As the University moves towards restructuring, faculty have begun to dive into the specifics and started discussing amendments that need to be made to the faculty handbook. On March 28 at 2 p.m., the faculty met in The Heller School for Social Policy and Management room G04 to review and debate motions to alter the faculty handbook prior to sending them out for a faculty vote this coming week.

The meeting began by discussing the results of the last faculty vote, in which 76.5% of voting-eligible faculty and administrators participated. These individuals were voting on the following motion:

“The Faculty authorize the President and the Provost to further develop a new structure for the University that combines the School of Arts & Sciences, Heller, and Brandeis International Business School into four new administrative units. Each of these units will be led by an academic dean who reports to the Provost, aided by Vice Provosts focusing on innovation at the undergraduate and graduate level. The vote is made with the expectation that coordinating handbook changes will be presented for Faculty vote at two meetings this spring.”

This motion passed with 280 votes in favor, totaling to an 87.8% majority. As a result, the University will officially move forward with the restructuring as proposed. In order for this restructuring to be done successfully, changes to the faculty handbook need to be made. At the March 28 meeting, potential changes were proposed to the faculty and opened for debate. 

The first proposed motion was titled “Handbook Amendment 1: Academic Leadership” and was split into two sections. These sections are as follows:

“Eliminates the positions and role descriptions of the Dean of Arts & Sciences, the Dean of the Heller School, the Dean of the Brandeis International Business School, and the four Division Heads.”

“Establishes and defines the new Academic Deans – who will lead the School of Arts, Humanities, and Culture; the School of Business and Economics; the School of Science, Engineering, and Technology; and the School of Social Sciences and Social Policy – as well as the new Vice Provosts for Undergraduate and Graduate Affairs.”

Following a short discussion regarding the amendment, Prof. Lisa Lynch (HELLER) took the stand. She proposed a “friendly amendment” to the motion, calling for a change of title language by having three out of the four new categories be titled “college” instead of “school.” She left the School of Business and Economics out of this proposed amendment, as upon speaking with many members of the school she acknowledged that they were widely against the change.

The floor was then opened for debate regarding the amendment, along with the clarification that if this amendment were to pass it would apply to all of the motions discussed at the meeting. Many were in favor, hoping to eliminate the potential issue of schools within schools causing additional confusion. Cornell University has recently made similar changes to their naming policies. 

However, many of the faculty members in attendance were against this amendment. Prof. Nina Kammerer (HELLER) opposed the change due to the differentiation of the business school, expressing that all four of these new designations should be equal in both rank and name. This idea was further emphasized by Prof. Jill Greenlee (POL), who was against the idea of “more silos.” She also emphasized that this will increase confusion regarding the status of Brandeis as a college or university itself.

This amendment to the motion was brought to a vote and ultimately failed with 84 against and 39 in favor. The wording of schools within schools will remain. The faculty then voted in favor of sending this handbook amendment to a full faculty vote.

The second motion that was proposed at the meeting was titled “Handbook Amendment 2: Changes to the Promotion Process.” The language to this amendment is as follows:

“This motion alters the composition and remit of the Tenured Promotions Committee. The committee will consist of tenured Full Professors from all four Academic Schools and will oversee all promotions from Associate to Full Professor.”

Following the presentation of this motion, the floor was opened for discussion. Current Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Jeffrey Shoulson, spoke in support of this motion. No one chose to speak against the motion, and the faculty voted in favor of sending this handbook amendment to a full faculty vote.

The third amendment is a motion to update the entire handbook to reflect the new organizational changes. This includes languages in all sections. No one spoke in favor of or against this motion, and the faculty voted to send it to a vote.

The meeting was adjourned early, as all amendments had been reviewed. All three amendments will be sent out for a faculty vote over the next week.