| Preface and Various Sections |
Remove Administrative Faculty throughout handbook, as the Faculty Handbook no longer covers Administrative Faculty. Left one section to cover faculty that may serve in administrative positions. Change Administrative Faculty to University Staff where applicable for sections that this position remains in the Faculty Handbook. Revised the following: Office of Legal Services to Office of General Counsel, Emeritus to Emeritus/Emerita, and Vice President for Research & Technology Transfer to Vice President for Research in various sections |
Various |
| Process for Handbook Modification & Reporting Policy Violations or Procedural Non-Compliance |
Removed section as Administrative Faculty, now known as “University Staff,” are no longer covered by Faculty Handbook. The University Staff Handbook is posted on the Human Resources website. |
3.3 |
| Faculty Positions |
Visiting Scholar/Faculty should only be mentioned once with specific definition. Currently, it allows a variety of qualifications and individuals to be titled in this manner. Various sections within section 4. |
4 |
| Faculty Ranks and Titles |
4.1 - removes Research Associate (RA), which was intended to be a transitional appointment. All current RAs will move to either Research Administrative Professional or Research Technical Professional. 4.1.2 E 4,5, or 6. Remove section 4.1.2.E 3 - Research Associate. 4.1.2 E – remove the sentences that refer to the roles of affiliate faculty on thesis committees. Their potential roles are now better defined in section 4.3. Section 4.3 of the handbook defines who can serve as a full or associate graduate faculty member, and how they can establish this designation. The explicit purpose of the graduate faculty designation is to define the role they serve on a thesis committee. Section 4.3 has been carefully vetted by the Faculty Handbook Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. 4.1.2 F - Adjunct Faculty - delete "or conduct other needed activities in the department". Other job titles are appropriate for non-teaching temporary workers. 4.1.3 D - this section was removed. The wording "Available to junior faculty" is not in practice and should be removed. 4.1.4 – the requirement for external letters for research faculty has been added to match Procedures Manual 6.2. |
4.1 |
| Faculty Definitions |
Revised group definitions. |
4.2 |
| Minimum Qualifications for Faculty Ranks |
Remove non-faculty research positions. These positions are covered by the University Staff Handbook. Also add wording to improve process for substitution of experience for Ph.D. (Terminal Degree), per HLC requirements. |
4.4.2 E |
| Faculty Selection Process |
Revised to remove non-faculty research positions, administrative faculty and temporary faculty. |
4.5 |
| Faculty Employment Contract and Offer Letter Process |
Revised for clarity and to reflect current practice on hiring. Additional clarity on faculty serving in administrative positions. Wording change – “period of service” has been changed to “period of performance”. In section 4.7.2 - new employees provisioning date in Fall is 8/1 to allow new faculty access to Mines resources. With this update, the Faculty Handbook will align with campus practice. Wording change – “period of service” has been changed to “period of performance”. |
4.7.1, 4.7.2 |
| Eligibility for Benefits |
Eligibility is based on federal and state law, and the plan documents. Removed reference to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Added link for current eligibility for benefits and plan information and kept the language on currently offered plans. |
5.2 |
| Leave Benefits |
Clarify administrative leave arrangements with campus. |
5.4 |
| Insurance Benefits |
Removed Research Faculty and addressed role of CHEIBA trust. Eligibility is found on the HR website. |
5.5 |
| Faculty Responsibilities |
Added IDA acronym after the initial description of Instructional Development Assignment (IDA) to make it easier to find in the Faculty Handbook. Also added wording for when faculty are on IDA that they are not to continue their Mines assigned work, except where authorized by the Provost in exceptional circumstances. |
6.1.6 |
| Faculty Ethical Obligations and Standards |
Removed nepotism as it is no longer a standalone policy. It is incorporated into the newly named Personal (Familial and Amorous) Relationships Policy. |
6.2.2 D |
| Performance of External Work and Professional Activities |
Clarified the definition of Extra Mines Services for additional remuneration. |
6.4 D |
| Performance Evaluations |
Revised to be reviewed by Dean. |
7.1.1.B 6 |
| Performance Improvement Plans |
Clarified Performance Improvement Plans (PIP) process including DH and Dean roles in the process. |
7.3.1 |
| Promotion and Tenure |
Added a preamble to section 8 to address conflicts of interest in the P&T process, the role of the Vice Provost, and process clarification when the candidate is serving in the position of DH with the following items addressed: The Vice-Provost has no decision-making role in Promotion and or Tenure (P&T) cases and so acts as the independent referee in all P&T matters and where confusion or conflict arises should be involved by the relevant party as soon as possible in the process. While the Vice-Provost usually easily clarifies most issues of process, more complex issues involving legal or personnel matters will be referred to the General Counsel (GC) or Human Resources Leader (HRL) as appropriate. Where committee members have serious obvious conflicts of interest (COI), such as being the spouse or immediate family member or the terminal degree advisee or advisor of the candidate, they cannot serve on that candidate’s departmental P&T committee and must recuse themselves from the discussion at the University level if serving on one of those committees. Any other serious COIs should initially be discussed with the relevant P&T committee chair, any that cannot be resolved by the committee chair should be discussed with the Vice Provost who will seek input from the GC or HRL as appropriate. Need to clarify process for DH promotion. When the Department Head is applying for Promotion, their Portfolio Dean issues the role of Department Head, and the other portfolio Dean assumes the role of Dean in the process. Revised language to explicitly allow various committee members to abstain from participating in decisions when an actual or perceived conflict exists. Added language in the preamble for when DH is promoted. Addressed Conflicts of Interest (COI). |
8 |
| Research Faculty |
Revised to include external letters in the Research P&T process to be similar to tenure-line faculty. |
8.3.4 |
| Termination and Non-Renewal Appeal Procedure |
Revised Hearing Panel Selection Criteria to limit the relevant employee group to Academic Faculty. |
9.6.5 |
| Intellectual Property Policy |
Revisions to be made to reflect change in university administration of technology transfer activities. Specific edits include delegated authority from Board to President to manage all aspects of Mines’ intellectual property, with authority to further subdelegate such responsibilities. No revisions to statements of ownership that were previously voted on by the Handbook Committee and approved by the BOT last cycle. |
10.1 |
| Sabbatical Leave Policy |
Adding wording to clarify that while on Sabbatical, Mines faculty are not to continue their Mines assigned work, except where authorized by the Provost in exceptional circumstances. |
10.2 |
| University Committees |
University Staff, titles and membership revisions were made throughout section 12. |
12.3, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.13, 12.14 and 12.15 |
