Minutes for May 11, 2012 Meeting: RUL Faculty Special Meeting Minutes

Present:

Grace Agnew, Katie Anderson (remote), Ka-Neng Au (remote), Stephanie Bartz, Ron Becker, Natalie Borisovets, Jeanne Boyle, Katie Carey, Melissa De Fino, Kayo Denda, Bonnie Fong (remote), Lila Fredenburg, Rebecca Gardner, Melissa Gasparotto, Marianne Gaunt (University Librarian), Tom Glynn, Karen Hartman, Theo Haynes (remote), Melissa Just, Martin Kesselman, Nancy Kranich, Elizabeth Leister, Mei Ling Lo, Jackie Mardikian, Rhonda Marker, Kevin Mulcahy, Laura Mullen, Jill Nathanson, Jim Niessen (Faculty Coordinator), Jane Otto, Fernanda Perrone, Janice Pilch, Francoise Puniello, Keir Reavie, Gene Springs, Li Sun, Farideh Tehrani, Roberta Tipton, Sandra Troy, Mary Beth Weber, Donna Wertheimer (remote), Myoung Wilson, Mark Winston, Ryan Womack (Deputy Faculty Coordinator), Tao Yang (Secretary)

Guest:

Karen Stubaus

The meeting was called to order at 9:37am.

The only agenda item is the NTT faculty appointment/promotion procedures and criteria.

Gaunt said that the EVPAA Edwards has approved the RUL process of formulating the criteria and procedures Gaunt submitted. The RUL Planning and Coordinating Committee led by Jim Niessen (through June 30) and Ryan Womack (after July 1) will coordinate the faculty input. A working group consisting of NTT faculty will provide input as well. A report is due to EVPAA Edwards by July 27 as stipulated by the six month window in the contract.

Karen Stubaus, Associate VP for Academic Affairs was invited to talk at the meeting. The main points of her talk are:

• The NTT (aka "contingent faculty") issue came out of the salary freeze settlement with Rutgers AAUP. It is one of the two non-economic issues in the settlement (the other is extending childcare benefits to library faculty).
• There is a sizable NTT population on campus. The increase of NTT positions is a national trend in research universities.
• The settlement with the faculty union stipulates that the University establish a new title series for NTT faculty and procedures and criteria for reappointment and promotion, and each unit has to submit its procedures and criteria to EVPAA within six months of the settlement (hence the July 27 deadline).
• EVPAA wants to make sure that all units incorporate NTT input in the process.
• The macro goals are to make sure every unit has a transparent procedure for NTT appointment and promotion and help NTT faculty understand their career path.
• There are three types of NTT faculty in the University - instruction (assistant instructor, instructor, and lecturer in teaching departments), research (research assistant, research associate, assistant research professor, associate research professor, research professor) and clinical (created decades ago for Nursing and Pharmacy).
• Clinical track was initially created for Nursing and Pharmacy schools that need practitioners to mentor students. It is also being used by Mason Gross and the Business School (inappropriately). A previous proposal to expand it into a professional practice track was vetoed by the BOG, but it could be reconsidered.
• Each dean's office will submit a report to EVPAA. There will be university-wide guidelines while enough flexibility for individual units will be maintained. The central administration will try to smooth over the differences as much as possible (e.g. there may be a single instruction title series for the Arts & Sciences on all three campuses).
• After the unit reports are received by EVPAA, there will be negotiations with the faculty union.

Stubaus also answered questions from the faculty.

Q: What will happen to RWJ librarians after the merger? Can they use clinical faculty titles?
A: The use of clinical faculty titles is very different in the Medical School. There will be some time before the difference can be reconciled. The current exercise concerning NTT focuses on existing Rutgers units.

Q: Must the RUL have a parallel title series?
A: The central admin has no preconceived position. Clinical and research tracks have parallel title series, but instruction track does not. There is some desire for a parallel instruction title series.

Q: What is the maximum length of appointment for NTT?
A: There is some tension between job security of NTT faculty and the ability of deans to cut budget at a moment's notice. Five years seem to be the max for NTT appointments.

Q: How do part-time lecturers fit into the picture?
A: PTLs are entirely different -- they are hired on a course by course basis and belong to a different bargain unit. But NTT can also be part-time.

Q: What is the appropriate process of promoting NTT?
A: The central admin has no preconceived position.

Q: Can NTT reappointment/promotion go through A&P?
A: There is no policy against it. It is possible to include NTT in A&P when reviewing NTT reappointment/promotion. It is also possible to have a review committee of all NTT faculty or none.

After Stubaus left, Gaunt called a short break.

The meeting resumed at 10:39. Gaunt thought that the University is very flexible and recognizes the unique situations in different units. She was given a template of the report for EVPAA, which asks for NTT title series, criteria for appointment, reappointment, and promotion, and procedures for appointment, reappointment, and promotion. Planning and Coordinating Committee will work on this. She then opened the floor for general discussion.

Some main questions and comments are:

• A preliminary discussion about the NTT faculty on permanent lines may be needed.
• There are two types of NTT faculty in RUL - generalist and specialist. The NTT specialist seems to perform the same function as the specialists on tenure-track.
• The NTT track seems to give us flexibility and allow us to hire specialists who only want to work part-time. But using NTT to replace tenure-track positions may be a slippery slope. Also, will NTT positions be more attractive than full-time, tenure-track positions?
• This seems to be an opportunity to figure out what we can do more effectively with available people.
• NTT faculty members need clarity when they start the job.
• How are these lines handled elsewhere?
• Do we have the flexibility to convert NTT to tenure track positions, without advertising? Gaunt responded that vacant positions can be moved around, but we cannot automatically convert NTT faculty to tenure track without advertising due to our own processes in place.
• Are we missing the opportunity of hiring tenure-track people because the lines are occupied? The flexibility of converting positions may come not only from NTT, but also from retirements.
• What is the relationship between NTT lines and the unit they reside? Gaunt replied that the state lines occupied by NTT belong to RUL.
• To clarify the confusion over part-time issue, Gaunt said that no one can be part-time and on tenure-track and less than 100% is defined as part-time (whether for academic year or calendar year).
• What about the people with professional degrees doing professional-level work on staff lines? Gaunt responded that there are strict guidelines for filling staff vacancies and the focus is on the position rather than the person.
• There is some general agreement about the criteria for evaluating NTT: librarianship and local service are most important, while scholarship and professional service are secondary. The RUL report to EVPAA needs to stress both the value of librarianship to NTT people and the value of scholarship and professional service to tenure-track faculty. But librarianship is also important to tenure-track faculty.
• If there is a two-track system, some people may prefer not to go through the tenure process.
• Rutgers AAUP recommends "no fault" promotion process for NTT faculty.
• What is the percentage of NTT faculty? There is a fixed number on state lines, which is small, but the number on soft money is a wild card.
• It may be possible for tenured people to go part-time (and become NTT).
• There are two pieces in here - past and future: what should we do with people who are already here? And what should we do in the future? However, we are required to develop the criteria and procedure for promotion, not necessarily beyond that.
• Currently, the NTT promotion case uses a shorter form of 1L. It is reviewed by a committee of three, then the AUL/Unit Director, and Gaunt. It does not go beyond Gaunt's level. AAUP principles recommend the adoption of procedures close to those for tenure track faculty.
• The current form used for NTT evaluation includes a place to describe scholarship; if scholarship is not a requirement for evaluation, should it be included?
• The question is whether the full-time NTT can be promoted beyond LIV (the part-time NTT currently can).

The meeting adjourned at 11:37am.

Submitted by Tao Yang, Faculty Secretary