Faculty discuss non-tenure track faculty rights document

The proposed non-tenure track faculty rights and responsibilities document garnered the most attention at the March 9 meeting of UCCS Faculty Assembly.

Assembly members devoted most of the meeting’s discussion to the policy draft presented on behalf of the Non-tenure Track Faculty Committee by Suzanne Cook, senior instructor, Languages and Cultures.

Non-tenure track faculty teach approximately 60 percent of credit hours earned by students at UCCS. A document defining the status of lecturers, instructors, and other non-tenured teaching faculty and outlining their specific rights and responsibilities will be implemented in the near future.

Composition of the document is almost complete, Cook said. Some cosmetic details will be addressed, but the greatest issue of concern is how clinical teaching personnel may be included.

A clinical teaching track is defined by the CU Board of Regents, as CU offers a variety of clinical courses on different campuses. The status, rights and responsibilities of non-tenured clinical faculty are somewhat different from other non-tenured faculty, and must be specified when the policy is implemented. At this time, Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences personnel are creating a document defining clinical titles. Whether the Beth-El information becomes part of the committee’s draft or becomes a separate document is yet to be determined.

The document is in its final review and approval stage prior to becoming UCCS policy. The Non-tenure Track Faculty Committee anticipates a vote on the proposed policy at the April Faculty Assembly meeting. The document is also undergoing final review and approval by campus deans and the leadership team. The committee anticipates implementation as campus policy by the end of spring semester.  “We are quite proud of this policy document,” Cook said. “UCCS is the first CU campus to create such a document addressing these issues for non-tenure track faculty for a campus-wide policy.”

For more information regarding the document, contact either of the Non-tenure Track Faculty Committee co-chairs. Mary Bethe Neely, senior instructor, Department of Chemistry is at [email protected] and Sheri Trumpfheller, senior instructor, College of Business is at [email protected].