By Amanda Hunt
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The UA Faculty Senate will discuss a sexual-harassment survey and a merit-based compensation plan today at the first senate meeting of 1995.
The meeting will take place at the College of Law from 3:15 to 5:30 p.m.
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In the Campus Climate Resolution, the senate commends the Commission on the Status of Women on their efforts in carrying out the survey and calls for steps to improve policy and the climate at the University of Arizona.
The commission conducted a survey in the fall and spring semesters of last year that revealed high incidence of sexual harassment and gender bias on campus.
Judy Mitchell, chair of the commission, said she expects the resolution to pass and is pleased the senate is supporting the issue.
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The senate will also discuss a performance-based compensation plan for faculty. The plan includes post-tenure review and regular review of all faculty regardless of rank.
The plan would be a step toward making pay more equitable and linking salary more directly to performance. J.D. Garcia, faculty chairman, said the plan is "a way of coupling raises to performance."
Reviews would take place every two to three years, and faculty would be compensated on a scale according to results of the review. A faculty member would not receive a salary increase for "unsatisfactory" or "needs improvement" performance, and he or she would receive successively higher salary increases for "good," "excellent" and "truly exceptional" levels of performance.
Garcia said tenured faculty can be fired by the current evaluation system, but said it is not common because "faculty are generally pretty dedicated troops."
Malcolm Zwolinski, the presiding officer, said the plan is well-designed for faculty but is concerned the focus is too narrow. He said the plan would better serve the needs of the university by also including staff and administrators.
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Zwolinski said the senate may or may not be discussing further the Conflict of Interest and Commitment Policy.
The policy was approved by the president's cabinet in October.
The policy states: "A conflict of interest exists when an employee is in a position to influence any university business transaction, research activity or other decisions in ways that could lead to any manner or form of personal gain for the employee or his/her family members. Conflicts of interest may be considered improper either alone or in combination."
Garcia said every institution has some form of conflict of interest policy. This would cover all UA employees and allow them to go through a process of evaluation if a conflict of interest is cited.