Faculty Council discussed a proposal last week that would change the definition of “faculty” to include non-tenure track faculty.

The proposal would revise the Faculty Council’s Rules of Order to give the four NTT representatives on the council the right to vote. It would also give NTT faculty the right to vote in campus-wide matters.

MU Institutional Research identifies 64 percent of faculty as tenure or tenure-track faculty. The remaining 36 percent of full-time assistants, associate professors and full professors are considered NTT faculty.

Nicole Monnier, an associate professor and Faculty Council member, said she wanted to get the movement going.

“We are, after much deliberation, going forward with the proposal on the table without proportional representation,” said Monnier, who represents NTT teaching faculty on council.

The proposal would be a huge morale booster for NTT faculty, Monnier said. It would give them more freedom to say whatever they want about campus issues as well as greater job protection, she said.

UM-Kansas City has given NTT faculty full voting rights for more than 25 years, UMKC professor Gary Ebersole said.

“(The faculty senate) looked at the composition of individuals offering courses on our campus and found that 50 percent of the course hours being offered were offered by NTT,” Ebersole said. “So essentially we had 50 percent of our teaching staff who were disenfranchised.”

Ebersole said years ago he held a tenure-track position and NTT staff didn’t have full voting rights, and he realized then just how many employees were without a vote. He thinks UMKC is more cohesive now when incorporating people into faculty governance.

“I really wouldn’t impose my views on my colleagues at Mizzou or any of the UM campuses,” Ebersole said. “But I really do think (faculty governance for NTT staff) is the wave of the future.”

NTT faculty members’ role in faculty governance is determined by each campus, according to the Collected Rules and Regulations on the UM System [website](http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/collected_rules/faculty/ch310/310.035_non-tenure_track_faculty).

The goal is to identify ways for NTT faculty members to have a voice within their campus and college, school or academic unit and be involved in faculty governance where appropriate, according to the website.

Earlier discussions about diversity training can be viewed as an example of how not to handle the NTT proposal, Monnier said. Faculty Council seemed unanimously supportive of diversity training, and then it got voted down.

“It is very important that we hear the objections and know what the objections are,” Monnier said. “I need to know that the way you voted here is the way you’re going to take back to your constituents. We need you to be active representatives.”

Monnier said at the council meeting she thinks representation is necessary due to the increase in NTT faculty.

“When a third of your professional staff is NTT, that requires representation,” Monnier said.