Skip to main content

Definitions, Academic Freedom and Responsibility of the Faculty

Definitions

  1. Day
    The word “Day” means business day (any day except Saturday, Sunday, or an institutional holiday) except when calendar day is specified. In computing any period of time, the day in which notice is received is not counted but the last day of the period being computed is to be counted.
  2. Faculty Member
    “Faculty Member” means all full-time permanent employees who hold professorial rank or a special faculty appointment as outlined in Faculty Appointments, B of this document.
  3. Financial Exigency
    “Financial Exigency” means a significant decline in the financial resources in the university that results from a decline in enrollment or from other actions that cause a reduction in the university’s operating budget.
  4. Formal Notice
    “Formal Notice” means written notification at last given address of the individual of a decision or action by certified mail, return receipt requested, or some other means that provide adequate proof of delivery.
  5. Impermissible Grounds
    “Impermissible Grounds” means basing a decision on (1) the exercise of the Faculty Member’s
    rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States or by Article I of the Constitution of North Carolina; (2) discrimination based upon the race, creed, color, sex, disability, religion, age, national origin, or veterans status or (3) personal malice.
  6. Material Procedural Irregularities
    Non-promotion and Non-reappointment Cases:

    “Material Procedural Irregularities” means departure from prescribed procedures governing reappointment, promotion, or conferral of Permanent Tenure that cast reasonable doubt upon the validity of the decision not to reappoint, not to promote, or not to grant Permanent Tenure.

    Discharge Before Imposition of Serious Sanctions Cases:

    “Material Procedural Irregularities” means departure from prescribed procedures that constitute denial of due process.

  7. Off-Track Tenure-Track Faculty
    Off-track Tenure-track Faculty Members are those whose contract dates occur at times other than the beginning of the academic year. The Tenure-Track contract time for these employees will be measured from the beginning of the subsequent fall semester.
  8. Personal Malice
    A decision not to reappoint, not to promote, or not to confer Permanent Tenure on a Faculty
    Member is based on “Personal Malice” if the decision maker permits the decision to be made because of dislike, animosity, ill-will, or hatred based on personal characteristics, traits, or circumstances not relevant to valid university decision making.
  9. Petitioner
    “Petitioner” is a Faculty Member who files a complaint or appears in a hearing and presents evidence to contest an unfavorable employment decision made by the administration.
  10. Professorial Rank
    For purposes of this document “Professorial Rank” is the rank of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor.
  11. Reappointment/Promotion/Permanent Tenure Application
    Applications or considerations are accepted by the department chair for reappointment, promotion, and/or Permanent Tenure once per year, during the month of September. Eligible
    Faculty Members who do not have Permanent Tenure and who hold the rank of assistant
    professor, associate professor, and professor should apply for Permanent Tenure no later than one year prior to their last contract year at the university; this should occur not later than September of the sixth year for assistant professors and not later than September of the fourth year for associate professors; and not later than September of the second year for professors. Faculty members may elect to apply for promotion and/or Permanent Tenure at an earlier time than the year prior to their last contract year.
  12. Respondent
    “Respondent” in a hearing is the administrator(s) (provost, dean, chair, or other administrator) who is alleged to have made an unfavorable decision about the employment status or work of a Petitioner (Faculty Member).
  13. Senior Faculty Member
    A “Senior Faculty Member” is one with Permanent Tenure at WSSU with the rank of associate professor or professor who has been employed at WSSU for at least three (3) years. These individuals will be responsible for making recommendations to the department chair and/or dean regarding appointment, reappointment, promotion, Permanent Tenure and recommendations to the chair, dean, provost or chancellor, as appropriate, regarding the resolution of faculty appeals that are heard by Faculty Statutory Committees (Grievance, Nonreappointment & Discharge, and Personnel). Only Senior Faculty Members are eligible to serve on Faculty Statutory Committees (Grievance, Nonreappointment & Discharge, and Personnel). If a department does not have a sufficient number of Senior Faculty Members, the department, with the coordination of the dean, shall select Senior Faculty from within their school/college or from related departments in other schools/colleges at the university.
  14. Special Faculty Appointment
    For purposes of this document “Special Faculty Appointment” refers to full-time fixed term
    appointments of persons who hold the title designation of visiting faculty, lecturer, artist-in- residence, writer-in-residence, or an appointment as visiting, adjunct, clinical, or research instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. Persons holding these appointments hold non-Tenure Track appointments.
  15. Tenure; Permanent Tenure

