Dear SCU Faculty,

Congratulations on getting through this challenging year. Morale is definitely at the lowest I’ve ever seen among our faculty. While isolation due to the pandemic is part of this, so are the myriad crises that have highlighted the fractures in our shared governance systems. Lack of progress on unionization, cuts in salary and benefits, and leadership uncertainties have added to anxiety and frustration. Underlying these questions about budget process, decision-making, and future leadership of the university is the issue of transparency.

In our last FSC meeting, we brainstormed ways that we can work to increase transparency in shared governance. We will constitute several working groups that will work in parallel and consult with the UCC and the other senates to address issues of concern. The FSC will appoint a working group to address budget transparency based on the recommendations from faculty members on the University Budget Council (UBC). Another working group will be formed to consider potential amendments to the University Bylaws with the goal of defining more clearly the role of the faculty in University governance and the relationship between the faculty and the Board of Trustees.This working group will be led by David Sloss, Professor in the School of Law. Please feel free to send an email to facultysenate@scu.edu to nominate faculty to serve on either of these working groups.

If you are interested in being involved with issues of concern over the summer, please fill out this google form here. One issue we will be pursuing with Acting President Kloppenberg is to establish a faculty group that will meet with members of the Board of Trustees. We also expect to hear about the results of the on-going financial audit and whether the Board of Trustees will change our University Bylaws to consider a lay president.  

I want to congratulate Pat Cain for her election as Faculty Senate President-Elect. I look forward to continuing to work with her and Laura Nichols, the incoming Faculty Senate President on important issues. I have learned a lot this year, and am committed to supporting our shared governance system. So many thanks go to Ixtlac Duenas for help on everything, including her wise counsel, patience and never-ending hard work for our governance institutions. Finally, thanks to all the FSC Representatives for your hard work. 

I know many of you have worked harder than ever this year and are looking forward to summer break. I hope you all rest and recharge this summer and come back energized next fall to do the hard work of advocating for shared governance. 

Leslie Gray
Faculty Senate President, 2020-2021

• FAC Proposals -- Three proposals regarding wording changes to the Faculty Handbook were discussed, voted on, and approved by the Faculty Senate Council:
  • Voting Rights of Non Tenure Track Faculty on Tenure Track Search Committees (See proposal here.) This proposal will be put forth to a full faculty senate vote in June 2021.
  • Changing the composition of the Promotion to Senior Lecturer Committees to include a greater proportion of Senior Lecturers on the committee (See proposal here.) This proposal will be put forth to a full faculty senate vote in June 2021.
  • Increasing the Size of Arts and Sciences R&T Committees when there are a large number of cases (See proposal here.)

• Faculty180 -- Based on feedback collected this year from faculty, chairs, deans and R&T committees, changes to the Faculty180 interface to address the university’s specific needs will be implemented over the summer. Catherine Murphy, Associate Provost for Faculty Personnel and Policy, will come to a fall quarter FSC meeting to report on what issues have been resolved and what remains to be changed. The use of Faculty180 during the fall will remain the same for those that have been already using the system. A broad implementation of Faculty180 for the FARs or any new processes will be delayed.  

• Periodic Implementation Guidelines (PIG) These guidelines were updated and presented here. The plan is to to include the internal data on salaries of non-tenure track faculty into the PIG in the future. Work is continuing to provide a process for doing this each year. Reports from previous years may be viewed in the Faculty Affairs Committee Google drive using this link here.

• Teaching Professor Lines Proposal -- SubFAC Chair Nydia MacGregor presented different sections of the proposal to Revise Rank Structure and Promotion for Teaching Faculty at the March-May meetings. The full text of the proposal may be viewed here. In the Fall, an updated proposal will be presented at the Faculty Senate. Diane Dreher, Acting Chair of COLA, and Barbara Kelley, COLA Chair, shared that COLA strongly and unanimously supports SubFAC’s Teaching Professor Lines proposal. They suggested some changes including language that would preserve departmental autonomy in terms of voting rights, factor in experience in the shift from old ranks to new ranks, and consider alternatives to time frames for promotion.

