The University Senate of
Proposal 12-08
(Voting Units: Academic)
Faculty Referendum
on Inclusion of Workload and Merit
Description in Unit Charters
Background
In the early 1990’s,
departments in the university had a mixture of Heads and Chairs. In 1992
several governance proposals were put up for referendum by the Senate. Proposal 4-92 said the title of department
supervisor will be Chair and gave the following definitions of Heads and
Chairs:
Head: A head is understood to be an agent of the
administration with a secondary responsibility as liaison from the department
to the administration. The head may
establish and disband any committees without the approval or counsel of the
department faculty. The head alone is
responsible for the smooth operation of the department. The dean selects the head with input from the
department. The head serves for an
indefinite period of time at the pleasure of the administration.
Chair: A chair is understood to be an agent of the
department faculty with a secondary responsibility as liaison from the
administration to the faculty. Under a
Chair, the departmental governance is defined by a departmental charter created
with input from all departmental faculty.
This charter may not be altered without the faculty's consent. The faculty and the Chair share
responsibility for the smooth operation of the department. Selection procedures for the Chair are determined
by the faculty with input from the Dean.
The Chair serves for a definite period of time, often with the
possibility for reappointment.
Proposal 5-92 dealt with
establishment of department charters in order to delineate the responsibilities
of the Chair from those of the unit faculty.
The charter requirement was also considered necessary for Schools. Proposal 4-92 received 148 yes votes (83.6%) and 29 no votes (16.4%). Proposal 5-92 received 172 yes votes (80.8%) and 41 no votes (19.2%). However, the Senate had established that the
passage of the proposals required 50% of the voting constituency for which the
two proposals fell short by 2 and 5 votes, respectively. The Senate then created Proposal 16-92 on
charters and the administration subsequently approved the charter proposal as well
as the title of all supervisors as Chairs.
In the years that followed, several problems
on unit Charters emerged. On January 18, 2006, proposal 11-06 was introduced in
the Senate to address these problems. On February 1, 2006, the Senate
unanimously approved the proposal. Revisions to the proposal were requested by
the Administration. On April 19, 2006, the Senate once more unanimously
approved the revised Charter proposal. On November 27, 2006, the Administration
rejected the proposal.
The Senate officers identified
two items which some Chairs and Deans found objectionable. In the list of required Charter contents
are:
(11j) Guidelines for
determining salaries and wages, including distribution of merit pay.
(11k) Guidelines for allocating
workload, including teaching assignments, committee assignments, advising, and
other university and unit responsibilities.
The Senate proposal clearly
says that a unit may choose to state that these (required items) will be the
responsibility of the department Chair / school Dean. Some of the
Chairs and Deans who find this objectionable believe it is their responsibility
and right to allocate workload and merit. The dispute on these two items goes
to the very basic concept of a Chair. As it was a faculty referendum that was
instrumental in creating the Chair form of departmental governance and unit
charters, it should be the faculty who now need to weigh in on the resolution
of this dispute.
Motion
Faculty in units that have a department
Chair or School Dean will vote on the ballot attached. If the ballot is
approved, the Senate will forward the results of the referendum (vote tally) to
the University President and Board of Control with its recommendation that it
be adopted.
Ballot
The unit charter must
include guidelines for allocation of workload, including teaching assignments,
committee assignments, advising, and other university and unit responsibilities.
The guidelines can delegate part or all the responsibility to the department
Chair (school Dean). The guidelines must be approved by a secret ballot.
I approve 
I
disapprove
The unit charters must
include guidelines for determining salaries and wages, including distribution
of merit pay. The guidelines can delegate part or all the responsibility to the
(department Chair) school Dean. The guidelines must be approved by a secret
ballot.
I approve I disapprove
Withdrawn: 3 April 2008