Agenda items for the July 12, 2006 meeting need to be submitted to Theresa DeRose
by June 15, 2006.

The meeting convened at 2:30 p.m. by Maxine Colm.

PAC members present were:

Member	District	Member	District
Paul Pusecker	1	Burt Wilson	9
Trudy Riley	2	Sue Groff	10
Kristine Ritz-Coll	4	Doris Miklitz	11
Chris Murphy	6	Melissa Scott	14
Theresa DeRose	8

Members Excused:
Alternates: Susan Baldwin #5
Members Absent: Patricia Grim #3, Daniel Bailey #7, Mary Jo Mankin #12
Others Present: Maxine Colm, Richie Holland, Thomas LaPenta, Lynn Brock

Minutes

The March 2006 minutes were approved as written.

Constituent Concerns

A constituent of Ms. DeRose questioned why contact lenses are not covered at the same extent that frames are. Mr. Holland contacted Christine Ulrich, Human Resources, who noted that the vision plan covers standard bifocals in full (in network) and provides reimbursement up to $39 (out of network). Coatings, transitions, progressives, polaroid, high index, tints and polycarbonates are considered upgrades. The plan provides a 20% discount on these options when purchased in network. This constituent also asked for clarification for the $175 reimbursement for glasses. Ms. Ulrich also responded that standard frames are covered up to $150 retail (in network) and the plan provides a $79 reimbursement on frames when purchased outside of the superior vision network. These amounts apply to frames only. Please see benefit chart on our website. The website is http://www.udel.edu/Benefits/menu/Vision.html
AFSCME Local 439 employees may still use their $175 annual physical reimbursement toward the cost of prescription glasses (exam, lenses, and/or frames).
Additionally, this constituent asked why contact lenses get covered for $120 while glasses get covered for $175 – regardless of “cosmetic reasons or not” we should not be penalized for how we choose to use our glasses or contracts. Ms. Ulrich’s response is that our vision plan has 12 month frequency of service for contacts and a 24 month frequency of service for frames. So over two years an employee has access to $240 worth of contacts. Because the frames are available every two years employees have access to the $150 frame allowance plus their lens benefit. This makes the benefit pretty similar for glasses vs. contacts over a two year time period.

Ms. DeRose’s constituent inquired why salaried & professional staff do not get paid for accumulated sick leave while custodial union employees are compensated. Mr. LaPenta responded that when the custodial union contract was renegotiated, the custodial union employees now earn only 12 sick days/year instead of the 18 sick days that professional & salaried staff earn. To compensate them for earning less days, they are able to be paid for sick time as long as they have accumulated at least 60 days at the time they request compensation. They are not paid per hour for their sick time – instead, they are paid $25/day.

A constituent of Ms. Murphy reported that he and two other professional status employees who were matriculating graduate students in the MS Information Systems & Technology Management program were having a problem with a course fee waiver for one of the six credits they were taking this semester. Skip White, head of the MS program in B & E had written a letter stating that the intent has always been that BUEC 870 (2 credits) and BUEC 871 (1 credit) be taken together and should be linked as in a course with a lab, thus considered eligible for fee waiver. The system did not reflect that intent. The employees/students were told to withdrawal after drop/add, and then received a bill for $380 each. Through a coordinated effort with the College of Business and Economics, HR-Benefits, Billing and Collection, Graduate Studies, and the Registrar’s Office the problem was resolved. The students received full credit and the fee waiver covered all the courses. Going forward, the description is changed for BUEC 870 and BUEC 871 linked as course with lab. Future employees/students in the program will receive full fee waiver benefits.

Ms. Murphy’s constituent inquired about service awards and service time being counted while being a contractor at the University of Delaware. Mr. Holland responded that S- Contract employment time is not counted toward university service.

Burt Wilson’s constituent inquired whether or not the University of Delaware has any intention of instituting a computer purchase program again. The answer is not at the current time.

A constituent of Ms. Ritz-Coll inquired as to why domestic partner benefits are not offered by the University of Delaware. Dr. Colm responded that we are tied to the State of Delaware health plan program and the University follows that program. The University of Delaware Board of Trustees recently reviewed this issue and did not change their position of following the State’s lead.

Committee Reports

Faculty Staff Dining Committee Meeting minutes from May 18, 2006 were presented by Melissa Scott.

2. Retail update
o Walters in Hullihen Hall will soon be getting a “face lift”.
o The Euro Bistro in the Library will be getting new lounge chairs and will be adding a line of fresh baked goods called “Bleaker Street”.

3. Market update
o The results of the dining styles survey done in October were not discussed.
o Bill re-visited the idea of using debit cards in soda machines. There have been a surprising number of problems in attempting to make this happen. The cost of installing a swipe for each machine is very expensive. They also want to be able to use FLEX in order to avoid debit charges for the students. He hopes to keep working on this and see it come to fruition.

