While a committee member can step out of the room during deliberations of his or her own activity report, this may prove more difficult in determining the amount of an FMI award to be given to meritorious faculty member. We found this part of the FMI review process to be the most problematic because it forces some faculty members into conflict of interest situations they should be avoiding and one with the appearance of impropriety regardless of how objectively the faculty member carries out his or her mandate as a member of a review committee. This also presents an awkward situation for chairs. While we were able to lessen this to some extent by requiring the departmental review committee to forward the chair's activity report and review result directly to the dean, it does not entirely eliminate the problem. The TA assumes that all faculty members provide services in a single department.
Some faculty have assignments in more than one department and sometimes in more than one college.
For such faculty, the review process doesn't work well. While this addresses the problem, given the 5-step FMI review process, it does not eliminate the possibility that such faculty might not receive as effective a review as would faculty serving in just one department. However, college deans will know exactly how much FMI funds are available and what the realistic percentage awards can be for each applicant. Given this situation, it is quite possible that deans will be required to reduce percentage awards solely for the reason that there are not enough FMI funds. Each person so reduced is eligible to file an appeal.