Section C - Colorado College

SECTION C FACULTY PERSONNEL POLICIES AND FINANCIAL MATTERS
SECTION C FACULTY PERSONNEL POLICIES AND FINANCIAL MATTERS I. Definition of the Academic year C-3 II. Appointment, Promotion and Tenure C-3 A. Tenure Track Faculty C-3 1. Initial Appointments C-3 2. Recruitment C-4 a. Special Hiring C-5 b. Equal Opportunity C-5 c. Spousal Split-Position Hiring Policy 3. Periodic Review C-6 4. Third-year Review C-6 5. Reappointment C-7 6. Criteria for Tenure and Promotion C-7 7. Tenure Procedures C-9 8. Promotion Procedures C-11 a. General C-11 b. Chairs C-12 9. Appeal Procedure C-13 10. Tenure and Promotion Files and Portfolios: Suggested Composition C-14 B. Adjunct Faculty C-16 1. Appointment and Review C-16 2. Voting Privileges C-16 3. Promotion C-17 4. Pay C-17 5. Change in Status C-17 C. Riley Scholars-in-Residence C-17 D. Other Faculty Appointments C-18 2. Full-time Temporary and Replacement Faculty C-18 3. Full-time, Non-tenure Track Lecturers C-18 4. Appointment Letters C-19     III. Voting and Committee Assignments C-19 IV. Outside Employment C-19 V. Termination of Employment C-19 A. Resignation C-19 B. Dismissal of Tenured Faculty C-20 1. Reasons for Dismissal C-20 2. Procedures for Dismissal C-20 3. Appeal Procedure for Dismissal of Tenured Faculty C-20 C. Dismissal During the Probationary Period C-21 D. Terminal Notice or Salary C-21 E. Discipline Other Than Dismissal C-22 G. Early Retirement/Phased Retirement C-22 1. Purpose C-22 2. Policy C-23 a. Basic Eligibility C-23 b. Approval C-23 c. Early Retirement C-24 d. Phased Retirement C-24 H. Death Benefit C-25   VI. Faculty Leaves C-25 A. Sabbatical Leaves C-25 1. Purpose C-25 2. Eligibility C-26 3. Procedures C-26 B. Appointments to Positions with ACM C-27 C. Leaves Without Pay C-27 D. Replacements for Persons on Leave C-28 E. Leaves for Medical and Family Reasons C-28 1. Paid Medical Leaves C-28 2. Unpaid Leaves of Absence for Family and Medical Reasons C-28   VII. Financial Matters C-29 A. Personal Financial Matters C-29 1. Salary C-29 a. Determination of Faculty Salaries C-29 b. Payment of Salaries C-30 c. Deductions from Salary C-30 d. Salary Payments & Fringe Benefits During Leave C-30 2. Medical Insurance & Other Fringe Benefits C-31 3. Travel Accident Insurance C-31 4. Tuition Assistance Programs C-31 a. Tuition Remission C-31 i. dependent children C-31 ii. spouses C-32 iii. full-time faculty C-32 iv. retired & disabled faculty C-32 v. termination of Tuition Remission benefit C-32 b. ACM Tuition Exchange Program C-33 c. Partial Tuition Payment C-33 d. Tuition Assistance Program C-33 B. Other Financial Matters C-33 1. Research Funds C-33 2. Travel Funds to Conferences C-33 3. Venture Grants C-34 a. Student Research C-34 b. Conferences C-34 c. Visiting Faculty C-34 d. Faculty/Student Collaborative Research C-35

I. Definition of the Academic Year

The term "academic year" means the annual eight and one-half block period beginning with the Colorado College Fall Conference and ending on graduation day. Where the term "year" is used, unless otherwise noted, it shall be understood to mean academic year.

II. Appointment, Promotion and Tenure

The President will decide on the creation, renewal, or restoration of all tenure track and adjunct faculty positions in consultation with the Dean of the College and the Faculty Executive Committee.

A. Tenure-track Faculty

Colorado College affirms the importance of tenure to the integrity of the college community as a whole and the well being of those who have chosen college teaching as a profession. The purposes of tenure are to promote academic freedom (see Section B.I of this Handbook) and to assure a sufficient degree of economic security to make a long-term commitment to teaching at Colorado College an attractive and viable opportunity for faculty of quality. To those ends, Colorado College upholds the tradition of granting tenure to faculty who have successfully completed a probationary period as described below. Once tenured, a faculty member's service to Colorado College should be terminated only in the circumstances described in Section C.V.B of this Handbook, or when the faculty member chooses to resign or retire.

1. Initial Appointments

Initial appointment to the faculty, including the specific terms and conditions involved, is made by contract letter signed for the College by the President or the Dean of the College. Prior to the award of tenure, appointments of tenure-track faculty are made on a year-to-year basis, and reappointment is not automatic or assured.

Ordinarily, Colorado College does not hire new faculty who have not completed the Ph.D. (or other appropriate terminal degree). Those who are hired before they have received the appropriate degree will be hired at the rank of Instructor. The Instructor rank carries full faculty privileges. New faculty members who have completed the appropriate degree are ordinarily hired at the Assistant Professor rank. A person hired as an Assistant Professor will be expected to complete all requirements for the appropriate terminal degree before starting to teach. If degree requirements are not completed at the beginning of the academic year, the appointment will revert to the Instructor rank and salary. If degree requirements are completed on or before December 31, the faculty member will automatically become an Assistant Professor on January 1 of the same academic year; if requirements are completed between January 1 and August 31, the faculty member will automatically become an Assistant Professor on September 1 of the next academic year.

Under special circumstances, new faculty members with prior teaching or appropriate post-doctoral experience may be credited with time towards the tenure and promotion review. A portion of the years spent in the Instructor rank may be counted if the Dean of the College and the candidate mutually agree to this at the time of the initial appointment to Assistant Professor. Such arrangements must be stated in writing at the time of the appointment, and they should be regarded as exceptional. Any such contractual arrangement should also become a part of the candidate=s third-year review and tenure file.

A person who is working on the Ph.D. or other appropriate terminal degree should expect to remain in the Instructor rank. A person must be promoted to Assistant Professor or given a terminal contract after three years in the Instructor rank. Renewal of a tenure track appointment for the fourth year is contingent upon completing the appropriate terminal degree by June 30 of the third year.

2. Recruitment

The recruitment process begins with the advertisement of the available position by the department chair(or search committee chair)and the solicitation of applications.All position announcements must include standard diversity language (provided below) and be sent to the Legal Counsel and to the co-chairs of the Minority and Women's Concerns Committees (or an appropriate hiring liaison) prior to advertising the position, to inquire whether there are any concerns relevant to the job announcement. This communication will also serve to notify the committees to arrange representation on the search committees in a timely fashion. If the committees do not respond within five working days, (the advertisement is assumed approved and) the advertisement process can move forward. The Dean of the College must approve the final advertisement.The advertisement should be sent to the placement service of the appropriate professional society. It may also be advisable for the search committee chair to notify graduate schools with a disciplinary focus in the search area and to consult with the library liaison to ensure exposure in other professional publications and web sites.Faculty are generally sought at the Assistant Professor level, and for most fields a Ph.D. (or appropriate terminal degree) is required, either in hand or in prospect. Applicants are generally asked to submit a personal statement, vita, transcripts, and letters of recommendation.The following language, when used in combination with advertising in appropriate venues, has proven to be quite effective in attracting diverse applicants.

 AThe College is committed to increasing the diversity of the college community. Candidates who can contribute to that goal are particularly encouraged to apply and to identify their strengths or experiences in this area. The Colorado College welcomes members of all groups and reaffirms its commitment not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, disability or sexual orientation.

Departmental search committees will includetwo faculty members outside the department of hire who take part in all phases of the process, from selecting those to be interviewedto vote on the final choice of the candidate to whom an offer is to be made. One of the two will be an appointment made by the Minority Concerns Committee. The Dean will appoint the second faculty member from a cognate discipline with advice from the department andthe appropriate Divisional Executive Committee and in consultation with the Women's Concerns Committee. Departments with fewer than four regular members may request the appointment of additional faculty of their own choosing to bring the "departmental" representation up to four.

After an initial screening of the written applications, the committee may arrange phone interviews or meetings at professional gatherings to narrow the pool. On the basis of the applications and interviews, the search committee selects the leading candidates.The Dean and the Chair agree on how many candidates to bring to campus. In addition to meeting members of the department, candidates will normally meet with members of the Executive Committee of the appropriate division, other faculty members, a representative from each of the Women's Concerns and Minority Concerns Committees, students, the Dean of the College, and the President. Each candidate will participate in a public discussion or present a paper in an open session.When these visits have been concluded, the department chair consults with those involved in the interviews, obtains the vote of the department and others on the search committee and asks the Dean to make an offer to one of the candidates, or requests that additional candidates be brought to campus for interviews.The Dean then makes a recommendation to the President, who makes the final decision. The Dean may authorize the department chair to inform a candidate of the College's decision and to explore the acceptability of a specific offer. The Dean then makes an offer on behalf of the College. When the offer has been accepted, the Dean or the President sends the candidate a contract letter. Only the contract letter may be relied on for the terms of a faculty member's appointment with the College.

 

a. Special Hiring

In extraordinary circumstances, the College will make special efforts to bring to the faculty persons who possess exceptional promise or unique qualities. This type of hiring is part of our effort to increase the diversity of the faculty. Academic departments will work with the Dean or President to identify suitable candidates, usually individuals who have already demonstrated intellectual and teaching excellence through prior service at the College. The Dean of the College will negotiate the specific circumstances of each hiring. Before an appointment is made, the Dean will consult with the department as well as the appropriate Divisional Executive Committee, the Faculty Executive Committee, the Minority Concerns Committee and the Women's Concerns Committee.

b. Equal Opportunity and Faculty Recruitment

Colorado College has a long-standing commitment to offering a curriculum that represents the best of traditional and contemporary scholarship. At the same time, we also have a commitment to hiring a diverse faculty that represents the demography of the nation. Both of these goals are part of the College's stated mission of providing the best possible undergraduate education for our country's future leaders.

