Welcome

Spring Meeting And Conference of New York State AAUP, 05-06 April 2019

The New York State Conference of the AAUP will hold its semi-annual meeting and conference on April 5th and 6th, 2019 in Rochester, NY at Monroe Community College, main campus, at 1000 E Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY 14623. In addition to the regular business meeting on Friday from Noon to 5:30 PM, a conference on Saturday from 9 AM to 3 PM will feature guest speakers on subjects of interest to members of AAUP and other faculty organizations.

Conference site and registration information

RIT Non-Tenure Track Faculty Meeting with Provost - Spring Semester Planning

We asked for your input and availability in order to maximize this opportunity. One hundred and thirty-six (136) of you took the time to answer our anonymous RIT clipboard survey that closed 2/20/15 to maximize the value of this meeting. Thank you for your considered and respectful input. The meeting took place and was well attended. The results of the survey and the minutes from the meeting are linked below.

RIT_NTT Meeting with Provost Haefner Planning Survey Results

RIT Non-Tenure Track Faculty Meeting with Provost Minutes

AAUP Economic Status of the Profession Report 2013-14

The 2013-2014 Instructional Activity Report [PDF] has been released from the Provost's office.

The report reflects a wide swath of the instructional activity across the campus. For example, the report:

· Captures instructional data using a variety of metrics such as student credit hour, headcount, sections taught, and full-time equivalence;
· Parses the data into undergraduate and graduate instructional activity, by term, and for all faculty classifications – tenured, tenure-track, lecturer, adjunct and teaching assistant;
· Presents ratios of the above metrics to the faculty so that the university can understand, from a data perspective, teaching loads; and
· Compares instructional activity over the past four years so that the university can see trends over time.

Con Job: Stories of Adjunct & Contingent Labor

U. of Maryland Weighs Big Changes for Faculty Members Off the Tenure Track

The U. of Maryland at College Park has some 3,000 non-tenure-track faculty members, including more than 700 part-time instructors and about 1,800 research faculty members, according to a report the campus's University Senate is scheduled to consider this week. The report calls for giving them more pay, job security, respect, and clout. Read more...

The Chronicle of Higher Education Article

University of Maryland Task Force Report [PDF]

Did You Know: RIT Faculty Statistics

RIT Faculty Statistics have been updated and now includes composite RIT faculty statistics from 2006-2012.

NEW RIT Proposed Security Standards (Open for Comment)

The Information Security Office has added a comment period for proposed standards. The comment period for the standards below runs from September 3, 2012 to October 2, 2012. The effective date for most of the proposed standards is January 1, 2013. The Academic and Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Standard would be effective on January 1, 2014.
Please join the standards governance process by reviewing the standards. If you have comments, please send them in an email to infosec@rit.edu .

Proposed Security Standard and Supporting Materials (PDFs)
Desktop and Portable Computer (revision)
- CODE OF CONDUCT FOR COMPUTER AND NETWORK USE [PDF]
- Desktop and Portable Computer Plain English Guide (Jan 1, 1213) [PDF]

NYS AAUP Conference Fall 2012, October 19-20th, 2012 at Rochester Institute of Technology

The NYS AAUP Conference Fall 2012 will be held will be held at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY October 19-20th, 2012. President Emeritus Albert Simone will be our open forum keynote speaker on Friday 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, October 19th.

We are currently collecting topics for discussion in our open forum.

• NYS AAUP Conference Fall 2012 Agenda
• NYS AAUP Conference Fall 2012 Registration

Please SUBMIT recommendations for conference open forum topics.

AAUP Report on the Inclusion of Contingent Faculty in Campus Governance

A report just out from the AAUP ( http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/newsroom/2012webhighlight/congovreport.htm ) examines these issues and makes recommendations for the inclusion of faculty holding contingent appointments in campus governance structures.

The Inclusion in Governance of Faculty Mambers Holding Contingent Appointments [PDF]

Recommendations include:
• Faculty members who hold contingent appointments should be afforded responsibilities and opportunities in governance similar to those of their tenured and tenure-track colleagues.
• Institutional policies should define as “faculty” and include in governance bodies at all levels individuals whose appointments consist primarily of teaching or research activities conducted at a professional level.

? Eligibility for voting and holding office should be the same for all faculty regardless of full- or part-time status.
? All members of the faculty should be eligible to vote in all elections for college and university governance bodies on the basis of one person, one vote.