4. Premium Dinner at Pencader/Premium Desserts at Rodney
o The premium meals remain very popular with the students. The students themselves suggest many meal ideas. In April, foods from around the world were featured. . Faculty and Staff are reminded they are invited to participate in these meals.
o Rodney had an ice sculpture featured at one of their premium dessert nights.

5. Committee concerns:

o When the rest of the George Reed dorm buildings open next semester, will Pencader Dining Hall be able to absorb the increase in number of students? Deb Miller stated that even with the projected increase in the number of beds/students, Pencader was “well equipped” to handle the expansion.
o There was a long discussion regarding the feasibility of sending a small, microwavable meal to sick students who felt too ill to leave their dorm rooms. Of greatest concern was who would do the delivery? Suggestions included fraternities/sororities/service groups who wished to provide a community service. But who would be ultimately responsible if volunteers were unavailable. It was pointed out that Trabant did deliver in the PM. Deb Miller stated she would continue to look at this suggestion.
o The next Faculty Staff Dining Committee Meeting will meet the end of the fall semester. It was suggested that the meeting might be held in the Blue & Gold club.

Respectfully submitted
Melissa Scott


Faculty Senate minutes from the April 3, 2006 and May 1, 2006 meetings were presented by Susan Baldwin.

Faculty Senate Meeting, April 3, 2006

General Faculty Meeting
President Roselle presented a summary report of his administrations’ accomplishments over the past 15 years. The goals initiated in 1991 have largely been met, and the future of the University of Delaware is bright.

Diversity
The institution has increased the diversity of both faculty and students, but we are not as diverse as we want to be. Faculty has hiring responsibility and every new hire should be seen as an opportunity to diversify. Since 1985, the number of male faculty members has increased 15%, while females have increased by 102% and African Americans by 164%. In a recent study, UD’s faculty diversity compared favorably to other eastern Category 1 schools. Currently 37% of UD faculty are women, African Americans comprise 4.4%, Hispanics 1.9%, and Asian Americans represent 7.8%.
Females have comprised the majority of undergraduates for a number of years, and currently 57% of students are women. African Americans comprise 5.6% of the student population, while Hispanics account for 3.7% and Asian Americans represent 3.4%.

Retention/Graduation
Retention rate for first year students has risen to 89%, and the graduation rate for all students averages 75%. The graduation rate for African American students is 6th in the nation among public schools. The Ronald McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program is intended to promote graduate study for minority students. UD’s program currently has 28 students, and of 162 programs nationally, UD’s is the only one to have a 100% success rate.
The number of graduate students has grown steadily, from about 1500 in 1990 to more than 2500 currently. Financial aid has increased from $20 million to $52 million, and the number of doctoral degrees have increased from 100 to 172.
The increased competitiveness of applicants has increased the quality of the undergraduate body. Applications have increased from under 13,000 in 1991 to over 21,000, but the number of non-Delaware students enrolled as freshman has remaining constant. The growth in the freshman class is comprised of Delawareans. Undergrad SAT scores have improved from an average of 1121 in 1991 to 1206, and undergrad financial aid has risen to $56 million from $19 million. Non-Delaware students continue to surpass Delaware students in both SAT scores and graduation rates. Delaware students have an SAT average of 1156 compared to 1230 for non-Delawareans, and their graduation rate of 68% lags behind the non-Delaware students rate of 78%. SAT scores of students admitted to Associate in Arts program has remained around 970.
The Study Abroad program has increased from 374 participants in 1991 to 1477 this year. Approximately 41% of all graduating seniors have taken part in the program.

Faculty
President Roselle praised the quality of the faculty and noted that the increased compensation reflected another of his priorities. There are now more than 100 named professorships backed by an endowment of $70 million. Grants received have increased from $39 million to $141 million. The quality of recent hires was noted with over 100 faculty members receiving either a NSF Early Career Development award or designated as a Presidential Young Investigator. Compensation for full professors has increased 23% since 1991 in inflation adjusted dollars. The average salary for full professors was $79,000 in 1991, and stands at $141,000 today.

Endowment
The Campaign for Delaware was a resounding success. The endowment passed the $1 billion mark in November of 2005, increasing from $326 million in 1991, and gaining about $55 million per year. Over $445 million has been paid out.