The purposes of this Equal Opportunity policy are a) to strengthen the College's liberal arts program by diversifying the cultural, ethnic and gender perspectives of the faculty, and b) to diversify the curriculum by offering courses that encompass a variety of cultural, ethnic and gender perspectives.

To realize these goals, the College is committed to an active program of faculty recruitment that is designed to bring qualified applicants of diverse perspectives into the applicant pool for available positions. The College will then select the best candidate, regardless of that person's race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.

The Dean of the College is the College=s Equal Opportunity Officer in matters of faculty recruitment. Department chairs are primarily responsible for active equal opportunity recruitment. This responsibility includes the cultivation of a diverse group of scholars, even when departmental vacancies are not immediately anticipated; active recruitment by means of advertisements and direct contacts with graduate schools and other institutions when openings exist; and, thorough investigation of the qualifications of applicants in keeping with the stated purposes of this Equal Opportunity and Recruitment Policy. The Dean may determine that a department needs additional time to identify a more diverse applicant pool. If so, the position may not be filled for an additional year.

The technical details of this Equal Opportunity and Recruitment policy may be elaborated in various memoranda from the Dean. As in all matters involving employment, the President of the College is responsible for final decisions.

Copies of all letters, responses and other documents included in the recruitment process must be kept on file for a period of twelve months after the position is filled.

c. Spousal Split-Position Hiring Policy (passed 3/10/08)

Initial Presumptions

1. “Spouse” is defined as legal heterosexual/homosexual spouse or as domestic partner. Thispolicy will use the term “spouse” to cover all possibilities. This policy does not apply to friends or acquaintances or relatives.
2. Hiring departments may choose whether or not to consider a split-position. If they do welcome applications for a split position, they should indicate that in their job announcement.
3. Candidates must state their intention to apply for split position status before the interview process begins. If they decide to consider a split-position hire, job descriptions and advertisements must include the relevant information..
4. This policy exclusively applies to positions within a single sponsoring department or program.
5. This policy may not apply retroactively to any previous spousal hiring requests at the college.

Terms of Split-Position

1. Candidates may choose either a 3-6 tenure track or a 4-8 tenure track. If a 3-6 tenure track is chosen and the candidates feel they need more time, a switch to a 4-8 tenure track may be made in the third year. If a 4-8 tenure track is chosen, the candidates may not change to a 3-6 tenure track.
2. Teaching and advising loads are split 50-50. We envision that spouses split the teaching load 50-50 every year. However, to accommodate unforeseen events and extenuating circumstances, this ratio may change slightly year to year by agreement with the department. At the time of the establishment of the tenure file, the ratio of spousal teaching load must be 50-50.
3. Each spouse participates fully in committee work and college service.
4. The spouses are guaranteed a single office and, in the natural sciences, a single lab. Any college commitment over that base is the responsibility of the hiring department.
5. Each spouse retains one full vote in all college venues and procedures.
6. A spouse may—individually—chair a department. Two spouses together may not chair a department, nor may one spouse serve as Assistant or Associate Chair if the other spouse is the Department Chair.
7. Each spouse is eligible for faculty travel monies under the guidelines of the Dean’s Office. Split-position status is not detrimental to his/her application for travel support.
8. Each spouse may individually apply for divisional research funds, Venture Grants, summer research grants, etc. Split-position status is not detrimental to his/her application for research support.
9. Spousal team-teaching would be incredibly rare, for obvious reasons. Such rare instances would be at the discretion of the hiring department, subject to the approval of the Dean.

Tenure, Evaluation, and Legalities

1. For purposes of third year review, tenure decision, and salary recommendation, the individual spouse is the candidate. Hence, for all evaluative processes, the individual is examined rather than the spousal partnership.
2. Expectations for the granting of tenure, outlined in the Faculty Handbook, are not relaxed for spousal split-position hires. The expectations for both spouses are identical to the expectations placed upon full-time non-spousal hires.
3. Should one spouse not be granted tenure, the reassessment of the position with the tenured spouse is conducted by the department, subject to the approval of the Dean, the President, and the Board of Trustees.
4. Should one spouse leave the split-position for other employment, the reassessment of the position with the remaining spouse is conducted by the department, subject to the approval of the Dean, the President, and the Board of Trustees.
5. Should one spouse die or should the spouses divorce (or dissolve their domestic partnership), the reassessment of the position is conducted by the department, subject to the approval of the Dean, the President, and the Board of Trustees.
6. All relevant federal and state case law (divorce, community property, etc.) is operative in regard to the spousal split-position. The spousal split-position policy will evolve as new case law evolves.
7. Each spouse receives department preference for block visitor courses taught within their disciplinary area. The course is paid at the block visitor salary rate. This preferential treatment does not apply to summer courses.

Benefits

1. The position is considered as one benefit-eligible position.
2. Each spouse receives the college emeriti contribution and each spouse receives health club reimbursement. For all other benefits, impact is indirect and minimal at best, as the position’s status is one benefit-eligible position.
3. For tuition remission, the position is counted as a single professorship for determining years of service.

3. Periodic Review

A brief annual performance review of each faculty member is conducted each year by the chair for the purposes of salary administration (see Section C.VII.A.1). Except for adjunct faculty (see Section C.II.B) or faculty on replacement or fixed-term appointments, a more formal review is made in the faculty member's third year and at the time a faculty member is being considered for tenured appointment or for promotion.

4. Third-Year Review

The progress and performance of each tenure-track, full-time faculty member is reviewed by the department (or program) chair, the Divisional Executive Committee, the Personnel Subcommittee, the full Faculty Executive Committee, and the Dean during that person's third full year at the College or at a time otherwise specified in the faculty member's initial contract. Although the process remains confidential, the candidate is informed of the general nature of the recommendation (favorable, mixed or unfavorable) at each level of the review by the department or program chair, division chair, and FEC chair or Dean, respectively. The Dean of the College and the department chair communicate the final result and a substantive summary of this review to the faculty member in a meeting with the Dean and the chair to be held after the review. A written copy ofthe summary and any additional agreements is sent to the Divisional Executive Committee and the Faculty Executive Committee and is added to the candidate's tenure file.

In the unusual case of an untenured department (or program) chair, the Dean of the College designates a faculty member to conduct the review on behalf of that chair.

The purpose of a third-year review is to gather information about a faculty member's effectiveness as a teacher, scholar, and member of the College community, with particular emphasis on the diagnosis of problems and suggested solutions. A negative third-year review may lead to a negative recommendation for reappointment. A positive third-year review will not guarantee a favorable tenure decision.

Suggestions for the nature and quantities of material that should be assembled for a review file may be found in Section C.II.A.10, ATenure and Promotion Files and Portfolios: Suggested Composition.

 

5. Reappointment

All faculty reappointments, including the specific terms and conditions thereof, are made by letter signed by the President or the Dean of the College after consultation with the department (or program) chair. Only such a letter may be relied on for the terms of a faculty member's appointment. Prior to the award of tenure, faculty appointments are made on a year-to-year basis.

 

6. Criteria for Tenure and Promotion

A long-standing tradition in higher education is the reliance on peer review in making decisions for tenure and promotion. Although the President and the Trustees must take responsibility for the fiscal health of the institution, the faculty must ultimately bear the burden of deciding what the criteria are for tenure and promotion, and who has fulfilled these criteria. At Colorado College the quality of teaching, scholarship, and participation in the life of the College are the major determinants in decisions to grant tenure to or promote faculty members. Institutional considerations such as budgetary constraints, programmatic changes, the need to provide a balance among departments, course offerings, or faculty ranks will also be weighed in such decisions, but insofar as possible, the merits of the individual professor in these three areas are the principal factors. As an institution that places particular emphasis on the quality of teaching, Colorado College gives special weight to this area. In promotion and tenure decisions, no fixed number of years is required for or assures promotion or tenure. Further detail on promotion timing may be found in Section C.II.A.8, APromotion Procedures.

After seven years of service at Colorado College in any one of the professorial grades, an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor may be retained only upon the award of tenure. In a faculty member's sixth year at the College in one of the professorial grades or at a time otherwise specified in the faculty member's initial contract, the College will decide whether to grant the professor tenure or issue a terminal contract for the following academic year. The President may extend the probationary period under extraordinary circumstances, upon written request of the faculty member. The College reserves the right to grant tenure before the end of the sixth year under extraordinary circumstances.

Teaching with a focus on student learning and realization of the student's potential is the principal business of the College. Excellence in teaching depends on conveying course material clearly and effectively, actively engaging students in learning, and providing careful and useful evaluation of their work. We will ask faculty members to describe their efforts in these areas and will give weight to the comments of alumni and current students on the effectiveness of class sessions, the nature and usefulness of assignments, the amount and helpfulness of critical feedback, and the teacher's ability to promote critical and creative thinking and inquiry. Excellence in all four areas is the minimum standard for teaching at Colorado College. The kind, rather than the number of students a faculty member attracts and benefits also counts in the assessment of a faculty member's teaching.

Quality teaching necessarily involves scholarship in the faculty member's field and in related fields as a source of vitality and depth that cannot otherwise be attained. Active scholarship means contributions to the broader scholarly or artistic community. The basis of judging the quality of a faculty member's scholarship will be a body of scholarly work-publication, performance, or exhibition-that has been reviewed by professional peers outside the College. This scholarly work can reflect the development of the faculty member's research in new directions, or it can build on or extend previous work. Peer-reviewed conference papers/presentations, work in progress, and other professional activities (including supervision of publishable student research) shall be recognized in the overall assessment of scholarly achievement, but in themselves they will not compensate for an absence of publications or the equivalent in the visual and performance arts; nor will strong teaching or service to the community compensate for an absence of scholarly productivity.

