Interested in helping to activate or in serving on AAUP committees?
Junior Faculty
Committee
–
Harry Hochheiser, Dept. of Computer and
Information Science
The Junior Faculty Committee was relatively quiet during the fall
semester. We have been working with the AAUP leadership to follow-up on
the specific concerns identified during the 2007-2008 academic year:
Research, Development Funds and Travel; Work Load; University Growth;
Salary; and Promotion and Tenure. Many of these issues will likely need
to be revisited through the lens of the ongoing financial stresses that
TU and USM are now facing.
We are currently working on scheduling the traditional Spring JFC
meeting with the Provost, and would like to invite any and all
interested junior (or senior) faculty to contribute ideas for the agenda
and to help prepare any materials that we might want to provide for
discussion.
Clarity of purpose and documentation of our concerns will help make this
meeting as productive as possible, so your input is desperately needed.
As always, we're interested in hearing about the concerns and challenges
facing junior faculty. We'd particularly be interested in hearing if
anyone has been facing difficulties with two aspects of campus life that
are relatively unfamiliar: the third-year review and the furlough
process. Please contact me at
hhochheiser@towson.edu
or by phone at 4-3090 if you have any questions, concerns, or righteous
indignation that needs our attention.
Family Leave Issues
Committee
–
Karen Oslund, Department of History
In Fall 2008,
Towson AAUP formed a new committee:
Family Leave Issues Committee (FLIC). The FLIC has been
charged with writing a proposal to the University Senate for a
consistent policy on family leave, including leave taken for child birth
and adoption, leave for elder care, or for the illness of family
members. Towson University, like the rest of the University of Mayland
system, currently allows employees in these circumstances to take unpaid
leave, in accordance with the federal law (the Family and Medical Leave
Act). Presently, we are collecting information on policies of peer
institutions, and we hope to complete and present this proposal by Fall
2009. Anyone wishing to work on this issue or share personal stories
relevant to this topic is urged to contact the chair of FLIC, Karen
Oslund, Department of History, at
koslund@towson.edu.
See the
Towson
AAUP Bylaws for a list of all designated committees.
Committee W - Ayse
Dayi (Women's Studies) and Leticia Romo (Foreign Languages)
Committee W continues
its work to bring better parental leave policies to Towson University.
Last semester, we grew in number and energy and are working in
conjunction with the new AAUP ad hoc Family Leave Issues Committee
(FLIC) that is working on the larger issues of family leave, such as
caring for parents, partners, and young children.
Thanks to arrangements made by our
provost and Jennifer Ballengee, on November 18, 2008, members of
Committee W and FLIC attended the teleconference on “Benchmarks
for Family Friendly Policies” where it was made evident to us
that maternity leave and family leave are important issues for
faculty and staff in many campuses.
Having looked at policies from
various campuses, we are currently preparing to interview
faculty at Towson who took parental leave in the last 10 years;
possibly to be complemented by a multi-campus survey. We plan
to formulate policy statements to be presented to various campus
committees, including the Faculty Senate. We need individuals
to help conduct interviews, suggest individuals to be
interviewed (or share your own experiences), and review
literature on the topic. If you would like to join us, please
email Ayse Dayi at
adayi@towson.edu
Ayse Dayi and Leticia Romo,
Co-Chairs, Committee W
