|
UWA Faculty Senate Minutes
3:30
P.M. Tuesday, July 17, 2001 Meeting
Wise Conference Room, Wallace Hall 213
Recorded by Mrs. Patricia Taylor
- Dr.
R.T. Floyd called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
Members present were Dr. Manley Blackwell, Mrs. Darlene
Townsend, Dr. Gene May, Dr. Johan van der Jagt, Dr. Betty Cowan, Mr.
Jim Todd, Dr. Gary Stone, Dr. Bill Ward, Dr. Alan Brown (for Mrs.
Tina Jones), Dr. Richard Schellhammer, Dr. Tom Gonzales (for Mr.
Mickey Smith), Dr. Janis Beaird, Dr. R.T. Floyd, and Mrs. Patricia
Taylor.
- Approval
of June 12, 2001 minutes
Dr.
van der Jagt motioned that the minutes from the June 12 meeting be
approved. Dr. Blackwell
seconded the motion. The
motion passed.
- Old
Business
A.
Notification requirements relating to re-employment & tenure
status by March 15
Dr. Beaird reported that there is a
Faculty Evaluation Form committee in progress.
This committee is chaired by Dr. Judy Massey and is reviewing
service reports and dates for faculty evaluations.
Mr. Todd motioned that the current policy be kept at this time.
Dr. Schellhammer seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
B.
Library Book Purchases
Dr. Snider could not attend due to
class & advising, but he and Dr. Beatty have met on this issue and
she addressed this issue. Dr.
Beatty gave the Senate members a copy of the Book Appropriations
schedule for 2000-2001. The
amount appropriated for reference books is $15,000, which is 11% of the
departmental operating expenses (DOE) for the Library.
Usually the LRC committee meets in fall or early spring to
approve this budget. This year however, proration was announced in February before
the committee had time to meet. The
balance left for books after the 6.2% cut was then $3530.70. The committee still did not meet in hope that more money
would be recovered after the proration legislative battle. And, there may be more money for books after taking back
money from proration. There
may also be more money in the Library’s D.O.E.
Dr. Snider has talked to the Provost about possibly reclaiming
some of these funds for the Library.
We will not know about this until September when the Business
Office closes this year’s account.
Dr. Beatty suggested that the committee meet at that time to
approve the LRC budget. Also,
she said that departments could go ahead and send in book requests to
the Library so they will be ready to go when the amount of money
available is known.
A
discussion ensued about the value of books for our institution. Dr. Alan
Brown moved that the Faculty Senate formally ask the Institutional
Effectiveness Committee to double the money budgeted to the Library for
books so that the University could order more books.
This was seconded by Dr. Schellhammer, and the motion passed.
C.
Intellectual Property Policy
Dr. Floyd reported that Mrs. Pratt
wanted to take our suggestions from the last Senate meeting to the
Deans’ Council. That
meeting has been delayed until July 24th.
She will report back to us after the Deans’ Council meeting.
IV.
New Business
A.
Dr. Taylor reported that there is a committee in progress working on
the Tiger Trails Greenway Project.
This concept came from a proposal of Dr. Floyd’s, made two
years ago, which was called Tiger Trails.
This entailed a network of trails on campus to promote wellness
at the university. This
would benefit the entire Livingston community.
Dr. Richard Holland is the chair of this committee and they wrote
and received a grant to hire a landscape architect to study our campus
for this project.
The
architect, Dale Fritz, noticed obstacles to pedestrian flow and to
accessibility for students with disabilities.
He noticed that our students were much more automobile dependent
than on most campuses and that we were not “bike friendly.”
Many people walk or jog the loop and this is often a dangerous
activity because of the car traffic on the loop.
Dale Fritz also had some aesthetic concerns about our university. There has been a national trend toward the greening of
campuses and this has been found to be a major factor in recruiting.
Over
30 recommendations for changes were made to the committee, some of which
were already included in plans by the Physical Plant staff.
Mr. Fritz is presently helping to set priorities, determine
costs, and look for funding sources.
This project will be paid for with grants and private donations.
