Faculty Governance and Policies

Policies

ÃÛÌÒ½´policy manual. Section 2 is dedicated to Academic Affairs with 24 sub-sections covering topics ranging from faculty research leave to descriptions of faculty appointments.

Childbirth/parental/medical leave. Requesting childbirth, parental, or medical leave is a two-step process and follows Policy 2.14 Additional Faculty Family and Medical Leave Benefits. The first step is to notify Human Resources (contact Anitra Walker at anitraw@smu.edu) in line with the FMLA leave requests. The next step follows the same process described above using this . The Faculty Leave Form begins with a PowerLink and auto-routes for approval signatures to the designated department chair, dean, and provost office. If faculty have questions, they are encouraged to reach out to the Associate Provost for Faculty Success to talk through this process by emailing facultysuccess@smu.edu.

Faculty leave. A single is used for all faculty leave requests, which are covered in Policy 2.13 Faculty Leave Programs and include research leave, junior faculty research leave, special research leave, leave without pay, administrative leave, and secondment leave. The form begins with a PowerLink and auto-routes for approval signatures to the designated department chair, dean, and provost office.

Faculty transitioning into retirement. Faculty who are considering retirement should visit with HR to learn about the resources available to them as ÃÛÌÒ½´employees. HR hosts many workshops, and faculty can also request individual and confidential appointments to learn more. Once faculty have made the decision to retire, they should inform their dean in writing. Faculty are honored with a Provost-hosted Retirement Party, as well as recognition at the May graduation ceremony.

Inclement Weather and Emergency Operations Guidelines. Guidelines on how classes are conducted during inclement weather and emergency operations can be found at this site. This includes additional information on program and school/college specific inclement weather policies and guidelines for faculty on making up missed contact hours.

Use of Technology-Based Modalities for Instruction. Regular, in-person instruction is expected for all courses. While neither expected nor required, faculty may make selective, additional use of remote synchronous or asynchronous instruction – if feasible and appropriate – only for students who have excused absences as an option to support their academic continuity. Guidelines developed with the Faculty Senate concerning such faculty discretion can be found here.

Faculty recruitment and hiring

Guidelines for recruiting and hiring faculty can be found in the ÃÛÌÒ½´Model for Faculty Search and Recruitment at this link.

Timeline for Faculty Recruitment and Hiring. Deans and the Provost Office finalize decisions about faculty searches each summer, and the final lists are shared with deans by early July. The Office of Faculty Success creates Interfolio templates for each position, and Box files for all searches are created and shared with deans and associate deans for academic affairs. Search committees are formed at any time thereafter at the deans’ discretion.

Frequently Asked Questions. You can find a Faculty Recruitment and Hiring FAQ here to understand the aspects that are shared across campus as university-wide requirements, as well as the procedures that are specific to each School and College.

Links to Required Search Forms. The faculty recruitment process uses a set of 3 forms for regular hiring processes. Each form is set up as a PowerForm through DocuSign, such that it will automatically flow to the appropriate offices for review and signature. You can preview each form in the handbook above, as well as at the links below.

Variances to the Hiring Process. For any faculty hires that do not go through the process, a unique approval process is followed. This process ensures faculty input, clear review, and dean- and provost-level approval.

Promotion and Tenure

The ÃÛÌÒ½´Promotion and Tenure Policies are found in Policy 2.11 Guidelines for the Award of Rank and Tenure.

School/college- and department-level promotion guidelines. Promotion guidelines are developed within the academic units of the respective schools. Annually, each school/college submits any revisions to the Provost Office. Promotion guidelines can be found at these links through password-protected Box folders: 1)  and 2) .

COVID-19 responses related to promotion and tenure. Two key communications were sent to faculty from the Provost to clarify the university responses to the pandemic, including an automatic one-year extension for all pre-tenure faculty, including faculty who joined in the AY 20-21:

Portals

ÃÛÌÒ½´uses a number of platforms with single-sign on authentication that provides secure faculty access:

Operationalized workload guidelines. ÃÛÌÒ½´faculty have access to all department-level and unit-level guidelines related to the university-wide workload Policy 2.7 Faculty Workload and Compensation. Click can be found.

Annual Faculty Activity Reports. FAR’s are managed through the Digital Measures interface. Questions about requirements should be directed to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs within each School/College.

Interfolio. Interfolio is the system used for two main functions: search committees for faculty recruitment and promotion and tenure.

Faculty Insight in Academic Analytics. The tool supports faculty development, including searching for collaborators, funding opportunities, and suggested awards and honorifics.

Related Areas and Useful Information

Several areas at ÃÛÌÒ½´are deeply tied to the faculty governance and policies. These areas maintain websites where you can find detailed information about any of the related topics:

Faculty Senate. Current Faculty Senate Members and the Faculty Senate Bylaws can be found on these sites. For more information contact Julie Maynard, Administrative Assistant for the Faculty Senate, at jmaynard@smu.edu.

Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness. This office helps ÃÛÌÒ½´maintain compliance with all principles, requirements, standards, and policies of SACSCOC and the U.S. Department of Education.

Office of Student Academic Engagement and Success. This office works to make sure that ÃÛÌÒ½´students are aware of the academic opportunities and support systems that operate across campus to ensure their academic success and enrich their experiences inside and outside the classroom.