Recommendation from the Faculty Senate Coordinating Committee on Education (Sheldon Pollack, Chair) with the concurrence of the Executive Committee (Jeff Jordan, Chair) for the request to approve a resolution of the University of Delaware Faculty Senate, regarding certain provisions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that affect decisions on faculty promotions and tenure

WHEREAS,  Article 11.5 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement entered into by and between the administration of the University of Delaware (the “Administration”) and the University of Delaware Chapter of the AAUP (the “AAUP”), effective July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2013 (the “CBA”), includes certain provisions that affect the standards applied in decisions on faculty promotions and tenure; specifically, such provisions require that in decisions on faculty promotions and tenure, proportionate weight must be given to the candidate’s workload with respect to service, teaching, and research/scholarship/creative activity; and

WHEREAS, establishing the standards and requirements that apply in decisions on faculty promotions and tenure is a responsibility delegated to the Faculty of the University of Delaware, subject to approval by the Administration, and exercised by the committees of the Faculty Senate and the several colleges and divisions, as provided for under Chapter 2 (II)(D)(2) of the Bylaws of the University of Delaware and Section 1, Subsection XIV of the Bylaws and Regulations of the University Faculty Senate; and

WHEREAS, such provisions in Article 11.5 of the CBA that require that proportionate weight be given to the candidate’s workload effectively limit the discretion and authority of the Faculty in so establishing the standards and requirements that apply in decisions on faculty promotions and tenure; be it therefore

RESOLVED, that the Faculty Senate respectfully requests that the Administration and the AAUP, with all due haste, at the next contract negotiation or sooner, come together to amend Article 11.5 of the CBA to remove the aforementioned provisions that limit the discretion and authority of the Faculty Senate to establish the standards that apply in decisions on faculty promotions and tenure.

Article 11.5 of the CBA:

“In the distribution of merit pay and in the promotion and tenure process and in the peer review process, the weights assigned to teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity and service must be directly related to the workload developed with the faculty member for the period of review. The relative proportions of teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity and service necessarily vary widely across the faculty. For instance, in promotion and tenure decisions, the weighting given to each of these three areas shall be proportionate to its weighting in the applicant’s assigned workload. The criteria written by each department to fit its particular circumstances and needs must accommodate all possible combinations of workload.”