Emory Report

November 2, 1998

Volume 51, No. 10

Faculty Council To open the October meeting, Randall Strahan and Sharon Lewis delivered on a report on recommendations to help Emory junior faculty balance their family and professional responsibilities. The tenure process as it stands now is not well-adapted for junior faculty today, they said, and changes could be made to make the process more flexible while maintaining the same rigorous standards of performance. Their recommendations stem in part from a report produced last spring by the President's Commission on the Status of Women's Concerns. Strahan and Lewis made two recommendations: first, that faculty be given the option of working half-time with appropriate adjustments made to salary and the tenure clock and/or given the one-time option of stopping the tenure clock for a year; and second, that the University clarify certain "gray areas" in its maternity leave policy and adopt a paid semester's leave with additional unpaid leave as an option. These policies could benefit new parents or faculty with aging or ill parents. Provost Rebecca Chopp said the deans are well aware of the concerns of junior faculty, and there is a "good deal of serious intention and effort" to address their concerns. The Faculty Council unanimously passed the report outlining Strahan and Lewis' recommendations, and the document will now be sent to President Bill Chace and the Council of Deans. Harriet King addressed the council about the new all-faculty listserv being moderated by the provost's office. King wanted input to help determine criteria for using the list so that it wouldn't be used too much or too little. After some discussion, the council endorsed King's three criteria, that messages sent over the listserv be appropriate for all faculty and only for faculty, that they be time sensitive and that there be no other reasonable means of communicating the information. --Michael Terrazas Return to Nov. 2, 1998, contents page