UWA Faculty Senate
MINUTES

1. Call to order by Dr. Floyd
   Present: Dr. Neil Snider, Mrs. Nancy Kudlawiec, Mr. Bill Lenning, Ms. Shannon White, Mrs.Tina Jones, Dr. John van der Jagt, Mr. Richard Thurn, Mrs. Donna Miller, Mr. Micky Smith, Mr. James Todd, Dr. Carole Smith, Dr. Richard Shellhammer, Mr. Charlie Cook, and Dr. Janice Beaird.
2. Approval of January 18, 2000 minutes
   Mr. Smith moved that the January 18, 2000, minutes be approved . The motion was seconded by Mr. Lenning, and the motion passes.
3. Old Business
1. Faculty Web Pages
   Dr. Floyd announced that almost all of the current faculty web pages have been established in new individual facstaff web accounts for the individual faculty or staff member. Any new faculty web pages will be created here and not on the Faculty Senate account. He also announced that he has copied the current faculty web pages to the individual accounts. At the same time, he has updated most faculty pages to the revised format and corrected, when indicated, old information and formatting. As of today, all faculty web pages on the Faculty Senate account are still active. He stated that, as time permits, he will modify them so that when they are loaded a message will appear advising the viewer of the new address and the page will automatically go to the newer page on the individual faculty members account. Likewise, he also stated that he will begin changing the faculty web page addresses on the Faculty Senate Campus Directory pages to reflect the change. Dr. Floyd reported that Sharon Underwood will make these changes on the various department and college pages as he notifies her of his progress. Mike Pratt will make the changes in the Data Processing Campus Directory as indicated. Faculty members may now access their own account for making changes and additions by using their UNIV email username and password. New Faculty Web page addresses will be at http://facstaff.uwa.edu/username/default.htm. Dr. Floyd stated that the default.htm part is not necessary for faculty to call their page up. Dr. Floyd stated that faculty who do not have an email account on the UNIV server should do this very soon in order for a web account to be established for them. He will continue to provide assistance as needed with changes, corrections, or additions.
2. Faculty Senate History Committee Progress Report
   Dr Shellhammer stated that the committee has completed Part I, which goes to 1991.
3. Faculty Development Technology Workshops
   Dr. Floyd stated that we had 21 faculty & staff in attendance at the 2/8/00 FrontPage Basic Workshop provided by Mrs. Sharon Underwood. Sharon will repeat this workshop on 3/15/00. Ms. Shannon White is offering an MS Word Web Page Creation workshop on 2/17/00 which filled (17) within hours of being announced. He stated that Shannon will probably offer a similar workshop on Assessment Day (3/14/00). Dr. Gena Riley is providing a Using PowerPoint 97 to Develop Class Presentations Workshop on 2/24/00. Dr. Helen Moshkovich will offer an MS Word Mail Merge, etc workshop on 3/01/00. Shannon White will provide an Internet Search Workshop on 3/09/00. Dr. Alex Mechitov will provide an Excel workshop on Developing Academic program check sheets on 3/16/00. Dr. Helen Moshkovich is tentatively scheduled to repeat the Excel Workshop for Calculating Grades on Assessment Day (3/14/00). Dr. Floyd reminded the group that all of this information is or will be posted on the Faculty Senate home page. Email notices will be sent approximately 1 week prior to each workshop. Any faculty or staff interested in attending should sign up in advance with the workshop provider. Other workshops being planned for later in the semester include Using Outlook for email, Using Outlook calendar, contacts, journal, etc., FrontPage 2000 Intermediate, and possibly some repeats of the above as requested. All suggestions are appreciated.
4. Faculty Affairs Committee Report
   Dr. Janis Beaird reported that her committee was unable to get information from four year colleges. The committee has the guidelines for elementary and secondary schools and for the University of Tennessee. The Committee is continuing to meet and gather information.
5. Direct Deposit
   Dr. Floyd stated that Dr. Roach has advised the committee formed to study this to meet again and make recommendations. Dr. Floyd gave the report shown below that indicated the colleges in Alabama that have direct deposit.

