Members of the Faculty Council, who expressed support at their Nov. 21 meeting for President Bill Chace's plan to form a University Promotion and Tenure Committee, suggested that faculty might look upon the plan more favorably if the committee's name is changed to reflect more accurately its central purpose.
Chace said he envisions the committee having two primary areas of responsibility:
*University-wide academic oversight: What are the standards throughout the University on promotion with tenure and hiring to tenured positions from outside? Are those standards roughly equivalent? Chace said the committee would not be charged with judging the merits of specific individuals being considered for tenure and promotion.
*Presidential advising: Chace said he needs a high-level faculty group to advise him on general matters affecting the University, "things that can't be addressed at a town hall meeting," Chace said. "I need the counsel of faculty who are esteemed by their colleagues."
When Provost Billy Frye said the group would function as a Presidential Faculty Advisory Committee, several Council members suggested using that name instead of Promotion and Tenure Committee.The Council expressed support for moving ahead with the formation of the committee.
In other business, the Council approved proposed recommendations from a Faculty Council committee charged with proposing procedures to link Emory faculty liaisons with Carter Center programs. The recommendations call for the liaison role to include becoming familiar with and offering expertise to Carter Center programs, to consider ways in which Carter Center programs and Emory students and faculty can serve as resources to each other, to communicate with colleagues about Carter Center research and service opportunities, and to report to the Council on their liaison experiences.
The Council voted to ask Douglas Wallace, Woodruff Professor of Molecular Genetics, to be the first speaker in the Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series.
Vice President for Institutional Advancement Bill Fox, chair of Emory's Olympic committee, discussed the impact the games will have on Emory at the Nov. 28 Senate meeting.
Fox said the administration is aware of the difficulty employees will have in getting to work on time during the two-week Olympic period next summer because of increased traffic and is looking at ways to address that problem, including the possibility of temporarily offering flex time. Although Emory will not serve as the venue for any Olympic competition, Fox said the campus will play a key role in the games. He said virtually all campus bed space --except for space set aside for summer school students--has been rented for ACOG use, the international media, alumni and special guests. Fox said the University will conduct summer school and the Summer Scholars Program as usual; he said Emory has quadrupled the amount of bed space normally set aside for summer school students.
The P.E. Center will not be available to Emory community members for several weeks next summer due to its use as a primary practice site for Olympic athletes. Fox said he would raise the issue of employees' being refunded a portion of their P.E. Center access fees for that period.
Major campus activities planned during the Olympics include a reception at Carlos Museum for Prince Albert of Monaco and an event featuring Emory women athletes sponsored by the National Organization for Women.
In other business, the Campus Life Committee submitted a revised recommendation concerning electronic campus communication. Committee Chair Judy Raggi-Moore said the proposal calls for the Senate to issue statements strongly encouraging the community to use e-mail as the preferred method of information distribution, and encouraging a reduction in the use of paper. The proposal further calls for all constituent groups to be represented in creating guidelines for the moderation of electronic communication, and that the Senate review the guidelines when they are established.
Senate President Richard Letz asked the committee to draft statements concerning the encouragement of e-mail and a reduction in paper use, so Senate members can have a written document to vote on at their next meeting in January. Letz also asked Past-President Luther Smith to draft a letter to the Student Government Association (SGA) strongly encouraging the group to require all SGA-funded groups to clean up flyers they post in public areas, and to charge Facilities Management costs back to groups that don't clean up their flyers.
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Harriet King announced that President Bill Chace and Provost Billy Frye have decided not to carry forward a proposal to change the University's faculty retirement policy, meaning the current policy of granting Professor Emeritus status to all qualified retiring faculty will remain in place. --Dan Treadaway