Letter to the Faculty: Faculty Handbook Revision Committee and Faculty Survey

July 8, 2011

Dear Members of the Faculty:

We have embarked on an initiative to revise the current version of our Faculty Handbook.  The mission of Howard University recognizes the importance of having a distinguished faculty that is committed to teaching, research and publication, professional development and service.  Howard’s faculty members continue to perform a variety of instructional, research, service and professional development activities as part of their contributions to the realization of the University’s mission.  It is incumbent upon us to provide a document that reflects the administrative policies affecting and governing this community of scholars. 

The Board of Trustees of Howard University approved and issued a “Faculty Handbook” of which the current edition was approved in 1993. (To review the Handbook, please use this link: 1993 Howard University Faculty Handbook.pdf )  It is time once again for this Handbook to be revised to reflect current policies and procedures. The 2009 Howard University Self-Study Report to the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools concluded that in order to further embrace Howard’s policies regarding shared governance, transparency, due process, application of standards and fairness, the Faculty Handbook should be updated and revised. 

I have appointed a committee that will review and revise the 1993 Faculty Handbook.  The committee is known as the Faculty Handbook Revision Committee (FHRC) and is chartered to revise the Faculty Handbook. The FHRC has broad representation, but is composed primarily of faculty members. The members are:

  • Warner Lawson,  School of Law
  • Sonya Smith, College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences
  • Kenyatta Gilbert,  School of Divinity
  • Willie Winfree, College of Dentistry
  • Cheryl Nichols, School of Law
  • John Robinson,  College of Medicine
  • Joann Smith, College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences
  • Ivory Toldson, , School of Education
  • James Donaldson, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Gwendolyn Everett, Chair, Department of Art
  • Jennifer Jordan, Department of English
  • Veronica Thomas, School of Education
  • Mary Hill, Associate Dean, College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences
  • Kristy Woods, Associate Vice President for Research and Faculty Development, Division of Health Sciences
  • Keith Miles, Chief of Staff, Office of Student Affairs
  • Sharon Banks, Associate General Counsel (Retired), ex-officio non-voting member of the committee
  • Michael McFadden, Senior Director, Office of Talent Management, ex-officio non-voting member of the committee
  • Alvin Thornton, Senior Academic Advisor to the President (non-voting chair)  

The FHRC report will be submitted to me for review and final approval.  Once approved, I will submit the revised Faculty Handbook to the Board of Trustees (Projected adoption date – January 2012) for its review and approval. 

I am pleased to directly engage all faculty members in this revision process by providing you the opportunity to participate in a faculty survey. Dr. Gerunda Hughes and the Office of Institutional Assessment and Evaluation (OIAE) have prepared a survey whose purpose is to obtain information regarding your experience with and your knowledge and opinion of the Howard University Faculty Handbook.  The results of this survey will be used to inform the FHRC as it assesses the current Howard University Faculty Handbook (1993) and develops a revised handbook.  To begin the survey, please use the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FacultyHandbookSurvey

The work and decision-making of the FHRC will be transparent and collaborative.   It will assign high priority to the development of procedures to ensure that all faculty and other interested constituents are fully informed about the FHRC initiative, deliberations and decisions.  Outreach initiatives will include regular dissemination of FHRC information and structured opportunities for engagement.  The FHRC will ask for the input from the faculty community through active, ongoing communication and substantive engagement before making final recommendations to me.

Please call Dr. Ronyelle Ricard (202-238-2490) or Ms. Mary Pitman (202-238-2495) if you need assistance accessing the Faculty Handbook or completing the survey. 

Sincerely,

 

Sidney Ribeau, Ph.D.
President