The Stetson Reporter

S _X_JE...T...S„0.. N .._.U..M I JV..E. R _S. JL T_Y < z © tt life | Several students on campus received $2,000 for summer research courtesy of the SURE grant program. Now those students are presenting their research to the Stetson community and beyond, and they are encouraging others to participate in the program this year. [ cover, section B ] wed n o v |"" UJ tt m > m "With each of us going through the files, issues were raised in question to the consistency of the guidelines of tenure and promotion." enure a romotion reviewed by julie gowan | Last spring many requests were made to the Tenure and Academic Freedom Committee of the Faculty Senate to investigate the decision of tenure and promotion. The requests were initiated by various faculty members who believed that women and minorities were being denied promotion while men with similar records were being promoted. Dr. Rusty Witek chaired the committee. Other faculty members on the committee included Dr. Wayne Bailey, Jane Bradford, and Dr. Diane Everett. "After six years, faculty are expected to apply for tenure by the university. Each school sets up their own guidelines for tenure and promotion. There are a series of steps for the applicant to go through in order to present their application," said Bradford. "We started reviewing tenure and promotion applicant files from '94-98 in May and worked throughout the summer, looking overflies individually, making notes, then meeting as a committee and sharing information we had found from the files. We then met with the Council of Deans and presented the review to the Faculty Senate on Sept. 14 then presented it to the entire faculty on Sept. 18," said Everett. The committee was limited as to what files they had access to because of confidentiality. Everett said, "We dealt with limited files, many were summaries of different interviews or other files. With each of us going through the files, issues were raised in question to the consistency of the guidelines of tenure and promotion," said Everett. Together, Witek, Bailey, Bradford, and Everett constructed a seven-page report dividing it into issues of consistency in the tenure and promotion administrative process, and issues of consistency in the interpretation and application of criteria in promotion to full and associate professorships. According to the "Faculty Senate Tenure & Academic Freedom Committee Promotion Consistency Review" that was published on Sept. 15, "Although this committee found no direct evidence of bias against women or minorities, all faculty should be mindful of criteria or processes that may, even unintentionally, disadvantage certain applications." Although no evidence was found of bias against women or minorities, many inconsistencies were found between the two schools. "The criteria concerning a professor having a noteworthy performance is-subjective •— everyone has their own definition of this and differs between both schools," said Everett. The report states, "The amount of narrative documentation included in tenure and promotion files is very uneven across the schools. This asymmetry of evidence leads to an unevenness of consideration when some files contain a great deal of information, some positive and some negative, while other files have mostly general positive statements or only vague references to possible problems." "Through the work that has been done by our committee, I believe others are aware of the differences that exist between the schools and inconsistencies and the report has brought the issue out," said Everett. This was not the first time the tenure and promotion process has been reviewed. When Dr. Susan Wilson chaired another review committee, they clarified the existing policy, like changing the word "provost" to "Council of Deans." This was completed in the fall of 1997. However, no substantial changes were made. The library was declared a separate unit from the schools and the criteria for associate professor was more clearly defined. A new committee has been appointed to tackle the issues of tenure and promotion the review found and presented; they will be focusing on the inconsistencies between the schools and colleges, said Everett. Dixon Sutherland, Betty Johnson, David Bjella, and Michelle DeMoss have been named to this new committee. A representative from each school is present on this committee. Julie Gowan is News editor of The Reporter. Classes were canceled and heads turned east Thursday as John Glenn returned to space aboard the space shuttle Discovery. VICTORY, AGAIN: The space shuttle Discovery leaves a smoke trail over the Hollis Center's bell tower Thursday, photo by andy dehnart CONNECTIONS: Dr. Donald Musser shakes Senator John Glenn's hand in January, photo COURTESY DONALD MUSSER by julie gowan | Thursday, the Stetson community took advantage of perfect weather and great location as the space shuttle Discovery launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying Senator John Glenn aboard. Florida residents were found in Titusville at launch view sights. Others stayed at their homes for a view of the launch. Since it was a daytime launch, the shuttle was very visible to the naked eye. Public schools canceled class for the day in order to let students and faculty "witness history once again," wrote the Orlando Sentinel. Several classes here on campus were canceled because of the launch, and others took a break to view the launch. Julie Gowan is a sophomore majoring in communication studies who missed the shuttle due to working in the cafeteria. SHUTTLE: Space Shuttle Discovery was in great view Thursday as it soared over the Hollis Center and Bell Tower, photo by andy dehnart V V" Theatre deserves critique, says actor by kevin snipes | First, let's be honest. Stetson theatre is not a big deal, even in the world of unprofessional university drama. Unlike UF, FSU, Rollins, UCF, and even DBCC, which often make the front pages of newspaper entertainment sections, Stetson theatre doesn't so much as make a ripple in the world of theatre news. Plays here come and go without fanfare or fascination. To paraphrase playwright Christopher Durang, only retarded people and alcoholics get excited over a Stover premiere. Last week, Jeff Hamrick's review of Picnic was criticized by members of the Stetson drama department ("Stover performers: review was bad;" Oct. 28) as unnecessarily harsh and out of order. [ read this story in Forum, page 4a ] Tricks and treats BOBBING: Danny Thomas bobbed for apples at the annual Wesley House Halloween party, photo by jeff hidek [ read this story in Life, page 2b ] Mens soccer upsets UCF 3-2 in conference by chris tunno | Kjell Aasheim's header from a Keyan Watkins cross in the 70th minute capped an incredible rally as Stetson upset the Conference USA champions South Florida Bulls 3-2, in the opening game of the UCF Soccer Classic. The Hatters needed the win, and since it came against South Florida, a preseason nationally ranked team who recently knocked off ninth-ranked St. Louis University, it was all the more glorious. "St. Louis was ninth in the country and South Florida just beat them," remarked Stetson coach Sean Murphy. "It shows we can play at the top level, and if we can just control our consistency we're going to be peaking at the right time." [ read this story in Sports, page 3b ]