2023-2024 Faculty Handbook 
    
    Jul 04, 2024  
2023-2024 Faculty Handbook [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

2023-2024 Faculty Handbook


Message From the Provost

Welcome to Ohio Wesleyan University! You have joined an amazing community of teacher-scholars who value providing a relevant, life-changing education to students. We want you to flourish in this community, inspire our students, and make this your intellectual home for your academic career. 

This Faculty Handbook exists to provide clarity about policies and procedures related to faculty status matters. How will you be evaluated? When are you eligible for promotion? When are contracts issued? What types of faculty leaves are available? These and other questions are answered here. This handbook was developed with the guiding principles that it be strategic, current, equitable, and clear for faculty. I encourage you to spend the time to get to know the policies and procedures in this handbook. You will find that I reference it often to ensure consistency and equity. 

I look forward to working with you and supporting you as you build a life at Ohio Wesleyan. I hope to see you at faculty beer night, faculty meetings, convocation, commencement, and all the other activities that bring us together as a community. We have the extraordinary privilege of educating students who go on to change the world. We can create the community at Ohio Wesleyan that models for our students how to be in the world. It’s an honor to be on that adventure together.

 

Karlyn Crowley
Provost

Introduction

In accordance with its mission to “forever be conducted on the most liberal principles, accessible to all religious denominations and designed for the benefit of our citizens in general,” the University has as its preeminent purpose to be a quality institution for teaching and learning. The University, therefore, seeks to affirm, preserve, and strive to improve the quality of instruction and mentoring provided to our students and the level of professional expertise and accomplishments of our Faculty. These values take form in policies and procedures in the Faculty Handbook that impact decisions creating and sustaining faculty positions; in faculty appointments; through professional development; in the application of criteria and standards during evaluations for reappointment, tenure, promotion, and merit increases; and in the provision of fair, inclusive, and equitable working conditions, salaries, and benefits. In adopting the Faculty Handbook, the Board of Trustees affirms its commitment to maintaining a strong faculty whose primary responsibility is to provide the best educational opportunities to our students by imparting knowledge, developing and enhancing certain important capabilities of our students, and placing education in the context of values. The policies and procedures set out in the Faculty Handbook define the respective contractual duties and responsibilities of the Faculty and the University in accordance with this central tenet in the University’s mission.

Faculty Committee Advice

In every case involving the application of the policies and procedures pertaining to faculty personnel matters contained in Chapters Two and Three of the Faculty Handbook, the President or the Provost may call upon the Faculty Personnel Committee for advice and recommendations. Such advice is to be interpreted and understood within the context of the University’s mission and aims.

