Faculty Senate Chair’s Notes

Anne Osborne Kilpatrick, Chair

At the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 2, the Faculty Senate standing Committees reported on activities on which they are working. All met since the March meeting, and have reports and working documents on the web page for Senate review and consideration. A brief summary of topics follows: for more information, contact the committee chairs or members, listed on the Senate web page (www.musc.edu/facsen)

• Faculty Handbook: Francine Margolius, chair of the Governance Committee, reported that the Faculty Handbook is now edited and ready to present to the Board of Trustees for review and approval. This version has been edited and incorporates all policies approved by the Senate and Board, as well as improving consistency and deleting grammatical errors.

• Tenure: The Faculty Affairs Committee, Subbi Mathur, Chair, presented a document proposing changes to the Faculty Handbook section on tenure, and definition of tenure and tenurable salary. It will be discussed in more detail at the May Senate meeting. A mentoring workshop will be held on May 30 for faculty interested in seeking tenure at MUSC.
• Compensation: The Academic Affairs Committee, Philippe Arnaud, chair, is studying ways faculty are compensated, as well as the policy for salary increases. A task force has also been created to look at distribution of indirect costs.
• Gender Equity: Kit Simpson reviewed the status of the committee’s work, which is being augmented by the Strategic Planning committee on diversity. The committee is also looking at racial diversity among faculty
• Elections: Will be held in the spring, according to the timetable presented by Francine Margolius. Senators may attend in the summer and will assume office in September.
• Continuity and Coordination: Mary Mauldin, chair, University Affairs Committee, reported on a number of recommendations to improve continuity of senate business, and communication among faculty members.
• Faculty Contracts: Rich Hernandez presented the proposed faculty contract developed this year. Senators have a week to review and comment on the document, and will vote electronically the week of April 15 regarding endorsement.
• Faculty Forum: Thursday, April 11, 5:00-6:30 will be a Senate Faculty Forum to share activities of the Senate, and to sponsor a panel discussion on the proposed policies on Outside Activities and Conflict of Interest and Activities.
• Next Meeting: May 7, 7:45 am.