Resolution Defining Eligibility for Faculty Participation
on Department, College, and Senate Committees
Introduced at the regular
meeting of the Faculty Senate on 10/07/13 by the following co-sponsors: Senators Sheldon D. Pollack, Deni Galileo, and
J.Morgan.
Whereas, the
Faculty Handbook, the Policy and Procedures Manual, and the Collective
Bargaining Agreement of the University of Delaware all distinguish between
those individuals who serve as administrators and those who are full-time
voting faculty (i.e., instructors, assistant professors, associate professors,
or full professors) for such purposes as eligibility to serve in official positions
on the Faculty Senate and its standing committees, the applicability of the various
policies and procedures of the University, and inclusion in the collective
bargaining unit; and
Whereas, it
is important to maintain such distinctions between faculty and administrators in
faculty governance, collective bargaining, and other academic affairs; and
Whereas, some
administrators at the University have workloads that assign some of their time
to administrative tasks and some of their time to traditional faculty
activities, such as teaching courses and conducting scholarly research; and
Whereas, some
such individuals serve and vote on faculty committees in their departments and
colleges, including votes on promotion and tenure decisions, faculty appointments,
and curriculum matters; and
Whereas, such
individuals also participate in the decisions in the same matters as
administrators, in their departments, colleges, or university offices; and
Whereas, such
participation as both administrators and faculty undermines faculty governance
by involving those who hold administrative positions in functions otherwise reserved
to faculty; be it therefore
Resolved, that
participation (1) on any faculty committee in a department, college, academic program,
(2) on any Senate committee (other than in a position expressly reserved for an
administrator), or (3) in faculty governance or any decision-making process traditionally
reserved, exercised, or delegated to full-time voting faculty, henceforth shall
be restricted to full-time voting faculty who do not hold an appointment or serve
in an official capacity, whether full-time or part-time, in the Offices of the
President, the Provost, any Vice President, or the Dean of any College,
including but not limited to administrative officers of the University
(including deputy, associate, assistant, and vice provosts), academic deans
(including deputy, associate, and assistant deans), and department chairs or
academic program directors (as defined in the Policy Guide for Department Chairs and Academic Program Directors)
who supervise and/or evaluate other faculty.
Faculty who serve in a temporary capacity for an administrative office
as a member of a search committee, standing or ad hoc committee shall not be deemed ineligible because of this
service.