    “Tenure” refers to the duration of a faculty appointment.
    Tenure, as herein defined, pertains exclusively to the employment of Faculty Members by appointments to specified faculty ranks. Such appointments may be for fixed terms of employment, automatically terminable when they expire (fixed term appointment); or they may be for terms subject to review for reappointment, promotion, and Permanent Tenure); or they may be continuous (appointment with Permanent Tenure) until resignation, retirement, or death.

    Tenure refers to the conditions and guarantees that apply to a Faculty Member’s employment. More specifically, it refers to the protection of a Faculty Member against involuntary suspension or discharge from employment or reduction in rank by Winston-Salem State University except upon specified grounds and in accordance with the procedures provided in Sections VIII and IX and against termination of employment during the contract period except as provided for in Section X in this document.

    “Permanent Tenure” is an employment status awarded by the Board of Trustees of Winston- Salem State University (formerly by the Board of Governors) to a Faculty Member. An appointment with Permanent Tenure means continued employment for an indefinite period of time until resignation, retirement or death, unless the Faculty Member is removed from employment in accordance with procedures established in Sections VIII, IX, and X of this document.

    Faculty Members who hold the rank of Associate Professor or Professor are eligible for the award of Permanent Tenure. Additionally, a Faculty Member who holds the rank of Assistant Professor and who is recommended for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor is eligible to be tenured at the rank of Associate Professor. Permanent Tenure cannot be awarded to Faculty Members in the rank of Instructor or Assistant Professor.

    Permanent Tenure may be withheld on any grounds except those specifically stated to be impermissible under Definition E; conferring Permanent Tenure requires that institutional needs and resources be assessed along with the Faculty Member’s professional competence and potential for future contributions.

    Permanent Tenure is held with respect to the university as a whole but not with the University of North Carolina.
  16. Tenure-Track
    A Faculty Member is on “Tenure-Track” if he or she holds an appointment that is subject to review for reappointment, promotion, and/or Permanent Tenure.
  17. Transcript
    “Transcript” shall mean a typed, verbatim copy of recorded testimony given in any hearing.

Academic Freedom and Responsibility of the Faculty6


  1. Winston-Salem State University endorses and supports the principles of academic freedom and responsibility of Faculty, as set forth in Sections 601 and 602 of The Code. Winston-Salem State University is dedicated to the transmission and advancement of knowledge and understanding. Academic freedom is essential to the achievement of these purposes. This institution, therefore, supports and encourages freedom of inquiry for Faculty Members and students, to the end that they may responsibly pursue these goals through teaching, learning, research, discussion, and publication, free from internal or external restraints that would unreasonably restrict their academic endeavors. Winston-Salem State University will not penalize or discipline members of the faculty because of the exercise of academic freedom in the lawful pursuit of their respective areas of scholarly and professional interest and responsibility.
  2. Winston-Salem State University shall support faculty and students in their responsible exercise of the freedom to teach, to learn, and otherwise to seek and speak the truth.
  3. Faculty Members of this institution shall share in the responsibility for maintaining an environment in which academic freedom flourishes and in which the rights of each member of the academic community are respected.
  4. It is the policy of Winston-Salem State University to support and encourage full freedom, within the law, of inquiry, discourse, teaching, research, and publication for all members of the academic staff of this institution. Members of the faculty are expected to recognize that accuracy, forthrightness, and dignity befit their association with this institution and their position as men and women of learning. They should not represent themselves, without authorization, as speaking for Winston-Salem State University. (The Code, Chapter VI, Appendix A.)
6Sections II and III of this chapter include revisions approved by the General Faculty of Winston-Salem State University on November 29, 2011. These revisions in tenure and promotion policy and procedures are effective for faculty members hired on or after July 1, 2012. Faculty members hired prior to that date will be governed by the tenure and promotion policy and procedures in the version of the WSSU Faculty Handbook in effect at the time of their hiring.