MINUTES OF THE FACULTY HANDBOOK REVISION COMMITTEE

FEBRUARY 27, 2006

MASON HALL, room D5 3:00 – 4:30 pm

Present: Kevin Avruch, Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology, ICAR; Lorraine Brown, Professor of English (CAS) and President of the AAUP Chapter of the George Mason University; Rick Coffinberger, Associate Professor of Business and Legal Studies, School of Management, Chair; Dave Harr, Senior Associate Dean, School of Management; Marilyn Mobley, Associate Provost for Education Programs; David Rossell, Associate Provost for Personnel and Budget, ex officio, Suzanne Slayden, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Absent: Martin Ford, Senior Associate Dean, College of Education and Human Development.

Approval of the Minutes of February 13, 2006: Changes suggested by David Rossell will be made and resubmitted to the committee for review.

Upcoming Open Forums in Arlington and Prince William Campuses: The Arlington Open Forum will be held Monday, March 6th from 10:00-11:30 a.m. in the Original Building, room 251. Kevin Avruch, Rick Coffinberger, Marilyn Mobley and David Rossell plan to attend. The Prince William Open Forum will be held Wednesday, March 8th from 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. in Bull Run Hall, room 134. Rick Coffinberger, Martin Ford, Dave Harr, and Marilyn Mobley plan to attend.

Globalization and the Faculty Handbook: David Rossell, as the new acting dean of the Ras Al Khaimah Campus, reported that progress is being made at the new campus. He will return to RAK in 2-3 weeks to begin faculty recruitment and participate in a cornerstone-laying ceremony scheduled on March 11th. A discussion of globalization of the university concluded that the broad philosophical questions such as the extent of academic freedom, representation in the Faculty Senate based on FTE, and what constitutes the core of a university must be addressed by the Committee. There was general agreement that the Faculty Handbook revision should address all the important issues raised by the distributed campuses at Mason.

Additional Outreach to Key Administrators: Rick will contact the President, Provost, Deans, and Department chairs to solicit their suggestions for Handbook issues the Committee should consider.

Scheduling of Additional Handbook Committee Meetings: In an effort to speed up the Committee’s progress, Committee members will be surveyed on their availability for additional meetings on Fridays during the remainder of the spring term

Continuing Review: Chapter Two: Faculty Personnel Matters: the remainder of the chapter is in need of revision. Emeritus status is not automatic; it must first be voted on as an action item by the Board of Visitors. Documents on Post-Tenure review were distributed to committee members for inclusion in the Handbook as was a motion passed by the Faculty Senate in May 2004 regarding recommendations on Emeritus status for further study.

Procedure for Detailed Review: Rick will devise a list of topics we have already flagged for review. As more topics arise, they will be added to the list in order to discharge our responsibility to represent everyone's views. The Committee will also need to bring together all the external variants which apply to the text. We will begin with revision of Section 3.3 Summer Salaries. Our next meeting will be held Monday, March 27, 2006 from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. in Mason Hall, room D5.

Respectfully submitted,

Meg Caniano

Clerk, Faculty Senate