As North Carolina A&T State University continues to grow as an important center of research and academia, the management of its resources and promotion of faculty will play a tremendous role in the process. One of the means by which both of these objectives can be more efficiently achieved is through the new management flexibility plan.
The management flexibility plan, which went into effect Feb. 12, is a set of procedures that greatly enhances the process of granting tenure to members of the faculty. Tenure in academia is the permanent holding of one's position that is normally granted to senior faculty members. Thus, a tenured faculty member's position cannot be terminated without just cause.
In the past, once a faculty member went through the required university administrative channels for tenure, final approval fell upon the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. The key difference now is that the process stops at the granting institution's board of trustees.
Every decision on tenure that N.C. A&T has submitted to UNC over the last three years has been approved. Alton Thompson, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, says that receiving this privilege is a sign of the increased faith that the UNC system has in the university.
"We've demonstrated that we can manage our finances and are doing a good job from a fiscal point of view. For them to have that confidence in us means a great deal," Thompson said.
In addition to allowing the N.C. A&T Board of Trustees to make the final call on tenure, the management flexibility plan permits the university to recruit and select set compensation for senior level officials. However, one stipulation of the plan is that any salary increase greater than 15 percent or more than $10,000 must be approved by the UNC Board of Governors. This rule applies to all schools in the UNC system.
Each of the 37 departments in the schools and colleges at A&T has specific tenure guidelines. The criteria are based on the components of teaching, research and public service, and there are select criteria that apply to each component.
There is no set timeframe to apply for tenure. On average it is seven years for an assistant professor, five years for an associate professor and three years for a full professor.
"Granting tenure is about productivity, not longevity," said Thompson. "(The professor) must be active in scholarship and research to be considered."
A&T TO FACILITATE GLOBAL READ-IN FOR STUDENTS IN GREENSBORO AND MALAWI
Washington Montessori School students in Greensboro will have their first opportunity to see the Malawian students they have been mentoring and sending correspondence when Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. reads to both groups of children during the School of Education’s first Global Village Read-in.
On Monday, April 19, Washington Montessori students who participate in the SMART PATH tutoring program will meet Martin in the model classroom in Proctor Hall. From 8-8:30 a.m. DST (2-2:30 p.m. Malawi time) they will interact with pupils from Domasi Demonstration Primary School through streamed video.
SMART PATH employs service learning as a literacy and mathematics pedagogy for children. Washington Montessori students in the program have served as English language mentors and pen pals for children at Domasi Primary for the past year, as one of many service projects in which they participate.
Help with English is critical in Malawi, as it is the language of schooling and testing after Standard (grade) 4. Tests that determine whether a youth can continue to a free secondary education are given in English and currently eliminate all but 17 percent from doing so.
"In Malawi, where one adult in five and one child in 10 tests positive for HIV/AIDS, the only current correlate of remaining disease free is staying in school," says Elizabeth A. "Liz" Barber, an assistant professor in the School of Education who has conducted leadership and service learning research in Malawi. "Being able to read and write in English, then, is a matter of life and death."
In addition to serving as English language pen pals, SMART PATH tutors also read books onto tape and author books for their Malawian counterparts.
The management flexibility plan, which went into effect Feb. 12, is a set of procedures that greatly enhances the process of granting tenure to members of the faculty.
In Malawi, where one adult in five and one child in 10 tests positive for HIV/AIDS, the only current correlate of remaining disease free is staying in school.