The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday,
November 5, 2001 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Schlomann
called the third meeting of the academic year to order at 3:30 p.m.
Nick Bertram,
Student Senate; Rita Davis, Enrollment Management; Erin Michalik, Academic
Affairs Committee; Jennifer Rogers, Eastern Progress; and Debbie
Whalen, Special Collections and Archives.
APPROVAL
OF THE MINUTES:
The October 1, 2001 minutes were approved as written.
REPORT
FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Glasser
President Glasser thanked the Faculty Senate members for the reception
held in her honor prior to the meeting. Those who were unable to meet with
her at the reception were encouraged to visit with her at her office. The
President further extended her thanks for the warm welcome she has received
from the campus and the surrounding community..
President Glasser reiterated her interest in shared governance according
to the AAUP Redbook guidelines and expressed her support for faculty input
on issues that affect the University and faculty lives in general.
President Glasser recently wrote a letter of appreciation to the Governor
on behalf of the University expressing thanks for not including Higher Education
in the latest budget cuts and indicating EKU's interest in continuing to
be full partners in educational reform in Kentucky.
President Glasser indicated that the Council on Postsecondary Education
has recommended the requested 9.5% tuition increase which will generate
some new money for the university. The Council also recommended the benchmark
funding which will be equivalent to an approximate 4% increase of state
appropriations for the next two years. However, this is only a recommendation
and does not necessarily mean that the Governor will approve the latter
recommendation. The exact funding will not be known until after the Governor
submits the budget report to the General Assembly on January 15, 2002. Final
appropriations from the General Assembly will not be known until April.
When the amount is known, President Glasser will present the information
to the Board of Regents at their April meeting. Prior to the Board meeting,
there will be on-going discussions concerning the budget, both from the
Faculty Senate and from the campus community in general.
President Glasser reminded the Senators that she will have her first conversation
with the campus community on Thursday, November 8 at 8:00 a.m.
President
Glasser announced that, at the request of SACS, the next SACS study will
be delayed a year until 2007. This will provide additional time to work
on strategic planning and budgeting. EKU will be sending a SACS team to
New Orleans in December to begin reviewing the new guidelines and expectations.
President Glasser indicated that salaries will continue to be a very important
priority not only in the upcoming year but in the future as well, even though
the financial outlook is uncertain at this point.
President Glasser expressed her appreciation for the hard work the Strategic
Planning Committee has completed thus far. She encouraged the campus community
to participate in the process to develop a strong strategic plan to move
the institution into the future.
REPORT
FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR: Senator Schlomann
Senator Schlomann reported that the committee met on October 22. The committee
reviewed the motion to accept the recommendations submitted by the Ad Hoc
Committee on Faculty Workload. The first recommendation was that the current
policy on faculty workload be widely distributed. This was done via a letter
sent to all faculty as part of the newsletter that the Executive Committee
periodically sends out. The second recommendation was to establish a policy
which permits units greater flexibility. Dr. Marsden will have this added
into the faculty handbook; the Executive Committee asked him to encourage
the deans and chairs to make use of this policy and the flexibility it may
give. The last two recommendations were for additional study of the role
of technology and the policy on advising. The role of technology overlaps
a recently established task force that the Provost set up to look at the
future of the online curriculum at EKU. The Executive Committee decided
to delay further action until the task force submits their report which
is due by March 1, 2002. The Executive Committee agreed that the advising
issue seems to have already been addressed by the changes made in undeclared
advising; therefore, no further action was recommended at this time.
Senator Schlomann announced that in regard to the salary adjustment motion,
the administration is working to implement the motion as expediently as
possible. Those individuals affected should receive a new contract before
the end of the fall term.
Senator Schlomann indicated that the Senate rules and internal procedures
have not yet been distributed to new Senators. As soon as the Rules Committee
has an opportunity to review and update, the rules will be posted on the
web. The internal procedures will be distributed in the near future.
The Executive Committee also discussed the possibility of establishing a
policy for the Senate to conduct regularly scheduled evaluations of the
President. While recognizing that the Board of Regents has ultimate responsibility
for evaluating the President, the committee noted the potential value for
faculty to have an opportunity to provide feedback to the President on his/her
performance. The Executive Committee will probably bring a motion before
the Senate in the near future.
Senator Schlomann asked that she be notified if a senator is unable to serve
on the Senate in the spring semester. She further requested that those not
returning should contact their chair so that a replacement can be selected
for the spring semester.
REPORT
FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Thompson
Senator Thompson reported that the Board met on Homecoming weekend. A Finance
and Planning meeting was held on that Friday and additional Board meetings
were held throughout the day on Saturday. Seven items were approved by the
Board.
- The
capital plan, which was originally presented to the Board in August,
was approved. The major change approved to the capital plan was that
the Business and Technology Center became the number one priority. A
decision was made to seek funds for the 2002-2004 period in order to
actually complete the project. The University Activity Center was listed
as the second priority with the third priority being the Professional
Teacher Education Center.
