Faculty doing interdisciplinary teaching and research will have to wait at least another month for Faculty Senate to vote on how departments should handle that work.
Currently, some departments give professors credit toward tenure and promotion for teaching and researching across subject areas, but other departments are less clear about whether that work will count.
The Interdisciplinary Council and Faculty Senate's Promotion and Tenure Committee had a resolution requesting departments to issue clear policies before the senate last night for a vote, but it was tabled until next month for further revisions.
The biggest challenge was with respect to promotion and tenure; individuals feeling not supported or not willing to get involved in interdisciplinary activity
said Jerry Miller, who chairs the Interdisciplinary Council. So there's a strong sentiment that this needs to be addressed in the Faculty Handbook.
The resolution before senate would have changed handbook language to ask departments and schools to clarify their policies.
Senators debated language changes, including whether such interdisciplinary would be assigned or undertaken and whether the resolution should indicate departments must should or will create such explicit policies.
Marty Tuck, associate provost for academic affairs, expressed concern that requiring departments to make the change could leave the university open to more tenure appeals on strictly procedural grounds.
However, some senators said the issue wasn't that complicated, but instead that the senate was simply asking departments to state explicitly what they are already considering in promotion and tenure decisions.
I think the point is really to make sure that the departments and the schools - where P&T decisions are actually made - deal with their P&T documents
Communications Senator Bernhard Debatin said. All that's being asked here is
'Guys
update your documents.' It's not saying in what direction.
Other faculty members worried some professors' innovative research might not be covered by the change if their departments do not recognize the work as fitting into their discipline. But Communications Senator Joe Slade said senate could not worry about making the resolution that broad.
I think that's probably true enough and innovation
I think
is a part of this
he said. But there's no way to counter old fogies who can't see innovation.
- Rebecca McKinsey contributed to this story.
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