November 2025 Faculty Senate Newsletter
Featured
60 Years of Faculty Senate: Gratitude
For the penultimate entry in our reflections on 60 years of Faculty Senate, we focus on gratitude for those who have served and continue to serve. It is easy to dismiss Faculty Senate as another obstacle in an unwieldy bureaucracy. That perception disregards the value of the marketplace of ideas and combined experiences of the faculty that undergird the process. We believe that listening to faculty voices will more often result in better policies and procedures, which in turn will lead to better functioning and outcomes for the institution.
Thank you to the thousands of faculty who have served on our committees and on Faculty Senate, who continue to work toward making things better, and who embody Servire.
What’s New
Call for Faculty Assembly Volunteers
The Committee on Committees is seeking faculty volunteers for two delegates and two alternates for upcoming open seats on the 2026-2027 UNC Faculty Assembly. Service begins July 1, 2026. Volunteers should be full-time faculty, holding no administrative duties outside their department. In addition to attending the six yearly meetings of the UNC Faculty Assembly, the delegates are expected to attend and report at the eight monthly meetings of the Faculty Senate and Agenda Committee (Faculty Senate meetings are in-person). Everyone wishing to volunteer is asked to complete the Faculty Assembly Volunteer survey no later than Monday, January 5, 2026.
The Committee on Committees will provide the Faculty Senate with a list of nominees for consideration during their January 27, 2026 meeting. Please direct any questions to Professor Michael Daniels, chair of the committee, via email.
Reminders
Mandatory Statement about the Survey of Student Opinion of Instruction
As the term is ending, faculty are reminded to review the requirements for the Mandatory Statement about the Survey of Student Opinion of Instruction (PDF) to make sure you are complying with the requirements for the survey and that you are providing the statement to students.
Accessibility Requirements for 2026
Digital course materials, website, and teaching tools will need to comply with accessibility guidelines by April 2026. Given the academic calendar at ECU, that will require faculty to update their spring 2026 course materials to meet that standard. The Office for Faculty Excellence has been providing an Accessibility Workshop Series to help faculty make their courses more accessible. The final workshop of the semester is December 2, 2025, but faculty can watch videos of past sessions.
Faculty Personnel Deadlines
Below are the deadlines for personnel actions that are coming up soon (see the full Faculty Manual Part X, Section II Schedule for Personnel Actions for more information):
- Advancement in Title Timeline – Fall and Spring of Decision Year – faculty members must make a request to the unit administrator to begin the process of consideration for advancement in title by the 1st Tuesday in December.
- Promotion and Tenure Timeline – Fall and Spring of Decision Year – the unit administrator/BSOM P&T Committee recommendation and PAD are sent to the dean by the 1st Tuesday in December.
- Post-Tenure Review Timeline – the unit administrator review is due to the dean by the 2nd Monday in December.
Policies, Rules, and Regulations Sent Out for Comment
Policy, Rule, and Regulation (PRR) items were circulated for open comment. The faculty officers consider the PRRs that are opened for comment and decide whether they should be assigned to committees for review. They agreed to send the Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace Policy to the Faculty Welfare Committee, and the Regulation on Conflicts of Interest, Commitment, and External Professional Activities for Pay to the Research and Creative Activities Committee. The formal advice provided by these committees in response to these items will be presented to Faculty Senate at the January 2026 meeting.
Faculty may submit their feedback on these items through the system, but they will be required to sign in using their ECU credentials. If faculty wish for their feedback to be anonymous, they may send their feedback to Dr. Mark Bowler, Chair of the Faculty, and he will submit it on their behalf, or they may submit an anonymous comment to the Faculty Senate Contact Form.
Upcoming
- The fourth regular Faculty Senate meeting is December 2, 2025.
- The faculty committee volunteer survey will be sent out in early December.
Notice
Editorial Revision to the Faculty Manual
An editorial revision has been made to Part VIII.II. Policy of Conflicts of Interest and Commitment and External Activities of Faculty and Other Professional Staff. It has been editorially revised to include links to the UNC Policy Manual and Code 300.2.2 and associated regulations 300.2.2.1 and 300.2.2.3.
ADA Accommodation: 252-737-1018 or ada-coordinator@ecu.edu