Table of Contents

1       Chapter One: Code of Regulation  

2       Chapter Two: Faculty Governance     

2.1       Faculty Bylaws    

2.2       Descriptions of Faculty Committees     

2.2.1       Committee on University Governance       

2.2.2       Faculty Personnel Committee     

2.2.3       Executive Committee of the Faculty      

2.2.4       Committee on Academic Programs     

2.2.5       Academic Planning and Allocation Committee     

2.2.6       Teaching and Assessment Committee     

2.2.7       Academic Status Committee      

2.2.8       Committee on Gender and Equity     

2.2.9       Faculty Admission Liaison Committee      

2.2.10     Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics           

2.2.11      Reappointment Appeals Committee         

2.2.12      Trustee-Faculty Committee           

2.2.13      Ohio Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs       

2.2.14      Academic Conduct Review Board       

3       Chapter Three: Full-Time Faculty Personnel Policies   

3.1       Preamble and General Policy    

3.2       Faculty Classifications    

3.2.1       Full-Time Faculty    

3.2.2       Part-Time Faculty    

3.2.3       Administrators with Faculty Status    

3.2.4       Librarians    

3.2.5       Faculty-in-Residence    

3.2.6       Honorific Faculty    

3.3       Faculty Contracts    

3.3.1       Types of Faculty Contracts    

3.3.2       Annual Contract Period    

3.3.3       Contract Terms and Issuance of Contracts    

3.3.4       Area of Appointment    

3.3.5       Joint Appointments    

3.4       Faculty Recruitment, Initial Appointment, and Placement in Rank    

3.4.1       Position Authorization     

3.4.2       Search Procedures    

3.4.3       Rank and Salary of Initial Appointment    

3.4.4       Prior Service Credit    

3.4.5       Faculty Qualifications    

3.4.6       Appointment of Foreign Nationals    

3.5       Faculty Rights and Standards of Professional Conduct    

3.5.1       Academic Freedom and Free Expression    

3.5.2       Professional Ethics    

3.5.3       Statement on Plagiarism    

3.5.4       Observance of University Mission and Policies    

3.5.5       Confidentiality    

3.5.6       Conflict of Interest – Faculty-Specific Activities    

3.5.7       Outside Activities    

3.5.8       Faculty-Student Relationships    

3.5.9       Sexual and Other Unlawful Discrimination or Harassment     

3.6       Contractual Obligations and Duties of a Faculty Member    

3.6.1       Teaching    

3.6.2       Scholarly or Creative Work Contributions    

3.6.3       Service to the University and Community    

3.7       Faculty Personnel Records    

3.8       Academic Departments and Department Chairs    

3.8.1       Academic Departments    

3.8.2       Department Chairs    

3.9       Faculty Evaluation    

3.9.1       Evaluation Criteria for Personnel Decisions    

3.9.2       Evaluation of Full-Time Faculty Members    

3.9.3       Evaluation for Reappointment    

3.9.4       Evaluation for Tenure    

3.9.5       Evaluation for Promotion    

3.9.6       Evaluation for Merit Salary Increments    

3.9.7       Confidentiality of the Evaluation System    

3.10      Faculty Professional Development    

3.10.1      Sabbatical Leave    

3.10.2      Special Released Time for Scholarly Production    

3.10.3      Retraining Leaves    

3.10.4      Academic Leave Without Pay    

3.10.5      Individual Professional Development Accounts    

3.11      Faculty Awards    

3.11.1      The Welch Meritorious Teaching Award    

3.11.2      The Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Encouragement of Teachers    

3.11.3      The Welch Award for Scholarly or Artistic Achievement   

3.12      Faculty Compensation, Benefits, and Nonprofessional Development Leaves    

3.12.1      Faculty Compensation    

3.12.2      Benefits    

3.12.3      Faculty Leaves    

3.13      Separation from Service    

3.13.1      Resignation    

3.13.2      Retirement    

3.13.3      Nonrenewal of Appointment    

3.13.4      Policies and Procedures Governing Dismissal for Cause    

3.13.5      Policies and Procedures Governing Imposition of Sanctions Other than Dismissal for Cause    

3.13.6      Termination    

3.14      Faculty Appeals and Grievances    

3.14.1      Appeals Procedure in Nonrenewal for Performance Reasons    

3.14.2      Appeals on Grounds of Academic Freedom in Cases of Termination of a Tenure-Track Position or Conversion to a Tenure-Track Position to Visiting    

3.14.3      Other Faculty Grievances    

3.15      Faculty Evaluation of the Provost    

4       Chapter Four: Part-Time Faculty Personnel Policies  

4.1       Academic Titles for Part-Time Faculty    

4.2       Recruitment and Initial Appointment of Part-Time Faculty    

4.2.1       Establishment of Need for Part-Time Faculty     

4.2.2       Recruitment of Part-Time Faculty    

4.2.3       Part-Time Faculty Rights and Privileges    

4.2.4       Part-Time Faculty Contractual Duties and Responsibilities    

4.3       Terms of Part-Time Faculty Appointments    

4.3.1       Part-Time Instructors    

4.3.2       Lecturers    

4.3.3       Senior Lecturers    

4.3.4       Approval of Appointments and Promotions    

4.3.5       Course Assignments Contingent upon Need    

5       Chapter Five: Allocation and Review of Faculty Positions  

5.1       Preamble and General Policy    

5.2       Authorization of Full-Time Faculty Positions    

5.2.1       Initial Authorization of Positions    

5.2.2       Reauthorization of Vacant Positions    

5.2.3       Guidelines for Review and Allocation of Tenure-Track Faculty Positions    

5.3       Review of Tenure-Track Positions    

5.3.1       Scheduled Review    

5.3.2       Discretionary Review    

5.3.3       Appeals Related to Regular and Discretionary Reviews    

5.4       Faculty Selected for Full-Time Administrative Positions    

5.5       External Candidate Appointed as Provost and Granted Tenure with That Appointment    

6       Chapter Six: Amendments to the Faculty Handbook and Sanction of the Board of Trustees  

6.1       Amendments to the Faculty Handbook    

6.2       Sanction of The Board of Trustees    

Appendices  

Appendix A: Faculty Personnel Forms     

Appendix B: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy  

Appendix C: Policy Statement on Appointment of Librarians