UMUC Faculty Advisory Council News

The next Faculty Forum will feature a conversation with Dr. Michael Frank, Vice Provost and Dean of UMUC's Graduate School for Managementand Technology (GSMT). Dates of this faculty forum will be August 19-21, 2008.

Dean Michael Frank will answer faculty questions during this online faculty forum. Faculty members may post their questions at anytime during this period, view others' questions, and expect to engage in dialog with Dean Frank.

Co-moderating with Dr. Frank with be Drs. James Stewart, Bruce Lubich, Susan Malone and Theo Stone, GSMT representatives on the Faculty Advisory Council.

To register, faculty can go to this URL:

http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/gffs_su08.shtml

Every year, the Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) sponsor the UMUC Faculty Forum Discussions. The UMUC Faculty Forum Discussions are delivered online via WebTycho. The discussions are free and open to all UMUC faculty members.

The first forum will feature a conversation with Provost James Sherwoood of UMUC. Having served as the Provost and Chief Academic Officer since January 2008, This discussion is designed to promote a sharing of information and thoughts about the academic present and future of UMUC. It will take place August 11-14.

To register, go to this link:

http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/gffs_registration_su08.shtml

The UMUC Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) is the faculty’s representative in the shared governance of our university. This year, FAC is considering its membership and whether changes should be made to the number and categories of representatives who serve on FAC. Before we vote to change our bylaws, however, the faculty members of UMUC have an opportunity to review and comment on any proposed changes.

Please send your feedback on these proposed changes to fac@umuc.edu.
Current Structure

Under the current structure, there are 15 members of FAC, as follows:

* Four collegiate faculty members from Adelphi (two from undergraduate programs; two from graduate programs)
* Two collegiate faculty members from UMUC Europe
* Two collegiate faculty members from UMUC Asia
* Three adjuncts (representing the three geographic divisions)
* One librarian
* Three at-large members (these members shall be those faculty who received the next largest number of votes in any category)

Proposed Changes to Structure

Here are the four possible proposed options to the FAC structure currently being considered and the rationale for each of them:

1. Add three new adjunct positions to the FAC. The faculty of UMUC, globally, is largely composed of adjunct faculty. As such, they are underrepresented on FAC. Adding three new adjuncts to FAC would provide better representation of adjunct concerns. This would bring the total number of FAC members to 18.

2. Convert the three at-large members to adjunct members. The reason for this change would be to increase adjunct faculty representation in FAC while leaving the total number of representatives at 15. Read a defense of this proposal

3. Make no distinction between collegiate and adjunct on FAC. Under this proposal, we retain the current categories of undergraduate school, UMUC Europe, UMUC Asia, graduate school, library, and at-large, but eliminate the condition that only collegiates can run for these slots. Thus, collegiate and adjunct faculty members could equally vie for the positions. Of course, one must belong to the given population to run. Hence, no one from Adelphi could run for an overseas position or vice-versa. Read a defense of this proposal

4. Make no changes. Under this proposal, we retain the current structure of FAC. The rationale for making no changes is that current representation is adequate and that a good representative will consider the interests of all faculty members in shared governance.

Next Steps

Please provide us your feedback of these proposed changes. Your input as a UMUC faculty member will be valued and considered as this issue is deliberated by FAC. Send an e-mail to fac@umuc.edu to provide your feedback.

Thank you.

Our friend and colleague on FAC, Susan Malone, brought the following announcment to our attention last week. We thought this is worth sharing.

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In keeping with UMUC President Susan Aldridge’s recent activities in support of higher education in Latin America, and with Dean Marie Cini’s approval, you are cordially invited to participate in an international mentoring initiative. The History Program (HIST) and the Government Program (GVPT) have formed a partnership with the Organization of American States (www.oas.org) to provide limited online mentoring and research assistance to the Talent and Innovation Competition of the Americas (http://www.ticamericas.net/). This is an annual event sponsored by the Young Americas Business Trust (www.ybiz.org), a department of the OAS dedicated to the education and development of entrepreneurship of young people in the Americas and the Caribbean.

In concert with the TIC administrators, competitors in the TIC competition will be selected from each member state of OAS and be given the opportunity to access a special WebTycho classroom. The special 999 (YABT999) will be staffed by volunteer professors from all SUS divisions and all disciplines.Participating students will be matched with a volunteer whose discipline will best serve the participant. The WebTycho forum will be a TIC competitors’ resource for project specific information. Faculty mentors will provide assistance with research and focused mentoring for the TIC participants.

We want to have this special 999 running by April 1. Our participation ends by May 30. If this pilot is successful, we intend to offer this service to OAS annually. If you are interested in joining this international outreach, please contact Robert Bromber at (240) 582-2837 or rbromber@umuc.edu.