• While faculty in contingent appointments may be restricted from participating in the evaluation of tenured and tenure-track faculty, they should have the opportunity to contribute to the evaluation of contingent faculty.

• All faculty members should, in the conduct of governance activities, be explicitly protected by institutional policies from retaliation.

• Faculty holding contingent appointments should be compensated in a way that takes into consideration the full range of their appointment responsibilities, which should include service.

Coalition on the Academic Workforce Survey of Contingent Faculty Members and Instructors

The Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) conducted a survey of the contingent academic workforce in U.S. colleges and universities. The survey inquired about course assignments, salaries, benefits, and general working conditions as members of the contingent academic workforce experience them at the institutional level. CAW invited participation from all instructional and research staff members employed off the tenure track, including faculty members employed either full- or part-time, graduate students remunerated as teaching assistants or employed in other roles, and researchers and post-doctoral fellows. The national adjunct survey conducted by the Coalition on the Academic Workforce results are available at

http://www.academicworkforce.org/survey.html

Here is a copy of the report titled:

A portrait of Part-Time Faculty Members [PDF]

RIT B2.0 Charter of Academic Governance

While the revised B 2.0 Charter of Academic Governance [ DRAFT ] passed in Academic Senate by a healty 2/3 majority it failed to achieve the required 2/3 support from RIT Faculty. Of the 796 faculty eligible to vote 117 cast a vote. The results were 67 in favor of the changes and 50 opposed. The current version of B2 requires that changes be approved by two thirds of those voting. Therefore the proposed changes are not approved and the current version of B2 remains in effect. One of the charges to the Faculty Affairs Committee this year will be continue their work on developing a new version of B2.

RIT Non-Tenure Track Faculty Meeting Minutes & Talking Points

Attached are the minutes and talking points from the Non-tenure track faculty meetings held 1/21 and several follow up meetings.

RIT Non-Tenure Track Faculty Meeting w/ Provost (April 29, 2011)

RIT Non-Tenure Track Faculty Talking Points (March 28, 2011)

RIT Non-Tenure Track Faculty Meeting Minutes

The topics discussed werer the following:

1. Recognition and Respect.   At this time there is no official recognition of the service that contingent faculty provides to the institute
2. Benefits.   In the SUNY system, adjuncts teaching two or more classes per term receive benefits; at RIT this is not exactly the case.  If one is officially designated as “half-time” then RIT offers benefits.  What is typically more often the case, however, is that this half- or part-time “rank” is not linked to any specific number of courses per week nor is there consistency across campus, and a number of adjuncts (if in different divisions) teach half the number of courses or more in any given quarter without official “half-time” employment status. See link below for the Adjunct Portal which includes current benefi

https://wiki.rit.edu/pages/recentlyupdated.action?key=adjunct

3. Faculty Development.   Presently, there is no consistent policy about whether or not contingent faculty qualify for funds that would allow them to travel to conferences and/or conduct research that would allow them to grow as teaching members of the RIT community.
4. Balanced distribution of faculty ranks.   Discuss the Provost’s idea of a balanced, Institute-wide distribution between tenured and tenure-track, lecturer and adjunct faculty.
5. Governance.   This item addresses an item that is now on the agenda in Academic Senate.  Presently, there is no representation of or for contingent faculty in the Senate. The question of governance is also important on the college and departmental levels as well.  Per the current Institute Policy and Procedures Manual, the only faculty that have voting privileges are tenured, tenure-track, and EDF.  Please look at the following to see how governance is defined presently: www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/policiesmanual/sectionB/B2.html
6. Fair compensation. As of now there is no direct connection between lecturer ranks and salary. There is no provision for adjunct faculty to receive increases on the same basis as other faculty and staff. This has resulted over the years in adjunct pay falling far behind inflation. In addition, there are significant discrepancies in contingent faculty pay practices among the colleges.
7. Open Forum .

All contingent faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend.  We need to be active in the decision making of the Institute.  To meet and discuss is a good beginning.  Bringing our concerns to the administration is the next step.

RIT AAUP Faculty Social, Friday September 17th 4-6PM

RIT AAUP invites all RIT faculty to join us Friday September 17th, 4-6PM for our monthly meeting and follow up social at MacGregor's, 300 Jefferson Rd, Rochester. We want to extend a special invite to Adjunct Faculty.