Physical Plant
After successfully completing renovations of existing buildings on campus, a number of openings are slated for the coming months. An open house for the new home of the Department of Languages and Literature will be held on April 21. Jastak-Burgess Hall, was created by joining two former fraternity houses on the north Green. The Elbert and Ann Carvel Research and Education Center will be dedicated on May 1 in Georgetown, and the RV Hugh R. Sharp will be commissioned May 7 in Lewes.
On the Laird Campus, two more residence halls will open in the fall to join the 500 bed George Read Hall. The 250 bed halls will be named after Thomas McKean and James Smith, classmates of George Read, and all graduates of the first “UD” class of Francis Allison. All three subsequently signed the Declaration of Independence. Finally, the Center for the Arts will hold an opening celebration in October.
The meeting closed with a presentation of a plaque to President Roselle from the Faculty Senate recognizing his accomplishments during the past 15 years.
April Faculty Senate Meeting
A consent agenda of 50 Announcements for Challenge was passed unanimously without discussion, as were 5 resolutions. Among the items approved was the name change of the College of Marine Studies to the College of Marine and earth Studies. The name better reflects the college’s research efforts since the Department of Geology joined the college in July.

Faculty Senate Meeting, May 1, 2006

The final meeting of the Faculty Senate for the year, concluded quickly with unanimous passages of a consent agenda and resolutions.
Vice Provost Gempesaw thanked the senate for their participation in the Periodic Review report, and new officers were elected. For next year, President elect will be Alan Fox, Jinfa Cai was elected as Vice President, and Peggy Birney will chair the Committee on Committees.

PAC Report on The Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity meeting held on February 20, 2006 as submitted by Trudy M. Riley.

The Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity

Dean Apple from the College of Arts & Sciences was the invited speaker for this meeting. Faculty diversity within the college was the first item of the Dean’s discussion. The Dean believes that faculty quality includes diversity. The Dean stated that the College of Arts & Sciences has had a banner year in filling faculty positions. One of Dean Apple’s early initiatives was to charge the search committees to be aggressive and proactive in finding candidates of color and women for faculty positions in the sciences. As a result, the search committees undertook extra effort to find exceptional candidates for the positions and provided documentation on their process. These efforts have resulted in exceptional hiring. Departments were informed that when more than one exceptional candidate was found, the college, in concert with the provost, could make available “bridge money” in order to hire more than one qualified candidate.

The Dean discussed other initiatives regarding diversity. He announced the formation of a Diversity Committee within the College Faculty Senate. A professional development conference was held in the Fall 2005 for underrepresented students. There are plans to continue and even expand this conference in coming years.

Dean Apple also announced that new projects have been created under the Paul Jones Initiative: Faculty Summer Institute; Student Summer Institute; and research appointments. In addition, Black American Studies is funding grants to integrate the Paul Jones Collection into the curriculum.

The Dean went on to discuss two partnerships that have been formed with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs): Spelman College and North Carolina A&T University. The Dean feels the partnerships are crucial for recruitment especially in order to diversify the University of Delaware’s faculty as well as to recruit graduate students.

Dean Apple then provided more specific information regarding the college’s faculty recruitment efforts. The search committees were charged with the following: 1) becoming proactive by searching new areas, using new avenues for advertising, and interacting in a more personal manner by contacting candidates by phone and 2) enhancing their awareness of the pitfalls in recruitment. For example, faculty members who were going to become search committee members had the opportunity to hear from a national diversity consultant who informed faculty about studies of cognitive errors that occur in hiring in academia.

Dean Apple went on to discuss the opportunities in increasing diversity of graduate students in the College. He believes that it is possible to increase diversity among the graduate students with the following recommendations: 1) establish feeder schools; 2) establish strong partnerships with the feeder schools to attract new graduate students; 3) inform feeder schools how well the graduate student is doing at the University of Delaware.

In regard to undergraduate students, Dean Apple stated that the support network (support programs) at the University of Delaware is very important. He noted the success of one support program, NUCLEUS which provides strong student retention and degree completion initiatives. The Dean believes that similar programs could be universal throughout the University campus. Dean Apple also discussed Bridges, a pre-college program for high school juniors and seniors who have an interest in Science. There are efforts to transition these programs throughout the college. Dean Apple mentioned other partnership efforts such as those with Delaware State University, Lincoln University, and Delaware Technical & Community College.

Dr. Maloba stated that the Dean would return for another presentation to the Diversity Commission. Dr. Maloba and Diversity Commission members thanked Dean Apple for his presentation.

Announcements

Mr. Holland announced that the Service Awards Dinner for employees with 20 years or more service to retirement will be held on May 18th with close to 600 invitees and approximately 100 of the invitees being retirees.

Mr. Holland also told the group that PAC elections will be held in June, 2006 for even districts, (two year term) and for District 13.

Mr. Holland noted that there were 25 nominations of which four winners were selected for The Excellence in Service Award. The following individuals were representatives on the selection committee - Trudy Riley PAC, Tim Miller HRAC and Kimberly Doucette SSAC. The Winners are - Ruth Smith, Academic Enrichment Center; Maria Palacas, Undergraduate Studies; Terrie Kalesse, College of Engineering; Ivet Ziegelbauer, Residence Life.

Meeting adjourned at

Meeting adjourned at 2:57 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by,

Lynn Brock

Reviewed by Theresa DeRose, Secretary, PAC