Faculty Handbook Changes Must be Vetted by the Senate
BY KARIM ABDEL KODOS
@KarimAbdelKodos
The University Senate passed a resolution by a 92 percent majority last week reaffirming that any changes to the Faculty Handbook must be put to a vote by its members.
The vote was spurred by an earlier discussion regarding an austerity measure proposed by the administration to begin charging faculty for the bus service to and from campus.
Executive Vice-President for Administration and Finance Brian MacDougall, who attended the October 14 Senate meet, said that the administration’s proposed changes apply to approximately 200 faculty members and 300 managers currently using the bus service.
“When the budget was constructed for Fiscal Year 2015, the expectation was that approximately $100,000 was targeted to be collected from managers and faculty,” MacDougall told the Senate.
But a large number of faculty say such a measure is considered a modification of benefits stated in the handbook – a de facto contract between the faculty and the university.
“The issue is that there are procedures in the handbook that the administration could have used with the faculty senate to propose debates to decide [whether] we wanted to change it. That was uncalled for, and that’s why we’re upset,” said Helen Rizzo, Associate Professor of Sociology,.
Another faculty member, who preferred not to be identified, said that administration should conclude whether the faculty handbook is a binding contract.
The Faculty Handbook states: “AUC has provided an extensive bus system that is designed to provide comprehensive and flexible service over a wide range of routes throughout greater Cairo; it is free to faculty, and they are encouraged to commute to the new campus by bus” (page 60 section 5.6).
Any changes to its contents – including to existing benefits – without Senate approval would be considered a violation.
The Senate resolution “resolved that any unilateral policy changes by the administration that contradict the policies and procedures outlined in the faculty handbook are deemed to be breaches of contract and good faith”.
Kim Fox, Associate Professor of Practice at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and a Senate member, questions why a small portion of the AUC community is being asked to contribute to the austerity measures in this way.
“Wouldn’t it be more equitable to spread this line item among the entire AUC community?” Fox said.
“It’s not in ‘good faith’ to ask employees – faculty and staff – to pay to ride the bus at this time when salaries have been frozen and the cost of living has increased,” Fox added.
Senate Chair Pandeli Glavanis said that the resolution will now be sent to President Lisa Anderson for approval.
The university president can technically reject the resolution and refuse to sign it.
“If the President signs it and accepts it as Senate policy,” Glavanis said, “then she has to decide if she will go on with the bus fees or not.”
“That is her decision not the Senate’s,” he added.
The Senate will likely discuss her expected response on Tuesday.
