BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: April 17, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
AB 2132 (Lara) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: tenure policy.
SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU)
Trustees and requests the University of California (UC) Regents
to establish policies for faculty tenure. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Makes various findings and declarations regarding the
importance of high quality faculty and the attributes of
greater community service.
2)Declares Legislative intent that the public higher education
segments develop and adopt tenure policies aimed at
encouraging the service both to the campus community and to
the community outside the campus that is provided by faculty
members.
3)Requires the CSU Trustees and requests the UC Regents
accomplish all of the following during the 2013-14 academic
year, for implementation commencing with the 2014-15 academic
year:
a) Develop and distribute transparent criteria for tenure
that include service, both to the campus community and the
community outside of the campus, as a critical factor in
the evaluation of a candidate for tenure.
b) Identify and notify tenure track faculty about
opportunities for the types of service that fit the
criteria developed.
c) Encourage and reward participation for service by giving
favorable consideration to candidates for tenure that
successfully participate in approved service activities and
can substantiate how this participation informs and
enriches their teaching.
4)Requires consultation with academic senates and student and
community organizations and taking actions consistent with
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applicable collective bargaining agreements in fulfilling the
provisions of this bill.
EXISTING LAW declares Legislative intent that the UC Regents,
CSU Trustees and CCC BOG adopt and develop policies and
procedures which ensure that quality teaching is an essential
criterion, along with research, in the evaluation of faculty for
appointment, retention, promotion, and tenure. Legislative
intent further declares that teaching be given primacy in
faculty evaluations and reviews.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Purpose of this bill . According to the author, by
requiring the segments to develop and distribute transparent
criteria that include service, both to the campus community and
to the community outside of the campus, as a critical factor in
the evaluation of a candidate for tenure, this bill "will ensure
service is carried out and that faculty members who engage in
service are adequately rewarded." The author argues that this
bill "will set a positive environment for the diversification of
faculty by requiring the segments to give favorable
consideration to candidates for tenure that successfully
participate in service activities and can substantiate how
participating informs and enriches their teaching."
UC tenure policy . According to information provided by the UC
Office of the President (UCOP), the UC review procedure is
designed to ensure that individuals are judged by colleagues in
accordance with fair procedures solely on the basis of
professional qualifications in matters of appointment,
promotion, and salary increases. Candidates in the regular
Professor series are evaluated for promotion and tenure on
performance in the following categories:
1) Teaching
2) Research and creative work
3) Professional competence and activity
4) University and public service
An explanation of the process and the criteria for faculty
appointment, promotion and appraisal is published in the
Academic Personnel Manual (APM), which is available on the UCOP
internet website. Faculty are regularly reviewed by their
professional and academic peers in order to assure quality and
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the highest standards for the faculty at the UC. APM assigns
the responsibility for this assessment of a faculty member's
merit for tenure and/or promotion to the campus's Committee on
Academic Personnel (CAP), which is composed of Academic Senate
faculty members. Tenure review is a holistic review of the full
scope of faculty activities across the UC mission of teaching,
research, and service. The campus CAP reviews service each time
a faculty member is evaluated.
Specifically, the criteria for university and public service
states that "services by members of the faculty to the
community, State, and nation, both in their special capacities
as scholars and in areas beyond those special capacities when
the work done is at a sufficiently high level and of
sufficiently high quality, should likewise be recognized as
evidence for promotion. Faculty service activities related to
the improvement of elementary and secondary education represent
one example of this kind of service. Similarly, contributions
to student welfare through service on student-faculty committees
and as advisers to student organizations should be recognized as
evidence, as should contributions furthering diversity and equal
opportunity within the University through participation in such
activities as recruitment, retention, and mentoring of scholars
and students."
CSU tenure policy . Through regulation the CSU Trustees
authorize CSU campus presidents or their designees to award or
deny tenure to probationary academic employees, using a
consultative process that includes tenured faculty, department
chairmen and academic administrators. The CSU collective
bargaining agreement with the California Faculty Association
(CFA) further establishes the responsibilities of faculty
members and the process for performance review for retaining and
promoting faculty. The CSU/CFA collective bargaining agreement
identifies the following primary professional responsibilities
of faculty:
1)Teaching;
2)Research, scholarship and creative activity; and,
3)Service to the University, profession and to the community.
Each CSU campus is required to establish and distribute an
academic personnel manual that identifies the process for
evaluating faculty and awarding tenure. As previously
indicated, service is currently one of the three major
categories for which faculty members are evaluated. While the
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process of evaluating faculty for tenure may differ somewhat
among campuses, generally it begins with the tenured/academic
department faculty providing information to department chairs.
Department chairs then advise the campus personnel committees,
which report to college deans. Campus presidents are empowered
to make the final decisions regarding the awarding of tenure.
Unidentified problem . In reviewing the tenure process at UC and
CSU, it appears that the goals of this Legislation are already
being met. Systemwide policies regarding tenure are in place,
all campuses appear to have created personnel manuals that
provide transparent criteria for tenure review, and service
appears to be an established criterion in the faculty review
process.
Legislative involvement and academic freedom . The process for
awarding faculty tenure has traditionally been left to the
public higher education segments. The segments have developed
processes that rely heavily on the involvement of existing
tenured faculty and the academic senates. As previously noted,
the Legislature has generally had very little involvement in the
faculty tenure process. Statutory involvement appears limited
to intent language directing the systems to establish tenure
policies that encourage high-quality teaching and research.
This bill would establish specific requirements and processes
related to faculty service activities. The Committee may wish
to consider if this bill is an infringement on academic freedom.
Further, the Committee may wish to consider if it is
appropriate to require the establishment of policies specific to
service when existing law is silent on policies related to
teaching and research.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on File
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
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