Introduction and Amendment

Owned by Amy Niemczyk
Last updated: Sept 26, 2024 by Tonia Rucker
1 min read

Introduction

This handbook is applicable to employees of Bethel University who are in the “faculty” category. It is intended to make clear the policies and procedures that guide the operation of the school. Four major loci of decision-making are prominent in the governance structure of the school: Delegates from the churches of the Baptist General Conference/Converge Worldwide, the Board of Trustees, the administration, and the faculty. In every sector, decision-making consistent with the objectives of the institution is encouraged at the furthest possible level from central administration. Input into those decisions is sought by policy from those who will be affected by them and who have competence in the areas involved. When employment agreements refer to the Faculty Handbook, the reference is to the updated handbook in effect at the time the agreement is issued. (See Introduction to Benefits.) This handbook is not intended to be a contract, express or implied, but an informative document.

Amendments

Amendments to the Faculty Handbook may be proposed in writing by any member of the Tenured, Tenure-Track, Clinical, or Continuing Non-Tenured faculty, or by the administration through the Provost. Proposed changes will be delivered to the Provost and the Chair of the Faculty Policy Review Committee, who will meet to review and collaboratively consider the proposal. 


For the following sections of the Faculty Handbook, a policy jointly approved by the FPRC and the Provost will be submitted to the faculty governing body/bodies (in 2024 FAC and CAS Senate) for discussion and vote: 


  1. Governance committee structure
  2. Academic Freedom and Classroom Procedures
  3. The process for amendment of the Faculty Handbook
  4. The body of policies that define criteria for reappointment, tenure, promotion, and tenure renewal, found in “The Employment Relationship, subsection Rank, Promotion, and Tenure”
  5. Voting Rights, as found in “The Employment Relationship, subsection Faculty Status”
  6. Resignations https://confluence.bethel.edu/display/prov/Resignations
  7. Faculty Absence from Campus https://confluence.bethel.edu/display/prov/Faculty+Absence+from+Campus


For the following sections of the Faculty Handbook, a policy revision reviewed by the Provost and the FPRC that is approved by the Provost will be robustly discussed with the faculty through at minimum (1) discussion by the the faculty governing body/bodies, (2) at least two open-forum faculty gatherings which could be virtual meetings, (3) one additional mode of soliciting broad faculty feedback, such as a survey or focus groups, and (4) a report back to the whole faculty on the feedback from these events, to achieve informed awareness of the benefits and detriments of the proposed changes: 

  1. The Employment Relationship subsections not delineated above that are also not part of the Employee Handbook:  https://confluence.bethel.edu/display/prov/The+Employment+Relationship


  1. Selected sections of the Employment Policies and Procedures: 
    • Faculty Termination

https://confluence.bethel.edu/display/prov/Faculty+Termination

    • Grievance and Arbitration

https://confluence.bethel.edu/display/prov/Grievance+and+Arbitration

An appendix to the Faculty Handbook will keep an updated list of Handbook policies that require a faculty governance vote for amendment. Moving policies within this appendix will require positive votes of both the faculty governance body and the administration. 


For all changes of a non-editorial nature (thus excluding things like correcting typographical errors, changing the contact information for a position in a procedure, changing names of re-named committees, etc.), the University President must approve the changes, and send the proposal via the Provost to the Academic Policies Committee of the Board of Trustees. This committee will approve the amendment by a majority vote. The Provost and one faculty leader from the faculty governing body/bodies will discuss the amendments with the Academic Programs Committee for their consideration. 


Amendments to the Faculty Handbook that reflect changes in overall employee policies will be communicated to the FPRC for information. 


Effective September 9, 2024