Policy Modifications Approved by the Senate Enter into Force

September 22, 2015

he Senate approved the following modifications to some of the University policies at its May 18 meeting. Note in particular substantial revisions to the Senate Elections Guidelines and modifications to the Academic Staff Handbook with respect to the hiring process and supervision evaluation.

Log in with your Novell ID and password to be able to view the documents. The summary of policy modifications is given below:

Senate Elections Guidelines http://documents.ceu.edu/documents/g-0910-1v1505

Following a substantive review by the special committee appointed by the Rector and several rounds of discussion at the Senate and the Academic Forum, the following modifications have been approved and will be implemented starting from the next Senate elections in winter  2015/16:

-     Separate representation of the Business School in the Senate will be eliminated. The Business School slot will become a regular senior faculty slot. Business School faculty will have the right to vote for all faculty slots.

-     There will be no separate vote for senior and junior faculty. All faculty (both senior and junior) will have the right to vote for all faculty positions (six senior and two junior slots).

-     The rule of having no more than one faculty member from one academic unit has been modified.  A junior and a senior faculty can now be elected from the same academic unit. However, no more than one senior and no more than one junior faculty member can be elected from the same academic unit.

Academic Staff Handbook http://documents.ceu.edu/documents/p-1105-1v1505

Two substantial modifications have been approved:

-     Section II “Recruitment policies and appointment procedures” now includes a requirement for a search committee to submit a brief general report on the search process. This will help the administration to accumulate systematic information of potentially strategic importance about the size, the character and the quality of the applicant pools which our academic job searches attract, and the grounds on which top candidates tend to be selected.

-     CEU will start regular evaluation of supervision at both masters and doctoral levels. Respective changes have been introduced to sections III.B.3 ‘Evaluation of teaching’ and III.B.4 ‘Course and supervision evaluation’. Evaluation forms have been added to Appendix 5. Doctoral supervision evaluation will be conducted annually, and masters’ supervision evaluation will be conducted at the end of masters’ studies. Supervision evaluation will be administered by the Institutional Research Office through the ‘Courseval’ online platform.

Equal Opportunity Policy http://documents.ceu.edu/documents/p-1505-1

A new version of the Equal Opportunity Policy will replace the previous Equal Opportunity Policy approved as a temporary measure in 2008. The policy was developed under the umbrella of the Senate Equal Opportunity Committee taking into consideration European and US equality policy standards and good practices in the field. It establishes procedures for complaint open to individuals from CEU who feel wronged. It also sets procedures for monitoring progress of equal opportunities. It proposes a pro-active rather than a reactive approach, in line with which CEU community and its different actors undertake the responsibility to be more conscious of equal opportunity values and supportive of procedures that promote equal opportunities.

Policy on Non-Degree Students http://documents.ceu.edu/documents/p-0906-1v1505

The policy has been updated for definitions, links, and non-degree student admission procedure.

Ethical Research Policy http://documents.ceu.edu/documents/p-1012-1v1505

-     Changes to the main body of the Policy: clarifies conditions under which reviews made by bodies other than the ERC may be accepted; makes reference to the applicability of CEU Code of Ethics; CEU Ethical Research Guidelines incorporated as Annex 1 to the Policy.

-     Changes to Operation Guidelines (formerly Annex 1, now Annex 2 to the Policy): clarifies that all eligible CEU faculty researchers should undertake an online ethical research training module and that Academic Units may request that their students undertake such training in lieu of or in addition to training at the Academic Unit.

-     Changes to Checklist on Ethical Issues in Research (formerly Annex 2, now Annex 3): adds further clarification on research dealing with sensitive subjects and vulnerable individuals.

Records Management Regulations http://documents.ceu.edu/documents/p-0905-1v1505

Point 77b from the Records Retention Schedule under “Library Issues” has been deleted. There is no longer a requirement that two copies of each course reader be permanently retained by the Library. Instead, the following actions will be taken by the Library:

-     In the case, where a faculty member teaches the same course every year, the Library will generally retain the last 5 years of readers.  In the case, where a faculty member teaches a course irregularly, the Library will generally retain the last 5 years of readers for that course.  Special cases will be treated on a case-by-case basis, e.g., courses taught only once by a visiting faculty member.

-     The Library will immediately offer the early readers (initially 1991-2005) to Open Society Archives so that they can digitize syllabi that are normally the first part of the readers.

-     On a regular basis, the Library will withdraw from its collection old readers that are no longer used consistent with above.

-     Departments who have old or new readers that were never deposited with the Library will continue to retain or not as they see fit.  Note that many course readers have not been given to the Library so we do not have a complete record.

Financial Aid and Student Fee Payment Regulations http://documents.ceu.edu/documents/r-1110-1v1505

Names of financial aid packages have been modified. Fellowship upgrades for masters’ students have been streamlined:

-     Based on their academic performance, students in Master's degree programs may be considered for financial aid upgrade in case their academic department/school has remaining funds from the financial aid allocation.

-     Requests for financial aid upgrades are initiated by the head of the academic department/dean of school, recommended by the Financial Aid Office and approved by the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Alumni Relations. Students recommended for financial aid upgrade must perform in the top 20% in their class based on the GPA ranking after the Fall semester.

-     In the process of a financial aid upgrade, partial fellowship recipients can be considered for full fellowship; full tuition scholarship recipients can be recommended for partial or full fellowship and partial tuition scholarship recipients for up to a full tuition scholarship. Self-financing students can also be recommended for an upgrade and can be awarded up to a full tuition scholarship. Financial aid upgrades can apply as of January for students in one year masters programs and as of September in the second year of studies for students in 2-year master programs.

-     Recipients of CEU Loan and U.S. Federal Loan (Grad Plus Loan) may not receive the CEU financial aid upgrade in the given academic year (loan period). Students considered for a financial aid upgrade cannot be notified without the approval of the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Alumni Relations.