RIT Adjunct Portal Open to All

The Adjunct Faculty Portal is a wiki site maintained by the Wallace Center as a resource for all RIT Adjunct Faculty. It is open to all, passwords are not necessary. Link https://wiki.rit.edu/display/adjunct/Home

Visions of Adjunct Tenure - Inside Higher Ed

Two groups released their visions for job security, academic freedom and better pay for adjuncts and contingent faculty here this weekend at a gathering of academic labor activists from across North America...

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/16/cocal

New Faculty Majority

The New Faculty Majority's proposed program for change in faculty hiring and treatment:

http://newfacultymajority.info/PfC/

The New Faculty Majority Launches National Unemployment Compensation Initiative. Maria Maisto, NFM President announces that the New Faculty Majority is launching a National Unemployment Compensation Initiative .  NFM will provide adjunct and contingent faculty in all 50 states the information they need to apply for Unemployment Insurance (UI). In addition to providing practical assistance, this effort is the beginning of a data collection and public education effort, so even if you don't qualify for or need UI, we encourage you to spread the news of the initiative. A press release has been distributed nationally and is copied below.  If you know of a local newspaper, reporter or news outlet that should receive a copy of our news release, please advise Matt Williams, NFM's VP and Communications Committee Chair, at matt.williams@newfacultymajority.inf

New Faculty Majority (NFM) national campaign will help eligible adjunct college and university faculty obtain unemployment compensation in between academic terms.  Many instructors don't check to see whether they are eligible.  Others are denied on grounds of having reasonable assurance of re-employment, a phrase in federal law whose invocation by postsecondary employers has been challenged, most successfully in California and Washington, by arguing that employment which depends on variables like enrollment, funding, and administrative prerogative cannot constitute reasonable assurance.

RIT Wallace Center Faculty College Contacts

The new reorganization that combined Teaching and Learning and Wallace Library in now called the Wallace Center and is under the direction of the dynamic Lynn Wild.The college based faculty contacts are a great resource for all faculty. We especially encourage all part time faculty to make use of this faculty resource help with course materials, orientation to resources available for teaching. The wallace center is actively organizing Adjunct orientations and Learning Communities.

RIT Academic Calendar Semester/Quarter Options

On November 19, 2009 Academic Senate approved a protocol for the consideration of our future calendar at RIT. The protocol includes four motions to be used to determine the recommendation of Academic Senate to President Destler. A survey has been created in multiple versions to collect feedback from RIT faculty by college and by whether you are tenure track (tenured or not yet tenured) or non tenure track faculty. The results of the survey will be made available as additional feedback to the respective college Academic Senators to help inform their vote on motions 2-4 that will take place on January 14, 2010.

Please review the documents available to you ( http://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/priorities_initiatives.php ) before taking the survey. Note that this is only one way for you to participate in the Calendar decision being made. We urge you to contact your Academic Senators directly for additional opportunities to be involved. Included below is an SG Fortune Cookie prediction on the outcome. What do you thnink?

We have also set up a new topic in the RIT AAUP Forum to discuss the calendar options. Two years ago in this forum ( Motion: RIT change from quarters to semesters ) was discussed. You may want to review that discussion. Note: To view the Forum log-in using your RIT username and password. To comment confidentially in the forum if you have not previously registered, register within the forum using a user name and password of your choice (this should be different from your RIT username) at:

http://aaup.rit.edu/forum/register.php    

Adjunct Listserve and New Faculty Majority Web Site Link

Check out the following Adjunct Listserve that is followed by AAUP:
http://adj-l.org/mailman/listinfo/adj-l_adj-l.org

New Faculty Majority: The National Coalition for Adjunct and Contingent Equity is a new, independent national organization for adjunct and contingent faculty in all disciplines and at any public or private university, college or community college in the US:
http://www.newfacultymajority.info/national/

RIT AAUP Faculty Social, Friday September 18th 4-6PM

RIT AAUP invites all RIT faculty to join us Friday September 18th, 4-6PM for a social at MacGregor's, 300 Jefferson Rd, Rochester. We want to extend a special invite to Adjunct Faculty. Please note that we will be holding our regularly secheduled monthly meeting at MacGregors beginning at 3PM and as always all are welcome to join us at 3PM and stay through the ensuing social.

