December 2015

December 2015

Dear NYU Tenured or Tenure Track Faculty Member:

This is the first of what we plan to be a report at the end of each semester on the activities of the Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty Senators Council.

What is the University Senate and T-FSC and why should you be interested in it?

The University Senate is the deliberative body for the discussion of University-wide policies and proposed changes in University practices and structure. The Senate sets its agenda with particular concern for academic programs and structure, personnel and budgetary policies, development of facilities and community, professional, and educational relations of the University. The Senate makes any recommendations regarding policies and practices of the University to the President and Chancellor and, through the President and Chancellor, to the Board of Trustees.  

The Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty Senators Council (T-FSC) currently consists of thirty-seven members of the Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty and is part of the University Senate's membership, which also includes the Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty Senators Council, the Deans Council, the Student Senators Council, and the Administrative Management Council as well as the President and a number of additional senior members of the administration.

What have we, your representatives, been doing?

Some of the highlights of activities in the fall 2015 semester include:

  • Review of and recommendations on proposed policies of several NYU schools regarding review, reappointment and promotion of full-time non-tenure track faculty. Following the recommendations of last year's T-FSC/C-FSC Coordination Committee, these reviews included (very fruitful) discussions with the Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty Senators Council.
  • Analysis in progress of a survey of faculty in NYU housing, to determine faculty needs and to help formulate proposals to help address them.
  • Obtaining NYU budgetary data with the goal of increasing faculty understanding of and involvement in financial issues.
  • Studying the current status of faculty diversity and the mechanisms now in place at NYU to address it. Plans to study best practices and to develop recommendations for concrete steps to increase faculty diversity.
  • The joint T-FSC committee and Advisory Committee on the GNU met to discuss various aspects of the GNU including finances. Highlights of our deliberations include learning that academic sites show financial gains and that portals such as Abu Dhabi and Shanghai are operating within budget and have no negative bearings on NYU New York. We also discussed how the GNU might enrich curriculum based initiatives on diversity across the university, as well as the organic integration of faculty governance and rights through inclusion of GNU in the Faculty Handbook. The recurring theme of 'connectivity' of curriculum and research projects and mobility of faculty, students and researchers within the GNU featured in our discussion and recommendation on mobility. Standing issues on equity of GNU-related work load and unintended burdens on NYU New York faculty came up in the FAS faculty assembly and both committees promised to look into them.
  • A joint T-FSC & C-FSC reception for new faculty was held on September 28, 2015.

How can you get involved?

Get informed and vote during elections:
Schools elect their representatives to the T-FSC for 3-year terms, and schools with more than one representative have staggered terms. Calendars vary by school, but elections are typically held late in the spring semester.

Consider running for the senate yourself:
There is always a need for faculty members willing to put in the time and effort required for meaningful input into the governance process. In addition to obtaining the satisfaction that comes from this work, senators have a unique opportunity to meet and learn from colleagues outside their own department and school.

Meet your senators and faculty colleagues
Each spring, the T-FSC and C-FSC jointly host a reception for all NYU faculty. The spring 2016 reception, to which you will be receiving an invitation in January, will be held on February 4, 2016 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at the Torch Club. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

Allen Mincer (T-FSC Chair), on behalf of the T-FSC Executive Committee