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Faculty Senate meeting: tenure, committees The Faculty Senate met Jan. 8 and was called to order by Anne O. Kilpatrick, DPA. The next meeting will be held at  at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, room 107,  Administration/Library Building. Meeting Proceedings  Kilpatrick welcomed the senators. She thanked Subbi P. Mathur for organizing the Faculty Senate Retreat on Tenure and asked Mathur to present the highlights of the retreat. Mathur summarized the highlights of the Faculty Senate Retreat held Dec. 12 under the title: “Let us pick up and go: Things learned at our recent retreat.”  The highlights are as follows:   Our academic leadership, consisting of our president, provost and deans of all colleges, actively participated and were positive about faculty tenure as a mutually laudable accomplishment and commitment. But sentiments varied when it came to actual translation of the commitment into dollars. Debates arose about “tenured” base salary, emphasizing a crying need to resolve this basic issue. One thing came out loud and clear—we need to make sure that the faculty tenure is given to the faculty member in recognition of his/her unique talents and contributions to MUSC and not linked to any one academic program or department since it appears that the academic leadership can cut off programs and cost the faculty their tenured positions. Review of Tenure Section in the Faculty Handbook by the Faculty Affairs Committee is vital.  We also need to make sure that the monetary guarantee is there for a tenured position and that the basic salary is commensurate with the faculty rank.  Review of Remuneration Policy by the Academic Affairs Committee Richard Hernandez, chair of the Universitywide Contract Committee, presented the details on the faculty contract draft. Several of the statements in the draft were not satisfactory to the faculty senators present at the retreat. He had an administrative deadline of Feb. 1 by which the Faculty Senate has to approve this version. It was unanimously agreed that we cannot rush approving this important document without a further study of the implications and without consulting our legal counsel. Mentoring and Guidance of Young Faculty  We should set up a Faculty Senate Tenure Workshop for young faculty to help them achieve their professional goals especially those related to securing a tenured position. This falls under the purview of the Faculty Affairs Committee.  Anne Kilpatrick charged the Faculty Affairs Committee (Chair: Subbi P. Mathur) with the task of working on faculty tenure and organizing a Faculty Tenure Workshop for younger faculty members. She charged the Academic Affairs Committee (Chair: Philippe Arnaud) with the task of working on Faculty Compensation Policies.  She announced the selection of Kit Simpson as the new chair for the Universitywide Gender Equity Committee. Incidentally, Kit Simpson was elected as the chair of the University Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate. She asked that the representatives from respective colleges make an effort to fill in the positions of the senators that are leaving MUSC during the elected term.  Rich Hernandez, chair of the MUSC Faculty Contract Review Committee (Paul Gold, Jennie Arial, Tara Halsey, Louis Leite, Sally Self, Terry O’Brien and John Bosso as members with Tom Higerd, ex officio.) reported on the Faculty Contract Committee happenings. He incorporated the revisions suggested by the Faculty Senate during the Faculty Senate Retreat and had meetings with the provost. He will make further presentations to the Deans’ Council. It was agreed that the Faculty Senate has to clarify the tenured versus non-tenured base salary issue. Suggestions from the floor supported the idea of having 50th percentile of national mean salaries of faculty members in their respective departments and colleges. Art Services and Digital Imaging  Carlos Salinas presented his report on Art Services and Digital Imaging Department Review as the chairman of the Committee that did the review.  The following recommendations were made:  The Art Services and Digital Imaging Department provides services that extend to the entire university and provides professional quality services to the academic and research communities. It is a central academic and research service that should be recognized and supported as such.  Remove Art Services and Digital Imagining from Finance and Administration. Consider it as an educational enterprise and place it under the provost. Subsidize at least 25 percent of the unit’s operational funding to assure continuance of competitive prices from the department. The management of Art Services and Digital should take the steps necessary to cut other costs and enhance revenues to fully cover the withdrawal of shared services funds.  Conduct a comprehensive risk management review of the risks associated with the passage of research subject and patient information into the private sector that would result from closing this unit. Post-tenure Review Document  The post-tenure review document, is a product of a Faculty Senate ad hoc committee effort (chair: Philip Privitera; members: Subbi Mathur and Jerry Webb, Tom Higerd ex-officio. This document was prepared in response to concerns from Commission for Higher Education that specifically asked for a reward system for successful faculty performance and in keeping with Good Practices document. The document was approved unanimously by the Faculty Senate in October 2001 and forwarded to the Deans’ Council. The Deans’ Council approved it, after two meetings with the subcommittee. The committee met with the provost and finalized the revisions. The entire document is on this website. The salient paragraph that contains the important revision on the reward system for superior performance is as follows:  “5. The College APT Committee shall, after completing their review, make a report to the department chair/director. The report, which shall be a permanent part of the faculty member’s personnel file, will contain: ‘An appraisal of the faculty member’s performance and progress, including the perceived strengths and weaknesses. The performance shall be rated as superior, satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Any faculty member who receives a superior appraisal or satisfactory will be entitled to receive a permanent merit increase in base pay, in addition to any annual raise as determined by the dean of the faculty member’s college, or chairman of the faculty member’s department with approval of the dean. The merit increase will be awarded by the provost and will be funded for the first year by the Office of the Provost.’” The Revised Post-Tenure Review document is on Faculty Senate Web site and was unanimously approved by the Faculty Senate, after a presentation by Philip Privitera at this meeting. Committee and Job Assignments  Governance Committee: Francine R. Margolius (chair), Subbi P. Mathur, Nancy McKeehan, Janice Hundley, Joli Cerveny, Betsy Pilcher, Gail Pashek and Eberhard Voit  Faculty Affairs Committee: Subbi P. Mathur (chair), Philippe Arnaud, Dean Schuyler, Ramita Bonadonna, John Malley, Katherine Chessman, Peter Kobes, Joann Sullivan, Janice Lage, Richard Hernandez and Timothy Carter Academic Affairs Committee: Philippe Arnaud (chair), Barry Hainer, Paul Gold, Jennie Ariail, DeAnna Cheek, Joan Olson, Tara Hulsey, Gary Gilkeson and John Bosso  University Affairs Committee: Kit Simpson (chair): Mary P. Mauldin, Kit Simpson, Sally Self, Terry O’Brien, Janice Hundley, Luis Leite, Benjamin Saunders, Connie Best and Janice Lage Faculty Senate Retreat Coordinator: Subbi P. Mathur Webmaster: Mary P. Mauldin Faculty Hand Book Revisions Francine R. Margolius, Chair of the Governance Committee, is revising the Faculty Handbook with the help of the past senate chair Adrian Reuben, Walker Coleman and Melissa Foster. The senate voted to approve the recent version of the Faculty Handbook that incorporates all the previously approved policies. This handbook will then be forwarded to our legal counsel for their input.  Senators present Basic Sciences: Philippe Arnaud (council member), Janice Lage, Lucille London (alternate), Sally Self and Eberhard Voit  Clinical Sciences: Connie Best, DeAnna Cheek, Gary Gilkerson, Barry Hainer, Subbi P. Mathur (secretary), Terry O’Brien, Mark Green, Dean Schuyler and Renan Uflacker Dental Medicine: Peter Kobes, Luis Leite (council member), Stephen Malley and Carlos Salinas (alternate) Health Professions: Richard Hernandez, Anne Kilpatrick (chair), and Andrea White (new  appointee) Library Science & Informatics: Jennie Ariail, Mary P. Mauldin (council member and web master), and Nancy McKeehan Nursing: Ramita Bonadonna, and Tara Hulsey Pharmacy: John Bosso, Kit Simpson (council member), Joli Cerveny,and Katherine Chessman