Academic Affairs

Dear Chairs,

Please find below a policy that was passed by the Faculty Senate last Monday, July 20.  This policy provides temporary exceptions to the Faculty Handbook requirements that all meetings of Departmental Personnel Committees and Promotion and Tenure Committees "shall be held on campus."  For the Fall 2020 semester, departments have the option of holding DPC and PTC meetings via Zoom.  Please note, per this policy, that any recording of these meetings is NOT permitted.

Additionally, the requirement for paper ballots is suspended.  Below are instructions to create a Google form that permits anonymous electronic voting. 

If you have any questions, please just let me know.

Best!
Jacqui
Jacqui Bergman, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and
Professor of Management

Temporary Exceptions to Faculty Handbook Sections 4.1.4.1 and 4.1.8.2 Relating to Departmental Personnel Committee and Promotion and Tenure Committee Meetings

Approved by the Faculty Senate, July 20, 2020

Sections 4.1.4.1 and 4.1.8.2 of the Faculty Handbook require that all meetings of Departmental Personnel Committees and Promotion and Tenure Committees “shall be held on campus.”

In light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and the desire to minimize the potential exposure created by in-person meetings, the following temporary policy has been approved:

For the Fall 2020 semester, the requirement for Departmental Personnel Committees and Promotion and Tenure Committees to meet on campus is suspended.  During the Fall 2020 semester, academic units have the option of holding DPC and PTC meetings via Zoom.  Any recording of these meetings is NOT permitted. 

The requirement for paper ballots is also suspended; an alternative to paper ballots will be provided.  All other procedural requirements, as stated in the Faculty Handbook, remain in effect, including the requirement for voting to be carried out anonymously, and the expectation that faculty will complete vote justification forms with regard to PTC votes.

If needed, this temporary policy may be extended on a semester-by-semester basis, by a vote of the Faculty Senate.

 Creating anonymous electronic ballots

1. In Google forms, start a new blank form.
2. In place of “Untitled form,” enter the appropriate heading (this will be the email subject that recipients will see) – e.g., “PTC vote #1 - 10/16/20”.
3. In place of the “Untitled question,” enter the motion (as always, phrased in the affirmative) – e.g., “Motion to approve Jane Doe for tenure and promotion to associate”.
4. Create three multiple choice options – “yes,” “no,” and “abstain”
5. Go to Settings (upper right of page, gear icon)
   • Ensure that “collect email addresses” is NOT checked.
   • Uncheck “Restrict to users in Appalachian State…”
   • Check “Limit to 1 response”.
   • Click “save”.
6. Click “send”
   • Enter in App State email addresses for all PTC members eligible to vote on that agenda item.
   • Ensure that “Collect email addresses” is NOT checked.
   • Check “Include form in email” at the bottom.  This reduces the steps required for members to vote, as the form will appear directly in the body of the email.
   • Click “send”.
7. In the Google form that was created, select “Responses” at the top of the form.
   • The number of responses and the percentage of votes for each option are shown. Allow the cursor to hover over the parts of the pie chart, and the number of votes will also be shown.
   • Click on the green Excel icon in the upper right – this Excel sheet can be saved as a record of the votes (as you would save the actual paper ballots).

Tags: