Faculty may update wording about sexual misconduct in their handbook after a new resolution was introduced at Faculty Senate
Faculty Senate introduced a resolution at its meeting Monday to bring the faculty handbook up to speed with current Ohio University policy on sexual misconduct.
Ben Bates, professor of communication studies, presented the resolution’s first reading. The update would change handbook wording to include the topics of sexual misconduct, relationship violence and stalking rather than just sexual harassment.
Other changes to the handbook include adding the responsibility of faculty to report sexual misconduct to the police and allowing for sexually explicit material to be shown in classrooms for academic purposes.
Bates said the handbook needs to be updated because of regulatory factors such as Title IX and a need for legal consistency.
“It’s a lot of changes, but it’s pretty much saying, we obey the law around here,” Bates said.
Faculty Senate passed two resolutions regarding faculty compensation raises, despite two failed motions to table the resolution because several faculty members hadn’t read changes to the resolutions.
The first resolution calls for deans and directors to “engage faculty in meaningful dialog regarding faculty compensation” before establishing salary guidelines. The second resolved that a minimum of 1.5 percent of raise pool money be allocated for across-the-board salary increases.
President Roderick McDavis provided an update on state legislation that could change OU’s financial planning.
McDavis said Ohio Senate Bill 4, currently moving through the Senate, would require each public institution to reduce in-state cost of attendance by 5 percent for the 2016-17 academic year. He also noted that Gov. John Kasich’s budget bill, which would impact the university’s funding, is now being discussed in the state’s House Finance Committee.
Director of Information Security Matthew Dalton gave a presentation to faculty about password security. Dalton said over there were over 15 million failed password attempts on OU accounts from outside the US in just the last week, stressing the importance of password safety for faculty.
Dalton showed faculty a proposal to university policy that would require faculty and employees to make their passwords more complex and change them after a certain period of time. He encouraged faculty to give feedback.
Finance and Facilities Committee member Steve Hays, also an associate professor of classics and world religions, talked to faculty about university investment in intercollegiate athletics. He recently created a website, oudialogues.com, to provide information on the cost of intercollegiate athletics at the university and to start conversations about the subject.
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