- The budget
reductions were approved and the monies left to the discretion of the
President. Dr. Hughes emphasized to the Board that the new President
would not have discretionary funds available because of the budget shortage
and the reduction monies would somewhat alleviate the situation.
- The Greek
housing site was approved which will give the fraternities opportunity
to raise funds.
- A refund
policy was approved for military personnel who are called up for service
and have to withdraw.
- An out
of state tuition reduction of approximately 55% was approved for new
undergraduate transfers who qualify because they are either from targeted
counties in contiguous states or are children of alumni or meet certain
high academic criteria. That same reduction was approved for new graduate
students with similar criteria.
- The Board
also passed a proposal to increase the Faculty Senate term for the part
time faculty representative from one year to two years as had been recommended.
- Approval
was given to change the name of the Division of Extended Programs to
Continuing Education and Outreach and to change the administrator's
title from Director to Dean. This was retroactive to October 1, 2000.
Senator
Thompson mentioned that Dr. Hughes gave his final report to the Board summarizing
his accomplishments during his time at Eastern and also providing some suggestions
for the future. The Board expressed appreciation to Dr. Hughes for his help
during his stay at Eastern.
REPORT
FROM COSFL: Senator Falkenberg
Senator Falkenberg reported that COSFL last met on Saturday, October
13 at the Council on Postsecondary Education Offices in Frankfort. A large
amount of time was spent on the consideration of a resolution regarding
the treatment of the Faculty Senate chair at Murray. This resolution was
tabled until additional information could be provided.
Upon
the arrival of CPE staff including Dr. Gordon Davies and Jim Applegate,
the remainder of the meeting focused on discussions with the council staff
members. Discussions centered on the budget, the Council's prior request
for institutional data, and upcoming program review. Reassurance was given
that English and foreign languages are not being targeted but rather are
viewed as essential parts of a University committee.
COSFL's next scheduled meeting will be on December 1, 2001 at the University
of Kentucky.
REPORT
FROM STUDENT SENATE: Nick Bertram
Mr. Bertram stated that last year the Student Government Association created
the DEL (Distinguished Educational Leader) Award which allows students to
nominate professors who they value to receive special recognition. This
year there are four new categories added to the award. Those are: Outstanding
service to EKU and the Richmond community; Exceptional classroom performance;
excellent student support; and most outstanding.
Mr. Bertram mentioned that the Community Service Committee has teamed up
with Kentucky Harvest to initiate a competition between organizations and
departments to create a hundred yards of food for Madison County. $500 will
be awarded to the organization or department that collects the most food,
$250 for second place, and $175 for third place.
Erin Michalik gave an opinion
report to the Senate regarding the students' objections to the newly
adopted plus/minus grading system.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS:
Committee on Elections: Senator C. Everett
Senator C. Everett announced that Belinda Gadd has been elected to serve
as the part time Faculty Senate Representative
Committee
on Rules: Senator Yoder
Senator Yoder reported that the Rules Committee met October 31 at 3:30 p.m.
Discussion began on the possible creation of a new standing committee and
the committee's comments were forwarded to the Ad Hoc Committee on Compensation
and Benefits.
Senator Yoder indicated that the committee is reviewing the Faculty Senate
rules and internal procedures to make sure all approved changes have been
made.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Intercollegiate
Athletics Motion
Senator
Schlomann indicated that at the last meeting the following motion was made
and seconded and discussions were postponed until this meeting:
"Senator
Fister made a motion for the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to form
an Ad Hoc Committee to examine the role of intercollegiate athletics at
Eastern Kentucky University and to what extent funds used for intercollegiate
athletics impact the quality of academic programs at EKU. The committee
should report its findings and recommendations to the Senate no later
than February, 2002.
After a brief
discussion, Senator Fisher moved to amend the motion, which was seconded
by Senator Falkenberg and approved by the Senate to:
- To create
an Ad Hoc Committee to be appointed by the Executive Committee to:
- Examine
the role of intercollegiate athletics at Eastern Kentucky University;
- Determine
the relationship between intercollegiate athletics and academics at
EKU; and
- The committee
should report its finding and a recommendation back to the Senate no
later than February, 2002.
Senator Siegel
moved to postpone discussion until the next meeting at which time Senator
Collins will report on the specific charge of the current university Athletic
Committee. The motion was seconded by Senator A. Jones and the Senate was
in agreement.
NEW
BUSINESS:
Elections: Budget Committee (1 position)
Senator Siegel was elected to finish Senator Miranda's position on the Budget
Committee.
Report
from the Provost: Senator Marsden reported that he recently accompanied
the Honors program students to Chicago for the National Honors Conference.
EKU had the largest number of participants on the program of any institution
in the country. Senator Marsden extended his compliments to Dr. Gray and
all those who participated in the conference.
Reaction
to the Student Opinion Report on Plus/Minus Grading System. Senator
Flanagan suggested that the Executive Committee discuss the issue at their
next meeting and bring back to the Senate, if needed, the process for considering
a motion relative to the proposal from student government, seconded by Senator
Falkenberg. This motion was approved by the Senate.
ADJOURNMENT:
Senator Marsden moved to adjourn at 4:45 p.m.
Meetings