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Universal faculty contract ready for endorsement by Dick Peterson Public Relations Whether you’re a member of the MUSC faculty or represent the administration, there’s security in knowing where you stand—what your responsibilities are, what rights you have and how yours compare with others. But until now there hasn’t been a universal faculty contract that achieves that goal at MUSC. Richard Hernandez, Dr.P.H., of the College of Health Professions, chairs a Faculty Senate committee on contracts that aims to change that. In fact, once faculty senators review the document and work out any misgivings they may have, the committee will submit it  to the senate for their endorsement. “We see it as a living document,” Hernandez said. “Once it’s implemented, any issues or problems that may arise over time can be addressed, and a committee will be in place to address those issues.”  The need for a universal contract has been advocated for years. “The contracts that were drawn up and signed differed from college to college,” Hernandez said. “And even if they were written and signed, they often were not renewed at the same time each year.”  It was MUSC Provost Rosalie Crouch, Ph.D., who approached the Faculty Senate  last September to draft a universal faculty contract. Then chair of the Faculty Senate, Adrian Reuben, M.D., solicited volunteers from each college to bring their ideas and concerns to the table. The  senate committee on contracts was formed and began meeting in November to poll colleagues and pull together a draft contract that addressed the concerns of both faculty and administration. Since then, the evolving contract has made its rounds among faculty senators and representatives of the university administration. “What concerns faculty is mostly the uncertainty of the fiscal environment,” Hernandez said. “They want a sense of job security; this is especially true of the non-tenured faculty. And then the administration would like a degree of flexibility to make decisions based on the fiscal environment.” Hernandez’ challenge—his comm-ittee’s challenge —“is to come up with a template that will serve as a consistent portion of every faculty members contract.” He explained that in areas not covered by the university faculty contract, the university handbook serves as a contract and for some (clinical) faculty members UMA (University Medical Associates) has its contract covering its more specific concerns. “We really got down into the weeds with this thing,” Hernandez said describing the work involved in drawing a balance between faculty and administration. “Every time we think we’re close to finishing new issues come up. But I really think we’re down to just the tweaking and are ready for faculty endorsement.” He said that the document has gone twice to the provost and deans council and has returned with their concerns addressed.  “This is a great committee,” Hernandez said. “We’ve worked well together both in face-to-face and in electronic discussions, and have addressed every issue faculty members have brought to us. “This is not a faculty senate contract. It’s a university faculty contract that should get the endorsement of faculty, deans and administration.” Committee members Richard Hernandez, College of Health Professions; Luis Leite, College of Dental Medicine; Tara Hulsey, College of Nursing; John Bosso, College of Pharmacy; Terry O’Brien, College of Medicne; Sally Self, College of Medicine; Paul Gold, College of Medicine; Jenny Ariail, Library; and Tom Higert, Ex Officio.