ECU FACULTY MANUAL
INTERPRETATIONS
1990-Present
Listed below is the full text for each
interpretation.
Part
I. of the manual details the formation process for these interpretations.
Please call the Faculty Senate office at
328-6537 if you have questions.
I06-22 |
04-18-06 |
Secret Ballot
Voting |
Interpretation of the ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix D. clarifying that the numbers of
faculty votes either yea or nay or abstaining in secret ballot voting can not
be shared with administrators. (Faculty Senate Resolution 06-20)
I05-21 |
10-11-05 |
Voting |
Can fixed-term faculty members serve on search committees? No.
Appendix D concerns all Procedures for Initiation,
Review, and Approval of Appointments, Reappointments, Promotions, and the
Conferral of Permanent Tenure. Appendix D’s definition of voting faculty
must be used when selecting search committee members. Only voting faculty
members, as defined by Appendix D may vote on the selection of a search
committee. Only voting faculty members may serve on search committees.
I05-20 |
9-28-05 |
Voting |
Part B of Appendix L allows all permanently tenured faculty members, regardless
of administrative appointments, leaves of absence, etc., to vote on the
acceptability of the nominees. Hence, in the case of a search for a new
department chair, a nominee would be considered acceptable if he or she gets
the endorsement of a majority of all of the
permanently tenured faculty in the department. The total number of permanently
tenured faculty in the department includes any tenured departmental faculty on
leave of absence (if present and voting) or on administrative assignment within
or outside the department. (Faculty Senate Resolution
05-40)
I05-19 |
2-22-05 |
Code Unit
Changes |
Changes in unit nomenclature” referenced in Appendix L., Section D.1.f. include
moving groups of faculty and/or disciplines from one coded unit to another.
This type of move does not require UNC General Administration approval.
I03-18 |
4-22-03 |
Personnel
Committee |
The unit personnel committee recommends the initial rank of faculty
appointments.
I01-17 |
2-27-01 |
New Academic
Units |
A new professional school's proposal to organize into self-governing autonomous
units shall be reviewed by the Faculty Governance Committee and the
I01-16 |
2-27-01
|
Unit
Personnel Committee |
Unit
administrators are ordinarily excluded from unit Personnel Committee
discussions concerning candidates for appointment, re-appointment, promotion,
or permanent tenure, and must be excluded from any meeting where votes are taken.
However, at the invitation by a majority vote of the membership of the
personnel committee, a unit administrator may meet with the committee to
discuss initial appointments.
I00-15 |
11-14-00
|
Phrase
"Spring Term" |
The sense of the
Committee is to understand the phrase "spring term" to refer to the
spring semester that ends with Commencement exercises. Therefore, it is advised
that all academic divisions use the same dates for nine and twelve month
faculty when personnel issues are involved.
I00-14 |
4-18-00 |
Related Faculty |
Related faculty
within the same academic department (or other comparable institutional
subdivision of employment) shall not participate, either individually or as a
member of a committee, in the evaluation of related persons for appointment,
reappointment, promotion, the conferral of permanent tenure, cumulative review,
salary recommendations, or any other personnel action. A faculty member made
ineligible for participation in the evaluation of a related person does not
count for quorum purposes and his/her ineligibility does not constitute a
recommendation against the proposed personnel action.
I00-13 |
2-1-00 |
Voting Faculty Member and
Quadrennial Unit Administrator |
Would the 12 month
consecutive calendar month of appointment status (excluding intervening summer
months) apply to faculty re-appointed to a position or appointed to a different
position because there would not have been a lapse in employment at ECU?
Interpretation - The definition of a voting faculty member in Appendix L
requires that the faculty member have "regular academic faculty rank"
at the time of voting. It does not place any restrictions on the type of
faculty appointment when requiring that a faculty member be "in at least
the twelfth consecutive calendar month of appointment (counting all intervening
summer months, if any) to the faculty of the unit in which the voting is to
occur...." Appendix D, II.A.1 lists the categories of faculty
appointments. Who can attend the quadrennial Unit Administrator Evaluation
meeting per Appendix L.F.1.? Interpretation - The voting faculty of each unit
shall vote on the effectiveness of the unit administrator. During September of
the unit administrator's fourth year of appointment and every fourth year
thereafter, the voting faculty shall discuss and vote by secret ballot on the
effectiveness of the unit administrator. Given that the above procedure refers
to "voting faculty shall discuss" and given that the procedure involves
personnel matters, only voting faculty members should be in attendance during
the discussion."
I99-12 |
12-7-99 |
Non-Concurring Personnel
Recommendations |
The faculty member
should be informed of both concurring and non-concurring recommendations at
every level, beginning with the unit administrator's recommendation and
continuing up to the level where the final decision is made. The wording in the
ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix D, Section IV. H. is clear that the candidate is
informed of concurring recommendations. Immediately after the completion of
each level of administrative review, the administrator's recommendation shall
be communicated to all appropriate lower administrators, the candidate, and the
committee of the unit which made the initial recommendation. Whether the
candidate is to be informed is not clear for non-concurring recommendations.
Since the candidate would be informed if the administrator concurred, the
candidate would know that the administrator did not concur if s/he was not
informed of the decision. Since the candidate would know the decision, it seems
ridiculous not to communicate non-concurrence.
