By Signe K. Skinion

A resolution creating strict guidelines on textbooks written by SIUC professors passed the Faculty Senate Tuesday and now goes to the provost office for final approval.

The senate also discussed a University Joint Benefits Committee proposal for modifications on leave policies at SIUC.

Advertisement

Beverly Gulley, co-chair of the Faculty Status and Welfare Committee for the senate, said the new textbook policy is a preventative measure for the students, faculty and University.

This policy is a definitive guideline for which faculty members can use their own written textbooks within the classes they teach without being within the conflict of interest policy of the University, Gulley said. This is a preventative measure to help assure that students are being asked to use textbooks that are the best for the class they are taking.

The conflict of interest policy in the faculty handbook is a means of keeping track of outside sources of income for faculty members, Gulley said.

The policy means when a faculty member earns an outside income other than the University salary, that income must be reported to the University, Gulley said. You are disclosing the earning from the extra income for things like consulting work, and publishing textbooks.

The main purpose of the policy is to make sure the textbooks being taught are of educational merit, and have been properly reviewed for that merit, Gulley said.

When a faculty member writes a textbook, they will submit it to a publisher, Gulley said. The publishing group will have it reviewed by a group of peers in the same field. If the peers say the book is substantial, it will probably be published. If those peers do not find it to be substantial, it will not be published. However, there are some publishers where you pay to have the book published, and this can cause questions as to it’s merit.

The textbook policy also discusses syllabi. Gulley said this clause is for the protection of the students.

Advertisement*

The students are entitled to a course syllabus provided by the University at no cost, Gulley said. The syllabus should be separate from the class notes. Every student is entitled to a course syllabus.

The senate also discussed a proposal on modifications of leave policies for SIU faculty members.

Pamela Brandt, ex officio member on the policy planning committee, said modifications are necessary to meet the changing needs of the faculty, with the biggest changes involving the sick leave policy.

Right now accruable (payable) sick leave is 7.2 working days at a rate of 50 percent, Brandt said. The new policy allows for one work day per month for sick leave. This equals nine sick days for an academic year, plus one additional day for each summer month you teach.

Brandt said the non-payable sick leave will also change significantly. Right now faculty members receive 43 non-payable sick days a year. The new policy would give new faculty members 43 sick days in the beginning and 20 sick days every 12 months after.

Some other changes in the leave policies include jury duty, military leave, and funeral leave, Brandt said.

If a faculty member gets called in for jury duty, they will be paid for the entire time they must serve, Brandt said. For military leave, the school will be in compliance with state and federal laws. Funeral leave will be allowed to faculty of up to three days for immediate family and household and one day for relatives and family outside the immediate household.

The most lenient of the new proposed policies is for family illness by making the policy more family-friendly, Brandt said.

Right now the University does not have a policy concerning family illness, and it is left for the departments to decide, Brandt said. There have been divergent practices from department to department as to what they interpret as the emergency of the illness. The new policy allows the faculty member to decide how bad the illness is.

Brandt said the modification of leave policies is still going through the campus constituency, including the Faculty Senate, Dean’s Council and Civil Services for review and comment before approval.