencies important to funding UTK/UTIA/UTSI do not recognize the value of faculty in educating Tennesseans (and others) serving and working with populations inside and outside UT

+A Challenge in Contesting Negative Perceptions?

+Faculty Stories – Equitable Distribution of Service Obligations Problem – unbalanced service loads among unit

faculty; research faculty overburdened due to a high level of teaching, research, and service commitments

Approach – unit faculty created a spreadsheet reflecting faculty teaching, research, and service obligations

Result – commitments in the three spheres were re-balanced; non-research faculty are teaching more courses, allowing research faculty more time for both research and service; external research funding increased

+Faculty Stories (PAR) – Teaching a Growing Student Population

Problem – 21% class-size increase at the College of Veterinary Medicine necessitates a change in pathology rotation

Approach – pathology faculty collaborated to design a new pathology rotation (a single three-week rotation as opposed to two two-week rotations)

Result – implementation of new pathology rotation that has distinct pedagogical advantages over the previous design Reuse/review in the third week of cases covered in the first week Blackboard teaching modules for each system New objective assessment tool (quiz), also on Blackboard

+Faculty Stories (PAR) – Teaching with an Outreach Effect Problem – national shortage in nurses and resulting

national shortage in nursing faculty; low enrollment (4-6 students) in UT nursing Ph.D. program despite need for more nursing Ph.D.s to serve as faculty

Approach – collaboration among College of Nursing faculty, with support from a faculty member of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences and Innovative Technology Consulting (ITC) personnel, to design and implement a blended on-line Ph.D. program and a new Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree

Result – number of students in the nursing Ph.D. program has increased approximately 300%; more faculty should result from this, enabling more nursing students to be educated and more practicing nurses and Ph.D. candidates; Ph.D. program has become more rigorous, nursing faculty have gained new skills and are better teachers; nursing faculty are more unified

+Faculty Stories (PAR) – Teaching with an Outreach Effect Problem – need to afford practical experience for

accounting students in preparing tax returns and getting direct client service experience; public need for assistance to low-income individuals in tax return preparation

Approach – unit faculty collaborated with UTK Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (an accounting honors student organization) and partnered with the Internal Revenue Service and the United Way to provide free basic income tax preparation through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program

Result – students got the requisite hands-on experience with tax return preparation and client contact; public needs for free tax preparation services were met

+More Faculty Stories

This is just the beginning . . . .

What stories are you now inspired to tell?