Faculty Merit Increase Appeals

Issue Date
Friday, September 24, 1999
Current Issue Date
Thursday, June 1, 2000
Effective Date
Friday, September 24, 1999
Policy number
n/a

Criteria and Procedures

These interim criteria and procedures shall be valid through June 1, 2000. They serve to implement Section 8, Appeal Process, of the policy on Faculty Merit Increases Criteria and Procedures, dated September 24, 1999.

  1. Eligibility
    • 1.1 A faculty member who has received a positive recommendation from the department or the dean may appeal the President's decision that either denies a Faculty Merit Increase or decreases the amount of a Faculty Merit Increase that is recommended by the department or the dean.
    • 1.2 A faculty member who is eligible to file an FMI appeal according to section 1.1 may file such an appeal no later than December 13, 1999, for fiscal years 1998/1999 and 1999/2000.
  2. Establishing the Panel/Selecting the Committee
    • 2.1 The Chair of the Structures and Functions Committee of the Faculty Senate will call for prospective nominees to an appeals panel to be elected by faculty unit employees. Faculty members who are appealing FMI increase decisions shall not be eligible to serve on the panel.
    • 2.2 Appeals for each year shall be heard by a committee of five faculty members chosen by lot without replacement from the FMI appeals panel.
    • 2.3 Each committee shall elect a chair.
    • 2.4 Each committee will hear all FMI appeals of the President's decision for its assigned year in a single hearing.
  3. Grounds for Appeal
    • Eligible faculty may appeal an FMI decision on the basis of evidence of demonstrated performance commensurate with rank, work assignment, and years of service for one or any combination in the area(s) specified by the faculty member as indicated according the following criteria: the quality of the faculty member's teaching alone; the quality of the faculty member's teaching and scholarship; the quality of the faculty member's teaching and service to the University and community; or the quality of the faculty member's teaching, scholarship, and service to the University and community.
  4. Evidence
    • 4.1 For each appeal, Faculty Affairs shall supply to the hearing committee copies of the appellant's Faculty Activity Report, letters from the department and the dean indicating their recommendations, the President's letter indicating the amount of the award given, if any, and the notice(s) of appeal.
    • 4.2 For each appeal, the appellant may submit to the hearing committee up to five (5) pages of additional material. Such material must be submitted to the hearing committee and to Faculty Affairs at least ten (10) working days prior to the hearing. If any written material is submitted, the University administration may submit a written response at least five working days prior to the hearing.
    • 4.3 For each appeal, the faculty member may present up to ten (10) minutes of oral testimony at the time of the hearing. The faculty member must notify the hearing committee and Faculty Affairs ten (10) days in advance if he/she wishes to present such testimony. The University administration may respond to such testimony either orally or in writing. If the University administration responds orally, the response shall be limited to ten (10) minutes or less. If the University administration responds in writing, the response shall be limited to five (5) pages of material.
  5. Awards/Committee Constraints
    • 5.1 The committee may not grant increases that total more than five percent (5%) of the total campus FMI funds. A majority decision by the committee is required to grant an appeal. The decision of the committee is final and binding.
    • 5.2 The hearing committee shall notify Faculty Affairs of the amount to be awarded each appellant and shall work with Faculty Affairs to ensure that each award fits the payroll structure of the CSU.
    • 5.3 Each committee shall complete its hearing and notify each appellant and the President of its decision by May 12, 2000.
  6. Reporting of Awards
    • 6.1 The University shall report to the Academic Senate, by school, the appropriate aggregate statistics, including changes from departmental and dean's recommendations and the distribution of the President's pool. In addition, a list of individual faculty receiving Faculty Merit Increases as a result of an appeal, their rank, the amount of the increase received, and their department shall be made public no later than one (1) month after final decisions regarding such increases. A further report of the awards shall include amount of increase, gender, and ethnicity but without individual names.
    • 6.2 Any portion of the funds not expended in any fiscal year shall automatically be added to the Faculty Merit Increase pool in the next fiscal year.
  7. Sunshine Provision
    These interim procedures shall be valid through June 1, 2000.

Deadlines for the interim FMI Appeals Procedures

December 13, 1999 Notice of Appeal Submitted to Faculty Affairs

March 17, 2000 Written material, if any, filed with the Appeals Hearing Committee & Faculty Affairs

and/or Intention to Present Oral Testimony, if any, filed with Appeals Hearing Committee & Faculty Affairs

Five working days after receipt for response to written material by University Administration

March 27, 2000 Hearings commence

May 12, 2000 Hearings completed and appellants notified of committee decision

 

Updated June 1, 2000 by SSU.policies@sonoma.edu