Faculty Council approves grievance policy
Published Jan. 25, 2008
The MU Faculty Council approved a new transfer admission policy and a version of the long-debated faculty grievance procedure during their first meeting of the spring semester.
They also began discussions about compliance with a Missouri state law that requires faculty credentials and ratings to be posted online.
The revised transfer admission policy changes the requirements for some transfer applicants. According to the new policy, transfer students who meet the MU freshman admission requirements and have a 2.5 grade-point average in college-level courses can transfer to MU.
In the previous policy, students were required to complete the equivalent of Math 1100 or English 1000 with a grade of C- or better.
Transfer applicants who do not meet the freshman admission requirements can transfer only after they complete at least 24 college level credits with a minimum 2.5 GPA. They must also complete the equivalent of either Math 1100 or English 1000 with a grade of C- or better. The previous policy required students to complete the equivalent of both Math 1100 and English 1000.
"The bottom line is that there is probably no difference," Academic Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Phillips said, citing a report from Admissions Director Barbara Rupp.
After months of debate and revision, the Faculty Council voted to approve changes to the grievance policy proposed at the Nov. 15 meeting, as well as four changes proposed since that meeting.
The four additional changes include a request for a follow-up report on all grievances to provide better data on the process, rules for communication between the chancellor and parties involved, a time limit for the chancellor to collect or request more information and a specific clause that allows the grievant to opt out of the process at any time and file a lawsuit.
"We think there will be issues with the opt-out clause," Faculty Affairs Committee Chairwoman Leona Rubin said. "But our feeling was that if we didn't ask for a raise in our allowance, we would never get it. So, it's in there because we thought it was a good thing and because I think it's a first step toward the next process."
Rubin said the "next process" would be to form a subcommittee to explore the possibility of a shorter grievance process "with teeth."
Faculty Council Vice Chairman Steve Neal said the revised policy had not gone through the legal department yet, and that changes might be necessary after they review it.
MU faculty and UM system Board of Curators must approve the new policy in order for it to take effect.
The Faculty Council also discussed how to comply with the Missouri higher education law regarding the requirement that faculty credentials and instructor ratings be posted on a public Web site.
Philips said the council was still in the early stages of deciding how exactly to comply with the bill.
Items that need to be addressed include which questions to ask students rating their instructor as well as a system for collecting, summarizing and posting the information to the schedule of courses Web site, according to the draft compliance plan.
The council decided to collect opinions from faculty members before their next meeting to aid in their decision.