On Wednesday, September 23, UAM-UMD sent a letter to university administrators and leaders calling for more deliberation and faculty input in the revision process for policies governing Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure (APT), as well as professional conduct, integrity, and confidentiality; and appeals.
The letter expresses our concerns about both the proposed revisions and the manner in which they were shared with the faculty community for feedback. We write, “In the interest of the shared governance on which this University prides itself, this is the time to bring greater transparency and democracy to the APT revision process. We write to share these concerns and respectfully ask that the current forward motion of this process be stopped and redirected toward a more sustained deliberative process.”
Specifically, the letter identifies “several areas we believe require serious attention and deliberation by faculty. These areas include:
● Termination of appointments due to lack of appropriations
● Transparency of the tenure and promotion process
● The need for faculty to have the information necessary to appeal decisions
● The protection of academic freedom
● The separation of tenure and disciplinary procedures.”
The letter calls on Provost Jennifer King Rice, Interim Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs John Fourkas, and the Senate Executive Committee to “work together to provide easy to understand materials on the proposed changes,” and to “direct a series of thorough conversations at the department, college, and university levels” to ensure impacted faculty have ample opportunities to share their feedback on the revisions.
Read the letter in full and the Diamondback article for more.