April 18, 2000 Meeting

1. Roll Call by Dr. R.T. Floyd

Present: Dr. Neil Snider, Ms. Nancy Kudlawiec, Dr. Gene May, Ms. Tina Jones, Ms. Patricia Taylor, Dr. June Abrams, Mr. Richard Thurn, Mr. Micky Smith, Dr. Patricia DeMay, Ms. Shannon White, Ms. Carole Smith, Mr. Charlie Cook, Dr. Richard Schellhammer, Dr. Janis Beaird, and Dr. Johan van der Jagt

2. Approval of March 21, 2000 minutes
   Mr. Cook moved that the minutes of the March 21, 2000, meeting be approved. The motion was seconded by Dr. Schellhammer, and the motion passed.
   
3. Old Business
1. Faculty Development Technology Workshops
   Dr. Floyd reported that Ms. Sharon Underwood is providing an Intermediate FrontPage 2000 Workshop on Wed. April 19 in WH 219. He also reported that Ms. Underwood will also be available on an as requested basis for advanced consulting in FrontPage. Dr. Floyd further reported that he may possibly offer a repeat of the fall semester workshop on File Management in Windows 95/98 on April 26 or 27. Workshops for the summer will be announced later.
2. Faculty Affairs Committee Report - Dr. Janis Beaird
1. Faculty Sick Leave Bank
   Dr. Beaird reported on the Troy State Dothan policy (See Attached). After discussion, Mrs. Taylor moved that UWA follow the TSD policy, with emphasis on keeping the policy simple. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Jones, and the motion passed. The policy and form will be revised slightly to reflect UWA and then forwarded to the Dean's Council for review.
2. Faculty Advising Assessment
   The Committee presented its preliminary evaluation form (See Attachment). The Senate asked the Committee to work on Item 4 and to circulate the docment prior to the next meeting.
3. Medical Savings/Dependent Care Savings/Additional Insurance Premium Plans
   Dr. Floyd reported that Mr. Allan Chappelle is scheduled to meet with the President's Council, Mr. Danny Buckalew & himself on May 1 to present information on this matter as well as a proposal from his company, BenefitElect. Dr. Floyd stated that after this the proposal goes to the Insurance Committee for review. If approved, BenefitElect can begin soliciting participants. Dr. Floyd stated that the University must have a minimum of 20% of its employees initially enroll. This is necessary to have a payroll deduction. Dr. Floyd stated that this is a matter in which we need to really educate our personnel. A link to the IRS information on this and related issues is on the Current Projects Page which is linked from at the lower right column of the Faculty Senate home page.
4. Tax Deferred Compensation Plans
   Dr. Floyd stated that we have added a link on the above mentioned Current Projects web page for Valic which has been highly recommended by some employees and is utilized by Rush Hospital employees. He stated that all of our other present plans (RSA-1, Conseco, & Jefferson Pilot) have links on this page as well as Pebsco/Nationwide, Valic & TIAA/Cref. He asked for feedback from faculty & staff on these issues. Dr. Floyd also noted that we are also considering having a financial advisor provide a presentation for our personnel on financial planning & retirement.
5. University Credit Union
   Dr. Floyd asked for feedback as to whether faculty & staff are content with the First Educators Credit Union. Informational packets are available if needed. He asked whether or not we should pursue Tuscaloosa Federal Family Credit Union.
6. Faculty Staff List Serve
   Dr. Floyd stated that after further review with Mike Pratt, he has decided that the best way to initiate this project is to inform the faculty & staff through email, web pages and memos and then initiate subscriptions through the list serve administrator. He stated that he hopes to have all of this publicized and in full swing by the beginning of the Summer semester.
7. e-Campus update
1. Email
   Dr. Floyd stated that all faculty & staff with email addresses on the UNIV server (userid@univ.westal.edu) now have new email addresses. The old userid still remains but the address is much shorter such as userid@uwa.edu. Both email addresses still work and will for quite some time, but for simplicity we need to encourage adoption of the new addresses. All new business cards, etc. from this point forward should utilize the userid@uwa.edu. Existing business cards with the UNIV address may still be used until depleted. Anyone remaining with the userid@uwamail.westal.edu should immediately apply to Information Systems for a change to the new address. The UWAMAIL server will be removed from service later this year.
2. Faculty minimal competencies checksheets
   Dr. Floyd reported that the checksheets have been sent to faculty and are due back to the respective college/division e-Campus Task Force Representative on this Thursday, April 20.
3. UWA downloadables
   Dr. Floyd reported that the UWA download pages, http://www.uwa.edu/facsenate/download.htm, have been significantly updated as of April 12. He noted that everything is organized into three pages. The main page has approximately 90 different forms, which are specially formatted for ease of completion on the computer. Bottom cell borders are provided for underlines, signatures, etc. The graphics have been divided into two different pages - one for 7 different logos (b & w and color) and one for 10 different mascots (b & w and color). Each graphic is provided in both TIFF (tif) and JPEG (jpg) formats.
4. Campus Pipeline
   Dr. Floyd reported that the software has been installed and is undergoing testing. He noted that the University is on schedule for summer testing and use during orientation with full implementation by Fall Semester.
5. Faculty & Staff web pages
   Dr. Floyd stated that it is now possible for faculty and staff to upload & download their web pages (file transfer protocol) without using FrontPage. This is an option for transferring web page files via a free program such as WS-FTP. He noted that it is still strongly recommended that (at least) each department obtain a site license for FrontPage 2000 which will provide faculty with everything needed to develop, edit, and publish web pages. Site licenses are available from Information Systems for approximately $21.00 -$25.00.
