Code Committee Minutes - February 10, 2022

KU Libraries Faculty and Staff Assembly

Committee on the Code

Minutes

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Present:

Scott Cossel (chair), Jon Giullian, Jamene Brooks-Kieffer (secretary)

Meeting activities:

• Approved 2021-11-04 minutes
• Discussed sections of the Code reviewed by members:
  • Scott C. : lines 1-226
  • Jamene B-K: lines 227-463
  • Jon G.: lines 464-691
• Discussion located two potential areas of inequity:
  •  Selection of potential members for the Dean’s Review Committee
    • LFA Section VI, lines 336-347
      • Specifies a ballot process
      • Number of committee members seems to be up to the Provost’s Office (lines 343-347)
    • LSA Section VI, lines 512-513
      • Language is less specific than comparable LFA section
      • Unclear how “list of nominees” is created
      • No mention of the Provost’s Office role in selecting committee members; number of members and proportion of staff and faculty seems to be up to the Provost’s Office.
  • Service on external committees and bodies:
    • LFA: no comparable section, since service activities are built in to faculty position descriptions (5-10%)
    • LSA Section VI, lines 491-513
      • Describes appointments to external committees, rather than elections
      • No codified right for LSA members to engage in service activities
• Discussed approach to addressing these issues RE the committee’s special charge:
  
  Review code for equity-related changes, with particular focus to inequities between faculty and staff processes and procedures (e.g. Committee for Dean's 5-year Review):
  • Describe issues in the committee’s report due to LFSA Exec by March 1
  • Leave to LFSA Exec to decide whether to pursue Code revisions
  • If Code revision process is desired, this committee can create the language for the potential revisions:
    • 2 potential equity issues noted above, plus other inconsistencies noted by Cossel:
      • Differences between the LFA and LSA Vice Chair/Chair-Elect duties (lines 136-137; 396-398)
      • Reference to “Support Staff” should use official designation, “University Support Staff” (line 380)

• Action items:

  • Cossel will draft the report to LFSA Exec
  • Brooks-Kieffer will release 2021-11-04 Minutes to the LFSA Webmaster
  • Brooks-Kieffer will post draft minutes for this meeting to Teams