School Name	Main Phone #	Direct Deposit	Person in Charge	Medical Savings Plan
Alabama A&M University	256-851-5000	YES	Comptroller	Select flex
Alabama State University	334-229-4200	YES	Payroll	Cafeteria plan
Athens State University	256-233-8100	YES	Personnel Office	No
Auburn University	334-844-4000	YES	Beverly Hughes	Flexible spending
Auburn University Montgomery	334-244-3000	YES	Personnel Office	Flexible spending
Jacksonville State University	256-782-5781	YES	Human Resource	No
Troy State University Dothan	334-983-6556	YES	Personnel/ Business office	No
Troy State University Montgomery	334-834-1400	YES	Personnel/ Business office	Flexible spending
Troy State - Troy	334-670-3338	YES	Ruby	Cafeteria plan
University Alabama Birmingham	205-934-4011	YES	Payroll	No
University Alabama Huntsville	256-890-6120	YES	Personnel/ Business office	Flexible spending
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa	205-348-2880	YES	Personnel Office	Bama account & Bama Flex plan
University of Montevallo	205-665-6600	YES	Personnel/ Business office	Cafeteria plan
University of North Alabama	256-765-4100	YES	Personnel/ Business office	No
University of South Alabama	334-460-6101	YES	Personnel/ Business office	Flexible spending

