In fall 2012, St. Edward’s University could be experiencing a very different faculty system if Professor Russ Frohardt and his committee have anything to say about it.

The School Administrative Appointments Committee is seeking to restructure the university’s schools in order to distribute the workload fairly among faculty and to provide better job descriptions.

“A lot of faculty members don’t have formal job descriptions,” said Frohardt, who also serves as the chair of the psychology department.

Lack of formal job descriptions is just one of the many problems faculty members face, and Frohardt’s committee hopes to change that by restructuring the faculty.

“The restructuring will standardize what the schools and departments look like across the university. This will be good for the sake of uniformity and consistency,” said Fr. Lou Brusatti, dean of the School of Humanities.

The committee’s recruiting process began when Frohardt sent out an e-mail to faculty asking who would be interested in serving on the committee. Stacey Borasky, chair of the social work department, was immediately interested.

“A number of people around campus expressed interest and [Frohardt] selected members out of those people,” Borasky said.

After the members were selected, with Borasky as one of them, the committee members began meeting and discussing how they would like to see the faculty system change. They started collecting data from deans and department chairs to get their input.

Borasky believes that most faculty members have a place in the decision-making process.

“We’re trying to take everyone’s ideas and opinions and get input from people who will be affected. We want it to reflect what people want,” Borasky said.

Brusatti is one of the faculty members who agrees with what the committee is trying to accomplish.

“If we move in the direction of departmental chairs, the responsibility of each dean for writing letters of evaluation for faculty members will lessen. It will probably be the responsibility of the chair to write at least the first draft of evaluation letters,” Brusatti said.

Brusatti has to write 65 letters of evaluation for this upcoming year.

“It takes all summer and well into the fall semester to complete them,” he said.

The program also hopes to clear up confusion among roles that the department chairs and deans play in the student community.

“Right now, when students have issues they have to go straight to the dean. Instead, students can go to the department chairs,” Frohardt said.

Borasky seems to agree that this change will impact students in a positive way.

“I don’t see any negative impacts for students,” Borasky said. “It gives you easier access if you have a letters.”

Frohardt’s committee still has to present their ideas to the Faculty Senate, the faculty at large and the administration before a firm decision is made. The restructuring, if approved, will not be carried out until next fall.

“At the very least, it’s going to take some of the burden off faculty. There’s a lot of uncertainty with what their jobs are supposed to be. The faculty and administration will be more efficient,” Frohardt said.