Appendix F: Amending the Faculty Policies and Procedures Handbook in the Future

Because of the depth and complexity of faculty responsibilities, rights, privileges, and benefits, it is understood that changes to the Faculty Policies and Procedures Handbook will be needed from time to time. The statements below reflect the intentions of the Faculty and administration as of the 2020-2021 academic year.

In order to assure that the Handbook remains current, the Faculty Senate Executive Council will deal with recommended changes in the following manner:

1. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee will send minor changes by memorandum to the Faculty Handbook Committee, Faculty, and administration. Examples of minor changes are typographical errors, changes in administrative titles or responsibilities, and the addition or deletion of committees. Pending feedback from Faculty and admin, the Faculty Handbook Committee will implement these minor changes for publication in the online faculty handbook.
2. Substantive changes are those that touch on important matters such as academic policies or faculty benefits. Substantive changes, from whatever source, will be sent to the Faculty Senate Executive Council and, if approved, will go forward for action by the Faculty Senate.
   1. If approved by the Faculty Senate by a simple majority, the change, along with the rationale for the change, will be forwarded to the provost.
   2. The provost will present the changes to the president and the Board of Trustees, if necessary, as expeditiously as possible. The provost will present the rationale and answer questions about the change if necessary.
   3. After the president and the Board of Trustees have acted on the change, the provost will report the results to the Faculty Senate Executive Council.
      1. If the change was approved as presented, it will be forwarded to the Handbook Committee to be included and updated in the Handbook.
      2. If the change was amended, those amendments will be reviewed by the Faculty Senate Executive Council, and if approved, will be taken back to the Faculty Senate for a vote. If approved by the Faculty Senate, the amended change will be forwarded to the Handbook Committee to be included in the updated Handbook. If the amended change is not approved, the change will not be made to the Handbook.
      3. If the change is rejected by the president and Board of Trustees without an attempt to amend the change, the change will not be made to the Handbook.
   4. If the change is not made to the Handbook, additional attempts may be made to find an acceptable alternative to all parties. Any additional attempts begin the process once again at the Faculty Senate Executive Council as outlined above.
3. Without the recommendation of the Faculty Senate and the approval of the president and Board of Trustees, no amendment to the Handbook will be considered in effect, other than the minor changes described in paragraph 1 above.
4. No changes to the online faculty handbook will be published without review of the Faculty Handbook Committee. Once the approved handbook change comes to the Faculty Handbook Committee, the committee will change the handbook language and implement any related changes throughout the handbook. The Chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee will communicate these changes to the Faculty Senate Executive Council and to the campus office tasked with editing the online handbook. The Chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee will verify these online changes in the handbook immediately before publication online and notify the Faculty Senate Executive Council when satisfactory publication has occurred.
5. Additionally, Faculty Handbook Committee will oversee the electronic archiving of the faculty handbook on the UT website at the conclusion of the academic year. The handbook will be archived annually in an online format, much like the current UT Course Catalog, allowing for simple access to previous years versions through the website. In addition, the chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee will have access to a visual audit trail of previous edits and a history of tracked changes for each past and present version of the pages.
6. Approved  changes to the faculty handbook will be published online usually within 30 days after the handbook committee is notified of the approved change. In the event that a handbook change has been approved at the conclusion of the academic year, the Faculty Senate Executive Council will assume responsibility for overseeing changes promptly and notifying the Chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee of said changes before the start of the next academic year.