FS Minutes - 03-05-01

Jill Allgier, Sue Cain, Tina Davis, Rita Davis, Karen Janssen, Chris Laird, and Elizabeth Wachtel.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:
The February 5, 2000 minutes were approved.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kustra
The President briefly mentioned his recent resignation as President of the University effective July 1, 2002. He indicated that the rationale for such an early announcement was to allow the University sufficient time to search for a replacement.

Ken Johnston, the new Vice President for Finance, recently proposed a budget for the university for this year which will be presented at budget hearings to the campus community sometime between now and early April. The final budget proposal will be presented to the Board for approval the last week in April.

The Strategic Planning and Budgeting Council will be attending a retreat soon to begin discussions on the future direction of the University.

The President indicated the need to move forward with the General Education reform.

The committee on the new Fitness Center is beginning their research. Now is the time for the faculty, staff and students to come together and decide the kind of center needed, the programs needed, and how the center will serve the health needs not only of our own students but of the students and their parents and all of the members of the community of East Kentucky.

A new effort is being launched to integrate Academic and Student Affairs. Beginning as early as next Fall, the new Living and Learning experience will be assembled under the direction of Dr. Dee Cockrille. There are some very significant and meaningful roles for faculty to play in building an academic component into a living experience for students.

The Board of Regents will discuss the proposal on insurance for domestic partners when they next address the health insurance issue, which will probably be sometime in April. Ken Johnston is currently working with the Committee on Health Insurance to determine if an adjustment in insurance premiums is needed and to what extent to cover the increase in medical bills this past year.

The President reported that Ron and Sherrie Noel, former graduates of Eastern, have made a gift to the University of a quarter of a million dollars. The President has decided to use these funds to set up a permanent endowment for the Teaching and Learning Center.

The President announced that Doug Robertson has been appointed as the new Director of the Teaching and Learning Center. The President further announced his appreciation to Bill Jones and Harold Blythe for their excellent work in getting the Teaching and Learning Center started.

REPORT FROM THE CHAIR: Senator Taylor
Senator Taylor reported that he has appointed an Ad Hoc Committee on Compensation and Benefits which will be expected to give a report to the Faculty Senate next year. The members of the committee are: Kevin Rahimzadeh, Kim Naugle, Allen Engle, Kevin Minor, and Elaine Waters.

Senator Taylor mentioned that the Faculty Senate Budget Committee has been busily working on the new budget. He indicated a couple of points that should be considered in the future when determining the budget: 1) multi-year budgeting; 2) designated funds for capital expenditures; and 3) establishing a faculty minimum wage.

Senator Taylor mentioned that nominations for the Faculty Senate Chair will be taken at the April meeting.

Senator Taylor asked that status reports be given at the April meeting for all appointed committees from this year.

NEW BUSINESS:
Minimum Wage Proposal: Senator Miller temporarily took over the Chair duties while Senator Taylor made a motion, seconded by Senator Everett, to accept the proposed minimum wage policy which states that:

The Faculty Senate recommends that the following minimum wage requirements be enacted:

Professor - $54,000
Requirements: terminal degree, tenure, and 15 years of EKU service.

Associate Professor - $45,400
Requirements: terminal degree and tenure

Assistant Professor - $36,800
Requirements: terminal degree

Instructor - $27,100

This minimum would be implemented after determining the current faculty member's contract at 3 percent (50 COLA raise/50 merit).

Funds to implement this policy should be provided through the "Faculty Salary Equity Pool" proposed in the current budget at an allocation of $50,000.

Additional funding (approximately $30,000) should be added to this pool by:
1. Requesting $30,000 from the "Action Agenda" fund which is subject to CPE approval, or
2. Limiting the three percent raises of all EKU personnel holding tenure/faculty rank to no more than $2,100. The amount the faculty member would have received beyond the $2,100 amount will be added to the "Faculty Salary Equity Pool."

After this minimum wage policy has been implemented, any remaining funds should be held for either resolving other salary inequities as specified by a university wide salary equity policy when approved by the EKU faculty senate or for continued implementation of this policy in the budget period of 2002-2003.

Senator Wolf made a motion, seconded by Senator Dunston, to delay discussion of the proposal until the April 2 Senate meeting. The motion to postpone discussion until April 2 was approved by the Faculty Senate.

REPORT FROM THE PROVOST: Senator Marsden
Student Progress Report, Senator Marsden made a motion, seconded by Senator Huebner, to approve the proposed Student Progress Report which would replace mid-term deficiencies and require faculty to provide all students with a written report of their progress in class by the seventh week.

Senator Maclaren moved to postpone discussion indefinitely, seconded by Senator Dunston. The Faculty Senate voted to postpone discussion indefinitely.

Developmental Course Grades. Senator Marsden made a motion, seconded by Senator Yoder, to approve the developmental course grade proposal which included two parts: 1) Eliminate the grade of "D" in terms of course grade that was optional for a developmental course and; 2) Eliminate the use of the plus/minus grading system for developmental courses. The Faculty Senate voted to approve the motion.

