coe-staff: Research Career NTTF Task Force Recommendations

[Randy Kamphaus]

May 9, 2019

Dear Faculty,

I write today to report on the process of evaluating and implementing the recommendations made by the Research Career NTTF Task Force in the report dated April 1, 2019. I have attached a copy of the report as reference material.

Since release of the report I have received considerable feedback about the recommendations made. Generally, the recommendations fall into two categories. There is general agreement that recommendations B1 and B2 should be implemented immediately. In fact, some aspects of B1 have been implemented over the course of the last year. We have made nascent efforts to showcase the role of research track faculty in a variety of ways including:


•     The ROC showcase held in the fall at the EMU, which was well received by our panelists, ROC units, and President Schill, among other university attendees

•     Introducing research track faculty to Provost Banavar in individual meetings

•     EC Cares hosting of President Schill last month

•     Inviting a research associate faculty member to give a presentation for the upcoming meeting of the CoE Advisory Council meeting in Portland

•     Around the Ostories that profiled the research of several research track faculty

Much more can, and will be done to implement B1. I hope that all research track faculty are encouraged by these early efforts.

Recommendation B2, regarding better “on-boarding” of new research track faculty, remains to be implemented. Some early ideas include having academic unit faculty members – tenure-related and career instructional faculty – join search committees for new hires in research and outreach units. Other suggestions are welcome.

Please note that this task force report is having a spillover effect for other career-track faculty members. I, for example, made an attempt to give our two new career-track instructional faculty hires a higher profile by announcing their hire in a college-wide email. Again, much more work needs to be done to fully embrace a culture of inclusiveness and mutual respect for our diverse faculty roles.

Task Force recommendations A1 through A3 have generated some concerns from career-track and tenure-related faculty alike. Some concerns include:


•     Differences in salary schedules between career-track instructional and research faculty

•     Concerns about replacing the roles of long-term career instructors and lecturers as instructors of record in core classes

•     Concerns about differences in academic department oversight between instructional track and research track faculty

•     Concerns about differential academic service expectations between instructional track and research track faculty, and whether or not this service is considered part of one’s paid FTE

•     Differences in academic department vetting and course teaching oversight between instructional track and research track faculty

•     Absence of an approved workload policy for research track faculty (Our existing Career NTTF workload policy specifically excludes Career NTTF research faculty)

•     Lack of recognition of Clinical Professor track faculty in CoE Bylaws (https://policies.uoregon.edu/academic-classification-and-rank)

•     Comparatively greater turnover, job losses and cutbacks among instructional track faculty

Because of these accumulating faculty concerns, I wish to collect more information from faculty about Task Force Report recommendations A1 through A3 as a prelude to implementing these recommendations in whole, part, or with modifications.

I have received considerable feedback from the Faculty Advisory Committee. My plan for obtaining additional faculty input includes three near term opportunities:


•     Continued compilation and consideration of feedback from individual faculty (Please copy Dianna Carrizales-Engelmann on any emails you send me)

•     Continued input from Academic Department Heads

•     All college faculty and staff meeting scheduled for Friday, June 7

My current plan is to use part of our last faculty and staff meeting of the year to have a robust and public discussion about the implementation of recommendations A1 through A3.

I look forward to your continuing counsel and consultation.

Randy
c Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President of Research and Innovation

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