B.
President's Report - Dr. Ed Roach
Dr.
Roach reported that the Cunningham’s visited UWA for 2 days and were
guests at the Bell Conference Center ground breaking ceremony this
morning. They are excited
about the conference center project.
The center will serve the community as a whole.
It will be located at the center of the University and will seat
approximately 300 people. There
will be dining facilities available and the center will have the latest
technology. The library
will be expanded at the same time. This project will start in about 3 weeks and the projected
completion time is 9-12 months. There
are plans in Dr. Roach’s office for all to view.
Dr.
Roach shared his positive views on the united effort put forth by the
Higher Education Partnership in this last legislative session.
He stated that this group will continue to encourage a new source
of funding for education in this state.
Dr.
Roach also stated that he has been very pleased with the progress of the
e-campus and stated that the work of this task force is still in
progress.
C.
Board of Trustee's Meeting Report – Dr. Janis Beaird
The UWA Board of Trustees resumed its meeting on Monday, June 18, 2001.
Mr. Joe Musso, a colleague in the firm representing the Regional
Universities in the proration lawsuit that was before the Supreme Court
(and a UWA alumnus) met with the Board in executive session, Mr. Musso
very effectively explained Higher Education's position in detail.
Most impressive was his citing from the brief filed with the
Supreme Court by our sister institutions Alabama A&M and Alabama
State, who were parties with us and the other state universities in the
proration lawsuit. As
Historically Black Universities, these two institutions would, of
course, be most sensitive to any segregationist motives on the part of
Higher Education. Following
the Board's executive session with Mr. Musso at the June 18 meeting,
Trustee Nat Watkins made a motion to adopt the following statement
regarding the proration lawsuit:
The Universities' position in this case has nothing to do with
segregation. What we are saying is that Judge Reese's Order in the equity
funding case was legally wrong and contrary to decisions of the Alabama
Supreme Court. We are not
relying on any provision in Amendment 111 relating to segregation. What we are relying on is the Amendment's provision that
there is not a constitutional right to public education. That is exactly what the Alabama Supreme Court has said, just
as the United States Supreme Court has ruled in interpreting the United
States Constitution. Judge
Reese's Order was legally wrong and has the effect of guaranteeing
perpetual second-class treatment for higher education.
The motion was seconded by Trustee Alex Saad, and it passed.
Board
Chair Mann Minus announced the members that he had appointed to each
committee. The board voted on a couple of simple changes to the by-laws
that would bring them in line with state regulations.
President
Roach presented the proposed tuition changes for the coming school year. Proposed changes would charge students by the hour up to
twelve hours. Students
would pay full tuition for twelve hours and over instead of six hours
and over as it is now. The
suggested change would help boost enrollment, especially in summer
school.
D.
Academic Advising Spreadsheet
Checklists
Dr. Floyd reported that new
checklists have been developed for all majors and most are posted on the
web. Others are being
reviewed and will be linked before orientation this week.
E.
Long Term Care Policy
Dr. Floyd announced that we now
have another faculty-staff benefit in the form of reduced rates for Long
Term Care Insurance. This program is through Monumental and is exclusively offered
in this region by Sumter Insurance.
Vice-President Raiford Noland is in the process of providing
signatures, which will allow this program to be offered to our employees
at a discounted rate through a simplified application.
Mr. Aubrey Ellis, of Sumter Insurance, will soon be mailing out
the materials to our personnel. The
way the program is set up through association use (UWA) it allows for
payment of nursing home care, home health care and assisted living.
Rates are based on age and the amount of benefits purchased.
AEA, TSU, USA, JSU and numerous other institutions utilize this
same plan.
F.
Other
Dr. Floyd said that he enjoyed
his term as president of the Faculty Senate and that he is grateful for
all of the support received.
The members of the Senate shared that they are very grateful for his
leadership. He has personally done a great deal of work to help
the faculty at this university.
Dr. Beaird announced that the next meeting of the Senate will be in
September.
V.
Adjournment
Mrs.
Townsend motioned that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Todd seconded
the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
|