Since the College is more than an assemblage of courses, participation in the broader life of the College is a factor that must be considered in evaluating faculty. Service to the college community involves advising students, aiding students in pursuits outside the classroom, fulfilling departmental responsibilities, working on college committees, and engaging in special projects and initiatives. It can also take the form of participating in alumni and admissions activities, assuming leadership roles in interdisciplinary programs, and taking active roles in the collegial, intellectual, and artistic life of the College. The measure of effective participation is not the number of activities but the significance of the contribution. We also highly value a faculty member's contributions to professional organizations in his or her discipline and to the wider community, but these contributions cannot replace service to the College itself.

While a good faculty is inevitably a collection of individuals, an effective member of such a faculty is sincerely concerned, in a personal way, with the problems of the College as a whole and with the solutions for those problems. Therefore, the appraisal of a faculty member's qualities also includes a sense of the individual's presence in college life and the difference that presence makes. Among other things, a person's character is part of that presence, because of the impact that the individual has on students, colleagues, and people outside the College.

Although the balance among teaching, scholarship, and service to the department and college may vary according to individuals and to the stage in their careers, excellence in teaching is paramount. The faculty member's aim should be to earn the respect of students and colleagues by excellence as a teacher and scholar--as a professional person strongly grounded in a chosen field, and concerned to provoke a desire for knowledge in others.

Promotion to full professor is not automatic. It recognizes a high level of achievement in teaching, scholarship, and service and expresses confidence in a faculty member’s ability to continue to provide leadership in the classroom, college, and professional community.
The standards for excellence in teaching used to grant tenure also apply to promotion to full professor. We expect evidence that candidates continue to incorporate new work in the field in their classes and use their experience to enrich the academic program by, for example, experimenting with new teaching techniques, mentoring new faculty, or participating in interdisciplinary or team teaching initiatives.
At this level the candidate needs to show sustained involvement in scholarship, demonstrated by several pieces of peer-reviewed published work or the equivalent and by involvement in new projects.
To achieve promotion to full professor, candidates also need to show that they have made significant contributions to their departments, committees, programs or special projects important to the academic program. Chairing a department or directing a program is an example of such leadership and will be weighed heavily in the review process. Involvement in the professional and wider communities which demonstrate continuing engagement in a person’s field also strengthen the case for promotion.

Tenure Procedures

 

a. General Review Procedures

At the end of the first year as well as in the spring of the academic year preceding the year in which a review or decision is to be made, the Dean of the College consults with the department chair and the tenure candidate to discuss the tenure process, and to make sure that all aspects of the process (criteria, procedures,timetables) are clear. At these times any departmental and cross-disciplinary interpretations of the process should be reviewed as well as any unusual agreements in the original contract. The Dean 's written summary of these meetings should be included in the candidate's file and a copy given to the candidate.

During the summer preceding the tenure decision (or early fall at the latest), the department chair begins to assemble a file that reviews the candidate's work, focusing upon the material since the third-year review (see Section C.II.A.10). At this time, the chair solicits the written recommendations of tenured faculty members and seeks the evaluations of non-tenured members of the department regarding the tenure candidate. Committee chairs and colleagues outside the department contribute letters evaluating the impact of the candidate's service to the department, the College, and, when relevant, the professional and wider communities. To assess a faculty member's effectiveness as an advisor, chairs distribute a standard letter to the candidate's academic advisees.

The chair also sends a standard letter to all students (including alumni) taught during the period under review (in the case of tenure/promotion-to-associate and promotion-to-full reviews, the period since the previous review). The Dean's Office prepares the letters that will be sent to students and alumni and gives the template to the chair to send out or sends them out on behalf of the chair. The use of a standard letter helps ensure that all students assess faculty according to similar criteria. The chair should make every effort (including interviewing students if necessary) to ensure that the file contains a minimum of 25 responses.

Chairs do not include a candidate’s course evaluations in the file, but in the case of third year and tenure reviews they may summarize evaluations that they have read and may discuss these evaluations with the candidate. Chairs will organize periodic visits of tenured colleagues to classes for diagnostic as well as evaluative purposes. Reports from these visits should be included in the candidate’s file.

Tenured members of the department or regular tenured participants in interdisciplinary programs (usually members of an interdisciplinary program Steering Committee) provide a careful review of the candidate's scholarly activity. In May (September for third-year reviews), the College also asks four peers from outside the College to evaluate the candidate's scholarly or creative work. Candidates choose two of these external evaluators, and the chair selects the other two evaluators in consultation with the Dean. These evaluators should include some mixture of people at research universities and liberal arts colleges who are at the same rank as the candidate or higher. Letters requesting their assistance will explain the College's expectations for teaching, work with students, and service and will ask them to evaluate the quality of the candidate's scholarship.

The candidate should be invited to suggest ten to twenty names of faculty colleagues, graduates, and returning students who must also be solicited for their input by the chair. In addition, the candidate submits a vita and a statement about his or her work and role in the College that bears upon qualifications for tenure. The completed tenure file will usually contain the same kind of information as the third-year review (see Section C.II.A.10), but it will include alumni responses.

By the deadline indicated in the master schedule for that year, the department chair will confer with the tenured members of the department, and after recording a vote, the chair will submit to the Dean of the College a specific recommendation based on the criteria stated in Section C.II.A.6 of this handbook with all supporting documents. The candidate or department may make no further additions, either positive or negative after the specified deadline. This file will be kept in the Dean's office and it will not be available to the chair or any member of the department after its submission except for an enumeration of the contents, which will be provided by the Personnel Subcommittee to the chair and the candidate. Members of the tenure candidate's department may not vote at any levelabove the departmental level on a tenure recommendation for the candidate nor may anyone participate who has a conflict of interest as defined by the Legal Counsel.

The Divisional Executive Committee reviews the candidate's whole file and prepares its own written recommendation to the Dean and the Faculty Executive Committee. Divisional Executive Committees should keep foremost in mind the opinions of a person's scholarship and teaching held by colleagues within the division. Careful attention should be paid to a person's contribution to the division and the College beyond specific departmental obligations. Such things as interest in the relation among various fields, interest in the work of colleagues, and contributions to interdisciplinary discussion, scholarship and teaching should be taken into account. The Divisional Executive Committee may elect to have a conference with the tenure candidate to make a fuller evaluation.

The Personnel Subcommittee of the Faculty Executive Committee reviews all file materials and makes a recommendation to the entire Faculty Executive Committee. The Faculty Executive Committee, in turn, after reviewing the file, makes a recommendation to the Dean. The President and the Dean attend the Faculty Executive Committee's deliberations. The Dean, the President or the Faculty Executive Committee may elect to have a conference with the candidate. The tenure candidate may also request such a conference. Upon receiving the Faculty Executive Committee's recommendation, the Dean advises the President of his/her recommendation and so informs the candidate. Summaries of the Dean's and the Faculty Executive Committee's recommendations should beprovided to the candidate in the follow-up meeting with the chair and the candidate. (In cases of a negative recommendation by the Faculty Executive Committee, the vote should be recorded as well.)

Upon receiving a tenure recommendation from the Dean, the President makes a final recommendation to the Board of Trustees at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

In the event the Dean makes a negative tenure recommendation to the President, the Dean orally informs the candidate, the department chair, the appropriate Divisional Executive Committee, and the Faculty Executive Committee. The candidate has the right to appeal the Dean's recommendation in accordance with Section C.II.A.9 of this Handbook. If the candidate appeals, the decision of the President is not made until the appeal process is complete. Upon receiving both the Dean's recommendation and the appeal board's recommendation, the President makes a final recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

The timetable for all tenure procedures is described in the annual master schedule distributed each year to all faculty members.

In the case of a department chair, the Dean of the College designates a faculty member to conduct the tenure review on behalf of the department, but the tenure review otherwise proceeds in the same manner and with the same timetable as outlined above.

 

8. Promotion Procedures

a. General Promotion Procedures

In making recommendations on promotion, department chairs consult the Dean of the College in the spring before the year in which such a recommendation may be made in order to review procedures and timetables. The Dean may not veto a plan to recommend a person for promotion but may point out problems and circumstances that have some bearing on the promotion decision. All faculty who have not already been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor will automatically be considered for promotion from the Assistant to the Associate Professor rank in the year of their tenure review. The material in the tenure file will serve as the basis for the promotion decision. Consideration for promotion to Associate Professor during the tenure review year will not require separate bodies of evidence or files. Departments and divisions should make recommendations for or against promotion at the same time they make recommendations concerning tenure. However, the decisions of tenure and promotion are independent of each other, and a positive tenure decision does not automatically carry with it a positive promotion decision.

Normally, faculty are eligible for promotion to full professor after eight years of service at the associate professor rank; the length of service at the associate professor rank prior to promotion is generally determined by the department and the Dean in consultation with the candidate. Any faculty member who believes that he or she should be eligible for promotion but who does not have a recommendation from his or her department chair may request a meeting with the Personnel Subcommittee of the Faculty Executive Committee to request a promotion review. If the Faculty Executive Committee, upon advice from the Personnel Subcommittee, determines that a faculty member's request for promotion review should proceed, it shall form an appropriate review committee in place of the department chair. The latter determination does not signify any conclusion in advance as to the merits of the promotion review. That committee shall then forward the promotion file to the appropriate Divisional Executive Committee, the Faculty Executive Committee and the Dean according to the promotion process described below.

