The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday,
December 4, 2000 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Taylor
called the fourth meeting of the academic year to order at 3:30 p.m.
Joy Anderson,
Patti Costello, Oliver Feltus, Steve Breeden, Joe Molinaro, Karen Spears,
Gil Smith, Frank Shaw, Gary Kuhnhenn, Bonnie Plummer, Rita Davis, Jim Haynes,
and Ed Davis.
APPROVAL
OF THE MINUTES:
The May 1 minutes were approved without corrections.
The November 6, 2000 minutes were approved with the following change: on
Page 3, it should be: "report from the COSFL representative."
REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kustra
Dr. Kustra introduced Ken Johnston, the new Vice President for Financial
Affairs who comes to Eastern from Auburn University at Montgomery. The President
indicated that Mr. Johnston will also be assuming the job of the preparation
of the budget, so he will be working closely with the Faculty Senate Budget
Committee through the earlier weeks of next year.
The Council on Postsecondary Education has indicated that sometime next
year they will meet with each university to provide an opportunity to replace
five benchmark institutions. Eastern will try to align its benchmarks with
that of Western Kentucky University, as that is the university most similar
to Eastern. By changing some of the benchmarks, Eastern should expect to
receive a more appropriate budget allocation than was granted during this
current biennium.
Discussions will soon begin on the budget for the second year of this biennium
with the Faculty Senate Budget Committee and other campus constituencies
until the final budget recommendation is made in April. As you may recall,
in the second year of this biennium, there is a 3.7% increase in base funding.
Last year it was only 2.7%. So that extra 1% will make a big difference,
and will provide a little more flexibility. Secondly, Eastern now has the
$850,000 received for recruitment and retention.
While,
the retention goal for last year was met, the recruitment goal was not met.
Recruitment and retention efforts are absolutely the primary focus of the
university. Recruitment is a much more competitive environment than it once
was, and there is no question that students are deciding to go elsewhere
for reasons such as the quality of residential facilities and the kind of
campus life available, and whether or not they feel warm and welcome. Eastern
currently has a very impressive array of campus partners who have joined
together to completely re-think and re-tool the approach to recruitment.
Also, Eastern's admissions process can now be accessed online. To date there
have been approximately 200 students admitted through the online process.
REPORT
FROM THE CHAIR: Senator Taylor
The Student Government Association and the Faculty Senate have a joint Ad
Hoc Committee on fraternization. Faculty representation on that committee
includes Dr. Connie Callahan, Dr. Bankole Thompson, and Dr. Susan Willis.
The faculty representation on the Ad Hoc Promotion and Tenure Committee
will include: Dr. David Greenlee, Dr. Renee Taylor, Dr. Sheila Virgin and
Ferrell Wellman and Dr. James Wells.
The members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Lecturers and Part Time Lecturers
will be: Dr. Jan Downing, Dr. Renee Everett has agreed to chair that, Ron
Hopkins, Judith Lindquist, and Homer Tracy.
The University Ad Hoc Committee on General Education met with the Executive
Committee on November 20. This committee asked Senator Taylor to remind
the faculty that this committee would like feedback from departments, college
curriculum committees, and the faculty on its current draft on general education.
The deadline for feedback is by spring break.
The Executive Committee would like to request the Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
Committee to investigate or gather information on the establishing of an
ombudsman for the faculty.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Shared Faculty Positions Proposal. Karen Spears introduced the Shared
Faculty Positions Proposal and provided a brief history of the committee's
work on the process. Senator Johnson made a motion to approve the proposal.
The motion was approved by the Faculty Senate.
NEW
BUSINESS:
Council on Academic Affairs. Senator Marsden moved to approve the
new minor in Appalachian Studies. The minor was approved by the Faculty
Senate.
Senator Marsden moved to approve the following three proposals submitted
by the Department of Art. The proposals were approved by the Faculty Senate.
1. Suspend A.A. Degree program in Interior Design Assistant
2. Suspend the B.A. Art/teaching degree program
3. Revise the B.A. Art degree
Senator Marsden moved to approve the three proposed changes listed below
in the Department of English. The three proposed changes were approved by
the Faculty Senate.
1.Change the name from the Department of English to the Department of English
and Theatre
2.Suspend the B.A. In Speech and Theatre Arts
3.Change the name of the B.A. In Theatre Arts to a B.A. In Theatre
Senator Marsden moved to approve the six proposed curriculum changes in
the Department of Geography and Planning which are listed below. These items
were approved by the Faculty Senate.
