Driven by the idea that #FacultyMatter and the consistent and ongoing Elon Commitment priority to support “a world-class faculty,” Academic Council proposes the following priorities for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Support for Faculty Wellness, Well-Being and Safety

Objective: Help faculty and the people who support them balance their professional and personal goals with their support of students.

Working Group Assignments: Mina Garcia-Soormally, Rosemary Haskell, Brian Lyons, Susan Patton & Pamela Winfield

  1. Identify clear institutional policies and develop Faculty Handbook language that addresses the targeted harassment of faculty from non-Elon members.
  2. Create a plan, based on the report of the Working Group on Service, to act on the feedback and concerns generated from faculty about University Service.
  3. Support ongoing work of the Post-Probationary Faculty Initiative.

Curriculum

Objective: Support faculty as they build an innovative 21st century Elon curriculum.

Working Group Assignments:Lee Bush, Diane Ford, Martin Kamela and Karen Yokley

  1. Continue to support the work of the Working Group on Effective Teaching (co-chaired by Tim Peeples and Karen Yokley) and establish an Implementation Committee following the final report of the working group.
  2. Work with relevant groups across campus to redesign SPOTs related to study abroad/study away.
  3. Clarify the role, status and curricular function of the Global Education Center and its Deans.

Faculty Identity

Objective: Clarify emerging questions around key faculty ranks and update committee representation models that better reflect the values and function of the university’s schools and colleges.

Working Group Assignments: Steve Bailey, Jeff Carpenter, Mark Enfield, Patti Regan & Billy Summers

  1. Reassess lecturer-ranking system to a three-tiered process, more aligned to the tenure track process.
  2. Establish clear guidelines for assigning faculty rank to staff and administrators.
  3. Reassess the committee representation model and its impact on the School of Health Sciences and the School of Education.

Faculty Information-Sharing and Infrastructural Resources

Objective: Continue to improve the efficiency, transparency and function of faculty review and evaluative processes, and keep faculty better informed of Academic Council’s work and initiatives. In addition, this working group will continue Council’s ongoing efforts to update and simplify the Faculty Handbook.

Working Group Assignments: Catherine Chiang, Tom Green, Dan Haygood, & Jason Kirk

  1. Enhance efforts to improve information and resource-sharing infrastructures for faculty, including a new Academic Council website and newsletter.
  2. Create Faculty Handbook language to clarify the role of the Office of Human Resources in faculty personnel issues and reporting structures.
  3. Share and act on findings from the Chairs Taskforce.