To prepare a promotion recommendation, department chairs should follow the general procedures outlined in Section C.II.A.7 for tenure reviews. The chair's recommendation should be based on the criteria stated in Section C.II.A.6 of this handbook.

Promotion recommendation files constructed within one or two years after a tenure review or an earlier promotion review should focus primarily on a faculty member's performance since the last review, with particular attention to areas of strength or weakness identified in the earlier review.

Members of the promotion candidate's department may not vote at any level of review above the departmental level on a recommendation for the candidate. Anyone with a conflict of interest as defined by the Legal Counsel may not participate in any way at any level of the review. The Divisional Executive Committee makes its recommendations after reviewing the department chair's recommendation and supporting documents, taking into account the criteria described in this handbook's section on tenure.

The Personnel Subcommittee then reviews the recommendations and, in consultation with the rest of the Faculty Executive Committee, makes a recommendation to the Dean copied to the President, who may be present for these discussions. The Dean makes a recommendation to the President, and the Dean notifies the candidate of the President's decision as well as the Personnel Subcommittee's recommendation. The President and the Dean discuss with department chairs and candidates the reasons for any negative decision. If denied promotion, normally the candidate may reapply in two years if the concerns have been addressed.

The President and the Dean normally present their positive recommendations for promotion to the Board of Trustees at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

b. Promotion Procedures for Chairs

In September of each year the Faculty Executive Committee asks each Divisional Executive Committee to review the promotion status of each chair in that division to determine whether a promotion review should be started for the chair. The Divisional Executive Committee consults with the chairs and determines who wants to be considered for promotion. For those chairs that desire a promotion review, the Divisional Executive Committee explores whether members of the division, including members of the chair's department, support promotion and believe a strong case can be made.

In the event that the Divisional Executive Committee believes a promotion review is appropriate, it acts as chair for the faculty member and institutes the promotion review, or, in consultation with the Dean, it appoints a faculty member to act as chair. The Divisional Executive Committee notifies the chair, the Dean, the Faculty Executive Committee, and the faculty member who will conduct the review in a timely manner (consult master schedule for precise date), so that if a recommendation for promotion is forthcoming, it can be considered in the regular promotion cycle.

In the event that the Divisional Executive Committee believes a promotion review is not appropriate, it notifies the chair, the Faculty Executive Committee and the Dean, again by the date specified in the master schedule. In the event that the chair believes an oversight or an injustice has occurred, he or she may appeal the Divisional Executive Committee's decision to the Dean. If the Dean feels that a strong argument can be made for promotion, the Dean notifies the Faculty Executive Committee giving the basis for his/her judgment that a file should be constructed. If the Dean does not feel that a strong case can be made, no further action is taken. The Faculty Executive Committee reviews the cases referred to it by the Dean. If the Faculty Executive Committee does not agree with the Dean that a strong case can be made, no further action is taken. If the Faculty Executive Committee agrees with the Dean that a strong case can be made for promotion, it appoints a faculty member to gather additional information and prepare a recommendation for review according to established procedures.

9. Appeal Procedure

An appeal procedure is available to any non-tenured, tenure track faculty member who is a candidate for reappointment or tenure. A faculty member may ask for the creation of an appeal board once the Dean has made a negative recommendation to the President. The request must be in writing and received by the Personnel Subcommittee of the Faculty Executive Committee within two weeks (excluding winter break) of the Dean's recommendation being communicated to the faculty member.

After soliciting nominations from the Minority Concerns Committee and the Women's Concerns Committee when appropriate, the Personnel Subcommittee, in consultation with the rest of the Faculty Executive Committee, appoints an appeal board of three tenured faculty members.

The appeal board has full power to review the file of the faculty member making the appeal, and to interview persons involved in the process leading up to the Dean's recommendation. The appeal board shall determine a) whether the procedures followed up to the Dean's recommendation were in accordance with this Handbook and b) whether

it agrees or disagrees with the Dean's recommendation. The appeal board should state the reasons for its conclusions in making its recommendation to the President. The appeal board's recommendation shall be communicated to the President in writing within four weeks (excluding winter break) of the appeal board's appointment. The decision of the President may not be appealed and it shall be communicated to the faculty member within two weeks of the President's receipt of the appeal board's recommendation.

 

10. Tenure and Promotion Files and Portfolios: Suggested Composition

Although no file or portfolio can ever show the whole person, the following items have been found to be useful for tenure and promotion reviews. Consultation with the chair, the Divisional Executive Committee, the Personnel Subcommittee, and the Dean of the Faculty should provide further discipline-specific information that might be useful for the candidate to provide in a given year. A meeting of the candidate, the chair, and the Dean take place in the spring before the review is conducted and should provide basic information and serve as an occasion for the conversation about the review process. The master schedule for college decisions made by various committees affecting tenure and promotion will be provided to all faculty at the start of each year. Faculty should also consult the faculty handbook for information concerning the reviews.

(1) By early September, the candidate should provide the chair with materials for the review file. This should include a current vita with updated descriptions of professional activity and any community involvement, and the materials described below. (Third-year review and promotion-to-full files will usually lag a month behind the construction of tenure/promotion-to-associate files in the timing indicated in these recommendations.) See the Master Schedule for further information on timing.

Note: Excellence in teaching is central to the College's mission. A statement of teaching philosophy, including an explanation of how the syllabi, teaching strategies, and resource materials of representative courses exemplify that teaching philosophy are very useful for helping to understand how the candidate approaches this primary area. Candidates may also include a statement of what they have learned from TLC presentations and other meetings devoted to the scholarship of teaching and learning. Candidates should be encouraged to realize that lessons learned from classroom failures can be as valuable as notable successes and that an explanation of "lessons learned" can illustrate growth as a teacher-scholar.

(2) During the summer or at the latest in block 1 (for tenure review) or block 2 (for third-year and promotion-to-full reviews), the chair of the department or program (or a designated substitute) sends a standard letter to all students and alumni taught during the period under review (in the case of tenure/promotion-to-associate and promotion-to-full reviews, the period since the previous review). The Dean's Office prepares the letters and gives the template to the chair to send out or sends them out on behalf of the chair. To assess a faculty member's effectiveness as an advisor, chairs distribute a standard letter to the candidate's academic advisees. All letters and email responses should be included in the file. The candidate may also provide the names of students to be contacted by the chair who can provide additional insights because of special mentoring relationships, research projects, or significant committee work they have conducted with the candidate, but who would be otherwise missed by the regular solicitation.

(3) Chairs may summarize course evaluations that they have read and may discuss these evaluations with the candidate.

(4) In May (September for third-year reviews), the College also asks four peers from outside the College to evaluate the candidate's scholarly or creative work. Candidates choose two of these external evaluators, and the chair selects the other two evaluators in consultation with the Dean.

(5) The candidate should provide evidence of scholarly activity such as books, copies of professional papers, photographs of sculptures, tapes of music, or other discipline-specific materials produced during the period under review. A statement explaining the candidate's approach to scholarship is always useful in the review, as is a statement on college service.

(6) Early in the fall semester, the chair should solicit letters from Colorado College colleagues outside the department or program, including those faculty from cognate disciplines and those who have served with the candidate on committees or projects. The candidate should provide a list of a ten or so faculty that the chair will use as a starting point when soliciting input. Typically, complete files will have a half-dozen or so letters in this folder.

(7) Early in the fall semester, the division executive committee will also solicit letters from the College faculty. The division committee's announcement of the review-in-progress comes in the form of a memo to all faculty with a request for letters for the file. The letters from these faculty go to the department chair. See the Master Calendar for further information on timing.

(8) The department members (or cross-disciplinary colleagues in the case of interdisciplinary programs) will read the file before writing their individual letters. Only tenured members are expected to contribute a formal letter. Although untenured members may also submit a letter, they may not read the file. The file available for faculty review will include everything except letters from Colorado College colleagues, departmental colleagues, and the chair. Faculty members may voluntarily share their letters among themselves prior to submittal to the chair, but they are not to read colleagues' letters from the file. After assembling the file for review by the Divisional Executive Committee, the Faculty Executive Committee and the Dean, the chair may call a meeting of the department to discuss the case and to invite further comment. Aspects of this discussion may be included in the chair's recommendation letter for the file.

The chair's letter should summarize the file and provide the departmental recommendation. At this point the chair sends the file to the Dean's Office and informs the division executive committee and the FEC that the file is ready for review. The FEC Personnel Subcommittee reviews the file after the division executive committee has added its recommendation. See the Master Calendar for further information on timing.

As is true in most areas of life, targeting the reviewing audience is a plus. It is possible to lose the main points if a review file includes too much. Boxes of course handouts are likely to distract rather than add to the picture, and the chair is encouraged to advise the candidate on judicious inclusion of material. The TLC should also be useful in providing ideas of how to best present candidates, especially those who wish to demonstrate their attributes in unique ways.

 

B. Adjunct Faculty

The adjunct faculty of the College are regular part-time faculty and shall consist of Adjunct Instructors, Adjunct Assistant Professors, Adjunct Associate Professors and Adjunct Professors.

1. Appointment and Review

Appointment to adjunct status is unusual and may be undertaken only in special circumstances. Only when a person has taught a minimum of ten blocks within a five-year period may he/she be considered for adjunct status. The appropriate academic department, Divisional Executive Committee, the Faculty Executive Committee, and the Dean shall make the reviews. The Dean recommends appointment to the President and the President makes the final decision on appointment. Upon appointment, such person shall be given probationary status at an appropriate adjunct faculty rank. After two further years of teaching as a probationary adjunct faculty member, such person shall undergo a review using the procedures of the third-year review. If that review is positive, then such person will become a regular adjunct faculty member at the appropriate rank. A successful review is not the equivalent of being granted tenure. Even after a successful review, adjunct faculty are appointed on an annual basis.