• Just Employment Policy -- ASG President-Elect Abby Alvarez presented a Just Employment Policy draft proposal that puts forth principles for just employment that apply to both SCU employees, and contracted and auxiliary workers. The proposal may be viewed here.  A resolution will likely be presented to the FSC in the fall.

• Budget Investigation Team Q&A -- This quarter, Justin Boren, UCC Chair-elect and member of the Budget Investigation Team, provided an overview of the allegations, the shared governance role in the process, a timeline of the formation of the team, and the next steps in the budget investigation. The ultimate goal of the Budget Investigation team is to make the results of the audit public in order to restore trust. The final decision on the external investigation will be made in consultation with Trustees Jack Lewis and Stephen Sordello and other members of the audit committee. 

• WASC and Faculty Governance Q&A -- Ed Ryan, Co-Acting Provost and WASC Working Group member, provided an overview of the process with WASC regarding SCU’s Reaffirmation of Accreditation. One of the key commendations was that SCU’s curriculum was infused with high-impact teaching practices, as evidenced by the narrowing of success gaps. WASC will schedule a visit in Spring 2024 to address progress the following five areas: improvements in diversity, equity and inclusion; identification and communication benchmarks and priorities for strategic planning; assessment of co-curricular and graduate programs; clarification of faculty expectations for research, scholarship and creative activity; and improved accessibility and affordability for students, faculty and staff. SCU will also address progress in the area around governance and transparency. The full presentation may be viewed here.  Faculty called for more transparency regarding the University Budget Council (UBC), and the hiring of an Ombudsperson. 

• Task Force for Enhancing Consultation and Transparency in Governance (ECTG) -- After consultation with faculty, staff, the Senates, UPCs and administrators, the ECTG task force's draft recommendations (which may be viewed here) provide clearer rules for how shared governance committee meetings should be run, including time every quarter that's open for the community to talk with a committee; recommendations for improving orientation; recommendations for a governance tracker so that the community can see the most recent status of any proposal, as well as its history, and a number of other suggestions and recommendations to improve the effectiveness, consultation, and transparency of governance at levels within and between the administration, the UCC, the shared governance committees, the Faculty, Staff, and Student Senates, and the campus community. The final recommendations will be presented to the UCC in Fall 2021.

• COVID-19 Caregiving Concerns Task Force -- This Task Force presented their report and suggestions moving forward. Suggestions included an option for continued working from home and flexible scheduling, restoring lost wages and retirement benefits, and continued work on this issue. The full report may be viewed here.

• Annual Update from Ciocca-Koch Gift Oversight and Accountability Advisory Committee  Ellen Krietzberg, Advisory Committee Member, reported that the CCIE operated with a clear and transparent process that was consistent with University procedures and values. The committee found that the funders have not tried to influence the grant process or hiring and has learned of no improper communication by the Ciocca family, or anyone associated with the Koch foundation with any person involved in the decision-making process. The full report may be viewed here.

• Campus Safety Transition Update -- Vice Provost for Student Life and Dean of Students Jeanne Rosenberger presented an update on the transition of campus safety to Student Life. Currently Student Life is investigating changing policies around room searches, feedback mechanisms regarding campus safety interactions, and training to address mental health challenges. Much of this work will continue over the summer into the fall.  

• Resolution on Faculty Salaries and Retirement Benefits [Resolution ID:  FSC2021.03.10.R2] -- The full text of the resolution may be viewed here. FSC representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 28-1-1 (Y-N-A). The resolution was sent to Acting President Kloppenberg, Acting Co-Provosts Morris and Ryan, COO Ottoboni, VP of Administration and Finance Crowley, Board of Trustees Chair Sobrato and all other members of the Board of Trustees, and Faculty on April 16, 2021.  The administration sent a response on June 1, 2021.  The full text of the response may be viewed here.

• Resolution to Enact Labor Justice at SCU for Lecturers/Adjunct Faculty Seeking to Hold a Union Election [Resolution ID: FSC2021.05.12.R1] -- The full text of the resolution may be viewed here. The FSC approved the resolution by a vote of 24-1-6 (Y-N-A).  The resolution was sent to all faculty and staff, the UCC, UPCs, and PAFLC, the Board of Trustees, Acting President Kloppenberg, Co-Acting Provosts Ryan & Morris, and COO John Ottoboni on June 1-2, 2021. The administration sent a response on June 8, 2021. The full text of the response may be viewed here.

