UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
MINUTES
I. Adoption of the Agenda – Adopted as written
II. Approval of the Minutes of September 8, 2003 – Approved as written
III. Old Business – General Education Draft Report – Avron Abraham, Chairperson of the General Education attended the meeting to discuss the Committee's Draft Report. Dr. Abraham first talked to the Committee about the organization of the report and answered some questions concerning sections of the document that were unclear. It was noted that the Committee is only making recommendations, not mandating any curricula actions. Further, most of the report is a description of the various undertakings over the past three years of activities that support the general education initiatives; which fulfills the committee's specific charge. Members of the Executive Committee made several suggestions, which Dr. Abraham will bring back to his committee for their consideration. His committee will also consider the resolutions they would like to bring before the full Faculty Senate
The draft report recommends that the Committee be constituted for another three years. Most of the conversation centered around potential charges to the committee, if it is to continue. There was general agreement that a future charge should center around program evaluation and resource, faculty incentive and implementation issues. The need to assure adequate resources for the Committee in it's next phase is very important; if a decision is made to continue the Committee, the Senate should enter into discussions with administration about providing adequate resources.
Executive Committee members gave Dr. Abraham their written comments/suggestions/questions regarding the draft document. Karen Stein thanked Dr. Abraham for all his efforts and asked him to convey the Executive Committee’s gratitude to his committee members. Dr. Abraham informed the Exec. Cte. that he would send an updated version of the report as soon as it was available.
Mike Keefe suggested that it be announced as an information item at the October Senate Meeting that the General Ed Committee met their commitment to submit a report by the deadline. as an informational item. All members agreed that it was important for the Senate to be aware that the draft report had been submitted to the Executive Committee, and that it is currently in the process of revision.
IV. New Business – P & T Proposal – The P & T proposal arrived at the Senate Office without electronic documentation therefore it was not received prior to the meeting. The Executive Committee will consider this at their next meeting after reviewing the proposal. Karen Stein also asked the Executive Committee to evaluate the current P & T policy and to bring back recommendations specifically concerning the appeal process. There was brief discussion concerning this process and what procedures were available. Mike Keefe stated that he felt that the AAUP would play some role in the appeal process and Chuck Mason thought perhaps the Faculty Welfare and Privileges Committee might play a role as well.
The Senate Executive Committee luncheons were discussed next. Karen informed the Cte. that the luncheons were designed as an avenue for direct communication between the Senate and Administration. We should use this opportunity to advise the Provost in advance of the lunch of the "issue of the day" that we want to discuss during lunch. The Provost is in agreement with this, and it may be that only people pertinent to the discussion will attend the lunch. She also stated that there was a possibility that President Roselle and/or other members of the administration who formerly attended all lunches might only need or wish to attend one or two luncheons per year depending upon the subject matter.
Chuck Mason suggested that we might wish to consider using the “No Attribution Rule” for the luncheons allowing those who wish to make statements off the record to do so with out being held to those statements. All agreed this was a good idea. We agreed that the issue for our first lunch will be the Senate's large need for permanent IT help to assist our committees and make major improvements in the Senate Office functions, particularly in regard to doing business over the web. The work of the Student and Faculty Honors Committee was cited as just one example where web development and support is vital--and there is only so much we can ask of our volunteer faculty committee members.
Adjournment – The meeting
adjourned at
Respectfully Submitted,
Karren Helsel-Spry