2. Voting Privileges

Adjunct faculty members are entitled to vote in faculty meetings during an academic year in which such persons are scheduled to teach at least four blocks or the equivalent as determined by the Dean of the College in consultation with the Faculty Executive Committee.

3. Promotion

Adjunct faculty are eligible for promotion within the adjunct category, sabbatical leaves, and travel and research/study grants under the same rules and according to the same procedures as other faculty. For the computation of time intervals for leaves, seven blocks of part-time teaching service shall be considered as the equivalent of one academic year of full-time service.

4. Pay

Adjunct faculty shall receive per block not less than 1/8th of the minimum annual salary payable to a full-time person in the corresponding rank and consistent with the College’s general policy for compensation of part-time employees. As regular members of the faculty, adjunct faculty are expected to participate in the life of the College proportionate to the individual’s appointment. This includes reasonable department or program service, all-college committee work, and formal academic advising. Except in unusual circumstances, adjunct faculty members may not teach more than five blocks per year. They may, however, be compensated for additional administrative duties. As with all other faculty salaries, this arrangement will depend upon the financial resources of the College at any given time.

5. Change in Status

If an adjunct faculty member becomes a member of the tenure track faculty, the time he or she spent as an adjunct faculty member shall not count toward tenure unless other arrangements are specified in writing at the time of appointment to a tenure track faculty position. With the exception of special hires as described in Section II.A.2.a., all tenure-track appointments, including those from existing adjunct position, shall be the result of national searches as described in Section II.A.2.

C. Riley Scholars-in-Residence

The Riley Scholar-in-Residence Program grows out of the conviction that a strong representation of minority scholars on the faculties of liberal arts colleges is essential. The presence of African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, and Native American scholars has a two-fold effect: first, it provides greater diversity of experience and perspective within the faculty and in the curriculum, contributing to the collective effort of educational institutions to test and to stretch the frontiers of knowledge. Second, minority scholars provide necessary role models, especially for minority students. They help attract minority students to liberal arts colleges and enhance their experience once there.

Recognizing these important and beneficial effects, Colorado College is a member institution of the Consortium for a Strong Minority Presence at Liberal Arts Colleges, an association of selective undergraduate institutions, which has developed a program to help meet the challenge. The program includes both a dissertation completion and a post-doctoral fellowship opportunity. Its immediate aim is to assist minority scholars in the early stages of their careers. A further aim of the program is to retain participating scholars in undergraduate teaching, preferably with tenure track positions at member institutions of the consortium or at similar institutions.

At Colorado College Riley Scholars-in-Residence may have either pre-doctoral or post-doctoral status and teach two blocks during the academic year. In addition, they are expected to participate in such functions as departmental seminars and to interact regularly with students. Academic departments work with the Dean or President or their designates to identify and recruit suitable candidates. The specific circumstances of each hiring are negotiated by the Dean and include the possibility of start up funds to finance proposed research.

D. Other Faculty Appointments

In addition to the faculty positions described above, Colorado College hires faculty for full- and part-time non-tenure track positions as lecturers, instructors, block visitors, and replacements for tenure track faculty.

1. Block Visitors

Block Visitors, especially those who will teach no more than a block or two, are usually invited by the department on the basis of their reputation or someone's personal knowledge of them in consultation with the Dean. Recruitment in such cases generally involves only a few letters or telephone calls. A department chair’s request for appointment of a block visitor should be accompanied by a vita for the Dean’s review before hiring. A brief report on the work of the block visitor at the end of the block of teaching should be sent to the Dean. Persons hired as block visitors shall normally be placed in the rank of Lecturer. Those who are regularly employed at another academic institution shall be designated as visiting professors appropriate to their rank at their home institution.

2. Full-time Temporary and Replacement Faculty

The Dean of the College makes recommendations for appointments and reappointments of temporary and replacement faculty to the President after consultation with the chair of the appropriate department. Persons hired as temporary and replacement faculty shall normally be placed in a rank, such as a visiting assistant professor, depending upon their education and experience. A replacement faculty member holding a one-year appointment may be reappointed only twice, remaining at the College on one-year appointments for a maximum of three years.

3. Full-time, Non-tenure Track Lecturers

Recommendations for appointments and reappointments of full-time, non-tenure track lecturers are made by the Dean of the College to the President after consultation with the chair of the appropriate department. Such appointments are unusual and are undertaken only in special circumstances. Lecturers are to be evaluated by their department chairs every two years in consultation with the department. The evaluation is both summative and formative and also serves as a salary review. Every fourth year the evaluation must include polling of current students and alumni who have taken classes from the lecturer under review. The department chair submits the evaluation the Dean of the College.

4. Appointment Letters

All appointments and reappointments for full- and part-time non-tenure track faculty, including the specific terms and conditions thereof, are made by letter signed for the College by the President or Dean of the College. Only such a letter may be relied on for the terms of any faculty member's appointment at the College. Whenever possible, appointment letters for part-time and full-time non-tenure track faculty shall be sent out at the same time as those of tenure track faculty. However, decisions regarding such appointments may not be made until after tenure track faculty appointments.

When a non-tenure track faculty member is appointed, his or her academic credentials shall be brought up to date and placed on file in the Dean’s Office.

All appointments of non-tenure track faculty shall be for a term not exceeding one year, and may be renewed thereafter, subject to the rules given above. Time spent in the position of lecturer, visiting professor or adjunct faculty shall not count toward tenure unless other arrangements are specified in writing at the time of appointment to a tenure track faculty position.

III. Voting and Committee Assignments

Tenure track faculty, faculty on Special Senior Status, full-time temporary and replacement faculty members, such as sabbatical replacements, and adjunct faculty, are entitled to vote at faculty meetings and to be appointed to faculty committees. Retired or emeritus faculty members are encouraged to attend faculty meetings but are not entitled to vote at these meetings. Only full-time tenure track faculty members are eligible to serveon elected committees (See section D.IV.A and section D.IV.B of this handbook.) Customarily, first year faculty members are not appointed to standing committees, although exceptions may be made.

IV. Outside Employment

The Dean of the College in unusual circumstances may grant permission for full-time faculty members to undertake teaching or other employment off-campus. This policy is not intended to discourage consulting work that complements a faculty member's expertise.

The College complies with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Any faculty member planning a military leave should confer with the Dean.)

V. Termination of Employment

A. Resignation

A faculty member wishing to resign an appointment should submit a letter of resignation on or before April first of the academic year in which the termination is to become effective. Normally, the termination becomes effective at the end of that academic year. Once submitted, the resignation cannot be withdrawn without the express written approval of the President upon advice from the Dean.

• Dismissal of Tenured Faculty
  

1. Reasons for Dismissal

Recommendations for the termination of any tenured appointment may be made by the President for action by the Board of Trustees, on the basis of a faculty member=s moral turpitude, intemperance, neglect of duty, or other serious misconduct or academic deficiency. In making a recommendation for termination of a tenured appointment, the President shall consider recommendations from the Dean of the College, the Faculty Executive Committee, other appropriate committees, and any other available information concerning the matter. Financial exigency of the College, in all cases, shall constitute sufficient cause for termination of a tenured appointment.

2. Procedures for Dismissal

Dismissal of a tenured faculty member will be preceded by: (1) discussions between the faculty member and the Dean of the College, in which a mutually agreeable arrangement will be attempted; (2) at the faculty member’s request, an informal inquiry by the Faculty Executive Committee, which may result in a resolution recommended by the Faculty Executive Committee to the Dean, and (3) a written statement of reasons for dismissal, framed with reasonable particularity, from the Dean to the faculty member.

3. Appeal Procedure for Dismissal of Tenured Faculty

In the event that the Dean or the President seeks the dismissal of a faculty member, that individual shall have the right to request a formal hearing by a panel of three disinterested faculty members selected by the Faculty Executive Committee from the standing appeals committee. The request for a hearing must be made in writing to the Faculty Executive Committee. The faculty member and the College’s administration will, each, have a maximum of two challenges without stated cause to the membership of the hearing committee. The Dean may suspend the faculty member pending a final recommendation by the hearing committee if the President, in consultation with the Dean of the College and Faculty Executive Committee, determines that immediate harm is threatened to the College or any of its members (including the concerned faculty member). Salary will continue during the period of suspension.

The Dean, upon advice from the Faculty Executive Committee, will give the concerned faculty member written notice of the hearing, with specific charges, at least 30 calendar days prior to the hearing, during which time the hearing committee will be constituted and any documents and witnesses assembled. A transcript of the deliberations will be made available to the faculty member without cost, upon request. The faculty member and the College’s administration, each, will have the opportunity to present witnesses and documentary or other evidence. The faculty member and the College’s administration, each, will have the right to confront and cross-examine all witnesses. Legal counsel may represent either the faculty member or the College’s administration (or both), but counsel will not be permitted to object to the introduction of evidence (the hearing committee will not be bound by the legal rules of evidence).

The hearing committee will report in writing to the President, indicating its recommendation as to whether adequate cause exists for dismissal. A summary of the report will be given to the concerned faculty member. If the hearing committee concludes that adequate cause for dismissal has not been established, and the President rejects that recommendation, the President will respond in writing to the hearing committee, the Faculty Executive Committee, and the concerned faculty member, stating the President’s reasons, and provide an opportunity for response before transmitting the case to the Board of Trustees. If the hearing committee concludes that adequate cause for dismissal has been established, but that disciplinary action less than dismissal would be more appropriate, it will so recommend, with supporting reasons.

