Junior Faculty
Committee
Matthew Durington, Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice
(mdurington@towson.edu)
The
AAUP Junior Faculty Committee (JFC) had a very successful year in
continued dialogue over concerns of junior faculty with the
Administration by sponsoring two information-sharing forums in the fall
of 2006, one in the College of Liberal Arts and one in the Fischer
College of Science and Mathematics. With the departure of Provost
Brennan in the spring semester of 2007 the planned activities of the
committee took a bit of a detour for the spring semester, nevertheless
we had a productive year and acting Provost Jim Clements has made a
commitment to continue to meet with us next year.
During the
2006-2007 academic year, the JFC addressed issues of concern between
junior faculty and tenured faculty on campus, promotion and tenure for
junior faculty, the topic of university reclassification, how to define
faculty roles in the context of the metropolitan university, the role of
junior faculty now and in the future at Towson, and the way by which
service, teaching and scholarship are gauged during the pre-tenure
years. In seeking to bring clarity to the different layers of promotion
and tenure evaluation (from the department level to the administration),
the JFC engaged the former provost on the possibility of 3rd year
reviews for junior faculty concurrent with the faculty Senate's
discussion of this issue.
The AAUP Junior
Faculty Committee is actively recruiting junior faculty to serve on the
committee for the academic year 2007-2008. Many first year faculty have
agreed to sit on the committee next year, but any pre-tenured faculty
are encouraged to join. During the 2007-2008 academic year, the JCF
will host two group meetings each semester for all junior faculty to
discuss issues of interest. At those meetings an agenda will be created
for the JFC representatives to present during the once per semester
meetings with the provost. At the first of these meetings in the Fall
2007 JCF members will elect a representative group to meet with the
provost. The JCF seeks to have members sit on the committee for a
two-year term to provide continuity on issues and mentor new faculty as
they participate in promoting the needs of junior faculty to the
Administration, while engaging in dialogue and serving as resources of
information for the departments and colleges they represent.
Thanks to those who
served on the AAUP Junior Faculty Committee for the academic year of
2006-2007 and all faculty, administrative staff, and administration who
supported our efforts. If you are interested in joining the AAUP Junior
Faculty Committee for next year please contact Matthew Durington at
mdurington@towson.edu.
Grievance and Mediation Committee
Nicole
Dombrowski Risser, History
The Grievance and Mediation Committee is a standing
committee of the AAUP / Faculty Association. It hears faculty
allegations of grievances in all campus matters with the exception of
those within the jurisdiction of the Promotions and Tenure Committees.
If the committee finds sufficient evidence of a grievance and is unable
to resolve the dispute raised by a faculty member, it may recommend that
the Faculty Hearing Committee conduct a full hearing, as provided by
Senate regulations.
Faculty wishing to file grievances should first
contact Professor John McLucas
who will then send your grievance to our committee.
Committee W
Ayse Dayi, Women's Studies,
adayi@towson.edu
Leticia Romo, Modern Languages,
lromo@towson.edu
Committee W awaits your
input and participation
As co-chairs
of the Women's Committee of the AAUP at Towson, we would like to work on
various issues of concern to women faculty, whether in tenured,
tenure-track, lecturer or adjunct positions. Such issues might include
discrimination in salary compensation; treatment by colleagues (both
male and female faculty) as well as students; promotion and tenure;
teaching and research opportunities; mentoring of women faculty;
promotion of women of color and international women faculty; child care
concerns; and, equality in benefits for lesbian and bisexual faculty.
We would also like to think of ways to celebrate and make visible the
accomplishments of
Towson University's female faculty. We invite you to
join us in determining the issues of significance to women on our campus
and then work on them together. Please email Leticia and me to give
your input for issues to address and hopefully join this sub-committee.
It is a great way to do service to the university, as we work to improve
the situation for women faculty on Towson’s campus.
Committee on
Contingent and Part-Time Faculty
Susanna Sayre, English,
ssayre@towson.edu
In December 2006, the
AAUP released a report noting the nationwide trend toward hiring
contingent and part-time faculty. One week later, the plight of Towson
University lecturers appeared as front page news in the Baltimore Sun.
In “Perks Denied to USM Staff,” (Dec. 17) reporter Gadi Dechter
described lecturers as “an expanding second tier of faculty who make up
about a third of the full-time instructional workforce: semi-permanent
contractual employees who are neither part-time adjuncts nor traditional
professors.” In the USM system, Dechter wrote, the only campuses that
fail to provide full benefits to lecturers are the former state
teacher’s colleges, including Towson and Coppin, both in the Baltimore
area. The following week (Dec. 20), the Sun’s lead editorial called on
the Board of Regents to provide benefits to lecturers: “Maryland’s
public universities can’t be considered truly first class when the lack
of basic benefits makes full-time employees second-class citizens on
campus.” Letters to the editor followed the next day, with one writer
calling it a ‘sad state of affairs’ when lecturers are not compensated
well compared to “grossly overpaid” athletic coaches.
On April
13, the Board of Regents approved a policy requiring all USM
colleges to provide individual health coverage to all full-time
lecturers, at which time the Board also addressed retirement benefits.
Starting in the fall 2008, lecturers with a decade of continuous service
will receive retirement benefits comparable to regular state employees.
In the fall 2009, those employed for at least six years will receive
retirement benefits. In an interview with the Sun’s Gadi Dechter on
April 14, David Parker, chairman of the Council of
University System Faculty, called the Regents’ decision a “good start,”
but also suggested that a better solution would be to convert all
full-time lecturers to regular state employees just “as they are at the
University of Maryland, College Park and other campuses.”
The Sun's
“Lecturers to get benefits”
can be found at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.regents14apr14,1,6398639.story
Interested in helping to activate or in serving on AAUP committees?
See the Towson
AAUP Bylaws for a list of all designated committees.
