Senate Newsletter:

Dear Colleagues:

Congratulations are in order on a successful launch of the new academic
year. AUS has a record enrolment of 3629 students. AUS’s reputation
continues to spread. We especially welcome the 33 new faculty, who
judging by their credentials, clearly reflect the widening stature of
the University. While we begin our seventh year of operation, the
University has already reached or is very close to its equilibrium in
numbers of students and faculty. Thus, we cross the threshold into a
mature University.

Now that the normal professorial duties are fully underway, I wish to
bring you up to date on the status of pending matters of concern to
Faculty, that are considered by the Senate. The Senate Executive
Committee (SEC) held its first meeting on September 7. The following
issues were discussed, and I summarize the findings for your use.

(1) With regard to the procedurally important matter of lacking a
sitting VCAA this fall semester, Chancellor Thompson invited the SEC to
consider ways to bridge this gap. The Senate President entrusted Vice
President Sahroaui with collecting suggestions from SEC members about a
possible amendment, to deal with sections of the Faculty Handbook that
may be moot. Vice President Sahraoui will submit a motion to this effect
at our forthcoming SEC and Senate meetings (to be held on September 14,
and 16 respectively).

(2) With regard to the three alternatives for the Academic Calendar
2004-05, the various alternatives will be assessed and voted on the
Senate floor on September 17. I trust that all faculty have had a chance
to consider the three options suggested by the Calendar Committee, which
were emailed (August 27, 2003) to all Chairs/Directors for feedback by
their faculty constituencies.

(3) The SEC has recommended and the full Senate has adopted (in a vote
by virtual session) a motion to combine the two holidays of Eid Al Fitr
and National Day to result in a single holiday (November 24 through
December 5).

(4) It has come to the attention of the Senate that the annual leave
travel policy is in the process of revision by the Finance department
for airline tickets to and from a faculty’s home or point of origin.
Vice President Sahraoui will represent the Senate to the Finance
Department to ensure that Faculty interests are represented. He will
report to the Senate in due time for a discussion of the proposed
guidelines.

(5) In reference to the unanimously passed motion (Senate meeting of
March 4, 2003) to remove the restrictions on funding the school fees of
two children per family, Chancellor Thompson informed the SEC that the
motion was not favorably received by the Finance Committee of the Board
of Trustees. Rather, the Board of Trustees would favor considering
school fees within the wider package of all fringe benefits allocated to
each faculty member. Chancellor Thompson consequently urged the Senate
to closely consider a mechanism for allocating the full range of fringe
benefits, including social security, school fees, medical care, and so
on. The fringe benefit package should also reflect on the percentage of
a faculty member’s package that the University should spend on cash
remunerations. It was agreed that the Senate should assess the variables
and options early in the semester. A Senate ad hoc committee co-chaired
by
Senate Vice President Sahraoui and Secretary Ahmed Mokhtar will work
closely together with the office of VCFA George De Bin to develop and
present the appropriate allocation formulae. The make up of the
committee will be announced shortly. Faculty will be invited to share
with their respective senators, their views on this matter of crucial
concern to all, before full deliberations take place on the Senate
floor.

(6) In order to proceed with the evaluation of faculty for promotion and
contract renewal, the SEC considered the following queries that were
brought before it:

A. Whether Assistant Professors could be eligible to serve on FPCs in
Schools or College which-–as in the case of SAD—currently lack a
sufficient number of Associate or Full professors. The SEC determined
that the FOP provides the governing authority in this regard: “Only
members of the full-time faculty with the rank of Associate Professor or
Professor may serve on the committees.” The SEC unanimously decided to
abide by the Faculty Handbook, and encouraged faculty who had concerns
over the implication of such provisions to bring their case forth
through the appropriate procedure of amendment.

B. Administrators (such as chairs or directors) are eligible to serve on
FPCS of other Schools/College insofar as they are not involved in other
steps to evaluate the same candidate so that the same individual
evaluates the candidate twice.

In this regard, the Faculty Handbook states that “no committee member of
the FPCs or UCRPCs should pass judgment on the same candidate more than
once.”

The Handbook also provides that “Faculty Administrators such as
Chairpersons, Division Directors, and Program Coordinators retain their
faculty status and are members of their departments and of the Faculty
Assembly.” Therefore, Faculty members holding the rank of Associate or
Full Professors that also serve as chairs or program directors may be
invited and are eligible to serve on FPCs of other schools and college.

C. As to whether a Faculty whose case is being evaluated for renewal or
promotion could also serve on an FPC and deliberate on all cases except
his/hers, the SEC determined that in such cases the faculty could
develop reciprocities that might influence the objectivity of
deliberations. The SEC unanimously recommended that a faculty could not
serve on an FPC or UCRPC, while in the same year being evaluated by the
same bodies.

(7). The Faculty Handbook provides that “the constitution of the UCRCP
(University Committee on Rolling Contracts and Promotion) will be
handled differently in academic years 2002-03 and 2003-04 than in
subsequent years. During those first years of operation, the members of
the Committee will be appointed by the Chancellor in consultation with
the Council of Deans and the Senate Executive Committee…”
In conformity with the Faculty Handbook, five members of the faculty who
hold the rank of Associate Professor or Professor and who are on rolling
contract were appointed to this committee in 2002-2003.

The Faculty Handbook further states that “Replacements, if required
during those two years, will be made by the Chancellor.” Two vacancies
recently occurred in the UCRPC, which were filled by new appointments by
Chancellor Thompson.

(8) The SEC unanimously recommended that any electronic voting for FPC
positions could only take place with a software that has been evaluated
and approved by the IT department, and that such an electronic voting
software would have to be overseen by faculty.

Please be reminded that Senate meetings are scheduled for the third
Tuesday of every month. In anticipation of the Senate meeting scheduled
for Tuesday September 17, a second SEC meeting will be held on Sunday
September 14.

For the upcoming SEC meeting, we plan to discuss the following items of
business: (1) mechanisms of enforcing the sabbatical leave policies; (2)
issues of space and office allocation at AUS; (3) lingering parking
problems; (4) staffing of Senate committees; (5) travel grants in light
of change in fiscal year appropriation.

I would like to remind you that according to the Faculty Organization
Plan (FOP), which outlines the Senate’s organizational principles,
“items for senate consideration may be presented, in writing, by any
member or group of members of faculty.” Such requests shall be sent to
the Senate President, who shall see that the items are placed on the
agenda.” The FOP also provides that “Faculty who are not members of the
Senate may be present at Senate meetings but shall not be entitled to
vote or make motions.” Please submit any item of concern to the Senate
President <senate_president@aus.edu> by 12:00 on Sunday September 14.

The list of your respective senators for the Senate term 2003-2004 is
available on the Senate Website: http://www.aus.edu/facultysenate/
The Senate is particulalry pleased to welcome two new faculty
representatives, Senators Tina Driscoll and Dennis Russell, who were recently elected in lieu of Senators Pelly Shaw and Bassim Boulos respectively.

An icon for the AUS Faculty Senate website has been added to the AUS
homepage. The passwords are: "facultysenate" and then "oasis."

Please be reminded that three official email addresses have been created
for the three elected officers <senate_president@aus.edu>,
<senate_vice_president@aus.edu>, and <senate_secretary@aus.edu> and
colleagues are advised to please use them in their Senate-related
communications.

The Faculty Senate will continue to address queries and concerns that
faculty deem appropriate to bring forth.

Sincerely,

Nada Mourtada-Sabbah
President, AUS Faculty Senate