By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees had a full house for its afternoon business session Friday.
Being the last meeting of the academic year, the board had approvals for tenure and promotion on its agenda. The room was packed with those faculty, their colleagues, and family. One even came via Skype from across the Atlantic. Others, however, couldn’t attend because they had final exams to give.
Friday’s list was larger than usual with 81 names.
That full house represents the fruit of new provisions in the university’s contract with the BGSU-Faculty Association, which sets guidelines for non-tenured track faculty to be promoted.
Of the 81 on the promotion and tenure list, 23 lecturers were promoted to senior lecturer and 17 instructors were promoted to lecturer.
Also, 14 associate professors were promoted to full and 27 assistant professors received tenure and promotion to associate professor.
(Complete list: http://bgindependentmedia.org/faculty-celebrate-milestones-as-bgsu-trustees-act-on-promotion-tenure/)
Arts and Sciences Dean Ray Craig said later that the contract has meant procedures are more uniform across the colleges. As dean he had the most names to read – 48, with 33 of those were for promotions within the NTTF ranks. General Studies Writing had the most.
Over the next few years the numbers of NTTF promotions will decline, he said, as those eligible now will have already been promoted.
NTTF faculty – instructors, lecturers, senior lecturers – make up 33 percent of BGSU’s full-time faculty on the main campus.
In other action from the trustees’ Academic Affairs Committee, the full board approved the merger of the departments of German, Russian, East Asian Languages and Romance Languages and Classical Studies into a new department World Languages and Culture.
When presenting the merger earlier this year to Faculty Senate, Nathan Richardson, chair of Romance Languages, said that no one knows why the two departments were separate. Possibly, he said, clashes among faculty. He assured the senate that even after the lengthy meetings needed to iron out the details of the merger, the faculty of the two departments were still on friendly terms.
In introducing the merger, Provost Rodney Rogers said that the new, single department will increase efficiency while also fostering innovations.
The trustees also approved a new Master’s in European Studies.
The master’s program will be open to graduates from all disciplines as long as they have the required language skills.
Such a program, Rogers said, is needed in a time of globalization and increasing business ties between the European Union and the State of Ohio.
The board also accepted Rogers’ report on duplicate programs offered BGSU and the University of Toledo.
In all 50 were identified, and 33 had enough enrollment and graduates at both schools to continue with no changes.
The language programs, though, were among those in which the two universities are exploring greater collaborations. (See http://bgindependentmedia.org/bgsu-eyes-some-programs-for-collaboration-with-ut-others-for-elimination/)
The board also granted former president Sidney Ribeau status as president emeritus. Ribeau served as BGSU president from 1995 to 2008.
Outgoing Board Chairman David Levey said: “We’re a little overdue in recognizing him.”
Also, 15 retiring or retired faculty members were granted emeritus status.
