COVID-19 Faculty Governance Temporary Measures/Resolutions

GRADES

1. Proposed: As a temporary measure, the College will adjust its P/D/F policy as follows: The limit on the number of units that a student may take P/D/F will be raised from 3.0 to 5.0. For courses that count toward the major, up to 1.0 unit may be taken P/D/F during the Spring 2020 semester. Students must opt to do a course P/D/F by April 10, 2020. The Registrar will create an online form that will allow students to request P/D/F in existing courses. Instructors will not be notified of whether a student is enrolled with the P/D/F option. Students will be encouraged to consult their advisors about selecting the P/D/F option, but not required to obtain their permission.

2. Proposed: In certain circumstances, e.g. in the case of a laboratory course, CEL course, or where it is clear that access and resource issues will impact our ability to assign a grade, instructors can request an expedited switch to C/NC for these courses through the Curricular Policy Committee. Any course deemed C/NC during the Spring 2020 semester will fulfill major, minor/concentration, diversification and/or graduation requirements as if the course were taken for a grade.

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic is likely to impact the scholarly and artistic engagement of faculty members. In order to help faculty adjust to this impact, all tenure-track faculty will have the option of extending their tenure clocks by one year. Faculty are encouraged to consult with their department chair and/or the Provost if they have questions. As in all tenure cases, a tenure review can take place prior to the end of the probationary period.

Tenure-track faculty who have already completed their pre-tenure review should inform the Provost by June 1 of the fiscal year prior to their originally scheduled tenure review if they wish to opt for the one-year extension. Faculty who choose the one-year extension and successfully undergo their tenure review should consult with the provost and their department chair about the scheduling of their sabbatical.

Tenure-track faculty who have not yet undergone a pre-tenure review may elect to undergo this review as originally scheduled. It will be assumed that the extension to their review schedule would then take place between the pre-tenure review and the tenure review. Alternatively, a faculty member who has not yet undergone a pre-tenure review may elect to postpone this review by a year. If the faculty member chooses to delay the pre-tenure review, they must inform the Provost by June 1 of the fiscal year prior to the scheduled review. Faculty who postpone their pre-tenure review should plan to postpone their pre-tenure leave by one year. The faculty member who does so could later elect to opt out of the additional year available to everyone’s tenure clock. They could, in other words, elect to undergo their tenure review as originally scheduled even if they underwent the pre-tenure review a year later than originally scheduled.

Faculty members whose scholarly or artistic engagement has been significantly impacted during the period of the review are encouraged to address this in their Prospectus. The decision to extend, or not extend, the tenure clock will not be used as a factor in departmental evaluation or TPC decision making.

This one-year extension also implies an extension of the maximum term allowable at the rank of assistant professor. The cumulative total of full-time teaching service at the College under a tenure track appointment under this new policy shall not exceed eight years. Again, no faculty member is obliged to accept the extension and may choose to follow their original review schedule. 

The extension of the tenure clock by the exercise of this option is independent of any other arrangements made in conjunction with existing Parental Leave (5.3.1) or Family/Medical Leave of Absence (5.6) policies in the Faculty Handbook.

For tenured faculty, there will be no changes to the timing of the First Post-Tenure Review (normally in the tenth year or its equivalent), nor to the required review in the thirteenth year (or its equivalent). As per policy already in place, the review in the thirteenth year may be a Faculty Performance Review or the Promotion to Full Professor Review; the choice is the faculty member’s.

This policy applies to tenure-track faculty members whose appointments begin on or before July 1, 2020.

Every award letter for FAC-administered grants contains an official due date by which time a report must be submitted to the grants administrator (currently Wendy Busenberg, busenburgw@kenyon.edu). Usually that date is near the end of the following fiscal year, i.e., all letters for grants awarded during the academic year 2019 - 2020 have a due date for the report of June 1, 2021.For grants awarded during the academic year 2019 - 2020, the due date for these reports is now extended by one year, to June 1, 2022, as is the final deadline to submit a Payment Order or Travel and Entertainment Form along with receipts — keeping in mind that the IRS requires receipts to be submitted within 60 days of the date of purchase. By implication, the amount of time the award may be used is also automatically extended by one year. 

Awardees who wish to extend the time to use the award beyond one year are asked to contact the chair of the FAC by June 1, 2021. In any case, funds for grants awarded during the 2019 - 2020 academic year will be forfeited if not spent by June 1, 2022. Faculty may adjust the timelines given in their original grant applications, i.e., extend or shorten the amount of time during which they use the money. In any case, there will be no change to the amount of funding granted.                       

The funds must be used for the same purpose as described in the original grant application. This means that the scholarly project described in the grant proposal cannot have changed, that research travel must be to the same location, that funds intended for conference attendance must be used to travel to the same conference the following year, etc. If the project has changed, the award may not be used, and a new grant application must be made next academic year.     

Any questions about whether a new proposal is needed should be addressed to the chair of FAC.

"We move to elect the following two officers who are currently unopposed: Anton Dudley, Associate Professor of Drama, as Secretary of the Faculty Jon Tazewell, Thomas S. Turgeon Professor of Drama, as Co-Chair of the Campus Senate"

"We move that any views expressed regarding the college response to the pandemic and any requests to teach remotely may not be considered at any point in any review process."

"We affirm the plan to adopt the reduced density 2020 - 2021 academic year as presented by the President of the College and the Special Assistant to the President."

"The faculty support the creation and regular maintenance of an electronic dashboard that reports testing, infection rates, recovery and isolation levels of students and staff throughout the pandemic emergency."