8. Direct Deposit
   Dr. Floyd reported that a memo regarding how employees may select a procedure for distribution of payroll checks will soon be circulated. The form that personnel should utilize by June 1 to select their preferred method of payroll distribution is on the Faculty Senate download page under Financial Affairs. Dr. Floyd noted that Direct Deposit is available to everyone regardless of where they bank. It is all handled through Regions because this is the University's bank. All direct deposited checks will appear in the employee's account on the last working day of the month just as they are issued from the University.
9. Bell Conference Center
   Dr. Floyd stated that the Deans' Council had voted unanimously in support of the University moving forward with plans to build the Bell Conference Center. Dr. Floyd also asked the Senate to consider doing the same. Dr. Snider moved that the Senate support the building of the Conference Center. Mr. Thurn seconded the motion and the motion passed.
4. New Business
1. Tagged students/Advising & Pre-registration
   Dr. Floyd reported that at the last Senate meeting concern was expressed about faculty advisors not being able to save classes for students who are tagged by the Student Success Center. He stated that he has contacted Dr. Taylor about this and he has it on the Deans' Council agenda. A suggestion was to allow these students' classes to be saved as other tagged students currently are but to tag these students regarding final completion of registration. The Senate requested that advisors be notified that students have tagged grades.
2. Dean's Council report
   Dr. Floyd reported that the Inclement Weather Policy and Electronic Employment Applications Policy have been referred to the President's Council for further review/action. Dr. Floyd also stated that Faculty Achievement Forms (not the same as Faculty Service Reports) are due by the end of the academic year. The form may be downloaded from http://www.uwa.edu/facsenate/download.htm.
3. Distance Learning/Education Software
   Dr. Floyd reported that we have now had essentially all of the major vendors on campus except for WebCT which will probably be scheduled for June. He encouraged all faculty to go to these web sites, review the information, and try some test courses. Links to all of these vendors and related information are provided at the Class Technology Links web page accessible via the Faculty Senate home page. At some point UWA will probably select a vendor and our faculty should be able to provide input in order to select the most appropriate software.
4. Faculty Information Committee
   This committee has not yet met, but hopes to have something to report in June & July.
5. Faculty/Staff Liaison Committee
   Dr. Floyd stated that the committee met on April 17 and discussed the following issues: Direct Deposit, Faculty/staff sick leave banks, Medical Savings/Dependent Care Savings/Additional Insurance Premium Plans, Tax Deferred Compensation Plans, University Credit Union, e-Campus, email address change, Technology 2000, University Club. It was agreed that a memo regarding direct deposit & payroll check distribution options should be circulated. Additionally, the concept of having financial advisors provide financial planning presentations on campus was agreed upon.
6. Technology 2000 Fund Raising Campaign
   Dr. Floyd stated that beginning next Monday, we will begin meeting with the faculty and staff in groups to explain the Technology 2000 capital campaign & solicit financial support. He stated that he and Dr. Richard Holland are co-chairing the campaign among the faculty & staff. We need to encourage 100% participation from our personnel.
7. Reserve times/dates for faculty meetings, etc.
   Dr. Floyd stated that an idea has been brought forward that we could possibly set aside a certain couple of hours per week in which the entire campus would make every attempt to avoid scheduling a class or regular lab. The purpose of this would be to have a guaranteed time that all faculty would be free to meet for whatever reason. We could possibly reserve these times 3:00-5:00 p.m.? on either Tuesday & Thursday or Monday & Wednesday? for example. These could possibly be set up where the first week of each month is reserved for departmental meetings, the second week is reserved for college meetings, the third week for University and or committee meetings, the fourth week for committees & continuing professional education meetings, etc. This will also give the different departments a chance to have seminars, regular meetings, celebrations, etc. where people could attend with minimal to no conflict. Additionally, this time on a specific week may be reserved for seminars or journal clubs for students to attend or present or faculty members to present interesting papers or their own research without conflicts. In addition, faculty from other departments could also attend.
8. University Club events
   Dr. Floyd announced that the University Club will probably host an end of semester party at the Choctaw Tavern on Wednesday, May 3. Contact Miles Hester for details or to join.
9. Faculty Senate home page
   Dr. Floyd reported that the Faculty Senate home page address has changed to http://www.uwa.edu/facsenate.
10. Election of Senate Representatives
    Dr. Floyd stated that in accordance with the Constitution, Senate representatives for the 2000-2002 academic years for the Departments of Fine Arts, Languages & Literature, Accounting & Business Administration, Computer Information Systems, Technology, Physical Education & Athletic Training, Foundations & Secondary Education, and the Divisions of Nursing and Technology are to be elected between April 22 & May 1.
5. Adjournment
   Mrs. Kudlawiec moved that the meeting adjourn. Dr. Abrams seconded the motion, and the meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.