REPORT OF THE INSTRUCTOR VOICE TASK FORCE

A TASK FORCE OF THE NEIU FACULTY SENATE

January 11, 2013
The Instructor Voice Task Force was convened on Thursday, November 8, 2012. Since
that date, the members of the Task Force have met as a whole, and in smaller subgroups.
In this report, the Instructor Voice Task Force presents several recommendations to the
NEIU Faculty Senate, the NEIU Faculty, and the NEIU community.

Preamble: Recognizing that our highest priority at NEIU is the education of our
students, we urge all who teach our students to proceed with respect for one another.
While there may be differences of opinion, our goal of providing a productive environment
in which to learn is shared by all.
The establishment of this Task Force followed from the recommendations of Dr. Kenneth
Anderson regarding shared governance at NEIU (hereafter referred to as the Anderson
Report) and issued in 2011. Dr. Anderson stated the following (page 6): Instructors need
a voice: The role and rights of Instructors need to be addressed. Instructors-- some with
Ph.Ds, many full-time, some having taught for more than a decadeplay a major role in
NEIU classrooms. Instructors lack the protection of academic freedom given tenured
faculty, have unclear voice and voting rights at the unit level, and no meaningful role in the
governance structures of the University. NEIU is dependent upon them and their numbers
will continue to grow.

I. Introduction: At the present time, as limited by the Faculty Constitution of

Northeastern Illinois University, ratified in April 1981 and most recently amended in 2007,
Instructors at NEIU are not included as members of the Faculty Assembly, and are not
allowed to vote in department or academic unit elections and on all other department/unit
matters. The Faculty Constitution does allow that non-tenure track faculty shall be
consulted on matters that directly and indirectly affect their teaching duties. In some
departments, instructors are not allowed to attend department meetings of any kind. In
other departments, having been told that they cannot vote, instructors have chosen to end
their participation in department meetings.
The Instructor Voice Task Force unanimously proposes that it is time to change the NEIU
Faculty Constitution to allow voting participation by Instructors. We also recommend that
academic departments consider and adopt new practices that recognize and respect the
value that Instructors add to those departments.
We begin with definitions and membership rights of Instructors and Faculty members as
established in NEIU governance documents; emphasis is supplied below:

Faculty Constitution:
Article IA: Membership of The Faculty Assembly: The Faculty Assembly shall consist
of all tenured/tenure track faculty members; Chairs of academic departments who are
classified as administrators by University governing policies; and faculty who serve as
Resource Professionals.
Article IIA: Membership in the Faculty Senate: 1. Voting membership shall include
representatives selected according to the following formula: a. from the Faculty Assembly,
three members elected by the College of Arts and Sciences, three members elected by the
College of Business and Management, three members elected by the College of Education,
and three members elected by Resource Professionals; b. three percent of the
tenured/tenure track faculty, or the nearest whole number thereto, elected at-large by
members of the Faculty Assembly; c. three non-tenure track faculty (one from the College
of Arts and Sciences, one from the College of Business and Management, and one from the
College of Education) elected by the non-tenure track faculty from within his/her
respective College. d. one faculty representative from each standing Faculty Council,
selected by faculty members of that Council at the first meeting of that Council in the
academic year.
Article VIIA: Departmental or Other Equivalent Units (Including Programs) Voting
Membership: Only tenured/tenure track department/unit faculty members shall be entitled
to vote in department/unit elections and all other department/unit matters with further
specifications below. Non-tenure track faculty shall be consulted on matters that directly
and indirectly affect their teaching duties.

UPI/NEIU Administration Faculty Agreement definitions: "Instructor shall mean

a non-tenure track Teaching Professional."
"Teaching Professional shall mean a Bargaining Unit Employee with tenure or who is on
tenure track appointment and provides instructional services and support."

University Advisory Council By-laws: Instructors are included as part of Council

membership. [3 Instructors at large] No definition of Instructor is provided. Instructors
are included in Council membership as voting members.

II. Instructor Voice Task Force Recommendations:

A. Instructors shall be respected and treated as full members of academic departments.
Academic departments should consider and adopt new practices that recognize and
respect the value that Instructors add to the departments.
B. Instructors shall be granted voting rights in academic departments. The vote shall
be applied to all areas that affect Instructors and students. This includes and is not
limited to: chair elections, curriculum matters, and bylaws This will require
amending the Faculty Constitution.

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C. Allow Instructors to represent academic departments in college curriculum
meetings (e.g. Academic Affairs Committees) and in other committees and task
forces..

III. Rationale for recommendations: The current status of Instructors has resulted
in many alienated faculty members. Instructors are deemed as second-class faculty by the
Faculty Constitution, and sometimes by colleagues and Chairs. Instructors are entrusted
with the education of NEIU students in the same way as are tenure-track/tenured faculty.
Treating them as less than tenure-track and tenured faculty causes resentment and creates a
two-tiered teaching community. These distinctions are not useful to the students; the
disrespect that accompanies the division lowers the morale of faculty in the classroom.
Instructors have heavier teaching obligations, and are not required by departmental
Applications of Criteria to complete research and service for continued employment. They
are required to be up-to-date in terms of their knowledge and understanding of their
academic discipline. Instructors are reviewed on a regular basis for their knowledge and
teaching ability. The Collective Bargaining Agreement states that Instructor Application
of Criteria will be based on the Application of Criteria for Category A: Teaching/Primary
Duty (Article 37).
The right to vote in the department allows instructors to participate as equals in a changing
higher education environment. As noted in the Anderson Report, A department offers its
members the option of maximum participation in a shared governance system: the
opportunity to develop and live out the social contract for the department. This includes
participation in developing bylaws, resolving curriculum issues, selecting textbooks,
building collegial relationships, evaluating colleagues, assessing departmental needs, and
planning for the units future. The department is the birthplace of shared government
experience and the place where most disagreements and grievances can be resolved.
(page four) As the Faculty Constitution now reads, the birthplace of shared governance
is restricted to tenure track and tenured faculty.
The same instructors who are not allowed to vote in their home departments are allowed to
vote as members of the Faculty Senate. The bylaws for the newly created University
Advisory Council include instructors as voting members. The Faculty Agreement allows
instructors to vote for their instructor colleagues retention. These practices recognize the
value of NEIU Instructors.
The Task Force is asking that Instructors who are part of the UPI Bargaining Unit and have
full-time appointments be given the right to vote in academic departments. The Task Force
is also requesting that all Instructors, whatever their appointment level, be included in
department meetings and be allowed to voice their opinions on the curricular and other
matters that are part of departmental decision-making.
A number of academic departments have small numbers of tenured and tenure-track
faculty. This requires those faculty to assume multiple obligations in addition to their

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teaching and research, more than those required of faculty in larger departments where
responsibilities can be shared. Faculty are needed to take on such responsibilities as
advising students, advising student clubs, developing curriculum, participating in screening
committees, and representing the department on their college academic affairs committee.
So, for example, in a department with three tenured or tenure-track faculty, these faculty
must take on all of the above responsibilities; changing campus practice to allow instructors
to represent the department on academic affairs committees would reduce some of the
pressure on tenure-track and tenured faculty members.
These are some of the concerns that have been voiced during Task Force meetings. The
Task Force members look forward to discussions of these recommendations both with the
Faculty Senate as well as with the University community.