If the hearing committee recommends dismissal, the faculty member may request that the President transmit to the Board of Trustees a written record of the case. The Executive Committee of the Board will deliberate and bring a recommendation to the Board. The review will be based on the record of the committee hearing and on the responses, if any, to the committee’s report. The Executive Committee of the Board may elect to hear oral and/or written arguments by the concerned faculty member, the hearing committee members, the President and/or the Dean of the College. The Board of Trustees normally will act on the Executive Committee’s recommendation at its next regularly scheduled meeting; the Board’s decision is final in all cases involving the dismissal of a tenured faculty member.

C. Dismissal During the Probationary Period

Prior to the award of tenure, faculty appointments are generally made on a year-to-year basis. However, a faculty member may be dismissed for cause prior to the end of an academic year. For purposes of this paragraph, cause is defined as moral turpitude, intemperance, neglect of duty, or other serious misconduct or academic deficiency. In all such cases the Dean of the College will provide the concerned faculty member with the opportunity to petition the Faculty Executive Committee and/or the President for reconsideration of the Dean’s decision within 14 calendar days of receiving written notice of the Dean’s decision. In each case, the President’s decision will be final.

D. Terminal Notice or Salary

Tenure track faculty members whose appointments are not renewed during their probationary periods will receive notices (or salary in lieu of notice) on the basis of the following schedule: by March 1st of the first year of service; by December 15th of the second year of service; one year’s notice if the decision not to renew the appointment is made after two years of service.

Tenured faculty whose appointments are terminated will receive one year’s notice (or salary in lieu of notice). The Board of Trustees may take into account the length and quality of the faculty member’s service in determining what, if any, salary payments will be made beyond the effective date of dismissal.

This provision for terminal notice or salary will not apply if the conduct of the concerned faculty member involves moral turpitude or other egregious conduct.

E. Discipline Other than Dismissal

The Dean may decide that the conduct of a faculty member, although not providing adequate cause for dismissal, is sufficiently serious to justify the imposition of another type of sanction, ranging from a severe reprimand to suspension for a stated period. The Dean will provide the faculty member with the opportunity to be heard. The faculty member may also petition the Faculty Executive Committee and/or the President. The President shall make the final decision in all such disciplinary cases.

F. Retirement and Emeritus Status

Upon recommendation by the department, Dean and President, and approval by the Board of Trustees, a member of the tenure track or adjunct faculty may be appointed to emeritus status when the faculty member has retired. A retired member of the faculty may be appointed to teach part-time on a year-by-year basis. Emeritus faculty do not participate in departmental votes on pedagogical decisions, resource allocation decisions, or faculty and staff hiring/replacement decisions.

Faculty members who are at least 60 years of age and have 10 or more years of full-time and/or adjunct service at the College are eligible for the College’s retirement benefit program, which currently includes health, dental, vision and life insurance. Upon retirement, life insurance benefits reduce to $5,000 and the College pays the premiums. When retirees and/or their spouses reach age 65 and become eligible for Medicare they must transfer their health insurance coverage to one of the programs that coordinate with Medicare.

G. Early Retirement/Phased Retirement

1. Purposes:

Where possible, given the other commitments of the college, to encourage faculty to retire by age 70 in the interests of renewing the teaching corps.
Where possible, given the other commitments of the college, to make it possible for full-time faculty with 20 years of service who reach age 60 to retire somewhat sooner than they otherwise might.
To ease the transition from teaching to retirement by providing a period of half-time teaching. Many faculty members already pursue this path toward retirement.
To do all of the above at either no cost or at a cost savings to the college.
To do all of the above, while not creating any entitlement or benefit, nor changing any existing term or condition of employment, for any current or future employee or faculty member.

This policy is subject to periodic review by the Board of Trustees and may be amended or revoked at the Board’s discretion provided, however, that a revocation shall not affect those individuals who have previously been granted participation in the program and provided that those individuals and the college have previously entered into a final, written, binding agreement setting forth the terms and conditions of the individual’s future employment under this policy.

2. Policy

a. Basic Eligibility.

A full-time or adjunct faculty member who will be 59.5 years old and has completed 20 years of service at the college by the end of an academic year, or who will reach 59.5 years by the following summer may apply. The benefit period is three years from 59.5 to 67, two years at 68 and one year at 69.

In an initial period after this proposal is adopted—a period to be defined § by the dean and the president—any full-time faculty member at or above the age of 67 would be eligible for the three-year benefit.

Eligible faculty will normally apply for Early Retirement or Phased § Retirement by September 30 of the academic year before they wish to enter the program.

Faculty participating in the program will be fully retired at its § conclusion. Such persons may work for the college after finishing the program but only at part-time rates for teaching or administrative tasks. Such persons may not return to regular full-time teaching.

b. Approval.

The president of the college may deny an application for Early Retirement/Phased Retirement if any of the following apply:
(i) the president determines that granting the application would seriously disrupt an academic department or other college operation or program; or
(ii) the president determines that the college will have difficulty in replacing the applicant with a similarly qualified person at or below the compensation level of the applicant; or
(iii) the president determines that granting the application will lead to difficulties in meeting contractual, financial, legal or other obligations by which the college is bound; or
(iv) the president determines that granting the application will negatively affect an audit, accreditation or any other review to which the college or any of its programs may be subject; or
(v) the president has received more applications for entrance into Early Retirement/Phased Retirement than can reasonably be granted by reason of contractual, financial, legal or other obligations by which the college is bound.

If the president cannot accept all applications for Early Retirement in a given year, any person(s) denied Early Retirement in the given year will be given first priority for Early Retirement in the following year. Such person(s) may apply for Phased Retirement in the interim. The total benefit period of Early Retirement and Phased Retirement will nonetheless be limited to three years if the person is 67 or less at the time they actually enter the program, and shall be limited to two years or one year, respectively, if such person(s) are 68 or 69 when they actually enter the program. If the president must deny applications for Early Retirement, he or she will first accept those with most years of service and then those who are oldest from among the eligible applicants in a given year.

c. Early Retirement.

Eligible faculty members selected and approved to participate in Early Retirement shall receive Special Early Retirement Compensation (SERC) equal to 50% of what their full-time salary would have been in the year of entry into the program. The college contribution to TIAA-CREF is based on his/her SERC and would be at normal rates. Participating faculty may continue with voluntary retirement contributions.

(i) Faculty taking Early Retirement are not eligible for any teaching as long as they are receiving SERC payments, except under emergency circumstances and by special agreement among the faculty members concerned, the department, the dean and the president. Any teaching beyond retirement would be at block visitor rates.
(ii) The college makes available for persons in Early Retirement the same medical insurance coverage provided full-time faculty and staff. The college will pay the same percentage of premiums as the college pays for full-time faculty and staff.
(iii) Voluntary benefits may be continued during the Early Retirement program. Group life insurance will continue until full retirement, when group life insurance applicable to retirees will prevail. Long-term disability insurance is not applicable to persons in the program.
(iv) If a person in Early Retirement dies, the college will continue to pay his/her SERC for the remaining period of participation. Persons who die while on Early Retirement will not be eligible for the college’s death benefit. The college’s share of hospital and medical insurance premiums will be paid on behalf of the deceased person for a period of six months.
(v) Specific SERC benefits for adjunct faculty admitted into Early Retirement will be arranged in a manner appropriate to the average number of courses taught during the previous five years. The fringe benefit programs that had been available to the person as an adjunct faculty member will continue when the person goes on Early Retirement.
(vi) The department of a person taking Early Retirement option is eligible to apply to the dean for a full-time replacement, but any replacement shall be at the sole discretion of the dean.
(vii) A faculty member relinquishes tenure upon entering Early Retirement.

d. Phased Retirement.

Eligible faculty members selected and approved to participate in Phased Retirement shall receive 70% of base pay for half-time teaching and exercise of all other full-time faculty responsibilities. The college contribution to TIAA-CREF is based on his/her SERC and would be at normal rates. Participating faculty may continue with voluntary retirement contributions.

(i) The college makes proportional contributions to TIAA-CREF according to the normal rates. Such persons are eligible for all the benefits of full-time faculty and staff, except for sabbatical leave.
(ii) The dean may authorize departments to hire part-time replacements but only to the extent of unused funds available within the operating budget line for the given year as a result of Phased Retirement – those funds being calculated as the difference between the full salary and benefits formerly due to the designated faculty member and the actual reduced salary and benefits being paid to that designated faculty member by virtue of their participation in the Phased Retirement Program.
(iii) A faculty member relinquishes tenure upon completing Phased Retirement. Any teaching beyond the period of Phased Retirement will be at block visitor rates.
(iv) Persons who take the Phased Retirement option may subsequently apply to enter the Early Retirement program. However, the total years of participation in the Early Retirement/Phased Retirement program will not exceed three years. Persons who take the Phased Retirement option may not subsequently withdraw from the Phased Retirement program and will not be permitted to return to tenured status or full-time teaching status at the college.

H. Death Benefit

If a tenure track faculty member, an adjunct faculty member, a Riley Scholar-in-Residence or full-time administrative employee who has been employed at the College for at least one year dies while in the employ of the College or while on authorized leave, the College will pay to the surviving spouse and, if no surviving spouse, to the estate a death benefit of a half year of salary over six months after the month of death. The surviving spouse may designate other person(s) to receive the salary payment. The College also will pay the College’s share of the hospital and medical premiums on behalf of the deceased person for a period of six months. Temporary and replacement faculty, block visitors and retired employees or employees who die while on SSS are not eligible for this death benefit.

VI. Faculty Leaves

A. Sabbatical Leaves

Tenured, tenure track, and adjunct faculty are eligible for sabbatical leaves. There are three categories of sabbaticals: 1) full-year sabbaticals, 2) half-year sabbaticals, and 3) early half-year sabbaticals for untenured faculty who have successfully completed third-year reviews. The full- or half-year sabbatical leaves may be taken for four blocks at full salary or eight blocks at 5/9 salary. Sabbatical leaves are normally taken within a single academic year following which the faculty member is obligated to return to Colorado College for at least one year.

