Shared Governance Rights

What does the contract say about shared governance rights at the program, unit, and university levels? 

Article 27.1 of the AAUP/UC contract states the following (emphasis here added): 

The variety and complexity of tasks performed by institutions of higher education produces an interdependence among constituent elements of the University.

Adequate communication is therefore essential, and there must be full opportunity for appropriate joint planning and effort.

Joint effort and shared responsibility for governance will take a variety of forms, as situations require. Initiative may emerge at one time or another from all institutional components, and differences in the weight of each voice will vary according to the matter at hand and the defined responsibilities of each constituent element.

Shared responsibility for governance is based upon mutual trust and respect for diverse interests and perspectives and is an iterative and consultative process.

To be effective, shared governance clearly defines roles, scope of authority, and responsibility for decision-making among faculty governance bodies and university administrators.

Effective shared governance also requires joint responsibility for timely implementation.

Outside of the contract, these ideals are further explained in the AAUP Policy “Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities.” That Statement, first issued in 1966, talks of the difference in the weight of each voice being determined by the responsibility that each University component has for the particular matter at hand. It goes on to detail those matters that are largely, or primarily, faculty matters. You can read this Statement in a copy of the “AAUP Redbook” or you can find it online at the National AAUP website – www.aaup.org.  

What are the areas over which faculty should retain primary responsibility and decision-making power? 

Per Article 27.2: 

The Rules of the Board recognize the Faculties of the colleges and other units, vesting in them, subject to the approval of the Board, the power to make their own regulations governing:

·       the admission and exclusion of students (including, but not limited to, articulation and scholarship agreements with other institutions)

·       the courses of instruction to be offered

·       grading policy

·       recommendations for degrees, honors and prizes

·       other fundamental areas of curriculum

·       and such other matters as may be within their jurisdiction.

What are the areas over which faculty should have significant input into the decision-making process?

Per Article 27.2: “They [the faculty] shall also be entitled to share significantly in the responsibilities for program development, program review, department review, and department and college reorganization” (emphasis added).

What are my rights to control curriculum and other works produced while I am a faculty member at the UC?  Do I retain copyright to these works? 

The AAUP/UC contract does not directly address issues of copyright and curriculum or other works produced by faculty. The issue is addressed, however, by the University’s Copyright Policy (see http://www.uc.edu/trustees/rules/RuleDetail.asp?ID=84), which is incorporated by reference in Article 34.2 of the contract. 

This policy does not change the traditional relationship between the University and authors of textbooks and other scholarly and artistic works. Unless the production of such materials is subject to paragraphs (B)(2) to (B)(4) of this rule, the University disclaims ownership of copyrights in textbooks, monographs, papers, articles, musical compositions, works of art and artistic imagination, unpublished manuscripts, dissertations, theses, popular nonfiction, novels, poems and the like that are created by its faculty, staff and students. 

The major exceptions are: (1) materials whose production involve use of “significant University resources.”  Significant resources would not  normally involve such things as office and library facilities, clerical support, data processing and word processing, or use of storage space; or (2) materials expected to generate revenue—for these, a prior written copyright agreement should be executed to clarify ownership rights to future use and income. 

Faculty members unable to resolve concerns in the department or college should consult the AAUP staff, and may need to consult the Vice President for Research to determine whether a written copyright agreement is needed. 

The AAUP’s long-standing principles on this issues are described in Donna Euben’s “Distance Learning and Intellectual Property: Ownership and Related Faculty Rights and Responsibilities” (see AAUP website at http://www.aaup.org/Legal/info%20outlines/legdl.htm).

What is a department/unit faculty’s role in hiring of new colleagues? 

Per Article 6.1.2, “the appointment of a Faculty Member to an academic unit shall normally be based on a recommendation initiated within and approved by the Faculty of that academic unit using procedures development within the academic unit.”  See this article for further details on the shared governance rights of the Dean, the Provost, and the faculty in new faculty hires.

What is a department/unit faculty’s role in the decision to close an academic program or unit? 

Article 29 of the AAUP/UC contract outlines in detail the shared governance rights of the faculty in decision-making process leading to the closure of an academic program or unit that will lead to termination of tenured faculty. 

Termination of academic programs or units which do not involve termination of faculty nevertheless still entail shared governance rights under Article 27.2: “They [the faculty] shall also be entitled to share significantly in the responsibilities for program development, program review, department review, and department and college reorganization” (emphasis added).

What is the process for granting emeritus status to retired faculty? 

The UC Board of Trustees rules state that the procedure for granting emeritus status to retired faculty is identical to the process for hiring new faculty; that is, a committee of the academic unit’s faculty considers the matter and makes a recommendation to the Dean. That recommendation is then forwarded to the Provost and the Board of Trustees for final approval.

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