Shared Governance and Academic Freedom

Having a union gives faculty a stronger voice in how decisions are made regarding governance and instruction. This is carried out through faculty involvement in the Academic Senate, Educational Policy Committee, Faculty Review Committee and other university-wide committees.

Northern Michigan University’s Academic Senate advises and makes recommendations to the vice president for Academic Affairs on matters of faculty-wide concern, communicates items of concern to their respective constituencies and informs the academic community of issues under consideration.

The Academic Senate consists of 39 senators who represent all academic schools and departments on campus as well as three student government representatives and NMU’s five deans. Along with the executive committee, it has 11 other committees that related to all aspects of the Northern academic experience. The vice president of Academic Affairs continues to serve as ex-officio members without voting power, as does the president of the AAUP faculty union.

The Educational Policy Committee is made up of 5 faulty and 5 administrative representatives. The provost serves in an ex-officio role. The primary task of the EPC relates to how the university spends money on staffing.

The Faculty Review Committee is responsible for evaluating applications for promotion and/or tenure. Charge: There shall be a Faculty Review Committee (FRC) composed of members chosen from the bargaining unit whose function shall be to act on recommendations for promotion, tenure, and sabbatical leave, to act on appeals of CAC’s sabbatical leave recommendations and deans’ tenure and promotion recommendations, and on appeals concerning bylaws forwarded to it. The Faculty Review Committee (FRC) will be comprised of not more than seven (7) members at the rank of Associate Professor or above as designated by the bargaining unit. At least two (2) members must hold the rank of Professor and not more than one (1) member may be non-tenured. (Master Agreement, Section 3.3.6.2)

Terms:
Regular members: 3 years
Alternates: 1 year

There are many other university committees that affect curriculum, internal funding opportunities, and operational aspects of the university. Serving on committees is an excellent way to understand how the university works, and it demonstrates your willingness to engage in self-governance. The latter is important when applying for promotion and tenure.

AAUP University Wide Committees

Academic Service Learning Advisory Board
http://webb.nmu.edu/ASL/SiteSections/Overview/AdvisoryBoard/AdvisoryBoard.shtml

Athletic Council
http://webb.nmu.edu/SportsAthletics/SiteSections/Otherlinks/AthleticCouncil.shtml

Campus Master Plan Committee
http://webb.nmu.edu/EngineeringAndPlanning/SiteSections/MasterPlan/MasterPlan.shtml

Center for Native American Studies Advisory Council
http://webb.nmu.edu/Centers/NativeAmericanStudies/SiteSections/FacultyAndStaff/AdvisoryCouncil.shtml

Committee on Campus Violence
http://publicsafety.nmu.edu/Departments/PublicSafety/SiteSections/PublicSafety/WorkplaceViolence.shtml

Committee on Undergraduate Programs
https://www.nmu.edu/cup/committee-undergraduate-programs

Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Committee
http://webb.nmu.edu/Centers/MulticulturalEdAndRes/SiteSections/AboutUs/EthnicCommittee.shtml

Faculty Grants Committee
http://www.nmu.edu/fgc/faculty-grants-committee

General Education Council
http://www.nmu.edu/gec/general-education-council

Health Care & Wellness Committee
http://webb.nmu.edu/Wellness/Committee.shtml

NMU Commencement & Honorary Degree Committee
http://webb.nmu.edu/Administration/AcademicAffairs/SiteSections/ProceduresForms/HonoraryDegreesComm.shtml