Sabbatical leaves are not a right to which all faculty are entitled, but neither are they viewed as a scarce resource allocated to only the chosen few. The College will make every effort to provide a sabbatical leave to eligible faculty as long as the proposed sabbatical activities will benefit both the faculty member and the College. The College makes every effort to provide as many replacement blocks as necessary to insure the continuance of sufficient courses to maintain the curriculum of the affected department and the College as a whole.

1. Purpose

The purpose of sabbatical leave is to provide time for professional growth and intellectual enrichment not ordinarily possible under the demands of a normal teaching load. In each case, the enhancement of the individual's usefulness to the College is a major consideration. It is hoped that the individual will spend his or her sabbatical leave period away from Colorado College.

Faculty members on half-year sabbatical leaves should not receive outside compensation for sabbatical employment; any outside compensation should be directly related to expenses associated with the sabbatical activities (e.g., travel money, housing allowance). Faculty members on full-year sabbatical leaves may use half of their time for employment or other activities. Faculty members should not propose sabbatical projects that encumber their time with responsibilities similar to their Colorado College responsibilities.

2. Eligibility

All tenured, tenure track and adjunct faculty members who have taught the equivalent of six years at Colorado College are eligible to apply for a full-year or half-year sabbatical leave for the seventh year. For adjunct faculty, the computation for sabbatical leaves is as follows: seven blocks of teaching is equivalent to one academic year of full-time service (see Section C.II.B.3 of this handbook). Faculty members who have been denied tenure will not be granted sabbatical leaves. See Section C.IV.C of this handbook for the effect of Leaves Without Pay on Sabbatical Leave eligibility.

Untenured faculty members who have successfully completed the third-year review may apply for a half-year sabbatical to be taken in the year following the review. Those who successfully complete this review in their second year at the College are also eligible to apply. After consulting with the chair, the faculty member presents a plan for the sabbatical, describing its impact on his or her professional development. The plan could include scholarly projects (research, writing, work on performance and exhibitions) and activities to enhance teaching (observing colleagues’ classes, course preparation, workshops on teaching, and reading on pedagogy, for example). The candidate submits a revised version of the proposal to the Dean after the completion of the third-year review in the spring, if necessary. The chair also provides an assessment of the proposed plan’s impact on the applicant’s professional development and specifies replacement needs. In the year of the early sabbatical, faculty would teach three of their core courses in order to reinforce their teaching portfolios. Faculty awarded an early sabbatical may also apply for a regular sabbatical during their sixth year at the College.

A faculty member may apply to delay a sabbatical leave without penalty, but normally the delay cannot be for more than two years. The rationale for such a delay would be enhancement of professional growth. The College is not obligated to grant such a delay. In certain cases, the College may request that a faculty member delay the sabbatical, normally for one or two years. For example, several members of a department may be eligible for sabbatical leave in the same year, or the department may need the services of a particular faculty member (e.g., as department chair).

The postponement of a sabbatical leave at the request of the College will not penalize the faculty member in the calculation of the number of years required before applying for another sabbatical. (For example, a person receiving a sabbatical leave in the eighth year at the College's request will be eligible to take the next sabbatical leave in the fourteenth year.) If the postponement of the sabbatical leave is requested by the faculty member, however, and the faculty member wishes to remain on the regular sabbatical cycle, the faculty member must seek approval for remaining on the regular sabbatical cycle AT THE SAME TIME that he or she requests approval for the delay of the current sabbatical leave.

3. Procedures

An eligible member of the faculty who desires a sabbatical leave must present a written proposal to the Dean of the College demonstrating the ways in which the project benefits both the individual and the College. The proposal must be detailed enough so that the Faculty Research and Development Board has a substantive basis on which to rank it among the other proposals.

The Faculty Research and Development Board makes a recommendation to the Dean regarding the merits of the sabbatical proposal. The project may vary from an active research or a study program to one that includes leisure, rest or travel, depending largely upon the immediate circumstances. In the case of the early sabbatical, the plan involves research and/or work on teaching.

The Faculty Research and Development Board will evaluate a sabbatical proposal, based on criteria that include, but are not limited to:

1. the probability that it will fulfill the aims of the sabbatical leave program;

2. the number of years of service by the applicant at Colorado College;

3. the length of time since the applicant's last sabbatical leave;

4. the length of time since the applicant's last leave of absence;

5. the length of time until retirement.

The primary concern of the Faculty Research and Development Board remains the evaluation of the merit of sabbatical proposals. The Dean and department chairs consider the implications of sabbatical leaves for the department and the College as a whole.

Normally, the deadline for submission of sabbatical leave applications to the Dean of the College is early in the fall of the academic year preceding the year in which the leave will be taken.

In the semester after completing a sabbatical leave, a faculty member must submit a written report to the Dean and the department chair.

B. Appointments to Positions with ACM (Associated Colleges of the Midwest)

From time to time the ACM Office will announce openings for directorships of ACM programs. Colorado College faculty members are free to apply for these positions, subject to approval of the Dean of the College upon consultation with the department chair. ACM pays the director's salary and expenses, and the College pays the salary of any replacement required. These appointments are usually for a period of one semester. Time spent on ACM appointments is treated the same as on-campus appointments in matters of tenure, sabbatical leave and other fringe benefits.

C. Leaves Without Pay

Faculty members may apply for leaves without pay. Normally applications for such leaves should be submitted to the Dean of the College early in the fall of the academic year preceding the year in which the leave will be taken, together with a statement by the chair of the applicant's department concerning the impact the leave would have on the department and the need for a replacement. Such leaves may be requested for any of a number of reasons, for example: to finish a dissertation, to accept a government appointment, to study abroad, to try an alternate career, to convalesce from a period of poor health, etc. Such leaves ordinarily are for a semester or a year, but leaves as short as a single block and as long as two years, have been granted. Full year leaves without pay may be counted toward eligibility for sabbatical leave or tenure consideration only with prior approval of the Dean of the College; such approval will be based upon evidence that the leave contributes to the professional development of the individual and the interests of the College.

D. Replacements for Persons on Leave

Whenever possible, the College will provide replacements for persons on leave, especially on unpaid leave. In the case of sabbatical leaves, however, the College will normally be unable to provide full replacements for all those who expect to be away, and will therefore ask faculty members, departments, and the Dean to provide as much help as possible to maintain a strong academic program.

E. Leaves of Absence for Medical and Family Reasons

1. Paid Medical Leaves

Leaves of absence for health reasons will be granted to full-time faculty members (and adjunct faculty on a pro rata basis) in the light of the circumstances of each case. Continuation of salary may be arranged on an individual basis to a maximum period of six months (180 calendar days) for full-time faculty. Salary continuation is subject to the approval of the President in consultation with the Dean of the College (or appropriate vice president) and the department chairperson. The College requires a physician's certificate and may exercise the right to a second opinion from a physician of the College's choosing. Periodic reevaluation of the leave of absence once granted may be required. Maternity leaves will be granted to full-time faculty members on the same conditions as those applicable to other medical leaves. When maternity leave is taken during the academic year, the College will normally plan for an absence equivalent to two blocks. Paid medical leaves will be counted toward the twelve weeks of unpaid leave provided under the Family Medical Leave Act.

 2. Unpaid Leaves of Absence for Family and Medical Reasons

The College provides unpaid leaves of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to full-time faculty who have been employed at the College for at least one full academic year. Such leaves will be granted for (i) medical reasons, i.e., the faculty member’s serious health condition or pregnancy; and (ii) family reasons, i.e., the birth and first year care of a child; placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, or care of spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition. Any request for leave based on a serious health condition must be supported by appropriate medical certification (the College reserves the right to request, at its expense, a second medical opinion from a physician of the College’s choosing). Faculty may be granted one unpaid leave per year for a period of up to twelve weeks (A year is a 12-month period measured backward from the date leave was last taken.). Faculty who have been granted paid medical leaves must exhaust such leave prior to using unpaid leave. Paid leave will be counted toward the twelve weeks of unpaid leave provided under the FMLA. Faculty on unpaid family or medical leave will continue to receive the same benefits they had prior to the leave, with the exception of the College’s TIAA/CREF contribution and other benefits, such as FICA, which are based on salary.

VII. Financial Matters

A. Personal Financial Matters

1. Salary

a. Determination of Full-Time Faculty Salaries

Each year the Faculty Salary Committee (faculty members of the Committee on Compensation), after conferring with the Budget and Planning Subcommittee of the Faculty Executive Committee and members of the administration, considering any reports from the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors, and obtaining salary data from other colleges and universities, submits a report to the faculty as a whole. The report may make recommendations of various kinds:

1) the total increase in faculty salaries for the following year;

2) the average salary increase in each of the four salary brackets (Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor);

3) the weight to be given in each bracket to factors such as merit, inflation offset, and market position.

Faculty salary recommendations are considered by the administration in preparing the annual budget. The Board of Trustees reviews both faculty recommendations and the administration’s recommendations.

Merit increases for individual faculty members are determined by the President of the College in consultation with the Dean. Faculty members are evaluated by their department chairs and the Dean for their performance in the preceding calendar year according to criteria such as the following:

1) Is the faculty member a good teacher? What evidence can be presented to show this?

2) Is the faculty member a good scholar? What evidence can be presented to show this?

3) What contributions has the faculty member made to the campus community?

4) Is the faculty member a good academic advisor? What evidence can be presented to show this?

5) What contributions has the faculty member made to a larger community (for example, civic and/or professional organizations)?

6) How does the faculty member contribute to the long-range goals of the department?

7) To what extent could the educational direction of the College be entrusted to this faculty member?

