Non-tenured professors will have a say in the departmental hiring under the terms of a bill scheduled for a Faculty Senate vote this Thursday.

The move would change a long-standing policy excluding the junior faculty from the process, according to Senate Chairman Bob Buckley.

“What?s happened in the last year is that we have departments with few tenured faculty,” Buckley said.

The result has been an increase in the workload of tenured professors in the hiring process, he said. The amendment to the process would help alleviate the pressure on tenured faculty by including junior faculty.

The non-tenured faculty have voiced support in the process, according to Buckley.

“It engages and involves them in a decision they?re going to have to live with,” Buckley said.

Since a large number of professors are retiring, it is the non-tenured faculty that will have to work with the new hires the longest, he said.

The bill stipulates that the decision to involve non-tenured faculty would be up to vote in each department. Also, under the current contract with the California State University, non-tenured faculty can only be involved with discussion and advising. The ultimate decision would still rest with tenured faculty.

That could change.

As more tenured faculty retire, similar policies are being enacted on other CSU campuses, Buckley said.

“It?s a reaction to the workload and inclusion issue that is on our campus,” he said.

Thursday?s meeting will be at the Foothill Suite in the University Union at 3 p.m.

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