April 2026 Faculty Senate Newsletter
Featured
2026-27 Faculty Officers
The 2026-27 Faculty Officers were elected at the April 28th Organizational Meeting of Faculty Senate. The new officers are:
- Donna Roberson, Chair of the Faculty
- Lisa Ellison, Vice Chair of the Faculty
- Charity Cayton, Secretary of the Faculty
We are excited to welcome these officers into their new roles, which officially begin on July 1, 2026. The Parliamentarian is appointed by the Chair of the Faculty, and the announcement of that officer will be forthcoming in a future newsletter.
New Roster for Faculty Senate
The Faculty Senate Roster shows all of the Senators and Alternates for each unit. There are several changes to units that are still in the process of being approved. Faculty Governance Committee will be assigned the task of reviewing the Faculty Senate Apportionment Guidelines in early fall to make recommendations about changes to accommodate the reorganized units.
What’s New
Important Faculty Manual Updates after Chancellor’s Action on February Resolutions
The Chancellor took action on the February Faculty Senate resolutions, and several result in important revisions to the Faculty Manual:
- Unit voting changes: Part IV.II.III. Faculty Who May Vote on a Unit’s Code of Operations has been updated to reflect that all faculty members with at least 12 consecutive months in a greater than 50% assignment in a unit may vote on a unit’s new or revised Code. It is still the case that in tenure-granting units, only permanently tenured, eligible voting faculty may vote on a unit’s tenure, promotion, and post-tenure review criteria.
- Limitations on number of consecutive 1-year appointments for fixed-term faculty: Part VIII.I., subsections I and VI were updated to comply with updates to UNC Policy Manual 400.3.4[R] Regulation on Faculty Workload, which requires that “. . . full-time special faculty members who are paid and appointed for a specified term of service of one year or less may only be appointed to three consecutive one-year terms, unless approved by of [sic] the chief academic officer of the constituent institution.” The change notes that faculty successfully completing three consecutive 1-year appointments will be considered for multi-year contracts, subject to funding and performance.
- Multiple revisions to Part IX.I:
- In Subsection II. Faculty Appointments:
- Revision to the language about the timing of the criteria review meeting.
- Addition of language about the process when a fixed-term faculty member holds a joint appointment and is seeking subsequent appointment or advancement in title.
- Addition of language making it clear that when a faculty member does not receive early permanent tenure, they revert to their original tenure clock.
- Addition of section on limits on consecutive one-year appointments and addition of language about multiyear contracts to address updates to the UNC Policy Manual 400.3.4[R] Regulation on Faculty Workload.
- In Subsection IV., Procedures for Initiation, Review, and Approval of Personnel Actions:
- Revision of unit voting faculty members in tenure-granting units to make fixed-term faculty eligible at the same time as other faculty in alignment with updates to the UNC Policy Manual 400.3.4[R] Regulation on Faculty Workload.
- Revision of personnel committee composition and information about the chairs of personnel committees in alignment with updates to the UNC Policy Manual 400.3.4[R] Regulation on Faculty Workload.
- In Subsection II. Faculty Appointments:
Syllabus Submission
Provost Buddo and Chair Bowler sent a joint memo titled Course Syllabi – Online Platform Launch and Faculty Responsibilities (PDF) to announce the online syllabus platform that will be used at ECU® and the July 20, 2026 deadline for submission. Please visit the Faculty Affairs Syllabus Information website for more information.
Summer School Changes
Based on recommendations from the Summer School Optimization Taskforce, summer course section sizes and compensation for some faculty will be changing for Summer 2026. For more information, see the Summer School Optimization Taskforce page.
ADA Accessibility Deadlines Moved
The deadlines for ADA Web Accessibility requirements have been extended, and campus has a goal of ensuring compliance by December 31, 2026. For more information and resources, see the Digital Accessibility at ECU page.
Reminders
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):
- Workplan and Annual Evaluation Timeline
- For 9 Month Faculty:
- May 8 – Workplan and annual evaluation to Dean
- May 30 – Workplan and annual evaluation to Provost
- For 12 Month Faculty:
- May 14 – Unit administrator informs faculty of workplan and annual evaluation deadlines
- May 28 – Faculty submit drafts of workplan and annual report to unit administrator
- For 9 Month Faculty:
- Progress Toward Tenure (PTT) Letters
- For 9 Month Faculty:
- May 7 – Delivery of PTT letter and meeting that includes the faculty member, representative of the Tenure Committee and the unit administrator to discuss the letter, with subsequent delivery of PTT letter to Dean
- May 15 – Letter sent to higher administration
- For 9 Month Faculty:
Policies, Rules, and Regulations Sent Out for Comment
Two policies, rules, and regulations (PRRs) have been 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 Regulation on Research Conduct to the Research/Creative Activities Committee and the Faculty Governance Committee. Both committees produced formal faculty advice that Chair Bowler sent via the HiQ system, and the Research/Creative Activities Committee presented their formal faculty advice at the April 21, 2026 Faculty Senate meeting (PDF, attachment 4 on the agenda). The officers agreed that the Litigation Hold Notices: Preservation of Potentially Relevant Evidence in Anticipation of Litigation Policy did not require committee review.
Faculty are encouraged to submit their own feedback on the 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.
ADA Accommodation: 252-737-1018 or ada-coordinator@ecu.edu