On the basis of such judgments, each chair submits an evaluation of each member of the department. The chair shares the evaluation of performance with the faculty member and informs the Divisional Executive Committee of the performance and salary recommendations, and the Divisional Executive Committee submits its own recommendations to the Dean. The Dean recommends merit raises to the President based upon the departmental and divisional evaluations and other pertinent information.

b. Payment of Salaries

Salary checks are usually direct deposited on the last working day of each month. Normal College procedure is to issue faculty paychecks on a twelve-month basis. A nine-month option can also be chosen, but this can affect benefits and tax withholding. Any change affecting a current month's payroll must be received in the Business Office by the 20th of the month in order to become effective by the last working day of the month. Salary checks may, at the option of the payee, be deposited directly to one of several participating financial institutions. Arrangements may be made in the College's Business Office.

It is the policy of the College not to make salary advances to employees, except in emergency situations. Each request for a salary advance will be considered on its own merit. Employees should direct such requests to the Vice President for Business and Finance/Treasurer.

c. Deductions from Salary

Withholding for state and federal income taxes, Social Security, the employee's share of college-sponsored benefits plus any voluntary contributions to college-sponsored programs will be deducted from salary.

d. Salary Payments And Fringe Benefits During Leave

No later than thirty days prior to the start of an employee's leave, arrangements must be made with the Business Office concerning the deposit or forwarding of salary checks. Continuation of fringe benefits must be arranged with the Human Resources Office, which keeps up to date information on all fringe benefits.

The employee should leave a forwarding address with the Business Office as well as with the Office of the Dean or administrative supervisor and the College mail service. Any change of address during the leave should be reported promptly to the College. Experience has shown that it is often necessary to communicate with employees on leave.

All fringe benefits, except for contributions to retirement, will be continued for faculty members during sabbatical leaves on the same terms as if the faculty member were full-time on campus. Retirement contributions, paid by the faculty member and the College, will be prorated based on the salary paid by the College. The same provisions will apply to faculty members on leave without pay, up to a maximum of 24 months, at the request of the faculty member and with the approval of the Dean of the College and subject to restrictions which apply to various fringe benefit programs.

2. Medical Insurance and Other Fringe Benefits

The College periodically disseminates information on insurance and other fringe benefits, particularly concerning changes that are made in policy coverage. Summaries of all benefit programs are available in the Human Resources Office. It is the responsibility of employees to keep themselves informed about the College’s benefits program.

Faculty members should be aware that health insurance coverage only extends over the entire year if salary is paid over twelve months. If, for any reason, a faculty member chooses to have his/her salary paid over nine months, it is his or her responsibility to pay the medical insurance premiums during the remaining three months to avoid a lapse in health insurance coverage.

3. Travel Accident Insurance

The College provides a group travel accident insurance plan for all faculty and administrative personnel while they are on the business of the College. This plan covers accidental death and dismemberment only. Insured persons have 24-hour accident protection while on a business trip, inside or outside city limits. The College pays the premium. An insured person may designate a beneficiary by written request filed with the College; otherwise benefit payments will go to the insured's estate.

Because of this coverage, additional insurance while traveling on College business is at the individual's expense and such insurance payments are not a reimbursable expense.

Faculty members and students using privately owned vehicles on official College business are not covered by any automobile liability or property damage insurance carried by Colorado College.

4. Tuition Assistance Programs

a. Tuition Remission

i. Dependent children

Dependent children are eligible for tuition remission for study at Colorado College, if admitted by the College's Admission Office. Dependent children are also eligible to participate in the ACM Exchange Program and for partial tuition payments. The benefit may be taxable and faculty may want to consult their tax advisor after checking with the Human resources Office.

For purposes of this policy, dependent children are defined as natural or adopted children: (1) whose custodial parent is a current full-time faculty member at the College, whose custodial parent is a retired faculty member with 17 or more years of full-time College service, or whose deceased custodial parent was a full-time faculty member at the College for at least 17 years, or (2) over half of whose support is received from a faculty member (even if such person is not the custodial parent) during each year of the student’s participation in the tuition remission program, and (3) are less than 25 years of age by December 31st of each year in which they are enrolled in the tuition remission program. Stepchildren over half of whose support is received from the faculty member during each year of the student’s participation in the program are also defined as dependent children.

There is a five-year full-time service requirement for employees hired on or after May 1, 1994. Prior full-time service at another accredited college or university may be counted toward the Colorado College service requirement.

ii. Spouses

Spouses of full-time Colorado College faculty may also be eligible for tuition remission equivalent to four blocks each year. There is a one-year full-time service requirement but prior full-time service at another accredited college or university may be counted.

iii. Full-time faculty

Full-time faculty, whose class attendance does not interfere with their normal job responsibilities, may also be eligible for tuition remission equivalent to four blocks each year. There is a five-year full-time service requirement but prior full-time service at another accredited college or university may be counted.

iv. Retired and disabled faculty

Retired and disabled faculty, with ten or more years of service at Colorado College, may also be eligible for tuition remission, equivalent to four blocks each year. The Human Resources Office will determine faculty’s initial and continuing eligibility for the tuition remission programs, and provide additional information.

v. Termination of Tuition Remission Benefit

Termination of benefit occurs if a faculty member’s employment at Colorado College is terminated or if he/she resigns. The tuition remission benefit will cease at the end of the semester in which termination or resignation occurs. The tuition remission benefit will also terminate at the end of the semester in which a student is no longer claimed as a dependent of the faculty member or the custodial parent.

b. Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Tuition Exchange Program

Dependent children of Colorado College faculty are eligible to apply for tuition remission at those Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) schools that have an exchange agreement with Colorado College. The application is subject to the same requirements as the College's tuition remission program, and to the requirements of the ACM institution to which the student is applying. If a faculty member’s employment at Colorado College is terminated or if he/she chooses to resign, the tuition remission benefit will cease at the end of the semester in which the termination or resignation occurred.

c. Partial Tuition Payment

Dependent children of full-time faculty who have had at least one year of full-time service at the College are eligible for a partial tuition payment of up to $500 per year for a total of four years of their attendance at an accredited undergraduate college other than Colorado College or another ACM school which has an exchange agreement with Colorado College. The $500 partial tuition payment will be sent directly to the college the dependent child is attending. No further payment will be made after a faculty member’s employment at Colorado College is terminated or if he/she chooses to resign.

d. Tuition Assistance Program

The purpose of the tuition assistance program is to assist faculty in obtaining training to increase competence in their present positions. This policy applies to full-time faculty who have had at least one year of full-time service at the College.

The College may reimburse faculty for tuition expenses for job-related courses from an accredited college or university. (Books, fees, travel expenses, etc. are not eligible for reimbursement.) Tuition assistance may be taxable. Applicants should review the tax ramifications with their tax advisor. Guidelines and applications for applying for tuition assistance are available in the Human Resources Office.

D. Other Financial Matters

1. Research Funds

The College provides various forms of support for faculty research and development. Details are available in the Dean's Office.

2. Travel Funds to Conferences

Every full-time faculty member may apply for payment of one round-trip airfare, conference registration, and other travel expenses (up to a prescribed limit: check with the Dean’s Office for the latest information) for a maximum of three days if the person is presenting a paper or is serving in an official capacity at a professional conference. If a faculty member is attending a professional conference but not formally participating in it he/she may apply for payment of round-trip airfare and conference registration for one such conference every year.

Payment for faculty travel and other expenses for field courses and foreign study programs are determined by the Dean and the Vice President for Business and Finance/Treasurer according to estimates of actual expenses. If a trip is partly for recruitment purposes, the College will pay for that portion of expenses related to recruitment from a special faculty recruitment account. In general, the College does not pay travel expenses to anyone on sabbatical leave or to any part-time faculty member (except adjunct faculty when they are not on leave). If funds are available in the latter part of an academic year, the Dean may approve additional trips for faculty members.

3. Venture Grants

The Dean's Advisory Committee, composed of faculty, students and administrators, supports the following categories of activities:

a. Student Research

Colorado College offers grants for student research projects with the purpose of encouraging students to carry on research or studio projects under the guidance of a faculty member. Support is given for direct expenses, such as travel expenses and materials. It is possible, though not necessary, for these research projects to carry academic credit. This fund is not intended to support off-campus classroom activities.

Student research proposals should be submitted to the Dean’s Office, accompanied by the student’s transcript and a supporting letter from the professor who has agreed to supervise the project. Application forms and instructions for submitting proposals are available in the Dean’s office.

b. Conferences

The College also offers grants for students to attend professional meetings and conferences on subjects of intellectual interest. The meetings should be of an academic or professional nature. Student presentation of research results at professional meetings is encouraged.

Proposals should be submitted to the chair of the Dean's Advisory Committee, together with a supporting letter from the student's advisor or department chair and materials detailing the nature of the conference. Venture funds will not be used to cover a faculty member’s travel, per diem or conference costs when accompanying students.

c. Visiting Faculty

Colorado College offers funds to departments for the purpose of bringing distinguished visiting faculty to the campus for brief periods of time. The visitors may give lectures or informal seminars, or participate in courses. Proposals should try to maximize the exposure of the visitors to the campus community.

d. Faculty-Student Collaborative Research

Colorado College offers grants to fund collaborative research between faculty and students during the summer in order to support faculty in their research activities and to provide students with a first-hand research experience as undergraduates. Proposals for these funds are due in the Dean’s Office during the first week of block seven.

Throughout the year additional funds may be available for student research through the College’s venture grants program. Application forms and information sheets are available in the Dean's Office. The Dean's Advisory Committee meets each block to review proposals as long as funds remain. Proposals will be funded on the basis of merit and the availability of funds. The Committee will not fund projects that have already been completed or hold extra meetings to evaluate proposals with imminent deadlines. For more information on venture grants, contact the Dean's Office or the chair of the Dean's Advisory Committee.