Unit Policies
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Unit-Level Policy Updates
We will be reviewing and revising our respective unit policies to reflect recent changes to the CBA and a memorandum of understanding between the Administration and United Academics, including guidance on reviews for tenure-track and Career faculty, new Career categories, and the replacement of contracts for Career faculty with “an expectation of continued employment.”
The policy work may follow the schedule below:
- AY23-24: Unit policies on the assignment of professional duties for tenure-track and career faculty are due to the Office of the Provost on June 15, 2024. The senate-legislated Peer Review of Teaching Template and Policy are also due on June 15, 2024.
- AY24-25: Unit policies on tenure-track and career faculty review and promotion will be due to the Office of the Provost on June 15, 2025.
- Unit policies will not be due in the dean’s office of respective schools and colleges before the end of the winter term of the applicable academic year. However, units are welcome to submit policies before the deadlines outlined above. In particular, units may wish to submit two parts of the AY24-25 policies during this academic year to have these policies in place by next fall: Post-tenure review (PTR) for tenure-track faculty and the criteria for continuous employment review for career faculty.
The Office of the Provost has been working on unit policy templates to ensure that revised policies will be consistent with the requirements of the CBA. The scaffolding provided by the templates is intended to simplify the work of faculty, unit heads, and deans.
Treat the provided templates as helpful suggestions—not final products.
Faculty have different needs–even within the same department–and the Administration and United Academics are keen on rectifying long-standing issues and inequities.
Exemplars – Service
Unit Administrative Roles
Advisors (Undergrad, Grad)
Associate Head
Alumni Coordinator
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Undergraduate Studies Committee Chair
Director of Graduate Studies
Graduate Placement
Graduate Studies Committee Chair
Curriculum Director
GTF Director
International Liaison
Journal Editor
Pedagogy Director
Research Director
Undergraduate Advising
Summer Session Coordinator
Newsletter/Alumni Coordinator
SPUR
Invisible service
From UO Senate Task Force on Service report:
Helping others do their work/filling in for absences and understaffed/lost positions (office, advising)
Organizing and coordinating others’ work
Logistical planning and special events including colloquia
Governance work e.g., safety, ethics, diversity, climate, review committees
Recruiting
Onboarding, training, mentoring
Chair/participate on non-PhD thesis committees (and similar 40x courses) (should be teaching)
Roles (departmental/UO/Oregon/professional/civic) are invisible outside of the level
Good citizenship e.g., showing up at departmental events, recruiting dinners, UO recruiting events, etc.
Unit Committees
Advising (Undergrad, Grad)
Alumni Relations
Assessment
Colloq/Talks
Commencement
Curriculum
DEI/Community
Executive
Fundraising
Grad Affairs
Grad Recruitment/Admissions
Graduate Support
Grad Training/Clinical Training
Internal Governance
Instructors
IT
Library Liaison
[Minor] Director
MSCI Advisory Board
Peer Teaching Review
Personnel
Personnel Policy
Post-tenure
Publicity/Publications
Research Collaborations
Research Institutes
Scholarships and Awards
Search/Recruiting
Student Groups Support
Student Honors Chapters Support
Study Abroad
Summer Session
Teaching Awards
Teaching Effectiveness
Textbook Adoption
Travel/Visitors
UA Stewards
Undergraduate Affairs
Undergraduate Research
Website
Specific unit needs/activities
Other Service Considerations
Unit data collection/analysis
Unit student events (grad, ug)
UO recruiting/outreach event
UO advising support/advising (majors, transfer, study abroad, events, Tykeson support)
TA recruitment, assignment, training
Study abroad coordination
Transfer student onboarding
4/50x courses (or teaching)
Liaison with Oregon bodies (HECC, etc.)
“Knowledge transfer”/go to person for questions/support in certain areas
Exemplars – Teaching
Teaching Adjustments
Points system for teaching credits for various types of courses
Large courses
Independent study
Unique preps
New course development
Course with lab
Organizational demands e.g., grading, supervision
Teaching course for 1st time
Create a new course
Significant re-design of existing course
Pre-tenure appointments
Offer contract adjustments
Course enrollments
Level of class
TA support/TA supervision
# of distinct course preps
Instructor’s familiarity with course materials
Research lab funding and supervision
Service and administrative assignments
Teaching in the Honors College
Intensity of experiential learning activities
Support of essential credit or non-credit activities of academic programs
Nature of an individual’s teaching portfolio in a particular AY (e.g., unusually high number of preps,
large enrollment classes)
Core course; prereq for another course
Coordinating with other faculty instructors; UO online or other UO departments or offices
Other items not listed yet relevant to workload
Outline Responsibilities
Modernization of curricula
Class preparation
Classroom teaching
Designing student learning activities
Evaluation of student work
Advising and mentoring
Various forms of communication with students
Supervising and mentoring graduate teaching assistants
Developing learning outcomes
Assessing student learning
Additional responsibilities associated with teaching laboratory courses