A resolution designed to change the system by which administrators evaluate faculty may undergo numerous changes before it is voted on at next month’s Faculty Senate meeting.
An addendum to resolution PS-36, introduced by Sen. Carruth McGehee, should “raise the threshold of dismissal for cause,” McGehee said. Last month, he said he did not intend the resolution to replace PS-36 but amend it. PS-36 is a faculty policy regarding termination for tenured and non-tenured faculty.
Basically, the resolution would make it more difficult for the University to fire tenured faculty.
While faculty can be fired for poor job performance, the addendum would provide a “protective buffer” between department chairs and faculty, McGehee said.
“What we’ve got here is additional protection,” McGehee said.
The plan raised numerous questions about implementation and terminology.
Sen. James Cowan asked how the committee will know who is the ultimate authority on evaluation issues and how the standards will be defined.
History professor Paul Hoffman, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said each department could set its own standards since each department is different.
Sen. Robert Ward disagreed, saying across-the-board standards were needed.
“The legal counsel was saying ‘let’s be careful,'” Ward said. “It may backfire on all of us.”
Larry Crumbley, president of the LSU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, expressed skepticism that PS-36 was even legal, despite McGehee’s assertion that the committee had met with legal representation.
Crumbley also complained that words like “reasonable time frame” and “unsatisfactory” needed to be more clearly defined.
McGehee welcomed any amendments to the resolution for the senate meeting next month.
In other business, the senate passed a resolution that would place the salary data of faculty and administrators in a password-protected portion of the LSU Faculty Senate Web site in order to save money and allow for easier study of salary data in a computer-searchable text.
The resolution passed despite questions surrounding the public’s right to salary data for state employees. The resolution’s sponsor, Sen. Paul Bell, said any amendment to the resolution can be made in writing.
The Senate also held its elections for next year. McGehee was elected president of the Faculty Senate for the upcoming term, Sen. Claire Advokat was elected vice president and Sen. Lori Beatty was elected secretary. All were unchallenged.
Sens. Nicholas Apostolou and Robert Ward were elected members at large.
The Senate passed resolutions to form three committees to study the Master Plan, salary data of faculty and administrators and merit raises for departments.