The Mesquite Online News - Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Faculty Senate discusses 5 year post-tenure review

By Melody MendozaFaculty Senate reviewed drafts and objections of post-tenure reviews Dec. 7 from faculty. In January, senators will continue discussing a change from an annual post-tenure review to a five-year review.

Faculty Senate will meet the first Thursday of every month starting in the fall. The senate discusses issues pertaining to faculty, tenured and non-tenured faculty.

Dr. Richard Green, senate president and business professor, said Section 2 of the post-tenure review regulations was confusing. He said the faculty member that expressed concern to him read this section as if there were two separate reviews.

“At minimum we need to clean up the language,” Green said.

Although senators ensured that the review would be in conjunction with the annual review faculty already received by the department chair, they decided to further explore a five-year post-tenure review.

During the meeting, Megan Wise de Valdez, senate president-elect and biology professor, suggested the senate remove the word “annual” from Section 2 of the post-tenure review draft.

By the end of the meeting, the senate decided that faculty up for post-tenure review would need to provide evidence based on their annual reviews collected by their department chair which summarizes the member’s teaching experience, scholarship and services. Finally, the information would be reviewed by a committee of tenured faculty.

The senate voted that a committee of four senators would discuss post-tenure reviews after the holiday break some time during the week of Jan. 9 and present the results at the February senate meeting. Questions they will explore: Who would create the review committee and what is the result after the review.

Provost Brent Snow suggested the committee review system regulation 12.0.6 which states general criteria for post-tenure review.

During the meeting, the senate made suggestions for the review process.

Senators agreed the review should be driven by other tenured faculty, and Green said there were three ways the review committee could be selected.

He said the review committee could be established by Faculty Senate, elected from the tenured faculty pool or the faculty member being review could choose.

But Wise de Valdez said she would vote against the faculty member choosing their own committee.

Senators agreed the committee should be a limited number and should be from the same school to ensure co-workers are reviewing each other.

The senate also talked about when to implement the five-year review.

Snow said there are two faculty members that are up for post-tenure review, but the senate agreed that if implemented in May, those members may not have enough time to gather the proper materials.

But Durant Frantzen, parliamentarian and criminology professor, said the sooner it is implemented the better. The senate is exploring an August implementation for the review.

Education Professor Kevin Kendrick asked what will happen if the department chair is not tenured faculty.

Snow said this setback of few tenured faculty is an issue that goes along with being a start-up university.

The senate also discussed suggesting a portfolio be recommended for the review.

Wise de Valdez said to make it easier, the portfolio could be similar to the one faculty members have to put together when they go up for tenure. The portfolio would include the teaching examples, scholarship, service in the community or university and past annual reviews.

Snow said there is usually a simple result — satisfactory or unsatisfactory. And if the faculty member is rated unsatisfactory, the department chair would develop a plan for improvement.

In other business, Green said the senate is still working on the faculty handbook and the senate should have it ready for when the next senate comes in.

About the Author

Melody Mendoza
Melody Mendoza is the Comunidad Editor for The Mesquite. Previously, she reported on the development of the year-old Main Campus Building and Brooks City-Base Campus, and has followed Texas A&M-San Antonio's growth through its plans for two new buildings. Melody is a communication-journalism major, serves on the Student Media Board and is a freelance reporter and part-time editorial assistant for the San Antonio Express-News. She is a 2008 East Central High School graduate, an award-winning reporter for The Ranger (San Antonio College's student newspaper), and a youth leader at her church.

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