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UWA FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 3:30 p.m.
Wise Conference Room - Wallace Hall 213
I.
Roll Call
Dr. Richard Schellhammer called the meeting to order
at 3:32 pm. Members present were Dr. Lesa Shaul, Dr. Tom Gonzalez, Dr. Janis
Beaird, Mr. Mark Brothers, Dr. Richard Collison, Dr. R.T. Floyd, Dr. Barry
Green-Burns, Dr. Mark Griffith, Dr. Stephen Slimp for Dr. Tina Jones, Dr. Nancy
Kudlawiec, Dr. Thomas Ratkovich, Dr. Richard Buckner for Dr. Don Salter, Mr. Jim
Shelton, Ms. Ann Ketchum, and Dr. Lauren Wells.
II. Approval of March 23rd Minutes
Dr. Collison made a motion that the minutes be
approved as presented. The motion was seconded by Dr. Green-Burns and was
approved unanimously.
III. Old Business
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Alabama Teachers’ Retirement System Visit
Dr. Schellhammer reported that a representative
from RSA made a visit to campus. All available appointments with the
representative were taken.
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Access to
Salary Information
Dr. Schellhammer distributed information
concerning salaries of faculty and administrators as well as information
concerning regional and national averages. Dr. Schellhammer stated that he
had a meeting with President Holland concerning raises given to
administrators. Dr. Holland was invited to speak to the Senate in June and
will discuss any issues pertaining to compensation
IV. New Business
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Report
from AAUP
Dr. Lauren Wells asked that anyone interested in
joining the local AAUP chapter should contact her or any of the other officers.
Dr. Wells stated that the local AAUP chapter is interested in obtaining
information about several items related to the consulting company, Vantage, that
has been on-campus recently. Items of interest are the contract with Vantage,
the decision making process, the cost of the survey, and other avenues involved
with the strategic planning initiative. The next AAUP meeting is on April 27th
at 3:30 pm in 218 Bibb Graves.
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Online Course Documentation
Dr. Schellhammer met with the Dean’s Council and in
this meeting expressed the concern that faculty should have some sort of
protection in regard to intellectual property rights and on-line course
materials. The Dean’s Council requested that Senate come back with proposal.
Dr. Schellhammer appointed a committee consisting of Dr. Griffith, Dr. Gonzalez,
Dr. Shaul, Dr. Green-Burns, and Dr. Joe Wilkins. Dr. Griffith was asked to
chair the committee.
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Senate President’s Report
Dr. Schellhammer began by reporting on several
issues discussed by the Dean’s Council. The Dean’s Council is looking into an
anti-plagiarism service called turnitin.com. Dr. Floyd inquired as to the price
of the service. According to Dr. Schellhammer, the service costs forty-eight
cents per FTE per year. Further information regarding this service is available
from the deans as well as the service’s website,
http://turnitin.com.
Also discussed in the Dean’s Council was the
possibility of offering a mini-semester, during the three week period between
the summer and spring. Such a mini-semester might be used to seminars or
foreign travel opportunities for which students could receive credit. It is
possible that this could be implemented by 2005. Dr. Floyd asked about the pay
scale for the mini-semester but Dr. Schellhammer did not have any information
regarding the pay scale.
The university’s yearbook, The Paragon, was also
discussed in the Dean’s Council. Options such as continuing The Paragon in its
current form or publishing the yearbook on CD-ROM. There has been concern over
the quality of the yearbook. Contact deans about the future of The Paragon if
you are interested.
The Dean’s Council asked that faculty support the
alumni association. There are 11 alumni associations, 2 of which currently
meet. The Sumter County chapter met on the 17th. If somebody you know is an
alumnus, put them in contact with people in the alumni office.
At the Dean’s Council meeting, Dr. Shaul proposed a
brown bag lunch series to fill the need for some sort of forum to address gender
issues at UWA. Dr. Shaul felt that it is important to invite men and women to
talk about issues that effect women. Meetings would be held once a month,
probably in the dining hall. Dr. Shaul would be happy to accept suggestions
concerning the lunch series.
Dr. Schellhammer mentioned that Blackboard Version 6
will be introduced this summer. The new version should be active by June 1st.
Dr. Schellhammer continued his report by giving an
overview of the Alabama Council of University Faculty Presidents (ACUFP) meeting
held in Montgomery on Higher Ed Day. UWA faculty members have been told many
times that we are the only faculty in the state that gets our health insurance
paid by the university, however representatives from University of North Alabama
reported that their faculty also get paid full health insurance. Dr.
Schellhammer stated that he felt as if faculty at UWA have done a good job in
supporting the Higher Education Partnership (HEP), but that we do not really
have a liaison with HEP other than the ACUFP meetings. A number of people at
the ACUFP meeting felt as though the faculty senate should add a new position of
HEP liaison. It shouldn’t be an officer but another position with more
continuity with the officers. This person could be renewed so that there was
some continuity so this person can tell us right away rather than waiting for
somebody to do something to us. Dr. Schellhammer will draw up the required
changes to the bylaws and amendments for a vote in June.
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Other
Dr. Gonzalez brought up the issue of openness
regarding the use of course fees. Dr. Schellhammer appointed Dr. Gonzalez Chair
of the Senate Finance Committee and charged the committee with gathering and
reporting information on the use of these fees.
Dr. Floyd stated that elections should be held for
new representatives in following departments: Fine Arts, Languages and
Literature, Computer Information Systems, Physical Education and Athletic
Training, Foundations, Counseling, and Library Media.
V. Adjournment
Dr. Collison motioned that the meeting be
adjourned. The meeting was adjourned at 5:06 p.m.
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