Work of the Faculty Leadership Team A Progress Report

The PAC Structure

FACULTY RANKING OF ISSUES IDENTIFIED FROM FOCUS GROUPS AS IMPORTANT TO FACULTYISSUES 1.Strategic Planning (including a shared mission and vision for the department) [23] 2.Workload [21] 3.Need to Establish Shared Values (e.g. programs, direction of the department, professional relationships, etc.) [17] 4.Clarification of Faculty Roles and Ranks [12]

continuedcontinued Unprofessional Behavior [11] 6.Departmental Governance [10] 7.Clarification of Performance Expectations for Faculty [9] 8.Developing Skills to Deal with Change More Effectively [8] 9.Low Morale [8]

Why the PAC Model? How it Serves Us: (#’s are Issues Identified in Focus Groups) As a form of boundary monitoring and strategic planning #1 #1 As a tool for programmatic reevaluation #1 - #4 #1 - #4 As a way to streamline committees and reduce workload #2 #2 As a forum to discuss department issues internally #1 - 9 #1 - 9

What We Think It Can Do... Continued: As a way to implement shared governance #6 #6 As a way to help manage a large department #6 #6 As a way to reduce the need for business-oriented department meetings #2 #2 As a response to the English Department’s needs and concerns #1-9 #1-9

What Else? PAC can provide a safe forum for the airing of faculty and administrative concerns, a forum that provides (#9 ): Administrative evaluations An opportunity to speak in a small, safe environment Incentive to attend meetings and be heard Publication of program area agendas and calendar of meetings Development of an evaluation system around PAC

What Else? Continued... The opportunity to reduce department meetings to three per semester: one for top-of-the-semester planning, one for a mid-semester progress report, and one at the end of the semester to report PAC accomplishments.

Relationship of PAC to the English Department The PAC model will enable all faculty members to voice their opinions in a fair and equitable climate. It will also streamline the department’s committee structure: PAC will subsume the Curriculum Committee, the Writing Programs Committee, the MAPW Committee, the General Education Committee, the English Education Committee, the Technology Committee, and the Assessment Committee. In other words, these committees will aggregate into PAC.

Relationship of PAC to the English Department continued.... Search Committees and the Tenure and Promotion Committee will remain independent of PAC, even though the Chair will create Search Committees with recommendations from program-relevant faculty. PAC will take on other initiatives, such as developing task forces on the issues of diversity and strategic planning.

Individual Faculty and PAC We recommended that faculty members participate in at least one PAC subcommittee, and that they may participate in up to two subcommittees.

Process for PAC Governance: Faculty members vote in their program areas and then their coordinator/ director takes items to PAC. Anyone can attend a PAC meeting and speak. PAC handles all business except personnel issues and student complaints.

PAC recommendations with respect to curriculum go directly to the Chair. Faculty members who wish to bring an agenda item to the entire department after it has gone through PAC can appeal to the Chair. If the Chair denies the request, the faculty member can bring the matter by a motion for discussion to the entire department.

PAC Model over Time The PAC model is revisable so that it can accommodate the changes confronting our English Department now and in the future.

Straw Vote to Guide Our Work 1. Are you in favor of a shared governance system to govern our department? 2. Do you support the PAC model as presented - with the knowledge that the model can be adjusted as needed in the future ?