The Compensation and Welfare Committee has continued to monitor developments in the area of benefits through its representatives on the Benefits Advisory Committee.

The Committee also received and discussed at some length a communication from the faculty of the Library on matters pertaining to Librarians’ compensation. The Library faculty have agreed to research further benchmarking data on compensation and workloads at other academic libraries.

Program Review Update

The 2004-2005 group of programs and departments to participate in Program Review is as follows:

Religious Studies

Physics

Math and Computer Science

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Honors

Jewish-Christian Studies

Graduate Public and Healthcare Administration

Stillman School of Business  (all programs and departments)

EOP

Liberal Studies

The cycle of programs for review is now available on the Senate home page.

Whereas,                                  I. The Faculty Guide art. 8.1 clearly states that “The university shall maintain only two categories of files for each faculty member.”  The first category is the “pre-employment file,” and the second is the “official personnel file.”  The official personnel file includes all documents that relate to a faculty member’s work, performance or activity while employed by Seton Hall University.  

Whereas,                               II.    Faculty Guide, art. 8.1 mandates that both the chairperson of the department and the dean of the college and the school must include in the official personnel file of a faculty member all work-related documents.  The failure by a dean of a college or school to include in the official personnel file of a faculty member all work-related documents, e.g. a chair’s letter of resignation as chair addressed to the dean of the college or school, is a violation of the Faculty Guide, art. 8.1.

Whereas,                                   III.   Faculty Guide, art. 8.4 unequivocally states that the chair of the department has full access to the official personnel files of all departmental faculty members: “The official personnel file of the faculty member shall be made available to the department chairpersons, the dean, the chairpersons of the college Rank and Tenure Committee, and the University Rank and Tenure Committee.  All persons having access to personnel files shall maintain the contents of such files in confidence.”

And whereas,                        IV.  Denial of such access by the dean of a college to a department chairperson is a clear violation of the Faculty Guide, art .8.4.  Such action has the effect of creating a third category of files which is explicitly prohibited by the Faculty Guide, art. 8.1, “The university shall maintain only two categories of personnel files for each faculty member.” [emphasis added] 

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Core Curriculum Update

The Core Curriculum Committee made a presentation to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Regents at its meeting in March. The presentation basically repeated the overview of the development of the core as presented to the faculty at the recent plenary. The Regents were very receptive to the plans to create a signature experience for undergraduates and have asked that members of the Committee return again in June for a further update.

       Be it resolved that:  Any creation of additional files by any other person, including a dean, when these files contain work-related documents relevant to a faculty member’s work performance, is a clear violation Faculty Guide, art. 8.1 and must be prohibited.

According to the Faculty Guide, art. 8.4, all persons who have access to faculty official personnel files, including department chairs, must be given such full access to these files.  All persons with access have a responsibility to keep the contents of these files confidential, but access cannot be limited and files must be made available to all those with the right to such access.  The actual location of these official files is not relevant to the right of access. 

Access must be provided regardless of whether the files are housed in the Provost’s office or in the offices of the deans of the particular colleges and schools.  The Faculty Guide, article 8.4 states very clearly that department chairs have the right to access all official personnel files of faculty members in their departments, and in the absence of written modification of the Faculty Guide, this right of access may not be limited by any person.