6. Medical Savings Plan
   Dr. Floyd stated that this is still in the investigation and discussion stages. No real information other than the above table.
7. Faculty Staff List Serve
   Dr. Floyd reported that the List Serve was up and running for testing purposes on the old server. It is being installed today on the new server for all faculty and staff, and it would be in use some time this week. .Dr. Floyd stated that he or Mike Pratt will email everyone with the details on how the new system works. A web page providing these details will also be established and linked from the Faculty Senate home page.
8. University Scholars Committee Report
   Dr. Richard Schellhammer reported that the committee will meet next week to approve the scholars. Dr. Floyd asked Dr. Shellhammer to document everything. He also stated that we need clarification from the committee on whether or not the GPA is the sole criterion for selecting individuals to receive the award.
9. University Credit Union
   Dr. Floyd stated that no progress has yet been made on this topic and that obtaining a physical facility for this purpose may be difficult.
4. New Business
1. ACUFP Resolution
   Dr. Floyd stated that the Senate has been asked by Dr. Tom Osborne, President of the Alabama Council of University Faculty Presidents, to consider passing the attached resolution that ACUFP passed in their fall meeting on our campus. Dr. Floyd noted that the UNA & USA Faculty Senates have passed this resolution and others in the state are working on it. Dr. Shellhammer moved that the Senate approve the resolution. The motion was seconded by Tina Jones, and the motion passed.
2. e-Campus update
   Dr. Floyd gave the following report on the e-Campus initiative:
1. e-Campus Brochures have been mailed to prospective students. A web page with the same information is linked from the top of the Faculty Senate home page. He discussed your concerns regarding the minimum computer specifications with the President. These specifications were thoroughly investigated over quite some period of time with a great deal of consideration of all factors and ramifications.
2. An e-Campus task force is being established to enhance communication and ensure that all University issues are properly addressed as the University continues to formulate the master plan in progressing together toward the e-Campus concept.
3. In reporting on the Laptops in the Classroom Conference which he and Paul Stewart attended, Dr. Floyd expressed some major points which he gathered from the conference. First, the University should communicate the plans regarding the e-Campus early and often to prospective students and parents. Second, laptops over desktops were a strong recommendation throughout the conference and the need for a standard laptop configuration with one vendor is highly recommended to avoid significant problems. Third, wireless connectivity is a very viable and cost efficient solution for some of our wiring issues, particularly in dormitories. Fourth and perhaps most importantly, the faculty needs to move rapidly in technology implementation within our courses, etc. There are many other universities which are doing some very advanced and innovative things in first semester freshman classes. The University will be far behind in this fast moving trend if we don't work aggressively to stay ahead.
4. Dell will be sending us a CD-ROM with all of the PowerPoint presentations from the conference. If Dell allows, Dr. Floyd will post these on the Infonet for faculty to view. Dr. Floyd noted that some very good information was presented in these presentations, and many related educational WWW links are included as well.
5. The Faculty Senate will establish a web page with numerous links and other information concerning faculty issues related to the e-Campus concept. It is the Dr. Floyd’s intention to have links relative to various software packages of interest such as WebCT, Blackboard, etc. Additionally, links will be posted that provide information as to how faculty from other universities are addressing these issues.
6. The University is looking for a great deal of input on all matters related to the e-Campus. Along this line, an e-Campus Concept Building web page has been developed. This is accessible at http://www.uwa.edu/facsenate/ecampusfm.htm. The is the page where faculty and staff are to post any comments, concerns, answers, information, etc. The posted information will appear chronologically at http://www.uwa.edu/facsenate.htm. These will soon be linked from the Faculty Senate home page.
7. With the new server installation and other improvements, our University web address is gradually being changed to www.uwa.edu. The old www2.westal.edu still works and will for quite some time. Our web pages in general are also now accessible at www.westal.edu or www.uwa.edu. Viewers keying in the old www2.westal.edu address will be automatically redirected to the new address.
8. The Distance Learning Committee has been in the process of bringing several course software vendors to campus to present their products for the committees review. These include but are not limited to eCollege.com, Blackboard.com, JonesKnowledge.com, and WebCT.com. These presentations have now been opened up to the entire faculty. The features of many of these products would be very useful to regular faculty, regardless of whether involved in distance learning or not. These sessions will be held in the SUB conference room. They will be announced via the Faculty Senate web page and email as they approach. Currently, eCollege is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Thursday, February 24, Blackboard is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Friday, March 24 and Jones Knowledge is tentatively scheduled for 10:00 a.m.-noon, Tuesday, April 11.
9. Mike Pratt, Richard Hester, & Dr. Floyd will be going to Salt Lake City next week to attend the Campus Pipeline training seminar.
3. Report from Dr. David Taylor, Provost
1. UWA program viability update
   Dr. Taylor stated that the University has been working on the viability issue for over a decade. He gave a brief history of the viability initiative and stated that 1991-1996 was the period looked at. He stated that if programs will be monitored for viability for a three-year period: 1997-1998, 1998-1999, 1999-2000. He distributed a chart that gave the status of UWA Non-Viable programs, as of February 2000.
2. UWA remediation study
   Dr. Taylor stated that in 1998-1999 the University spent $67,091.11 or l.3% of its overall budget for remedial courses. The University taught 732 students in thirty-six remedial classes.
3. Alabama Child Protection Act
   Dr. Taylor stated that as of today, four year colleges are included in the legislation that requires all new employees to be fingerprinted by the ABI and the FBI, although the University has not required new employees to be finger printed. He reported that there is a move to get the legislature to remove institutions of higher education from the requirement.
4. John D. Crawford, Director of External & Alumni Affairs
1. Publicity
2. Mr. Crawford stated that the University wants to publicize the good things that are happening on campus, and he asked each department to let him know what should be reported to the local media.
3. Higher Education Partnership
   Higher Education Day is set for February 29^th. He encouraged faculty to attend. This year, the partnership will try to get a 1/3-2/3 split in growth money. If this happens, the University will receive approximately $450,000 in extra revenues.
4. Op-ed pieces and letters-to-the-editor from faculty concerning the 1/3, 2/3 issue
   Mr. Crawford encouraged faculty to write letters to the editors of local newspapers.
5. Dean's Council report
   Dr. Floyd reported the following information from the Deans’ Council:
1. Grade distribution procedure - Dr. Wood is working toward discontinuing the quite expensive distribution of grades by US mail. Ideally, students will be able to access grades through their University Internet account.
2. Library fines & notices - Dr. Snider & the LRC staff are working toward elimination of US mail notices and fines with these needs being met through email.
3. Required email addresses - The Deans' Council approved that students will be required to have email addresses this fall. The question still remains whether this will have to be a UWA email address or other. Student email will be offered through the Campus Pipeline.
4. Comparative study of grades - In our last Faculty Senate meeting and recent college meetings there was discussion related to academic performance fall semester 1999 versus previous quarters. The following table shows this comparison.