I99-11 |
2-10-99 |
Search
Committee |
A search committee
may fulfill the responsibilities of reviewing applications, selecting candidates,
interviewing candidates, and recommending one or more candidates for the
position to the unit's Personnel Committee.
I98-10 |
10-8-98 |
Cumulative Review of Permanently Tenured Faculty |
If the unit has elected "block
review" (all tenured faculty in the unit will undergo cumulative review of
permanently tenured faculty (CRPTF) this year and every five years hereafter),
all faculty who are currently tenured-regardless of the date tenure was
awarded-should be reviewed this year. This applies to faculty who have been
tenured less than five years or who were promoted less than five years ago
also. If the unit has elected "serial review" (some tenured faculty
will be reviewed each year, beginning this year), all faculty who are currently
tenured-regardless of the date tenure was awarded-are placed in the pool from
which the random selection is made of faculty for review each year. This means
faculty who have been tenured less than five years or who were promoted less
than five years ago are in the pool with faculty who have been tenured or
promoted more than five years ago. The random selection of faculty for review
this year will be drawn from this pool. For the first CRPTF cycle, faculty who
have been tenured less than five years or who were promoted less than five
years ago may then undergo cumulative review less than five years after their
most recent personnel action review; however, in subsequent review periods, the
policy about promotion review substituting for CRPTF may apply in the unit
choosing serial review. The CRPTF cycle for faculty in these units who are
tenured in the future will be every five years after the awarding of tenure.
I98-9 |
2-11-98 |
Voting Faculty |
In reference to Appendix L and the definition of a voting faculty member, "university officers" is defined as anyone with the title "Dean" and above.
I97-8 |
10-14-97 |
Formation of Promotion Committee |
When a unit has fewer than three permanently tenured voting faculty members of sufficient rank and not holding administrative status, the next higher administrator above the unit level shall appoint permanently tenured faculty at the required rank from other units to increase the committee's membership to three, with at least two-thirds of the members being permanently tenured faculty. These appointments to the committee must be from one list of candidates selected by a vote of the permanently tenured and probationary-term faculty having rank at least equal to the candidate(s) being considered for promotion. The list forwarded to the next higher administrator by the faculty will contain at least twice the number of faculty members required to complete the membership of the committee. Before voting on the list to be forwarded to the next higher administrator, the voting faculty will ascertain that faculty members nominated to have their names placed on the list are willing and able to serve in this important capacity. The list of faculty names recommended to the next higher administrator may not be returned for revision.
I97-7 |
10-14-97 |
Formation of Tenure and Personnel Committees |
When a unit has fewer than three permanently tenured voting faculty members not holding administrative status, the next higher administrator above the unit level shall appoint permanently tenured faculty from other units to increase the committee's membership to three. These appointments to the committee must be from one list of candidates selected by a vote of the permanently tenured and probationary-term faculty of the unit. The list forwarded to the next higher administrator by the appropriate faculty will contain at least twice the number of faculty members required to complete the membership of the committee. Before voting on the list to be forwarded to the next higher administrator, the voting faculty will ascertain that faculty members nominated to have their names placed on the list are willing and able to serve in this important capacity. The list of faculty names recommended to the next higher administrator may not be returned for revision.
I96-6 |
9-6-96 |
Voting Faculty |
In reference to Appendix L and the
definition of a voting faculty member, the teaching/research requirement does
not apply to unit administrators (i.e. chairs of departments in the
I96-5 |
3-13-96 |
Reduction of Faculty Probationary Term |
Appendix D states that "the normal probationary term for the professorial ranks, as established at the time of initial appointment, shall be...." This was intentional to remove ambiguity in previous versions of Appendix D. Thus, the promotion of an assistant professor to associate professor before the end of the probationary term has no effect on the original contractual probationary term. Of course, a faculty member could apply for early tenure following Section II.C.5.
I96-4 |
3-13-96 |
Off-Track Faculty Probationary Terms |
In order to afford the maximum opportunity for tenure, it is the position of the Faculty Governance Committee that the probationary term for personnel hired at the professorial ranks, whose contract date occurs earlier than the beginning of the Fall semester, will be measured from the beginning of the subsequent Fall semester. Of course, a faculty member could apply for early tenure following Section II.C.5.
I94-3 |
2-23-94 |
Voting Eligibility |
Any voting faculty member has voting privileges for departmental issues except those specifically excluded by any portion of the unit code or the Faculty Manual (i.e. some personnel decisions, recommendations on code content, quadrennial evaluations). Section 604C of the UNC Code defines visiting faculty as a "special" faculty appointment, thus making any visiting faculty member ineligible to vote on excluded issues as described above, but eligible to vote on departmental issues not excluded by a unit code or Faculty Manual statement.
I93-2 |
3-30-93 |
Faculty Officers |
Officers of the Faculty, who are not members
of the
I90-1 |
2-15-90 |
Personnel Files |
A faculty member who willfully discloses confidential information from a personnel file or allows another to disclose such information has violated State law and University regulations and may be disciplined under University regulations. An individual faculty member such as a department chair of chair of a personnel committee who knows of a faculty member's public disclosure of confidential information but does not act has neglected his or her duties and may also be disciplined in accordance with Appendix D. The Statues clearly define confidential information. G.S. 126-23 provides that an employee's "name, age, date of original employment or appointment to the State service, current position, title, current salary, date and amount of most recent increase or decrease in salary, date of recent promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification, and the official station to which the employee is currently assigned" are matters of public record.