SENATE OF THE FACULTY, October 10, 1997
The Senate of the Faculty met in room 106 of the Law School
Present: D. Adler, B. Barrios (1), K. Beason,
N. Bercaw (1), A. Bomba, F. Coles, C. Cunningham, R. Dorsey, A.
Elsherbeni, A. Fisher-Wirth, W. Gardner, F. Gilbert, R. Gordon,
D. Graves, K. Green, F. Gu, L. Hanshaw, L. Harper, R. Haws, F.
Laurenzo, F. Love, T. Marshall (P), J. Mizenko, C. Mullen, H.
Owens, J. F. Payne L. Pittman, T. J. Ray, S. Rodgers (1), D. Schlenk
(1), S. Schreiber, E. Sisson (1), M. Slattery (P), K. Sufka, P.
Temple (1), M. Tew, M. Van Boening, M. Vinson, Jay Watson, J.
Williamson (P), J. Winkle (1), C. Wyandt,
Absent: L. Blenman* (PP), C. Dale (1), J. Johnson
(2), D. Nichols (2), T. Ownby (1), J. S. Payne* (PP), S. Prasad
(1), W. Rayburn (2), J. Reidy* (1,P), N. Schroeder (2), W. Scott
(2), S. Skemp (1), L. Smith* (P), K. Wakefield (1), John Watson
(1,P), R. Westmoreland* (P), M. Wilder (1), E. Young-Minor (2)
* = Prior Notification of Absence Given, (x)
= number of absences this session
Chair Karen Green called the meeting to order at 2:05 and introduced Jean Shaw, co-Chair of the United Way campaign with Ms. Thelma Curry. Dr. Shaw spoke briefly about the goals of this year's United Way campaign.
Chair Green introduced Dr. Ron Vernon who spoke about the work of the committee studying establishment of a university core curriculum. The committee began its work in March, 1997, and began circulating proposed guiding principles in August. Professor Vernon solicited input from all faculty. Q: Will the core be required of all students? A: Yes. Q: Will colleges be able to impose additional requirements? A: Not yet addressed. Almost certainly so. Q: Is there a timetable? A: The Provost has not imposed a timetable on the committee's work. We hope to reach completion in about 2 years. Q: What's next? A: In the second stage, the committee will repeat the "faculty forum" format.
The minutes from the April, May and August meetings were approved (moved, Cunningham; 2d, Dorsey). The minutes from the September meeting were approved (moved, Dorsey; 2d, Adler).
New Senators were introduced: Larry Hanshaw, Education; Chris Mullen, Engineering; Ken Sufka, Liberal Arts.
In response to the survey of the Faculty Senate regarding Fall Break, two-thirds of the 35 respondents favor the concept. Of these, 60% favor a date in October.
Chair Green reported on the actions of the Academic Council. Reflecting the sense of the Faculty Senate, she had argued against adopting the proposed policy on extraordinary teaching without a broad policy regarding establishment of such programs that included faculty participation. The policy on extraordinary teaching was passed by the Academic Council, but there was general support for the need for a policy regarding establishment of programs. The Faculty Governance Committee (T. J. Ray, Chair) has been asked to prepare a proposal, and will be provided with a discussion draft being provided by Associate Vice Chancellor Eftink.
Early promotion is a sticking point in the proposed guidelines for promotion. Senator Cunningham and the General Academic Affairs committee have been asked to meet with Provost Walton to try and resolve differences.
The IHL has ruled that Arthur Andersen cannot receive the re-engineering contract due to a conflict of interest associated with Interim Vice Chancellor Deloach. A new award is expected in November.
Senator Williamson presented a proposed policy regarding the Office of Research. The guiding principle of the committee's work had been to answer the question, "Where do we want to be in the year 2000?" Senator Gilbert moved that we adopt the proposed policy, seconded by Senator Cunningham. After some discussion and adoption of amendments, the policy was passed by a voice vote. The policy as adopted is attached.
Senator Harper reported on the proposed Faculty Center. Among the questions remaining are: Who can use the facility? What hours should the center operate? How will it be staffed? The committee is looking into the possibility of having a coffee concession to help support funding.
Senator Temple pointed out that there is a proposal to ask that "tobacco settlement" money be used to bolster the state's health insurance plan (due to increased costs, the reserve funds have gone from 60 million dollars to 40 million dollars). The issue was referred to the Finance Committee (Lewis Smith, Chair).
The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 P. M. The
next meeting of the Senate is Friday, November 14th
at 2 PM in Room 30, Holman Hall.