	GPA FALL 1998	GP FALL 1999	% of Increase or Decrease
Overall University	2.46	2.51	1.9%
College of Liberal Arts	2.49	2.57	3.1%
College of Business	2.32	2.43	4.6%
College of Education	2.56	2.69	4.9%
College of Natural Science & Math	2.48	2.34	-5.6%
School of Nursing	2.56	2.47	-3.5%
Freshman	2.22	2.13	-4.2%
Sophomore	2.25	2.36	4.7%
Junior	2.51	2.58	2.6%
Senior	2.87	2.94	2.4%
Male	2.30	2.33	1.3%
Female	2.60	2.64	1.5%
Black	2.19	2.28	3.9%
Hispanic	2.85	2.51	-11.9%
Asian	3.00	3.08	2.6%
American Indian	2.54	1.73	-31.9%
White	2.61	2.65	1.5%

5. Inclement weather policy – The University is in the process of developing an inclement weather policy which will establish some parameters to follow in these cases as well as establish the method for communicating related University closings.
6. Course evaluations - Due to chairs needing the information sooner for reports, course evaluations will begin sooner in the semester next academic year. The plan is for them to always begin on the day after Assessment Day and run for five days. The Senate asked Dr. Floyd to find out if this could be done later in the Semester.
6. University Club events
   Dr. Floyd announced that the University Club will hold a Spring Barn Party on Feb. 25^th and a Deck Party at Tartt Field on April 15^th. Faculty may still join by completing the application accessible from the Faculty Senate web page or contact Miles Hester at 3577.
7. Faculty Senate Committees – Dr. Floyd stated that according to the Faculty Senate Constitution ArticleV. Section 3 excerpt "Committee Procedures. All Faculty Senate committees will meet at least once a year and make a report to the Faculty Senate". He stated that he has not charged either of these committees with any tasks this year and at present he can not determine a particular reason to but he wanted to bring this matter before the Senate.
1. Financial Affairs Committee. Article V. Section 7 excerpt. This committee shall review the financial and physical resources of the University as they relate to the development of a quality educational program. It shall request through the President information of a financial nature from any academic or administrative officer of the University or meetings with those officers as it deems necessary to carry out its responsibilities.
2. Faculty/Staff Liaison Committee. Article V. Section 8 excerpt. The committee shall be a means of communication and coordination between the two Senate bodies. It shall regularly review the minutes of both bodies and coordinate visits, upon invitation, of representatives from one body to the other to deal with issues pertaining to the University as a whole. This committee will be in charge of activities and policy recommendations that will help to raise morale and promote unity between the two bodies.

After some discussion, consensus was reached that the Financial Affairs Committee should meet to review the University budget and present their findings. There was concern that there were a number issues which may concern both faculty and staff so it was felt that the Faculty/Staff Liaison Committee should also meet to discuss and possibly address these.

8. Tiger Trails
   Dr. Floyd reported that UWA & the City of Livingston are in the investigative stages of pursuing the development and promotion of various walking, running, and biking trails throughout the University and city. It is anticipated that this could all be funded from grants and it would greatly enhance numerous aspects of our University and city. An architect who specializes in this area is assisting with the development of this project.
9. Other
   PALS: Dr. Beaird announced that PALS was selling Crepe Myrtles to plant around the stadium and in the area of Graves Hall. She encouraged faculty to purchase plants for $25.00 each.
   Clocks/Wallace Hall: Dr. Shellhammer stated that the clocks on the third floor were missing. Dr. Floyd will investigate this matter.
   Ideas/Suggestions for improvement: Dr. Floyd encouraged the Senate membership to bring any ideas or suggestions forward which may improve any aspect of the University.
5. Adjournment
   Mr. Todd moved that the meeting adjourn. The motion was seconded by Mr. Lenning, and the meeting adjourned at 5:00.