October 20th, 2021- Ex Com E-Vote- DCU-letter

FSU EX COM E-VOTE 10/5/21

Endorsement of DCU letter: e-vote sent to Executive Committee members on October 20, 2021. Ex Comm approved to endorse. (11 in favor).

From: Steve Striffler <Steve.Striffler@umb.edu>

Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2021 8:35 AM

To: Caroline Coscia <Caroline.Coscia@umb.edu>; Jeffrey Melnick <Jeffrey.Melnick@umb.edu>; Jose Martinez-Reyes <Jose.Martinez-Reyes@umb.edu>; Sana Haroon <Sana.Haroon@umb.edu>; Tim Sieber <Tim.Sieber@umb.edu>; Jessica R Holden <Jessica.Holden@umb.edu>; Travis Johnston <Travis.Johnston@umb.edu>; Meghan E Kallman <Meghan.Kallman@umb.edu>; Monique Fuguet <Monique.Fuguet@umb.edu>; Linda Ai-Yun Liu <Linda.Liu@umb.edu>; Dana Commesso <Dana.Commesso@umb.edu>; Lynne B Benson <Lynne.Benson@umb.edu>

Cc: Faculty Staff Union <FSU@umb.edu>; D'Urso, Katie <KD'Urso@massteacher.org>

Subject: FSU Ex-Comm E-Vote on DCU letter to Provost - teaching evals

Hey,

The DCU has asked whether we would support/endorse the following letter to the Provost.    So, if I am allowed to, I guess I am making motion to support it and asking for us to vote on it by email.   My instinct is the below will be pretty non-controversial among this group, but if anyone has any issues feel free to say and we can always take a pass; my sense is we can’t wait until the next ex-comm meeting to discuss….hence e-vote.  

Thanks!   s.

 

Dear Provost Berger,

In our recent Department Chairs Union meeting, our members expressed concern regarding course evaluations submitted during the pandemic year 2020-2021. More specifically, Chairs were ambivalent about using course evaluations from this particular year in upcoming personnel reviews (tenures and promotions). Since TT faculty were given the option to stop the tenure clock during the pandemic, our Union strongly believes that a similar option should be given regarding AY 20-21 course evaluations. That is, we ask that faculty with pending promotions be given the option to not use AY 20-21 course evaluations in their folios, if they so wish.

We believe it is only fair to give faculty this option given that the impact of COVID-19 on teaching effectiveness, scholarship development, and service contributions is still unknown. The DCU further wants to stress that that COVID-19 had a disproportionate impact on women, junior faculty, faculty of color, and faculty with children/caregivers.

We are open to discuss this further with you.

Best,