APPROVAL
OF THE MINUTES:
The
May 5, 2003 regular and organizational minutes were approved as written.
REPORT
FROM THE PRESIDENT: Virginia
Underwood reported for Senator Glasser.
Enrollment
is up by 9.6%, the residence halls are full, and 1800 freshmen joined
the President at her house for a barbecue the night before classes started.
This was the largest turnout ever.
Search
committees have been appointed for the Dean of Arts and Sciences, chaired
by Gary Cordner, and for the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, chaired
by Malcolm Frisbee.
If
state budget revenues projections do not improve significantly there could
be another mid-year cut in higher education. Senator Glasser has asked
the vice presidents to begin preparing for this potential cut.
Senator Glasser also wished to express her concern that neither gubernatorial
candidate is currently speaking about support for higher education. This
situation is not particularly well received in the higher education community.
Senator Glasser will continue to speak with business leaders as well as
legislators about the importance of keeping support for higher education
reform alive and funded.
Next week Senator Glasser will be traveling to Washington, DC to meet
with the Chronicle of Higher Education, US News and World Report to share
EKU's story and successes.
REPORT
FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR: Senator Johnson
Senator Johnson reported that the Executive Committee met on August
25, 2003. The following University committee appointments were made:
Senator Hubbard, General Education Committee, Senator D. Jackson, Residency
Appeals Committee; Senator Konkel, Withdrawals Committee and Senator
Flanagan, Arlington Representative.
The following
Executive Committee members will be responsible for reporting standing
committee progress at each Executive Committee meeting.
The final
report on Plus/Minus Grading was distributed to the committee members
and will be discussed at the next Executive Committee meeting. The final
report will be presented at the Senate meeting in October.
Senator
G. Yoder was present to discuss a motion on salary inequity adjustments
submitted by the Faculty Welfare Committee. The Faculty Welfare Committee
made suggested changes and submitted an updated motion which will be
presented later in this meeting.
Senator
Johnson reminded the senators about the upcoming Faculty Senate dinner
on September 30 at Arlington.
Senator
Johnson reminded the senators that there will be an election in the
spring semester for a new faculty regent. This is a three-year appointment.
REPORT
FROM THE FACULTY REGENT: Senator Schlomann
Senator
Schlomann reported that the Board of Regents has met twice since the
last Senate meeting. They met in June to finalize the budget and again
on Saturday, September 6. Additionally, in May the Regents attended
an "Institute for Effective Governance" seminar.
The theme
for the "Institute for Effective Governance" was "Working Together to
Sustain Our Momentum: Public and Political Support for Postsecondary
Reform." Governor Patton talked about how he had become known as the
"higher education governor". Originally, higher education was not on
his platform. It became part of his platform because people educated
and lobbied him during the campaign. Most of his speech centered on
encouraging the university regents and presidents to educate the candidates
on higher education.
The next
Institute for Effective Governance will be on September 21-22; both
gubernatorial candidates will be present. Senator Schlomann stressed
the importance for faculty to contact the candidates to make sure they
see the importance of education for the betterment of the entire Commonwealth.
REPORT
FROM COSFL: Senator Siegel
Senator
Siegel explained the meaning of COSFL to the new senators and announced
that COSFL information is available on the web at http://www.cosfl.eku.edu.
COSFL met on July 14 at the Council on Postsecondary Education in Frankfort.
The joint AAUP/COSFL
mini-conference is scheduled for Saturday October 18 in Frankfort
from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Scheduled speakers include Dr. Jane Buck,
National AAUP President and Dr. Tom Layzell, CPE President.
Tom Layzell and his staff will begin working on the 2004-2006 budget process
shortly and will make a budget recommendation to CPE in November.
CPE is currently studying how to match funding to the reform agenda given
the limitations of the present fiscal environment.
COSFL's next meeting will be later this month. If there are any issues
or concerns that should be addressed at that meeting, please let Senator
Siegel know.
PROVOST
REPORT:
Senator Cook
Senator Cook announced that a committee has been appointed to steer the
process of changing Banner to be social security number transparent.
Senator Cook reported that there will be $50,000 available for faculty
development this year. Anyone with suggestions on how to distribute the
funds should contact him.
REPORT
FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: Kristina O'Brien
SGA's
fall festival is scheduled for Wednesday, September 24 from 9:00 a.m.
- 3:30 p.m. in the Powell Plaza and courtyard.
SGA will be sponsoring a reception for family weekend on October 4 in
the Powell Lobby from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS:
Budget
Committee. Senator Siegel reported that the Committee met on September
4.
The committee will sponsor a campus-wide open forum on budget issues with
Provost Cook and Finance Vice President Johnston sometime in late February
2004. Last year, over 70 people attended the budget forum.
The
committee will continue to meet monthly and will resume the study on major
budget areas on an alternate monthly basis. Other issues will be discussed
in the interim month. Any suggestions for additional agenda items may
be forwarded to the committee members.
Rules
Committee. Senator
M. Yoder reported that the Rules Committee met via e-mail and via phone
and Senator M. Yoder was selected as chair. The committee is working on
several items which includes reviewing the procedures for the Faculty
Regent election, finishing up the internal procedures, and researching
the idea of a vice chair for the Senate.
Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Senator
Johnson indicated that the committee will
meet briefly after the Senate meeting to elect a chair.
Elections
Committee. Senator
Everett announced that Senator DeBolt was elected to serve as chair.
Committee
on Committees. Senator
G. Yoder announced that Senator Wolf was elected to serve as chair.
Faculty Welfare Committee. Senator
G. Yoder reported that the committee has met three times this semester
and formulated a motion on faculty salary adjustments which will be presented
later in the meeting today.
OTHER
REPORTS:
Enrollment
Report.
Senator Johnson requested Dr. Aaron Thompson to report on the current
enrollment.
Dr.
Thompson reported that presently there are 15,681 students enrolled..
While the total is still changing, compared to the same time last year
enrollment was 14,783 which indicates about a 6% increase overall.
At present, there are 2,582 new freshman (9.78% increase), 1,047 new transfers
(10.2% increase), and 2,324 graduates students (5.93% increase).
In 2000 EKU had a matriculation rate of 46.53%. This rate has increased
to 61.33% this year. Three years ago students who needed developmental
remediation were at 65%. That figure has now decreased to 45%.
Last year students were contacted and asked why they chose to attend EKU:
41% chose EKU because of campus location, and 39% chose EKU because of
the programs offered. Forty-one percent of those questioned indicated
they had family members who attended EKU; 85% were residents of Kentucky;
and 74% indicated that EKU was their primary university choice.
Last
year non-returning students were contacted and asked why they did not
return: 25% stated financial reasons, 17% stated a lack of goals, 14%
stated family reasons and 11% were on active military duty. These students
were also asked what EKU could have done to improve their college-going
experience: 59% stated that EKU could have done nothing else, 9% stated
better living conditions, 9% stated better communications with the faculty
and staff, 5% stated better parking facilities, 4% stated party atmosphere.
Overall, most of the students who were contacted had a positive experience
here at EKU-- even those that didn't return. The number one positive experience
was the attitude of the professors.
Meetings