Changes to the Proposed Faculty Handbook



Changes to the Proposed Faculty Handbook

The following items involve changes to the proposed Faculty Handbook that were mentioned at the September faculty meeting or sent by email to members of the Council on Academic Policy. Academic Policy then applied a triage system with three categories to these items. Please bring your paper copy of the proposed handbook that we distributed for the last faculty meeting. If you need another copy, you can print one from the Faculty Resources web page under the Academic Affairs web page.

• Category 1: Immediate Discussion Items. These changes come from AP in the form of either amendments or clarifications. They appear in the order of occurrence in the Faculty Handbook and will be discussed during the faculty meeting. Each item will be considered as a separate motion.

• Category 2: Editorial Changes. These changes have already been made to the electronic copy of the proposed handbook.

Category 1: Immediate Discussion Items

• Page D1, paragraph 4, line 8: Clarify the sentence about independent studies and supervision of experiential learning activities.

"Independent studies, while common, are undertaken at the discretion of the instructor. They are not part of a normal teaching load and faculty members do not receive a stipend for independent studies.

Having endorsed the important role which experiential learning plays in a Hendrix education, the faculty is committed to providing opportunities for engaged learning within or beyond the traditional classroom setting."

• Page E3, second bullet under assessment of teaching: Clarify the sentence and provide a cap to the number of course evaluations required for faculty evaluation.

“course evaluations by students including at least the most recent section of each course taught since the last evaluation. If the number of distinct courses to be evaluated exceeds 7, then the faculty member and Area Chair will confer and select a representative sample of 7 course evaluations.”

• Page E3, last bullet under assessment of teaching: Simplify the sentence about experiential learning projects.

“where applicable, summaries of independent studies and experiential learning projects.”

• Page E4, clarification on assessment of advising: The recommendation is to use a modified version of the existing survey instrument developed on campus. The survey would be modified to acknowledge the expansion of its usage from new students only to all students.

• Page E8, fourth bullet in the middle of the page: Clarify the connection between enrollment and faculty positions. [The next bullet item after this one also clarifies the same issue in a different location in the handbook.] Replace the existing language with the following.

“the relationship between faculty member and the long range plans of the institution, with particular attention to issues of curriculum and enrollment, for the department as well as for the college as a whole.”

• Page F8, under Allocation of Faculty Positions. Clarify the connection between enrollment and faculty positions. Add a new final sentence.

“It is the responsibility of the Committee on Faculty and the department chair to communicate the expectations for the position clearly to each new hire; to continue to monitor each new, reassigned, or reaffirmed faculty position to determine whether the expectations are being met; to consult with the faculty member in a timely manner in order to develop a strategy for addressing any perceived deficiencies; and if necessary, to recommend that the position be redefined, reallocated, or eliminated.”

• Page E8, first sentence after the bullets in the middle of the page: Clarify the contents of the Area Chair evaluation letter. Replace the existing language with the following.

“Following the conference, the Area Chair will prepare a letter based on the material provided by the faculty member, the department letter, classroom visits, evaluation conference, and other pertinent evidence.”

• Page E9, second paragraph, first sentence: Clarify the end of the evaluation process. Replace the first sentence with

“At the conclusion of the evaluation by the Committee on Faculty, the Provost will write a summative letter for the faculty member reflecting the decisions of the Committee on Faculty.”

• Page D3: In the section on Class Attendance insert a new third paragraph of the section and move the existing third paragraph to a fourth paragraph.

“A course instructor can drop from the roster any student who fails to attend the following number of class meetings before the deadline to add a course:

• Two classes in a course meeting on a TR schedule

• Three classes in a course meeting on a MWF schedule.”

The motivation for the suggested change is to make room for students who really want to be in the course and to get them into the course early enough to be successful.

Category 2: Editorial changes

• Pages C2-C3: Replace the job description of the Vice President for Student Affairs with the following text.

Vice President for Student Affairs

The Vice President for Student Affairs, working with a team of professional student development staff including the Dean of Students, supervises the student life program of the College.  The Student Affairs staff works closely with members of the faculty, especially the Student Life Committee, which advises the Office of Student Affairs.   The Office of Student Affairs also works collaboratively with the Chaplain who plans religious life programs. The Vice President for Student Affairs is one of the advisors to the Student Senate and staffs the Student Life Committee of the Board of Trustees.

Student Life includes the following areas: student housing facilities and residential life, student development and leadership programs, orientation, student activities and organizations, Propylaea, the campus center, student health services, student counseling services, career development center, internships, and student conduct and discipline.

• Page C5: Replace the job description for the Coordinator of Academic Support Services with the following text.

The Coordinator of Academic Support Services is responsible for providing services to promote academic success. The Coordinator provides individual and group learning strategy instruction, coordinates initiatives and procedures for at-risk student populations, and oversees the Peer Tutoring program.

• Page C22: Change the coordinator for the Hendrix Campus Catholic Ministry to Ferrer.

• Page D4: Change “adviser” to “advisor” in lines 3 and 11.

• Page E1: In the fourth line from the bottom of the page change the comma to a period.

• Page E3: In the last bullet under teaching change “life long” to “lifelong.”

• Page E5: Replace the last sentence of the paragraph at the top of the page with the following text.

Whatever their origins, mentoring relationships are appreciated by both faculty and students and are an important part of student development at Hendrix.

• Page E9: In the sixth line under Schedule of Evaluations, delete the work “then.”

• Page F2: In the twelfth line from the bottom of the page, delete the hyphen.

• Page F6: Change the tenth line to “misconduct involving moral turpitude are examples of grounds for dismissal for cause.”

• Page F6: In the first line under Intent to Terminate Process, change “which” to “and.”

• Page F11: In the fifth line from the bottom of the page, change “the” to “their.”

• Page F11: In the “Leave Without Pay” title replace “Operating Policy” with “Operating Procedure.”

• Page G2: The second paragraph should have “Odyssey Program Guide” in italics.

• Page G3: Replace the first paragraph of the section on “grant budgeting and indirect cost recovery” with the following text.

Hendrix currently has a federally approved rate for indirect costs of 59.6%. In drafting grant proposals, and when permitted by the granting agency, departments should budget indirect costs of 59.6% on all direct salaries. Fringe benefits are based on actual rates available from the Human Resources Office.

• Page G20: Add “(hendrix.edu/odyssey)” to the end of the last sentence of the text for the Odyssey program.

• Page H4: In line 14 of the phased retirement policy change “appoint” to “appointment.”

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