UWA FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 3:30 p.m.
Wise Conference Room - Wallace Hall 213

I.  Roll Call

Dr. Janis Beaird called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Members present were Dr. Richard Schellhammer, Dr. Tina Jones, Dr. R.T. Floyd, Mr. Mark Brothers, Dr. Joy Cauthron (for Dr. Mark Griffith), Dr. June Westbrook (for Dr. Louis Smith), Dr. Richard Buckner, Dr. Tom Gonzalez, Ms. Ann Ketcham, Dr. Nancy Kudlawiec, Dr. Betty Cowan, Dr. Dwayne Massey, Dr. Lesa Shaul, Mr. Jim Shelton, and Mr. Jim Todd.

II.  Approval of November 19, 2002 Minutes

A motion was made to approve the November 19, 2002 minutes by Dr. Nancy Kudlawiec and seconded by Dr. Richard Buckner.  The minutes passed unanimously.

III. Old Business

1. Paid Maternity Leave – Dr. Janis Beaird

This was tabled by the Deans’ Council in order for the Staff Senate to be included in the findings.  Dr. Schellhammer noted that at the Staff Senate meeting the Staff Senate passed the leave policy unanimously.  The issue returned to the Deans’ Council.  The Deans’ Council agreed that it was a good idea, but expressed concerned about funding at this time especially since UWA would be the only university to offer such a program.

2. Changing Course Drop Date

Dr. Beaird announced that the drop date has been moved from seven weeks into the semester to nine weeks.

3. Benefit Elect

Dr. Beaird stated that the Deans’ Council did not feel this was an improvement since faculty would still have to complete receipts. The option for the flex card was not passed at this time.

4. Mass E-mail System

Dr. Beaird stated that if faculty are still having trouble mass emailing their classes, they should contact Mr. Paul Stewart and the Department of Information Systems.

IV. New Business

1. Academic Affairs-Dr. David Taylor

Dr. Taylor began by discussing the Teacher Preparation Report Card.  Dr. Taylor explained that on December 9, 2002, Dr. Holland received a letter from Dr. Ed Richardson, Alabama’s Superintendent of the Department of Education, stating that two of UWA’s teaching programs had been placed on alert. Dr. Taylor explained that factors such as small enrollments or large percentages of teachers teaching in other states may affect the reporting results of the Department of Education’s report. The details however were not released to the press, only the fact that UWA’s teaching programs had been placed on alert.  This information was not sufficiently explained in the press.  Around December 19, the Department of Education mailed the data for their initial report to UWA.  Dr. Taylor said he and Dr. Tom DeVaney, Dean of College of Education, found significant concerns with the administration of the PEPE evaluations. These concerns centered around the fact that two of the students mentioned in the report were teaching out of field and another teacher was not a novice teacher but a second year teacher who should not have been evaluated.   The result of these discoveries by Dr. Taylor and Dr. DeVaney has been a letter of apology from Dr. Richardson to Dr. Holland and UWA.    Dr. Taylor distributed a copy of this letter to members of the faculty senate. A new press release from the Department of Education has been released stating that UWA’s Biology program was all clear and PE was moved from alert to caution.  However, 89% of UWA’s PE graduates passed the PEPE evaluations.  Another concern expressed by Dr. Taylor is that the numbers being issued by the Department of Education are misleading because these figures are based on one to four students out of over 300 graduates.   UWA will be issuing another press release on this issue next week.

Dr. Taylor announced that at the urging of AEA Executive Director Paul Hubbert, P-12, Post-Secondary, and Higher Ed have formed a coalition and  are drafting a report about the status of public education to be widely circulated and publicized.  He added that the general feeling is that the Special Education Trust Fund is facing its greatest crisis in the history of education in this state and that thus the time is ripe to bring about significant change.  There is concern that the next fiscal year will bring about double-digit proration if change does not happen. Dr. Taylor stated that once the document is completed by the coalition that educators must publicize and market it so that action will take place.

Dr. Taylor reported that as of today UWA’s enrollment stands at 1815 as to compared to 1868 in Spring 2002.  However, he stated that more graduate students will be added before the final tally.  And, the 1815 number does not include UWA-CSU students. Therefore, we can add 36 students to the total enrollment, making enrollment only 17 less than last Spring.  There are currently two complete degree programs online. Dr. Taylor explained that funds from this program are being placed in a separate fund so that if the program expands faculty can be hired using these funds. 

Dr. Taylor reported that at the December meeting, SACS voted to renew UWA’s accreditation.  As always, there are some recommendations which will be followed-up with a report on September 2003.  Dr. Taylor noted that most of the recommendations have already been addressed.  He noted the major concern is SACS requirement that four full time faculty must teach in M.Ed. programs. Dr. Taylor said that the wording of SACS is ambiguous on this point.  Dr. Taylor said that UWA is  inquiring how other institutions handled this recommendation.  He also noted that the other recommendation that concerns him is about the Board of Trustees.  This recommendation calls for another visiting team to come to campus in the Fall of 2003 to observe the day-to-day operations between the Board and administration.

Finally, Dr. Taylor reported that the Child Development Center is still in the making.  He noted that $800,000 request to ADECA and the change in administration complicates this request.  We do still have $54,000 federal grant and $15,000 in bond monies to go to toward the project.  Dr. Lauren Well, Ms. Melita Booker, and Ms. Patricia Pratt are working on this project.

2. Higher Education Report – Dr. R.T. Floyd

Dr. Floyd distributed a copy of his presentation to ACHE on December 16, 2002.

He stated that we sought greater input on the planning liaison group with ACHE.  Dr. Floyd has been asked to attend and offer input at these planning sessions. His report addressed distance learning, perception of universities, and faculty recruitment & retention highlighted his presentation.

V. Adjournment

There being no other business, Dr. Kudlawiec made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:30 p.m.  Dr. Richard Buckner seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned.