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Faculty give final approval of family-friendly tenure policyDan Treadaway Institute Communications and Public Affairs Pre-tenured faculty who need to extend the tenure “clock” due to extreme personal circumstances should soon have that option. At their April 18 joint meeting, the General Faculty Assembly and Academic Senate voted to amend the wording of Tech’s tenure policy, which will allow the implementation of a policy approved by the General Faculty in February. That policy permits pre-tenured faculty to request an extension of the tenure clock in cases such as child birth or adoption, caring for a severely ill family member, or other “compelling circumstances which impair the ability of an individual to establish the stature expected of faculty members at Georgia Tech within the normal time frame.” The policy will apply equally to men and women faculty. Pending Board of Regents’ approval, the Administration hopes to begin implementing the policy this fall. In other business, the faculty groups heard a presentation on the new web-based parking registration process being offered for the first time this year by Parking and Transportation Services. Parking and Transportation Director Rod Weiss said that 2,000 employees completed web-based parking applications on April 17, the first day online registration was available. Weiss also said employees must be eligible for payroll deduction to register on the web. To submit a parking application online, go to www.applyparking.gatech.edu. Following the joint meeting of the General Faculty Assembly and Academic Senate, the Academic Senate held its regular meeting, which included a vote to amend the policies regarding “dead week.” Previously, dead week policies prohibited faculty from giving quizzes and tests after Wednesday of the week preceding final exams. Under the new policy, proposed by SGA President Tyler Brown and SGA Vice President of Administrative Affairs Nick Lalwani as an amendment to the Faculty Handbook, faculty are not allowed to give quizzes and tests at any time during the week preceding finals. Student Regulations Committee Chair Paul Benkeser said the revised policy makes sense under the semester system; studying for semester finals is much more time-consuming than studying for quarter finals because semesters are so much longer. A few faculty members expressed concern over the restraints that the policy places on faculty. Ultimately, however, the proposal was approved by a wide margin. The Academic Senate decided to defer action on a recommendation from the Registrar’s Office that would have required faculty to submit final grades within 48 hours of the completion of the final exam for the course. A number of faculty objected to the proposal over concerns that such “haste” in assigning grades could compromise the fairness and accuracy of the grading process. The Registrar’s Office had proposed the recommendation in an effort to comply with a new policy to take effect in fall 2001 that will require all graduating students to take final exams during finals week. Once that policy is implemented, the Registrar’s Office will receive final grades later than in years past and will have less time to certify students for graduation.
As a compromise, President Wayne Clough recommended that the Registrar’s Office deal
with these issues informally before requesting a formal policy change.
Approved by the Office of External Affairs on 09/24/97
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