On June 22, 1972 Senate approved the document entitled The University Appointment: Freedom and Responsibility (Queen's Gazette, supplement to volume IV, number 43). Section 6.1 of this document states that
Within each Faculty, the dean, in consultation with the Faculty Board, shall be responsible to the Principal for the establishment of regulations and procedures concerning the terms and conditions of employment for faculty members, including the nature and extent of faculty members' involvement in professional service, consulting and related work. All such regulations and procedures shall be in accordance with the principles contained in this document.
The Dean then consulted a special committee of professors and the Smith Engineering Advisory Council. As a result, guidelines concerning The University Appointment: Freedom and Responsibility for Smith Engineering at Queen's were approved by the Principal on December 5, 1973.
In response to Principal Smith's challenge in 1987-88 to examine the mission of the University as it moves towards the 21st century, the Dean commissioned a small group of professors to re-examine both the Senate document (amended May 1986, October 1988) and the Faculty Guidelines and to propose amendments considered appropriate.
As a result of this review process, the following guidelines, were approved by the Faculty Board on June 21, 1989 and by the Principal on October 10, 1989.
These guidelines are in accordance with the principles contained in the Senate document and should be read in the context of that document which is appended hereto.
to foster intellectual enquiry, to provide instruction and supervision to all registered students, and to set high standards of education and training. Intellectual enquiry includes research and other creative, reflective and scholarly work and the involvement of faculty members in such professional service, consulting, and related work as may complement the primary commitments of the University.
In Smith Engineering at Queen's, the first of these two components of intellectual inquiry, that is research, scholarly work, etc., includes activities of such a nature as to enhance the faculty member's ability to contribute to the instruction of students, to advance knowledge, or to enhance the profession of engineering. The second component, professional service, consulting and related work, is discussed in Section 3 below.
1.2 The nature and extent of each faculty member's endeavours are matters to be agreed upon with the department head(s) concerned. These activities shall be reported in the faculty member's Annual Report to the Dean and the Department Head.
2.1 A member of faculty is responsible to the University throughout the twelve months of the year unless a shorter period of responsibility has been established.
Requests for periods of responsibility less than twelve months shall be addressed to the Department Head.
2.2 A faculty member shall provide prior notice of intended periods of absence from the University and obtain the Head's approval for arrangements covering the discharge of the faculty member's duties during the period of absence.
3.1 Professional service, consulting and related work are defined as activities involving the application of professional effort and expertise on behalf of individuals or agencies outside the University community.
Examples in Smith Engineering at Queen's are work on grant selection and other committees, boards, councils, commissions, societies, etc; editorships; conference organization duties; professional assignments; entrepreneurships; and consulting. Whether or not reimbursement or fees are provided for these activities is not relevant to these guidelines.
3.2 If an activity is expected to be major in nature, prior approval of the Head and the Dean is required. A major activity is a commitment that involves a faculty member for a week or more of consecutive full-time activity or a long-term continuing commitment, for example, one requiring periodic absences. A commitment to a group of minor activities, related or unrelated, although requiring less than a full week at any one time, may also be defined as a major activity.
3.3 If University facilities or services are required, prior agreement of the Head must be obtained regarding the nature of and extent to which facilities or services will be employed. In addition, all details of cost recovery for all University facilities or services involved will be agreed and recorded so that the Dean may review the information as desired.
3.4 Both the nature of professional service, consulting, etc. and the time committed to these activities shall be reported in the faculty member's Annual Report to the Dean and the Department Head. The time committed to professional service, consulting, etc. shall be measured in days whether or not remuneration is received. (The concern reflected in the Senate document is to ensure that the faculty member has time to discharge his/her principal duties adequately.)