NYS Adjunct Unemployment Insurance Bill

NYS Senate Bill to provide unemployment insurance to adjunct faculty unanimously supported by Senate Labor Committee - not put to full vote Senate Bill S4123A
Assembly Bill A-613-A not put to vote

Website with form letter to state representatives
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/UI09

RIT Faculty Statistics

RIT Adjunct Faculty Meeting February 5th 4-6:00 PM

RIT AAUP Faculty Social Friday 11/7/08 4-6:00 PM

RIT New Provost Jeremy Haefner to attend 10/10/08 RIT AAUP Meeting

RIT Adjunct Faculty Survey

Some addition reports relevant to the RIT Adjunct Faculty:

RIT Adjunct Faculty Survey: Adjunct Priorities Report (July, 2008) [PDF]
Adjunct Pay at Other Colleges (July, 2008) [PDF]

RIT Tenure and Promotion Expectations DRAFT

RIT Lecturer Redefined

RIT Adjunct Faculty Survey

President Destler RIT Provost Search Complete

Academic Senate and available faculty met 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Friday, 2/29 to discuss the five Provost candidates who visited RIT this past week, to consider faculty feedback, and to formulate an Academic Senate recommendation. A document enumerating the pros and cons for each candidate was sent to the Provost Search Committee and President Destler. The first sentence of this Academic Senate document states:

"Academic Senate and faculty position regarding candidates for the Provost of RIT:
Dr. Jeremy Haefner is our first and only choice of the candidates presented for provost."

Contingent Faculty Discussion Points, Thurs Jan 10, 2008

Contingent Faculty Discussion Points v6 is a document that will be covered at the RIT Academic Senate meeting 1/10/08 1:05-1:50 PM in SAU 1829 regarding Contingent/Adjunct (non-tenure track) faculty at RIT. IF you can't make the meeting add to the Adjunct Faculty forum discussion .

Did you know: ~42% of RIT faculty are non-tenure track and for fall quarter 2007 this group provided 46% of credit hours earned.

RIT AAUP Film Screening, Friday Nov 2, 2007

AAUP Campus Equity Week at RIT

Freedom in the Classroom (2007)

AAUP's Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure has released a new report, Freedom in the Classroom (2007) to assess arguments made in support of recent legislative efforts to regulate classroom instruction. The  1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure affirms that "teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject." This affirmation was meant to codify understandings of academic freedom commonly accepted in 1940. In recent years these understandings have become controversial. Private groups have sought to regulate classroom instruction, advocating the adoption of statutes that would prohibit teachers from challenging deeply held student beliefs or that would require professors to maintain "diversity" or "balance" in their teaching. This report is a response to these efforts.

Academic Senate Standing Committee Charges 2007-08

RIT Presidential Search

Retirement Eligibility Policy Change

Adjunct Faculty

General Education White Paper

Parking at RIT

Campus Environment Survey Results

ISSUE 2005-001 Faculty Ombuds Office -APPROVED!!!

NYS AAUP Annual Faculty Survey Results

Website Highlights RIT Presidential Search

A new Website is dedicated to RIT’s search for its 9th president: www.rit.edu/presidentialsearch . President Simone is retiring in mid-2007.

The Website will highlight the search process and provide news and updates until the Board of Trustees selects a new president. The site also features a feedback area.

ISSUE 2005-003 Faculty Workloads

Step 3 - draft recommendation pending

ISSUE 2005-002 First Year Enrichment (FYE) / Wellness for Life

Revised RIT Policy on Faculty Rank - Approved [PDF]

This revision adds the major new category of Research Faculty at RIT. Faculty should appreciate the opportunities available to move between their Tenure Track position and a Research Faculty position.

Dr. Albert Simone
Keynote Speaker

Friday 5:00:6:30 PM 10/19/12
Eastman Hall, Bldg.01-2000

Topic: The Cost of Higher Education and Intercollegiate Athletics

Information: Dr. Albert J. Simone was president of Rochester Institute of Technology from September, 1992 through June, 2007. He is the eighth president in the university's 178-year history. He was formerly president of the University of Hawaii System and chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa for nine years.
He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi, he is the author of several books and numerous journal publications on the application of mathematics, statistics and computers to economics and business.
Just a few of Dr. Simone's professional accomplishmnets include; Past Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the New York Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities; Federal Reserve Bank of New York; HSBC Bank USA Advisory Board; State Higher Education Executive Officers; Advisory Council on International Services; Advisory Group on International Arbitration; National Collegiate Athletics Association Division 1 Presidents Commission.