Senate Expansion to Admit Clinical Professors, Lecturers, Archivists, and Curators
The University Senate is considering a resolution that would expand the University Senate to include Clinical Professors (Assistant, Associate, and Full), Lecturers (I, II, III, IV), Archivists, and Curators. Should the resolution be approved by a majority vote, a request will be made for an update to the Bylaws of the Board of Regents to permit the expansion.
A summary of the resolution is provided below, but the full text can be reviewed here.
This resolution is coming to the University Senate after years of consideration within various committees, the Senate Assembly, and the two most recent University Senate meetings. A collection of resources related to much of the prior work on this resolution can be found here.
Resolution Summary
The Senate expansion resolution would do the following:
- Clinical Professors (Assistant, Associate, and Full), Lecturers (I, II, III, IV), Archivists, and Curators would become members of the University Senate.
- Each unit represented in the Senate Assembly will be limited to a maximum of 17 Senate Assembly members.
Seventeen is the current amount of seats held by the Medical School, the largest unit in the Senate Assembly. Including this cap means that the addition of the new members will not change the current apportionment of seats within the Senate Assembly.
- All Librarians, Archivists, and Curators from all campuses will constitute their own unit for the purposes of apportionment in the Senate Assembly.
Based on their numbers, this new “library” unit would receive three representatives. The Librarians are not currently entitled to Senate Assembly representatives, although the School of Information has generously afforded one of its seats to the Librarians as a courtesy.
- The Senate Assembly would be increased in size by three, from 74 to 77 seats.
Adding three seats to the Senate Assembly permits the Librarians, Archivists, and Curators to be apportioned three seats without causing any other unit to give up seats.
- Provides that future membership changes would require a 2/3 vote.
- Provides that only tenure-track faculty are eligible to vote on tenure-related issues.
- As a non-exhaustive list of “tenure-related issues,” the resolution provides the following:
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- (1) All aspects of the rules, guidelines, procedures, and other requirements governing the University’s evaluation, promotion, and retention of tenured and tenure-track faculty;
- (2) All aspects of the rules, guidelines, procedures, and other requirements governing the University’s dismissal, demotion, or terminal appointment of tenured and tenure-track faculty;
- (3) All benefits specific to tenured and tenure-track faculty, including any sabbaticals, leaves, and retirement benefits that are specific to tenured and tenure-track faculty;
- (4) The following, as they relate to tenure:
- (i) Academic freedom;
- (ii) Course content;
- (iii) Instruction method modality;
- (5) All advocacy related to preserving tenure at the University and in higher education, in general.