Placement Proposal for Development English and Reading. Senator Marsden made a motion, seconded by Senator Flanagan, to approve the placement proposal for Developmental English and Reading which will bring Eastern's requirements in line with the Council on Postsecondary Education which defines students as remedial or developmental if they have an ACT subscore less than 18 for the areas of English, Mathematics and Reading effective Fall 2001. The motion was approved by the Faculty Senate.

Council on Academic Affairs Curriculum Items. Senator Marsden made a motion, seconded by Senator Wasicsko, to approve the two curriculum proposals from the College of Education:

College of Education
Program & Certificate Revision: Elementary Education with option in Reading
M.A.Ed. in Education with an option in Gifted Education (P-12)

The proposals were approved by the Faculty Senate.

Senator Marsden made a motion, seconded by Senator Elrod, to approve the three proposed curriculum items from the College of Justice and Safety.

College of Justice & Safety
Program Revision: Corrections and Juvenile Services (B.S.)
Program Revision: Corrections and Juvenile Services (A.A.)
Minor Revision: Corrections and Juvenile Services

The proposals were approved by the Faculty Senate.

Posthumous Degree. Senator Marsden made a motion, seconded by Senator Collins, to approve Lance Barnett for a posthumous degree. This was approved by the Faculty Senate.

Report from the Faculty Regent. Senator Thompson reported that the Board of Regents met on Thursday on campus to vote on two action items and discuss the University budget. One action taken was to pass the Student Government Association amendment which extends their voting time in elections from one day to one week. The second action was to pass the Retirement Transition Program (RTP) for faculty. This item was passed with few questions, as the Board had seen it before. The section of the RTP document which was discussed at some length in the Senate was the question of how long the faculty member might be able to participate in the program. The document approved by the Board stated two or three years, and the length of time and the exact nature of the work were to be negotiated at the beginning of the period.

The rest of the Board meeting was a lengthy discussion of the proposed budget. There seemed to be agreement about budgeting conservatively, but trying to hold to at least a 3% raise for faculty and staff. The Buck study was discussed at some length, and concern was expressed by several people about the need to do the best we can, given constraints, to improve staff salaries that are so far out of line with the market.

The Board did not take any action regarding President Kustra's resignation, or planning for a presidential search. To date they have been busy studying the budget. Mr. Rice, Chair of the Board, has indicated that a special meeting might be called in the coming weeks to begin to plan.

Report from the COSFL Representative. Karen Janssen reported that the COSFL met on Saturday, February 24 at 10:00 a.m. at the W.T. Young Library at UK.

A change in the COSFL constitution was passed. The officers of COSFL (President, Vice President, and Treasurer) were changed from one-year terms of office to terms of two years or until a successor is elected.

The major items of discussion were (1) State financial picture and the impact on postsecondary education, (2) the draft of the Key Indicators of Progress toward Reform, and (3) revision of COSFL's document on Shared Governance.

CPE member, Merl Hackbert, gave a clear explanation of the data and how it is interpreted to project what money our state government will have. He and COSFL members discussed the problems in the distribution of funds to the colleges, including the amount of money for base funding compared to the funds tied to specific purposes. The different uses of benchmarks were also discussed.

The President of CPE, Gordon Davies attended part of the meeting, primarily to discuss the draft Key Indicators of Progress toward Reform. COSFL members voiced strong opinions and raised questions. After listening to his response and explanation, it was suggested that Dr. Davies' clarification be available on the Web site when the Key Indicators are posted. It is interesting to note that graduates will include certificates, not just degrees.

The final item of discussion was revising the Faculty Participation in University Governance Position Paper that was adopted in 1986 and based on a document by AAUP in 1966. There is strong consensus among COSFL members that a revision is needed. Changes to update the document were discussed, including removal of a list of university functions for which faculty did not share responsibility. The consensus is that all aspects of an institution of higher education are of importance to the instruction of our students, and thus of concern to faculty.

COSFL will meet again on March 24, 2001 to vote to adopt the Faculty Participation in University Governance Position Paper. COSFL is asking the eight universities and KCTCS to vote approval of the spirit of this document at their April meetings. The position paper will then go to CPE with a request that COSFL present it at the CPE's annual Fall 2001 meeting.

STANDING COMMITTEES:

Committee on the Budget: Senator Rink reported that the budget committee met with Vice President Johnston on February 12th. He provided the members with a preliminary spreadsheet that included income versus expenses. The Budget Committee meet a week later and composed an internal memo to Vice President Johnson indicating possible cuts and changes that could be made in the budget.

Committee on Elections. Senator McAdams reported that on February 6, she sent out an e-mail to everyone asking the chairs to download information and xerox for their departments. As there have been concerns as to whether everyone received the e-mail, the deadline for nominations has been extended to Friday at noon. Information will then be sent to Printing Services so that the forms will be in faculty boxes after Spring break. Two forums are scheduled for the candidate(s) on Tuesday and Wednesday after Spring break at 3:30 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Marsden moved to adjourn the meeting at approximately 5:00 p.m.