Faculty Handbook

Welcome to the Faculty Handbook Website

According to Section 15.2.3.2 of the Faculty Handbook, the Faculty Handbook Revision Committee (FHRC) considers suggested revisions to the Handbook that are deemed substantive and pressing. The FHRC consists of six members, plus the chair-elect of the Faculty Senate, who serves as an ex officio member. Three members are from the tenured faculty and three members are academic administrators. From the six voting members, the FHRC elects a chair at the beginning of each academic year. You can view current members of the FHRC via the link on the left of this page.

This website has been established as a mechanism for the FHRC to solicit campus feedback on revisions currently under consideration. We hope that you will take advantage of this site and share your thoughts with the committee. If you would like to suggest a revision to the Faculty Handbook, send an email to me with the suggested change and rationale. 

Rich Biagioni
FHRC 2011–2012

Topics that we are just getting started on:

Faculty Review and Salary Policies: Current language in Section 4.6.4 and throughout Section 5 are very specific about methods for annual review (including requiring a departmental panel) and links between performance and salary policy. In particular, the language in Section 5 would not appear to allow any type of across-the-board salary increase, even when the salary raise pool is small. The FHRC will be looking at adjusting these sections to (1) allow greater flexibility in the annual review process and (2) allow some de-linking of performance evaluations to salary policy when the raise pool is below a threshold. The changes are consistent with recommendations from the Compensation Committee. A draft document will be posted once available.

Darr School of Agriculture: The Darr School of Agriculture was created as an entity that reports directly to the Provost’s Office, and it is not a subunit of any of the Colleges. As such, many of the procedures and policies currently in the Handbook are not directly applicable. For example, the Handbook currently states that a School is identical in every way to a Department, but that is clearly not the case for the Darr School of Agriculture. The normal tenure and promotion procedures in the Handbook have a sequence of reviews (and appeal processes) that move from the Department level to the College level, and these are no longer directly applicable. Handbook adjustments for different structures with Darr will be required. 

Reimbursements for travel and meals: Section 5.11 of the Handbook, Off-Campus Teaching, states that “Expenses of meals and travel will be reimbursed to individuals assigned …” Unfortunately, a recent audit has pointed out that this is in conflict with IRS guidelines, specifically regarding taxable benefits. According to the IRS Taxable Fringe Benefit Guide, compensation for meals during same-day travel is not tax exempt. Transportation from home to either the office or to the first appointment of a day is considered commuting, as is travel from the last appointment to home, or from the home office to home. See http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/fringe_benefit_fslg.pdf p. 29ff and 35ff. 

The FHRC welcomes input on proposed changes.