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Home Governance Committees Senate Committee on Faculty and the Academic Mission (SCOF)

Senate Committee on Faculty and the Academic Mission (SCOF)

Charge

The Senate Committee on Faculty and the Academic Mission (“SCOF”) oversees and advises SEC on matters relating to the University’s policies and procedures concerning the academic mission, including the structure of the academic staff, the tenure system, faculty appointments and promotions, faculty research, and faculty governance. In general, the Committee deals with the matters covered by the following sections of the University’s Handbook for Faculty and Academic Administrators: I.E.-F., H.2., II.A.-D.

SCOF 2024-2025 Membership

  • C. Jessica Dine (PSOM/Medicine)
  • Julia Hartmann (SAS/Mathematics)
  • Lea Ann Matura (Nursing)
  • Jeffery Saven (SAS/Chemistry)
  • Emily Steinlight (SAS/English), CHAIR
  • Yu Zhang (Dental Medicine)
  • Ex officio:
    • A representative of the Senate Tri-Chairs
    • Roger Allen (SAS/NELC), PASEF non-voting representative

Specific Charges, 2024-2025

The following charges reflect the work of the Senate Committees for 2024-25.  Each committee is asked, when undertaking its work, to maintain the Faculty Senate’s ongoing commitment to addressing systemic all forms of inequity.

  1. Working jointly with SCFDDE, explore how the Faculty Senate could more effectively represent the interests of non-standing faculty, with attention paid to the following: differences in the composition of the non-standing faculty across schools and departments, the fact that there are both full-time and part-time non-standing faculty who teach in programs, centers, and departments, and the potential impact of better representing non-standing faculty on the ability and effectiveness of the Faculty Senate to represent standing faculty.
  2. Working jointly with SCFDDE, develop a proposal to revise the title and description of ranks currently within the ‘Academic Support Staff’ category (Faculty Handbook Section II.B.) and explore if and how to replace that category with a new teaching track that acknowledges the pedagogical work done by individuals hired in this track and seeks to identify improved professional pathways for faculty who currently fall under this category. 
  3. Review how community-engaged and public scholarship are recorded and evaluated across departments and schools in processes of promotion and tenure of the faculty and compile/suggest best practices.
  4. Examine challenges to the tenure system that have been posed by some outside of the university, evaluate the potential of such challenges to alter the current system of tenure, and recommend how (if at all) the Faculty Senate should respond to such challenges.
  5. Consider any matters affecting faculty size, appointments, and tracks brought to the committee by individual schools.
SCOF Reports
Guidelines for Faculty Track Changes in Handbook

Guidelines for Faculty Track Change Requests from Schools

For schools wishing to amend the faculty tracks laid out in the Faculty Handbook, the above Guidelines (approved by the Faculty Senate in 2011) must be followed for purposes of the Senate’s review.  Any supporting documentation, including records of approvals in School faculty meetings, should be routed to the Office of the Provost, which will then forward the information to the Senate together with a cover letter indicating the Office’s position on the proposal. 

The documentation is then reviewed by the Senate Committee on Faculty and the Academic Mission (SCOF), which will reach out to the School with questions or clarification requests.  SCOF meets monthly between September and April.  Upon approval by SCOF, it is then reviewed by the Senate Executive Committee (SEC).  Upon SEC approval, the Senate’s review of the proposal is concluded and information about the review is shared with the Office of the Provost and with the school.