Senate Document Number 6900S

Date of Senate Approval 5/4/00

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

FWDC 5:   A Teaching-Scholarship Year

This document provides an opportunity for a modest number of faculty members who have been heavily involved in university service to apply once every six years for a year free from university service responsibilities in order to renew and further develop their scholarly, creative and teaching achievements.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  Fall 2000

CHANGES:

I. ADD TO UNCA Faculty Handbook, in section 4.1, Faculty Professional Development:

4.1.9 Professional Development - Teaching-Scholarship Year

4.1.9.1 Purpose

The Teaching-Scholarship Years (TSY) is a means by which UNCA supports, maintains and enhances excellence in teaching and scholarship among its faculty. The TSY, by offering a period of time with reduced expectations for university service, aims to maintain vitality among the faculty by affording individual members of the faculty added opportunity to develop new skills and achievements in teaching and scholarship or creative activity.

4.1.9.2 Eligibility and Provisions

(1) All full-time faculty members who have served at UNCA for a minimum of six years are eligible. However, preference will be given to faculty members with the most substantial records of university service, to those who present a cogent plans for faculty development during the TSY (see below), and to those who have served the longest time since an off-campus scholarly assignment or a previous TSY.

(2) No faculty member will normally be eligible to receive a TSY more than once every six years. Exceptions may be negotiated for extra-ordinary opportunities.

(3) During the TSY, the Faculty Welfare & Development Committee (FWDC) will refrain from recruiting, nominating, or appointing the faculty member to university service assignments. The FWDC will use its good offices to persuade others such as major administrators to support the professional development of the faculty member by similar restraint. During the Spring semester before the Teaching-Scholarship Year, the FWDC will remove the name of an approved faculty member from ballots for faculty-wide elections to major university assignments including the Committee of Tenured Faculty, the Hearings, Grievance, Faculty Senate, and Post-Tenure Review Committees (see below). However, no faculty member may relinquish ongoing service on one of those Committees or leave Faculty Senate service early for a TSY.

(4) It is expected that Departments and Programs will respect the purposes of the TSY by refraining from increasing departmental service assignments in an offsetting manner during the TSY and by providing such other support for professional development as may be feasible (see Chair approval, below).

(5) It is expected that the faculty member will continue the mentoring and advising of students during the TSY, as these activities are also teaching.

(6) As a general rule, a faculty member's proposal for a TSY must be made by December 1 in the academic year before the Teaching-Scholarship year.

4.9.3 Procedures for Application, Approval and Accountability

(1) Chairs and program directors should be involved early in developing a proposal for a Teaching-Scholarship Year. Interested faculty should initiate the process by discussing a proposal for professional development with the Chair. A brief written proposal may then be developed which includes a statement of the professional development the applicant expects to undertake, a summary of his or her UNCA service accomplishments, information on the most recent off-campus scholarly assignment if any, and an account of how the faculty member's professional development is to be evaluated and by whom.

(2) The Chair may circulate the proposal within the academic department or program and may consult with tenured members of the program concerning the benefits to the applicant's professional development in teaching and scholarship. If a Chair rejects a proposal, the faculty member may appeal to the Dean of the Faculty.

(3) When the Chair approves a proposal, the Chair will write a brief letter of support. The applicant will deliver copies of the proposal and supporting letter to the FWDC and the Dean of the Faculty. The Dean of the Faculty, after conferring with the FWDC, will approve or deny the request. A brief but specific statement of reasons for the rejection, such as the feasibility of the plan or the lack of resources may accompany a negative decision. Rejection letters may note ways that the proposal might be improved to increase the likelihood of a future acceptance.

(4) On completion of a Teaching-Scholarship Year, the recipient must prepare a brief report describing professional activities during the period of the assignment and an evaluation of accomplishments. The report, with the Chair's evaluation or other designated evaluator's comments, will be filed with the Chair and the Dean of the Faculty.

4.9.4 Balance and Limitations

(1) The Dean of the Faculty will ensure an equitable distribution of TSY assignments among the faculty including minorities and women.

(2) Because of normal budgetary limitations, it is assumed that approximately 3% of the total full-time faculty may be assigned to Teaching-Scholarship Years in any given academic year. Faculty are encouraged to continue seeking private or public grant support for additional faculty development opportunities.

II. CHANGE TWO SENTENCES IN Faculty Handbook, section on Committees Elected by the Faculty, p.133, 10.2.1, Election Procedures (SD3880S), paragraph (a) by adding the ten words bolded below. Bolding will be removed in the final version if the change is approved.

The VCAA shall inform the Secretary of the Senate of retirements, resignations, faculty leaves, exchanges, teaching-scholarship years, or off-campus scholarly assignments formally accepted as of February 1 of the year elections are to be held. Those faculty who shall be absent for part or all of the next academic year, and those assigned to teaching-scholarship years, shall be removed from the ballots.

RATIONALE
UNCA levies substantial service demands on many members of its faculty. The Teaching-Scholarship Year aims to maintain and enhance excellence in teaching, scholarship and creative work by defining and protecting a limited period of time with reduced obligations for university service. Thus, the Teaching-Scholarship Year aims to contribute to faculty development, vitality and excellence in teaching and scholarship.