Faculty Senate hears faculty mentoring report

At the UNT Faculty Senate's March 10 meeting, senators approved a report from the senate mentoring committee regarding a faculty mentoring survey completed by tenured and new or nontenured faculty members.

The survey was completed by 39 individuals electronically and by seven inividuals by phone. Donna Ledgerwood, associate professor of management and member of the Faculty Senate Mentor Committee, said the need most often expressed was how to find more information about various topics, particularly the promotion and tenure process.

Ledgerwood also said new faculty want to know more about how their families can assimilate to life in Denton and want to be provided with more useful information about the Denton community.

Ledgerwood said the committee will review the current College of Arts and Sciences' mentoring program and explore the potential for use of that program in other colleges.

Other committee recommendations include clarifying the tenure process for tenure-track professors; creating and distributing thorough and understandable departmental organization charts, policies and procedures; designating university, college and departmental mentors who are respected and trusted by their peers; providing faculty with a master list of research, teaching and service-related interests; and making greater efforts for socialization among faculty members.

In other business, the senate:

• Approved a report from the Faculty Senate Committee on Committees regarding committee vacancies.
• Heard a report from senate chair Lou Pelton, including an update about the Committee on the Status of Women. Pelton said the committee is currently on hiatus but has had dialog with Howard Johnson, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who is calling for suggestions from the senate regarding specific issues that should be addressed. Pelton also told senators about plans for a meeting using a town hall format in April to encourage dialog among faculty members and to discuss the Faculty Senate Executive Committee's examination of the current promotion and tenure protocol.
• Heard a report from senate vice chair Frances Van Tassell regarding a responsibility-centered management workshop held March 5; Johnson's academic plan for UNT; a presentation made in February by the Texas Council of Faculty Senates regarding future trends and changes in the population make-up of the state; and the regular meeting of the senate's executive committee with administrators. Issues discussed in that meeting included external evaluations of units and programs; online and distance education; Social Security number usage and identity theft; the Enterprise Information System budget; the open review of dissertations; honorary degrees; and the status of women at UNT.

The Faculty Senate will meet again at 2 p.m. April 14 in Wooten Hall, Room 322. For more information about the Faculty Senate, visit www.unt.edu/facsenate.

BY MICHELLE HALE mhale@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Maya Angelou to speak at UNT April 20
• UNT presents honorary degree to King of Thailand in March ceremony
• Own a piece of UNT
• Honors Day speaker part of a tribute to UNT's 50th anniversary of desegregation
• Annual jazz festival begins today in Addison
• UNT health center receives national recognition
• Major retailer touts UNT's merchandising program as one of the best in the nation
• UNT departments on the move
• Economist: Elite female college basketball players worth $300,000 a season
• Staff Council changes bylaws
• Survey shows UNT students a bit more liberal than peers

homepage