FSC REPRESENTATIVES FOR 2021-22

We would like to thank FSC Representatives for all their work and service this year!

Department Chairs, please notify Ixtlac Duenas at iduenas@scu.edu if your currently appointed FSC Representative will not be continuing their term for the 2021-22AY.  If your department needs to elect/select a new FSC Representative for next year (see Faculty Handbook Appendix A Supplement, Section IX.B.1-2), please do so by September 15 and forward this information to Ixtlac. She will be sending a reminder in September.

Representatives to the Faculty Senate Council normally serve two-year terms from July 1 to June 30, but the representatives may serve as long as their constituency so chooses. FSC Representatives are responsible for familiarizing their departments with work of the Faculty Senate Council, and to bring the Council such issues as referred to them by their constituents.

A schedule of FSC meetings for 2021-22 is included here. FSC meetings will occur via Zoom for Fall 2021. As room availability begins to open up, we will reevaluate if the FSC should hold hybrid meetings for winter and spring quarters

Dear SCU Faculty,

Thank you to all who served on Faculty Senate committees this academic year. It has been an incredible amount of work and effort to do this work under these circumstances, and again we have served each other well and kept our work going. Thank you to all. And thank you to those who said yes when elected to committees. 

Elections are still in progress! Ixtlac continues to prepare ballots and manage our elections before our academic year is over. Thank you for checking over the sample ballots, letting Ixtlac Duenas (iduenas@scu.edu) know if there are any errors, and then voting--please keep checking your emails for sample ballots and instructions for voting as we have a few more elections left for the month of June, including,

• Three proposed changes to the Faculty Handbook that were recommended by FAC, passed by the Council, and now move to a full faculty vote (discussed and linked earlier)
• Faculty Judicial Board
• Grievance Committee
• Provost’s Adjunct Faculty and Lecturers’ Council
• Faculty Senate At-Large Representatives (2 replacements - TTT and NTT)--to be held in September TT)--to be held in September

Thank you,

Laura Nichols
Faculty Senate President-elect, 2020-21

Faculty Senate President-elect for 2021-22

Professor of Law, Patricia Cain, has been elected Faculty Senate President-elect for the 2021-22 academic year. Her term as President-elect will begin on July 1 and end on June 30. Professor Cain will then serve as Faculty Senate President for the 2022-23 academic year. Please join us in thanking Pat for her willingness and generosity to serve the university community in this capacity.

University Coordinating Committee Chair-elect for 2021-22 

Dr. Kieran Sullivan, Psychology, has been elected UCC Chair-elect for the 2021-22 academic year.  Her term as Chair-elect will begin on July 1 and end on June 30. Dr. Sullivan will become the next UCC Chair in the 2022-23 academic year. Please join us in congratulating Kieran on her willingness and generosity to serve the university community in this shared governance role.  

University and College/School Rank and Tenure Committee for 2021-22

Please view the committee list here. 

Committee for Promotion to Senior Lecturer for 2021-22

Please view the committee list here. 

Election Results  

• Summary for 2020-21 elections

Voice your concern! Share your input! Suggest an agenda topic!

We invite you to share your priorities with us either through this Faculty Senate Feedback Form or by sending an email to: facultysenate@scu.edu. If you are interested in being part of strategizing for this summer please fill out this form. Thank you.

Faculty Senate Council meetings typically occur on the 2nd Wednesday of the month and our next meeting is scheduled for October 13, 2021.  A full list of meeting dates for AY2021-22 may be viewed here. Reminders will be sent out in September. As allowed and safe, we also hope to hold an opening year gathering to welcome our new colleagues, celebrate our faculty awardees, hear from our Faculty Senate Professor for 2020-21--Dr. Laura Ellingson--and announce the Faculty Senate Professor for 2021-22. 

All faculty members below the level of dean are welcome to attend FSC meetings in accordance with our by-laws. While administrators at the level of dean or above are not Faculty Senate members, they may attend when officially invited and during the time they are on the agenda.

Have a wonderful summer break!