1.Change the name of the department from the Department of Geography and
Planning to the Department of Geography
2.Revision of the B.A. in Geography
3.Change the title and curriculum of the minor in Natural Resource Analysis
to Natural Resource Geography.
4.Change the curriculum and title of the minor in Planning to Community
and Regional Planning.
5.Suspend the minor in Travel and Tourism
6.Create a new minor entitled: Minor in Geotechniques
Senator Marsden moved approval to suspend the B.B.A. Economics degree Program
in the College of Business and Technology. This was passed by the Faculty
Senate.
Senator Marsden moved to approve a new certificate program in Accounting
in the Department of Accounting, Finance and Information Systems. This motion
was passed by the Faculty Senate.
Senator Marsden moved to approve the adoption of the three curricular items
in the Communication Department listed below. The motion was approved by
the Faculty Senate.
1.Revise the B.A. Degree Program in Speech Communication:
2. Suspend the Health Communication option in the Speech Communication degree
3.Create a new minor in Dispute Resolution
Senator Marsden moved to approve the five curriculum items proposed by the
Department of Technology which are listed below. The items were approved
by the Faculty Senate.
1.Suspend the Architectural Drafting Technology Minor
2.Change the B.S. Area Major in Manufacturing Technology
3.Change the minor in Manufacturing Technology
4.Change the Major in Vocational-Industrial and Technical Education (Teaching)
(A.S.)
5.Revise the Vocational-Industrial and Technical Education (Teaching) (B.S.)
Area
Senator Marsden moved to approve the revision in the Community Nutrition
M.S. Degree. The motion was passed by the Faculty Senate.
Senator Marsden moved to approve the creation of a new program in the College
of Education: Master of Arts in Teaching: Secondary and P-12 Education Option.
This motion was passed by the Faculty Senate.
Ad
Hoc Committee on Salary Inequities. Senator Marsden made a motion to
create a joint ad hoc committee between the Provost Council and the Faculty
Senate to work on a university salary inequities policy, seconded by Senator
Collins. Senator Taylor agreed to appoint five faculty members to serve
on the joint committee. This motion was passed by the Faculty Senate.
STANDING
COMMITTEES:
Committee
on Budget. Senator Rink reported for the committee. The committee has
met several times to study the budget summary as well as to talk about issues
on the budget, particularly the budget shortfall. The committee has met
with President Kustra and other members of administration, and a proposal
was made in early December to look at ways to which to compensate for the
shortfall.
Committee
on Rules. Senator Yoder gave a progress report for the committee. The
committee met and discussed the following topics:
- The Committee
on Rules was requested by the Executive Committee to review the faculty
handbook for discrepancies. Many discrepancies were found.
- The Committee
was charged with the task of drafting a statement about the role of
the faculty senate in the reorganization of the university. Last year's
draft has been revised and will be discussed again at the January committee
meeting.
- .In the
research by the committee, a statement was found in a previous set of
Faculty Senate minutes that in order to fulfill the function of maintaining
communication between the faculty at large and the administration, the
Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate needs to be informed of the
disposition of all motions originating from the Faculty Senate. This
item will be discussed further at the committee's January meeting.
- The committee
is in the process of drafting a statement about the role of the faculty
senate and/or the rules committee in any revisions of the faculty handbook.
- The committee
was asked to consider a longer term for part time representatives. This
will be discussed further at the January meeting.
Senator
Yoder made a motion to establish an ad hoc committee to examine the new
faculty handbook for inaccuracies and inconsistencies, seconded by Senator
Dilka. Senator Taylor suggested having one representative from each college
serve on the committee along with a representative from the Committee on
Rules. Senator Yoder agreed with this suggestion. This motion was passed
by the Faculty Senate.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Retirement
Transition Proposal. Senator Marsden commented that a proposal should
be coming to the Faculty Senate in the near future on a new retirement transition
proposal.
Sponsoring an Open Forum. Senator Freed made a motion
to hold an open forum brown bag luncheon with the Provost sometime in early
January, seconded by Senator Thompson. This motion was approved by the Faculty
Senate.
ADJOURNMENT:
Senator Marsden moved to adjourn the meeting at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Meetings