2023-2024 Members

Provost (ex-officio)
Dr. Karen Soul

Faculty, Humanities Division
Dr. Jeff Hendricks
Professor Logan Sledge

Faculty, Natural Sciences Division
Dr. Kathrine Weeks
Dr. Scott Vetter, Chair

Faculty, Social Sciences Division
Dr. Chad Fulwider
Dr. Amy Hammond

Purposes and Responsibilities

On behalf of the faculty, and subject to its authority, the Faculty Personnel Council initiates and recommends to the Faculty policies concerning faculty tenure, promotion, non-reappointment and dismissal; and to offer such recommendations and comments to the faculty as a whole. Additional responsibilities of the Faculty Personnel Council are to recommend to the Provost promotions to the levels of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor; create and administer a formal evaluation procedure for the Centenary faculty; make recommendations on every full-time faculty reappointment, tenure and termination, and for establishing and conducting annual reviews on which such recommendations are based, including particularly the third-year and sixth-year reviews; serve as an advisory body to the administration on matters dealing with the academic and professional integrity of the faculty; make evaluations and recommendations concerning merit pay increases and appropriate salary adjustments. In the absence of faculty representation in searches for President, Cabinet positions, and Registrar; the Faculty Personnel Council will interview the finalists for these positions and make recommendations to the Provost.

The recommendations in all of these areas shall be guided by standards initially proposed by the Council, approved by the faculty, and published in the faculty handbook. The committee's recommendations shall be made directly to the Provost. The deliberations of the Council and its recommendations to the Provost shall be confidential, except in instances when the appeals process warrants access to information. The Council shall report all of its actions promptly to the faculty at large, normally through its minutes and reports at faculty meetings, taking every precaution to appropriately protect the confidential nature of its business.

Composition

The Council is composed of six tenured faculty members (two from each division and representing different departments) and the Provost (ex officio and without vote). The faculty members are elected for staggered three-year terms. When filling a vacancy, the division will nominate two divisional candidates from among which the faculty will elect one. Any faculty member serving as an Associate Provost to the Provost of the College shall be ineligible to serve on this Council until the end of their term of service as Associate Provost. (4/2004) The Council shall elect its own chair. The chair of the Faculty Personnel Council shall serve as one of the two faculty representatives on the Board of Trustees.