University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Women

Meeting Minutes

3:00-5:00 p.m., 500 Swanlund Administration Building

I. Announcements

A. Welcome to all members.

II. Old Business

A. Approval of minutes of the January 25, 2005 meeting.

B. Flexible Appointment Structures for Faculty: Cheryl Bullock informed the committee that
    she critically examined the survey sent in by Linda Beale.

1. Kathleen Pecknold inquired about the future course of action regarding the survey.

2. Kal Alston suggested that the survey should be conducted again and the number of
    options in multiple-choice questions should be reduced. She also reiterated the
    importance of having open meetings on the issue with other members of the Senate
    along with CCSW and Committee on Equal Opportunity.

3. Kathleen Pecknold mentioned that a survey research and methodology prior to the
    survey would have influenced the results tremendously.

4. Cheryl Bullock emphasized that this survey should be treated as a lesson and the
    results need to be synthesized. The demographics of the respondents need to be
    examined, as the response needs to be proportionate and is more critical than the
    response rate.

5. Kathleen Pecknold suggested that Carol Livingstone could help us in obtaining the
    demographic data.

6. Cheryl Bullock emphasized that in order to utilize the survey we need to analyze
    the comments and draw comparisons with the help of graphs and charts.

7. Kal Alston inquired if it was possible to assess details like the percentage
    respondents that were female assistant professors or professors, etc.

8. Cheryl Bullock informed that raw data by response was required for carrying out
    all kinds of analyses. She also asked the committee members the kind of analysis
    that they wanted.

9. Kathleen Pecknold questioned if it was worthwhile to analyze this survey or
    develop a new one.

10. Cheryl Bullock volunteered to develop a draft survey if it was desired. She
      also expressed that the term flexible faculty had not been clearly defined in the
      survey.

11. Kal Alston informed that this was intentional according to Linda Beale.

12. Cheryl Bullock inquired if a literature review was conducted prior to developing
      the survey categories.

13. Kal Alston mentioned that she was not aware of any such study but probably the
      CCSW report on flexible faculty, prepared three years ago, had been referred to
      while drafting the survey.

14. Cheryl Bullock inquired if CCSW had any grants that could enable her to take
      the survey to the SPSS in Chicago.

15. Kathleen Pecknold informed that there was a grant available but a rationale had
      to be provided along with the application stating the benefits of the task to CCSW.

16. Kal Alston suggested that we should write a request for the grant.

17. Cheryl Bullock asked the committee members about a proper time to administer
      the next survey.

18. Kathleen Pecknold suggested that the third week of the semester would be a
      good time because people have usually settled in their respective schedules and
      are not overwhelmed with work at the same time.

19. Cheryl Bullock offered to prepare a draft of the new survey for the next meeting
      by moving forward from where the previous survey left off.

20. Kal Alston appreciated the idea and said that it is worthwhile to acknowledge
      the effort put in by the 300 respondents of the last survey. She also mentioned
      that the policy of the University of Iowa was closest to our policy.

21. A discussion was held on the policy of the University of Iowa.

22. Kal Alston mentioned that the purpose of the survey was to give people an
      opportunity to express their objectives and issues regarding tenure. She reiterated
      that tenure was a very emotional and delicate issue amongst people. The main
      problem was that the survey failed to communicate its purpose across.

23. Kal Alston referred to the report from Sloan Foundation and highlighted the fact
      that the policy aimed at providing people to make optimal use of their talents and
      make the entire trajectory of a professor's life a positive experience.

24. Kathleen Pecknold emphasized the role of department heads in devising such a
      policy. It was also imperative to communicate clearly that part-time faculty would
      not become a norm after flexible tenure is put into place.

25. Kal Alston expressed her concerns pertaining to special circumstances when the
      departments want to keep certain members. However, the system should be set
      up in such a manner that it responds effectively to such situations.

26. Cheryl Bullock raised her concerns regarding the negotiation of salary between
      part- and full-time faculty positions.

27. Kathleen Pecknold reiterated the fact that structural issues will have to be
      worked out and especially at the department level.

28. Kal Alston suggested a contract could be drawn when the faculty member
      decides to go part-time. However, this could be a disincentive for job sharing,
      etc., and a non-tenure-track would be given preference over a tenure-track
      faculty member.

29. Kal Alston informed the committee that we need to prepare a set of
      recommendations for the Chancellor regarding the action plan for the survey
      to be conducted through the committee structure of the Senate.

III. Other Items