Faculty Executive Committee Meeting

Minutes

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Present: William Beeman, Michel-Andre Bossy, Mary Ann Doane, James Egan, Anne Fausto-Sterling (Chair), Constantine Gatsonis, Sean Ling, Andrew Brem

Guests: Brenda Allen, Richard Besdine, Fayneese Miller, Chung-I Tan

The Chair opened the meeting at 3:07 p.m. Minutes of the 3/23/04 meeting were approved as submitted.

The FEC discussed several committee nominations for positions on Standing Committees of the Faculty that must be filled by June 30, 2004. Professor Fausto-Sterling plans on announcing all committee nominations for 2004-05 as well as the ballot election results at the May 4 faculty meeting.

Dean Richard Besdine presented a motion recommending that a Department of Emergency Medicine be created and gave some historical background on the events leading up to the final decision. Dr. Brem noted that the MFEC approved it with no concerns. The motion reads: “The Faculty acknowledges receiving the Report received by the Academic Priorities Committee supporting the re-organization of the Division of Emergency Medicine into the Department of Emergency Medicine. The Faculty recommends to the President and Board of Fellows the establishment of a Department of Emergency Medicine.” The FEC approved unanimously to bring this motion to the floor of the May 4 faculty meeting.

Professor Fausto-Sterling gave a brief Chair’s Report. The FEC officers met with the Provost and discussed proposed plans for reorganization of the Library. A small committee was brought in to review the plan, and it was decided that Brown will proceed with some of the aspects of the re-organization process. However, nothing substantial will be done until the new University Librarian is on board.

The Provost reported that very high-quality people have been interviewed by the Dean of Medicine Search Committee, and the search for the Dean of Faculty is now down to a small number of candidates.

The FEC officers talked with the Provost about the TPA’s suggestion to have an ad hoc committee that would review teaching evaluations and standards and criteria. This responsibility would then be removed from the TPA’s Charge. The Provost noted that he is concerned about the “quality” of the standards and criteria.

Professor Chung-I Tan was invited to give a report on the activities of the Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC). Of major concern to the FAC is how difficult it is to gain access to information on salary curves. There are security issues about publishing the information on the Web. It was noted that there are no categories for some ranks in the comparison figures for salary curves. The FAC recommends that (1) the Dean of Faculty report to the FAC annually on current faculty salaries during the fall semester; (2) a user-friendly mechanism be provided in allowing faculty access to salary information and; (3) the Dean of Faculty make a presentation on faculty salaries once a year at a closed meeting. It was suggested an outside concern be brought in to do a salary data analysis, but the FAC would like to review and discuss the salary curves themselves first.

Lengthy discussion ensued with regard to other issues of concern including the Tuition Aid Program and Retirement benefits. Professor Tan noted that in the fall, the FAC will turn its attention more toward benefits issues. The FEC approved the written report and agreed that it should be presented to the Faculty at the May 4 faculty meeting.

Professor Fayneese Miller presented a report on the Subcommittee on Diversity in Hiring (SDH). This past fall, the Committee deliberated on reconstructing its Charge and organized its work for the remainder of the year.

Of particular concern to the SDH is that there is no clear process for reviewing denials of promotion and tenure, and they recommend their charge be rewritten to include specific procedures. This would require an amendment to the Faculty Rules and Regulations. Lengthy discussion ensued about SDH procedures and when their review of cases should come into play. Ms. Brenda Allen provided detailed information on how the review process could be better organized. The consensus was that the SDH should continue to operate under its current Charge for the remainder of this academic year and work on a motion to amend its charge for presentation in the fall. Professor Miller highlighted some other issues in the written report after which the FEC voted to bring the SDH report to the Faculty on May 4.

Professor Fausto-Sterling commented on Professors Tan and Miller’s excellent leadership of the FAC and SDH and noted the FEC is very appreciative of their work.

Ms. Brenda Allen was invited to present a motion to create a Diversity Advisory Board. The FEC reviewed the motion and rationale prior to the meeting and questioned the ratio of staff and student members to faculty members on the Board. Ms. Allen explained that many of the issues the Board will face have to do with climate issues involving staff and students. The intent was for faculty to be represented, but to load the Board with people who will be more involved with day to day issues in the Brown Community. The Diversity Advisory Board will serve as a council for community concerns. Campus Climate Forums will be held and the Board will most likely meet monthly. Professor Fausto-Sterling noted that some of the language in the motion will need to be revised after which the FEC voted to bring the revised motion to the floor of the May 4 faculty meeting.

The FEC approved the annual report from the University Resources Committee (URC) and agreed to include it on the May 4 faculty meeting agenda.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl A. Moreau

Secretary