Faculty Votes to Approve the 2010-2011 Faculty Handbook!
At the Special General Faculty Meeting held on March 22, 2010, the Umw faculty votes in favor of the University Faculty Handbook as prepared by the Faculty Handbook Advisory Committee. One amendment was offered at the meeting, to Section 2.3.2.6 — and that amendment passed.
The Handbook was approved by the Board of Visitors at its meeting on April 9, 2010. It takes effect starting in fall 2010 semester.
Several documents are linked to this page (see the list below). The first summarizes major changes that are contained in the new Handbook. Following that, each section of the approved Handbook is posted as a separate PDF document.
Coming soon!
A full pdf copy of the entire Faculty Handbook, and an html version enabling you to read the Handbook online without having to open a separate pdf document.
Discussion and Approval Process
The decision to discontinue the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, and to devlop a new university organization structure of three colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education) required the development of a unified Faculty Handbook. The goal was to develop a new Handbook by merging content from the existing College of Arts and Science and College of Graduate and Professional Studies Handbooks. Beginning in October 2009, the Faculty Handbook Advisory Committee met several times and eventually produced a draft of a proposed Handbook. This draft also incorporated the decisions of the separate faculty committee that developed the plan for the University Faculty Council.
Prior to the faculty vote to approve the new Handbook, there were two open forums to discuss the draft. One was on March 12 on the Fredericksburg campus at 4 P.M. in Lee hall, room 411. The second forum was on March 17 on the Stafford campus at 2 P.M. in University Hall, in the Stafford Campus North Building.
Following questions raised in the open forums, the Faculty Handbook Advisory Committee modified some of the language to better clarify the role of the General Faculty with respect to actions that might be taken by the new University Faculty Council. The modified language was distributed to all faculty prior to the vote on the Handbook.
Action by the faculty to adopt the new Faculty Handbook occurred at a General Faculty meeting to be held in the Great Hall, Woodard Campus Center at 4 P.M. A separate announcement was sent to all members of the General Faculty calling the meeting. One question arising before the meeting was that of determining the necessary quorum. Provost Harper responded to that issue via email to members of the faculty on the morning of March 22.
MATERIALS FROM THE GENERAL FACULTY MEETING, MARCH 22, 2010 — 4 P.M. (Great Hall, Woodard Campus Center
Approved University Faculty Handbook (including the amendment)
Additional Matters Pertaining to the Faculty Handbook
Several items that came up during the process of creating the draft Handbook were, in the opinion of the Advisory Committee, better left for consideration by the new University Faculty Council once it is formally in operation. Several issues in need of attention are summarized here.
Summary of changes IN THE NEW UNIVERSITY Faculty Handbook
Separate SECTIONS of the UNIVERSITY Faculty Handbook
Assist the Committee — contact John Morello to point out typos or other errors.
Section 1: History, Mission, and General Organization
Section 2: Governance including the amendment to 2.3.2.6)
Section 3: Faculty Contracts, Ranks, Search Procedures, and Benefits
Section 4: Faculty Rights, Responsibilities, and Policies
Section 5: Faculty Evaluation Procedures
Section 6: Promotion and Tenure Procedures
Section 7: Faculty Titles, Awards, and Other Policies and Services of Interest to the Faculty
Appendix A: Faculty Performance Evaluation Forms
Appendix B: Honor Constitution (which needs to be revised to reflect a "three college" university organization)
Appendix C: Policy and Statements on Academic Freedom
Appendix D: Procedure for Student Grievance Against a Faculty Member
Appendix E: Faculty Handbook Style Sheet
Appendix F: Rules of Order for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Faculty Senate and CAS Faculty Committees
*Appendix G: Rules of Order for the College of Business (COB) and COB Faculty Committees
*Appendix H: Rules of Order for the College of Education (COE) and COE Faculty Committees
*under development by groups in these colleges.