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UWA FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
Tuesday, June 14, 2004 - 3:30 p.m.
Wise Conference Room - Wallace Hall 213
I.
Roll Call
Dr. Lesa Shaul called the meeting to order at 3:31
pm. Members present were Dr. Lesa Shaul, Dr. Tom Gonzalez, Dr. Janis Beaird,
Mr. Mark Brothers, Dr. R.T. Floyd, Dr. Barry Green-Burns, Dr. Mark Griffith, Dr.
Tina Jones, Dr. Nancy Kudlawiec, Dr. Thomas Ratkovich, Mr. Jim Todd, and Dr.
Bill Ward.
II. Approval of April 19 Minutes
Dr. Griffith motioned that the minutes be approved
as presented. The motion was seconded by Dr. Tina Jones and was approved
unanimously.
III. Old Business
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Intellectual Property Rights
Dr. Schellhammer appointed a committee to suggest
a rewording of clause #3 of the online adjunct faculty contract. Dr. Griffith
came up with a proposal which was accepted by faculty members of the
committee, but found to be objectionable by Dr. Wilkins and Dr. DeVaney. Dr.
Griffith will meet with Dr. DeVaney and Dr. Wilkins to further modify clause
#3 and will distribute the result to the members of the committee. From there
any proposed change would go to the Faculty Senate and then to the Dean’s
Council. Dr. Griffith mentioned that this issue would probably not be
resolved until the fall.
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Other
IV. New Business
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Report
from President Holland
Dr. Holland began his report by discussing ongoing
projects. Dr. Holland mentioned work related to the Greenways project on Tiger
Stadium Drive. A grant has been obtained to complete this part of the project.
Dr. Holland stated that to remain in the Gulf South Conference, we would be
required to add two new sports by the Fall 2005 semester. The recommendation
from the Athletic Committee is to add tennis, and that is the recommendation
that is going to the Board. The two teams must be in place by August 2005,
therefore recruiting must begin this year. Auxiliary funds will be used to
build new tennis courts. The cafeteria will get a new front entrance. The
entire front of the cafeteria will match the Bell Conference Center. The funds
for the improvements to the cafeteria will be paid from the cafeteria auxiliary
account. The lights at the football stadium need to be replaced. The Booster
Club will propose a long-term plan to pay for the project. The Rodeo Complex
needs a composting shed and restrooms. The money for this project was a line
item in the budget from four years ago and must be used for this project. An
estimate will be obtained for rebuilding the parking lot where the existing
tennis courts are located.
Dr. Holland continued by discussing the newly
appointed Athletic Council. The council includes the head coaches, the sports
information director, and the athletic director. The purpose of the council is
to determine the long range needs of intercollegiate athletics including
facilities and fund raising.
Dr. Holland stated that SACS will send a visiting
committee to campus from September 8th to the 10th for the purpose of following
up on the recommendations of the last visiting committee. The committee will
primarily be talking with the trustees to see if progress has been made in
resolving the previous problems. A report will be issued on September 22nd.
SACS will vote on our probation at the annual conference held from December 5th
through the 8th.
Enrollment in the spring was well ahead of the
previous year. There are both positive and negative aspects regarding the
summer enrollment. Summer undergraduate enrollment was down 17. Dr. Holland
felt this was due in part to students pre-registering and not returning as well
as student choosing to work instead of attending school. Dr. Holland felt that
undergraduate enrollment would be back up in the fall. The graduate student
enrollment continues to increase. The number of beginning freshman is up 9 from
last year’s figure but new transfers were down. Concerning projections for this
fall, the number of freshman applications is down by 19 and the number of
freshman applications accepted is down by 43. Dr. Holland is convinced that the
decline of 43 is due to the probation.
Dr. Holland talked about the upcoming meetings of
the Board of Trustees. One issue that would be discussed is changing the length
of terms of the board members. New legislation could be proposed that would
limit terms to 6 years and limit trustees to two terms. A change in the process
for nominations for honorary degrees will be suggested by Dr. Holland. The
proposed process will involve faculty in the nomination process.
Dr. Holland discussed the ongoing work regarding the
strategic planning document. University departments’ and units’ requests were
an additional 2.4 million for next year. It was not feasible to satisfy all of
the requests. UWA received a 3.1% increase in our state appropriation but half
of that increase is tied to retirees’ health benefits. The Library book budget
will be increased. The DOE of the academic departments will be increased by
$500 apiece. A tuition increase in the nature of 10%-15% is possible. There is
a proposal to increase faculty and staff compensation, with 4% going to salary
and 2% to insurance. The administration is under a tremendous amount of pressure
from ACHE and the state government to have faculty and staff pay a portion of
health insurance.
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Senate President’s/Vice-President’s Report
Dr. Shaul began her report by discussing the newly
formed Athletic Council. A question was raised as to whether or not there
should be faculty members on the standing committees. Dr. Griffith made a
motion that the NCAA faculty representative be appointed to the fund-raising
committee and a non-coaching faculty representative from the Department of
Physical Education be appointed to the facilities committee. The motion was
seconded by Dr. Ward and the motion passed unanimously.
Dr. Shaul talked next about the issue of
turnitin.com to eliminate plagiarism. There is a $500 fee and a fee of 60 cents
per student. It was not certain what the 60 cent cost was based on. Dr. Shaul
urged representatives to go back to their departments and ask if such a service
would be of use. Deans want to know if this a justifiable expense.
The administration is urging everybody to
participate in the speakers’ bureau.
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Report from AAUP
AAUP are planning some meetings in the fall and will
provide info to all faculty in the fall from AAUP about liability workshops,
rights and responsibilities, and grievance policies.
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Report from Dr. Janis Beaird on faculty
observing class time parameters
Dr. Beaird reported that some of her advisees have
complained about teachers who let students out of class ten to fifteen minutes
late.
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Other
V. Adjournment
Dr. Floyd motioned that the meeting be adjourned.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 pm.
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