The Faculty Senate of Seton Hall University
Newsletter
Vol. 3, No. 1, September 2005
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Compensation Philosophy Approved |
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3.7.d Committee Elected |
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Core Curriculum Update
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At its September 7 meeting, the Faculty Senate approved the following Compensation Philosophy, which was drawn up by the Compensation Committee: Any discussion of compensation philosophy needs to take into account recent past history with reference to salary deliberations. During discussions about compensation in 2003-04, there was some discussion about redressing outstanding compression, as well as raising the floors for each academic rank. Then Msgr. Sheeran said that he wanted to have a salary study conducted in order to determine the position of Seton Hall salaries with regard to peer institutions. The Faculty Senate in good faith agreed to this and was assured that the study would proceed in a timely manner. We also appreciated the fact that with two new key senior administrators coming on board in August 2004 (Dr. Lindsay and Sr. Paula) that it would take additional time for them to become familiar with the landscape here at Seton Hall and then to have the study completed. Now a year later with the study being conducted, we need to come to some resolutions about salaries as soon as the data can be analyzed. Since the Faculty Senate is proceeding in good faith and has continued to participate in the salary study process during 2004-05, it is very important that the faculty see tangible results coming from the study and with realistic timeframes attached to the salary adjustments. In this light then, it is extremely important that serious steps be taken to redress the salary compression that was identified during the 1997-98 salary study and that was only addressed with 40% of the funding in 2000-01. Some formulae need to be devised and agreed upon to take care of the remaining 60% of the compression that many mid and long-term faculty consider past due. As the university strives to move forward in national rankings and to position itself as a leader in Catholic higher education, it is incumbent upon the administration to construct a salary structure that is based on social justice and the principles of a living wage that are central to Catholic social justice teachings. This kind of wage is also crucial in recruiting and retaining accomplished and highly-qualified faculty that will also enhance our standing. Furthermore, salary floors need to be recalculated on a social justice basis. What are the minima for assistant professor, associate professor and full professor? When floors are adjusted once more, compression should also be looked at again so that the re-calculated floors do not create further salary compression. We have been discussing these issues for the last three years and in the discussions about peer institutions, we have been aiming for the lower end of the top third of our peers in terms of compensation. Our philosophy also needs to take into account the very high cost of living in this tri-state area. Finally, when we calculate the flat tuition, we need to build in the salary increases into the number we select for the flat tuition.
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In accordance with section 3.7.d of the Faculty Guide, five faculty members were elected to serve on a committee to review charges against a tenured faculty member who has been dismissed or a probationary or term contract faculty member whose or the termination of a term, probationary, or faculty associate appointment before the end of a specified term. The faculty members elected were:
Judith Stark These names were forwarded to the provost. In the event that an elected committee member cannot serve, a nominee who received the next highest number of votes will be asked to serve in his/her place.
Meeting Minutes
September 2005
Executive Committee
Report
September 2005 Senate Committees 2005-2006 |
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The Core Curriculum Committee has worked all summer on next steps regarding implementation of the principles of a new general education program that was approved by the Faculty Senate at its meeting last February. To address the various components of this motion, 15 subcommittees have been created to carry out the work of the Committee. Included are:
§ Development of Three Signature Courses § Development of Literacies and Methdologies § Faculty Development Universal Proficiencies § Reduction of Credits to 120 § Development of Flat Tution § Assessment § Future Resources: Staffing Model § Future Resources: Faculty Development Resource Model § Administrator and Staff Development § Teaching Across the Curriculum: Finding a Comfort Zone with Foreign Material § Develop CDIs for Core Implementation § Development of Model for Pilot § Special Populations § Theoretical Perspectives on New Core Curriculum § Revision of College Cores § Spreading the Word: Marketing Our Accomplishment These subcommittees are working on a variety of projects and timetables have been established for all of this work. Since June, a seminar was held on the Signature Courses and applications were submitted by faculty to develop and pilot the first course. These applications were approved by the Signature Course Working Group and the Core Curriculum Committee and have been forwarded to the Provost for his approval. An announcement of the 16 successful applicants will be made shortly. Faculty development on five of the six proficiencies continues. These proficiencies will be infused into at least 50 courses this fall as a result of this work. The sixth proficiency – writing – is moving into phase two as faculty development in this area has been going on for several years. A lecture series will be held this academic year: “Finding a Comfort Zone with Core Material.” The first of these lecture series will be on the 23rd of September, a national expert in critical thinking, Susan Wolcott will be on campus at 10:00 for an open lecture and 12:00 for a workshop on implementing these ideas into classes. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Compensation Update The Executive Cabinet will meet with Sr. Paula Buley and Provost Tom Lindsay on Thursday, Oct. 6, and will receive the compensation study at the time. In addition, the Compensation Committee has continued to meet to discuss other issues related to compensation, such as the issue of senior faculty back pay and a retirement plan for all faculty. At a recent meeting with other interested faculty, it was decided to create a subcommittee, to be chaired by Pat Kuchon, to assist in these efforts. Compensation is a priority item on the Senate agenda for the coming year. For more details, see the Senate Chair's Convocation address (link below). hhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Senate Meetings
2005-2006
September 9, 2005
If you have comments, questions, or
suggestions regarding the material in this newsletter, please contact Mary
Balkun, Faculty Senate Executive Secretary, at
balkunma@shu.edu. |
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