Darlene A. Smucny, Ph.D.
Collegiate Professor, and
Academic Director, Social Sciences

School of Undergraduate Studies
University of Maryland University College
PG Metro III Room 7765
3501 University Blvd. East
Adelphi, Maryland 20783 USA

tel: 240-582-2850

Adelphi, MD -- One of the great challenges of teaching at UMUC is its sheer vastness as a university. Spread across the world over several continents, it's easy for faculty members to feel a disconnection. It is thus especially warming when we see good communication. Kudos go to our friends and colleagues on the Faculty Advisory Council in Asia -- David Ramsey and Merv Whealy. Both David and Merv have set up to improve the communication to faculty in the Asian Division. The attached letter from David and Merv to faculty is a great example of how they're communicating.

For those of you outside the Asian Division of UMUC, I thought you might like to see this.

Download AD FAC Message -- March, 2008

Adelphi, MD -- The appropriations committee of the Maryland House of Delegates has given an unfavorable report on House Bill 538. This is the house version of the bill that would provide collective bargaining rights to adjunct faculty and graduate students in specified public institutions of higher education. The bill would also establish separate collective bargaining units for adjunct faculty and graduate students. The unfavorable report was issued on March 3 and makes any other action on this legislation unlikely in the House.

The bill can be read at this link: http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/bills/hb/hb0538f.pdf
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In the Maryland State Senate, the hearing that had been scheduled for today (March 6) for the Senate version of the bill -- Senate Bill 627 -- was cancelled on March 4.

We'll keep you informed on any continuing developments in this story.

Our friend and colleague on FAC, Debra Rosenthal, asked that we share the following news. From Debra:

Folks, FYI, members of the FAC in the US have heard that the grade quota is now "on hold" and a UMUC committee will be formed to consider issues of academic rigor. The requirement that students in some classes take a [Measure of Academic Proficiency and Progress] MAPP test is also on hold.

These are two matters that FAC members have expressed concern about with the admin--quite a lot last year, in the case of MAPP. It's heartening that the new Provost takes our concerns seriously and is instigating a review of these questions.

Thanks for sharing these bits of information with the UMUC faculty and we'll be certain to keep everyone up to date here on this blog with regard to any progress on these stories.

Adelphi, MD -- On Saturday, February 23, The Graduate School of Management and Technology (GSMT) held its bi-annual faculty meeting at the UMUC campus in Adelphi. About 200 faculty members were in attendance. Speakers included Dean Michael Frank, President Susan Aldridge, and Provost Jim Sherwood.

I also presented on behalf of the FAC. I've had several people ask me to post the slides I used, which outline the FAC accomplishments from 2007. My slides are linked here: FAC Presentation at GSMT Faculty Meeting.

Cheers, Theo

Adelphi, MD – The Baltimore Sun reported yesterday morning (February 20) that arguments pro and con are being made concerning proposed legislation to allow graduate students and adjunct faculty in the University System of Maryland to organize into unions. The Sun article can be found at this URL:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/college/bal-md.union20feb20,0,3947425.story

The Faculty Advisory Council has been following the progress of the legislation. As the legislation moves, or doesn’t move forward, we’ll keep an eye on what happens for you. In terms of support or opposition to the legislation, FAC does not take a stand, one way or the other. For those of you interested in reading it, the Senate version (SB 617) has been posted online. It's available at:

http://mlis.state.md.us/2008RS/bills/sb/sb0617f.pdf

According to the Sun article , “Del. John L. Bohanan Jr., the St. Mary's County Democrat who chairs an education subcommittee, said passage of the legislation could be ‘difficult’ this year.” So we’ll see.

Adelphi, MD -- We ran into our friend and colleague, Art Huseonica, at Saturday's faculty meeting for the School of Undergraduate Studies. Many of you know Art, who is a faculty member in the field of Computer Studies at UMUC. But he is also a Vice President of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Maryland Conference. He had two bits of news with regard to his role with that group.

First, Art recently had an article published in The Faculty Voice, a faculty newspaper published at University of Maryland College Park (UMCP). It's a nice little piece titled, "Changes in Faculty Hiring Pattern" and it looks at how there is a trend across the state (and nation, really,) away from tenure-track positions at universities. Of course, UMUC hasn't had tenure for years, so this reflects the reality college faculty face today. The article is available at this link: The Faculty Voice.

The second bit of news concerns the Spring conference for AAUP. Here are the details...contact Art if you want more info, by the way, don't contact us:

AAUP Maryland Conference
SPRING 2008 MEETING
Implications of Economic Downturns
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Loyola College of Maryland - Timonium Graduate Campus
Local contact: Art Huseonica
410-721-5048