During yesterday’s meeting, faculty senate discussed and proposed changes to the Performance-Based Merit System policy.

Every three years faculty senate members examine the merit policy to clear up any ambiguous wording and to propose necessary changes.

The merit policy system is what the University uses to determine faculty raises, said Faculty Chair Patrick Pauken.

“This is something that is regulated by University charter and is an important mandate for professors and instructors,” said Alden Craddock, professor of teaching and learning.

There were a few changes within the policy, which were passed by the faculty senate yesterday.

Along with the proposed changes from the Faculty Welfare Committee, a few professors brought up their concerns regarding the current language in the charter, which they feel is unclear.

“I feel the existing wording is ambiguous,” said English professor Sue Carter Wood.

Wood continued on to say such ambiguous language is substantive and could cause gray areas of uncertainty in the future. Her proposal to change the wording in one area of the document, which previously stated, “With the exception of external peer review,” and move this statement to a different area of the sentence was passed by the faculty senate.

Faculty senate members also addressed areas of the charter where the words “should” and “will” were used. For instance one change passed by faculty senate members was the following, “All faculty should receive an annual performance” to “All faculty will receive an annual performance.”

Most faculty senate members agreed the proposed changes added more governance to the merit policy and added clarity as to what principles professors are judged by regarding faculty raises.

The meeting closed with guests, Deanna Woodhouse and Joan Gordon from the committee of the city of Bowling Green’s 175th anniversary.

Woodhouse and Gordon urged faculty members to encourage their students to participate in the festivities commemorating Bowling Green’s anniversary. This could be done by giving presentations using podcasts that highlight the city, or by simply attending anniversary activities planned throughout the year.

“I think it’s important to give back to the community,” Gordan said, regarding her passion for the city’s 175th birthday.

Faculty senate meets the first Tuesday of each month in McFall center at 2:30 p.m. and is open to the public.