The Academic Liaison is a faculty voice in the Office of the President
and in the affairs of statewide administrators of the University of
Alaska. The Academic Liaison works with the Faculty Alliance and the
academic provosts, serving as a communication conduit between faculty
and administration. The Academic Liaison attends the President's staff
meetings and is available on a daily basis as a consultant or a sounding
board to statewide administrators in Fairbanks on faculty concerns and
academic matters. The Academic Liaison cannot formally speak for faculty,
as can the elected governance leaders who serve on the Faculty Alliance,
but can help administrators stay aware of faculty issues, concerns and
perspectives. Accordingly, bringing them to the attention of the Academic
Liaison can facilitate the communication of such matters. Examples could
include
· the Initiative process for securing state general funds for academic
programs,
· distance education issues,
· cross-MAU academic collaboration, and the like.
If in doubt as to whether an issue is appropriate to the Academic
Liaison, send it along. If it is more appropriately addressed by a
different entity, you will be so advised in a response.
In addition to the Academic Liaison, several other entities address
academic issues and faculty concerns:
1) Faculty Unions
2) Local Faculty Governance Groups and Faculty Alliance
3) Provosts and Statewide Academic Council (SAC)
4) Board of Regents
1) Pay and job status, including promotion and tenure, possible non-retention,
possible disciplinary action, workload, compensation, and working
conditions are subjects of collective bargaining and these matters
must be brought to the faculty unions. The unions are the voice of
faculty in such matters and administration must consult and bargain
with them regarding related policies and procedures.
2) Course approvals, degree requirements and similar academic catalog
issues are appropriately brought through local governance groups such
as academic curriculum committees and faculty senates or councils.
Faculty Alliance members come from locally elected faculty bodies
and work across MAU boundaries on collaborative and systemic efforts
of interest to faculty, coordinating their efforts with the provosts
and with the statewide administration.
3) The provosts from the three major campuses coordinate with faculty
governance in establishing local academic policies and practices.
They meet regularly as the Statewide Academic Council (SAC) and advise
the president in academic affairs.
4) The Board of Regents has an Academic and Student Affairs Committee
that deals with broad policy issues such as degree creation or elimination,
tuition and fee policies, information resource policies, and the like.
Recommendations for most such policies come from the administration
to the Board of Regents after a review by the provosts and the Faculty
Alliance.
