The Faculty Senate passed three resolutions Friday regarding faculty governance, the latest development in an ongoing process to update the Faculty Code and Faculty Organization Plan.
The Faculty Senate voted on the resolutions as a response to draft recommendations presented last month by four working groups on shared governance, made up of university faculty, members of the Board of Trustees, administrators and members of the Faculty Senate.
The resolutions passed Friday by the Faculty Senate cover procedures for dean appointments, composition and governance of school faculty and standards for tenure and promotion.
The Faculty Senate tabled for further review a fourth resolution concerning faculty participation on the Faculty Senate.
The approved resolutions will be presented to the Board of Trustees’ Committee on Academic Affairs on Thursday, said Charles Garris, chair of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
Friday’s Faculty Senate session was the latest step in a multi-year process to update the university’s Faculty Code and Faculty Organization Plan, following approval of the university’s Vision 2021 strategic plan. Subsequent faculty group meetings, town halls and questionnaires followed, leading to the identification of the five principles for future university governance, and the formation of five working groups—made up of 27 faculty, eight university trustees and eight academic administrators—to analyze those topics.
Last spring, the Board of Trustees enhanced protections for academic freedom after receiving a resolution from the Faculty Senate and further input from the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the university administration.
The draft recommendations from the four remaining working groups were shared with the university community in early April at a series of town hall forums.
Friday’s meeting—the first of the new Faculty Senate session—also included approval of the 2015-16 senate schedule and senate committee appointments for the upcoming academic year. George Washington President Steven Knapp provided information on commencement, scheduled for May 17, and an update on the university’s benefits task force. The first round of recommendations from that task force, he said, would be presented in the coming weeks to the Benefits Advisory Committee.
