The intellectual property policy will now go before the Brown Corporation at its meeting later this month for final approval.
A resolution endorsing the policy narrowly passed a faculty vote at an April 5 meeting, but the vote might have been illegitimate because a quorum was not present. Professor of Engineering Peter Richardson, the parliamentarian at faculty meetings, told the faculty at Tuesday's meeting that the resolution was placed back on the agenda due to the confusion at the April meeting and the eagerness of faculty to discuss the issue further.
The policy has led to dissent among some faculty because it gives the University rights to inventions and discoveries made by professors without University funding and while away from Brown, as during summers, breaks, sabbaticals and in independent consulting projects.
The controversial clauses were clarified by five amendments offered by faculty members and accepted by Vice President for Research Andries van Dam, who proposed the policy. The amendments altered clauses dealing with the policy's applicability - specifying what entails work done in the course of "University duties," for instance.
Van Dam told The Herald that he was very happy with the meeting's outcome, adding that he had never before seen unanimous faculty approval of a controversial measure in his nearly 40 years at Brown.
Associate Professor of Physics Xinsheng Ling and Professor of Chemistry Gerald Diebold, the policy's most vocal opponents, both called the final outcome a victory. They said the spirit of the amendments answered their complaints, though they criticized some of the policy's language for being too vague.
In other business, Provost Robert Zimmer outlined the University's table of needs, which details areas targeted to receive funding in the University's capital campaign.
The $1.3 billion plan proposes $660 million for endowment, including financial aid and professorships, $200 million for physical development and $465 million of support for University programs, through both restricted gifts earmarked for specific purposes and unrestricted giving through the Brown Annual Fund.
The funding plan will be presented to the Corporation at its meeting later this month. The public phase of the campaign is expected to launch this fall.
Zimmer also congratulated the four Brown professors recently appointed to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Professor of History Omer Bartov, Professor of Engineering Rodney Clifton, Professor of Anthropology David Kertzer and Professor of English C.D. Wright were elected as fellows to the honorary society.
Also Tuesday, President Ruth Simmons announced that the University began negotiating with limited duration employees - temporary workers paid less than the University's minimum wage of $10 per hour - about unionization efforts.
Last month Simmons responded to controversy about the University's treatment of temporary employees, most of whom work for Dining Services or the Brown Bookstore, by asking Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter and the Human Resources Advisory Board to review the University's policies regarding temporary employees.
