1.1
This Faculty Handbook (Handbook) sets forth the respective rights and responsibilities of instructional personnel (faculty or faculty members) at Upper Iowa University.
1.2
Upper Iowa University administration and staff recognize and respect the rights of the faculty and its role in shared governance, as set forth in this Faculty Handbook and in other pertinent University rules and regulations. In addition to those processes available to all University employees, faculty members have recourse to the grievance and appeal processes set forth in Chapter 9 to address concerns about compliance with the provisions of this Handbook or with other rules and regulations of the University.
1.3
The provisions of this Handbook are not retroactive, but this Handbook supersedes all previous Upper Iowa University Faculty Handbooks, and all future approved amendments to this Handbook shall in turn supersede this version of the Handbook. The version of the Faculty Handbook posted on the University website and identified as the current, approved Faculty Handbook shall constitute the official version of the Handbook for purposes of faculty-related policies and processes.
1.4
The rights and responsibilities of faculty members set forth in this Handbook apply to all faculty members holding appointment on the effective date of the Handbook, without regard to the date upon which the faculty member began work at the University or entered into his or her most recent appointment letter or contract (called a Faculty Teaching Agreement). However, if any modification or addition to this Handbook affecting the substantive rules or procedures articulated in Chapter 5-9 is formally approved while a full-time faculty member is in the process of:
1.4.1
Being reviewed for renewal, tenure, or promotion;
1.4.2
Being reviewed for potential termination, dismissal for cause, or other major sanction, or;
1.4.3
Pursuing an appeal from any adverse employment decision;
that faculty member may petition the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) to have the proceeding be conducted using the substantive standards or procedural rules effective on the date the proceeding began, rather than using the amended standards or procedures approved by the Board of Trustees and otherwise applicable on a going-forward basis. The CAO will resolve the Petition in writing. Whenever the CAO grants a petition to apply the prior standards or procedures that determination shall apply only to the pending proceeding involving the petitioner, not to any other faculty member or to any future proceeding involving any faculty member. Moreover, the granting of such a Petition shall not affect a general amendment or modification to the Handbook as formally approved by the Board of Trustees.
1.5
Faculty members are also subject to the provisions of the Employee Handbook and other general policies and procedures of the University, to the extent that they apply to faculty members as University employees.
1.6
The Board of Trustees constitutes the final decision-making and governance authority for Upper Iowa University, as set forth in the University’s Board of Trustees Bylaws and other governance documents. Decisions, especially those concerning academic matters, should have considerable input by faculty and other pertinent stakeholders through shared governance processes prior to consideration by the Board of Trustees. For purposes of the Handbook, the relevant powers of the Board of Trustees include, but are not limited to, the following:
1.6.1
Determining and periodically reviewing the mission, vision, and core value of the University;
1.6.2
Establishing, reviewing, and approving changes in the educational programs of the University, consistent with its mission;
1.6.3
Promoting the means by which the reasonable and relevant interests of the administration, faculty, staff, and students are considered in the collaborative governance of the University.
1.6.4
Approving the terms and conditions of employment, salary policies, and schedules for all staff, faculty, administrators, and other employees of the University, and;
1.6.5
Delegating the day-to-day management of the University to the administration, and stewardship of the curriculum, the development of student performance expectations and academic credentials of instructional staff, and the responsibility for assessment of student learning to the faculty.
|
