Chair Laurenzo declared a quorum and called the meeting to order at 7:07 PM.
Present: J. Aubrey, B. Barkdoll, T. Bates, J. Bradley, L. Bush, J. Cassidy, R. Ethridge, D. Feller, V. Frierson-Adams, L. Harper, F. Laurenzo, J. Martin, K. McKee, C. Mullen, L. Pittman, K. Raber, T. Ray, J. Reidy, K. Sabol, M. Slattery, M. Tew, Jay Watson, John Watson, C. Williford
Absent: J. Atkins, B. Avery, M. Baggett, B. Barrios, *A. Bomba, G. Buskes, A. Canty, B. Choinski, *W. Cleland, R. Dale, M. Deighton, C. Eagles, R. Ethridge, P. Goggans, *D. Graves, L. Hanshaw, S. Hargrove, W. Mayer, P. Malone, T. McCarty, P. Malone, J. Murray, M. Overby, E. Payne, J. Parcher, J. F. Payne, J. S. Payne, W. Rayburn, *J. Rimoldi, R. Schroeder, H. Sloan, L. Smith, *C. Taylor, C. Walker, R. Westmoreland
*Prior notice given
Guest: Rachel Malone, Daily Mississippian, Mrs. Bonnie Brown, Dr. Gerald Walton
1. Mrs. Brown and Dr. Walton announced that the capital campaign for Ole Miss is planning a week of activities beginning March 27 to bring faculty and staff together and give them an opportunity to contribute to the campaign.
2. Announcements
A. Laurenzo reminded everyone that Jim Reidy's committee is currently considering plans for management of the Faculty House. All faculty are encouraged to pass suggestions along to Jim Reidy. It is likely that the house will be available in June.
B. The Finance Committee has arranged for a forum to discuss problems in our health insurance. Senator Gray Tollison and Representative Jay Eads will participate in the program. Efforts are being made to also have representatives from the State Office of Finance & Administration, the State Insurance Office, and AHS. The meeting will be at 4:00 PM on April 7 in the Union Ballroom.
C. Larry Bush asked about the status of the post-tenure review since the universities' proposals had been given to the IHL Board. Nothing has been reported back to campus on the matter.
D. Mark Slattery asked about the rumor that the hooding of doctoral candidates was being eliminated from the morning commencement program. Laurenzo said that he, too, had heard the rumor and would look into it.
E. Laura Harper asked for faculty to nominate individuals for the Frist Award.
3. New Business
The only item of new business was a consideration of proposed changes in the Constitution and By-laws of the Senate of the Faculty. (For the complete texts of these two documents, go to the Ole Miss web page:
http://home.olemiss.edu/~eemdt/Senate/.) Such changes require that they be considered at two meetings of the Senate, thus precluding a final vote on the matter at this meeting. Mark Tew moved and Jim Reidy seconded the adoption of the changes. A lengthy discussion raised concerns from several people.
The item that elicited the most discussion concerned the proposal to reduce the size of the Senate. John Bradley moved and Larry Pittman seconded a motion to amend the document to eliminate language that would have the effect of reducing the number of members.
A number of people rehearsed the problems attendant on the current manner of elections on campus, and the spirit of the group seemed to be in favor of the simplifications proposed in the document under consideration.
There was no stated opposition to the idea of changing the calendar of the Senate to begin in January and end in December.
After an hour of discussion the question of there being a quorum was raised. A count showed that there no longer was a quorum, and the chair dismissed the Senate.