Date: March 20, 2001

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Presiding: R.T. Floyd

Secretary: Tina N. Jones for Neil Snider

I.    Roll Call
Present were Ms. Tina N. Jones, Dr. Johan van der Jagt, Dr. Betty Cowan, Dr. June Abrams, Dr. Gene May, Dr. Alex Mechitov, Dr. Helen Moshkovich, Mr. Luther Gremmels, Ms. Shannon White, Ms. Ann Ketcham, Dr. Manley Blackwell, Mr. Donnie Cobb, Dr. Richard Collison, Mr. Micky Smith, Ms. Anne Ketcham (for Ms. Tricia Taylor), Dr. Richard Schellhammer.

II.   Approval of Minutes
Following a motion by Ms. Jones and a second by Dr. Cowan, the minutes of the February 20, 2001 meeting were approved.  Following a motion by Dr. Van der Jagt and a second by Ms. White, the minutes of the March 5, 2001 meeting were approved.

III.    Old Business

1. Constitutional Revision

   	YES	NO
   PROPOSED CHANGE 1:   ARTICLE III     Section 4 Removal of the following sentence Absences of an elected representative covered by a substitute still count as an absence as far as the elected representative’s continuation on the Senate roll is concerned.	46	2
   PROPOSED CHANGE 2:   ARTICLE III     Section 5 Add ‘Partial Terms’ label to this section.	45	1
   PROPOSED CHANGE 3:   ARTICLE IV     Section 1 Change the title of the Chairperson & Vice-Chairperson to President & Vice-President.	46	1
   PROPOSED CHANGE 4:   ARTICLE V      Section 3 Remove the following two sentences: All Faculty Senate committees will meet at least one a year and make a report to the Faculty Senate.  All Senate committees shall keep minutes and make quarterly reports to the Senate. and replace with: All Faculty Senate committees will meet at least once a semester (excluding summer.)  All Senate committees shall keep minutes and make semester reports to the Senate.	39	10
   PROPOSED CHANGE 5:    ARTICLE V      Section 4 Add the following sentence to increase the duties of the Rules Committee. Their responsibility is to help set the agenda for each Faculty Senate meeting.	41	6
   Dr. Floyd noted that constitutional revisions have to be forwarded to president and then the Board for finalization.

2. Faculty Information Committee Report
   Mr. Cobb reported that this committee will meet at least once a semester.  The committee will at least communicate once a semester by email, and will meet if specifically charged.

3. Notification requirements relating to re-employment & tenure status by March 15
   Discussion ensued about the proposed changes for notification requirements of re-employment and tenure status.  Ms. White proposed that we consider the practices of hiring processes of other institutions and review them before taking any action.  Mr. Cobb asked if we could table the discussion until the next meeting.  Dr. Floyd also stated that he would ask the Faculty Affairs Committee, chaired by Dr. Beaird, to review the practices of other Alabama institutions and report their findings to the Senate at the next meeting in April.  Dr. Floyd noted our need to act on this during the regular academic year.

4. Distribution of Faculty Senate minutes
   Dr. Floyd discussed the distribution of Faculty Senate Minutes.  Mr. Smith moved that the Senate send unapproved Faculty Senate minutes to all faculty via email and post them on the Senate homepage.  This will be followed with the approved minutes if changes need to be made.  There will no more paper copies of minutes distributed to the faculty.  The motion was seconded by Dr. Moshkovich.  The motion passed.  Dr. Floyd noted that the tentative agenda would still be distributed a few days before upcoming meetings, but via email.

4. New Business

1. Recruitment and Retention Task Force progress
   In the RRTF meeting yesterday, Dr. Floyd said that approval of cafeteria hours have been extended by the committee.  The new hours are 7-9:30 (8-9:30 continental style) breakfast, 11-1:15 lunch, and supper 4:30–7 p.m.  Snack Bar is open 9-10, 2-3:30 and 6:30–7:30.  Students may use their meal ticket.   He added that this is a step toward continuous dining.  He also added that the task force is looking seriously at the implementation of a 2-hour freshman seminar course. This would have to be approved by the University Academic Council.  The RRTF Steering Committee has met twice recently to address the recommendations from each of the six committees.  Many items are currently in the process of being instituted.  Others have been referred to the appropriate level and some are still under refinement.  Consult the RRTF web pages at http://infonet.uwa.edu/facsenate/rrtf/ for details.  Some items include an immediate extension of cafeteria hours, the awarding of limited dormitory scholarships for new students, increasing the number of students involved in band, choir, & varsity sports, increasing the number of international students with incentive based recruiting by current international students, improvement of Wellness Center services, the possible addition of club/varsity sports to bring in additional students, making scholarships available to all potential transfer students (not just freshmen & community college transfers), implementation of a two-credit hour freshman seminar course, possible purchase of EMAS software to streamline and increase efficiency in the recruiting process, increasing alumni involvement in the recruiting process, targeting and improving relationships with guidance counselors.

2. e-Campus Task Force Planning
   These items were organized into four categories (Immediate Implementation, Developmental, Financial, and Other).  Action has already been undertaken regarding a few items.  The remainder have been reorganized and forwarded to the appropriate e-Campus Task Force Committees (or other appropriate committees) for further development and action.  Each ECTF committee has been charged with meeting to address these items so that action items may be implemented by the fall semester.  Some items include increased publicity regarding e-Campus progress, further integration of technology into everyday University business, moving to a single recommended vendor for laptops/desktops, development of FAQ technology web pages, review and consideration of www.smartforce.com for increasing student and faculty technology proficiency, faculty development initiatives, promotion of web utilization for course delivery, use of Outlook campus-wide for calendaring & scheduling of meetings, possible purchase of the One-card system, review and possible purchase of EPOS or similar web registration software, continued review of Banner software system for campus-wide integration of administrative systems, development of pedagogical web page for faculty use, surveying of students regarding use of technology and competence, establishment of an instructional technology resource center and associate, development of a UWA web master position, development of a resident technology assistant program, the development a compact disc for recruiting purposes, and faculty posting of virtual office hours.

3. Report from Alabama Council of University Faculty Presidents March 2-3 Meeting
   The ACUFP met at UA with proration and higher education funding being the major topic of discussion.  Two resolutions were passed regarding this issue and forwarded to the Governor & Legislature.  Additionally, letters of appreciation were written to the Legislators who supported higher education during the special session.  The ACUFP is working to join in with potential lawsuits regarding this issue.  Other discussion included faculty governance models at various state institutions, issues with boards of trustees (UNA & AU), and the ACHE Faculty Database.

4. Election of Faculty Senate Officers
   Dr. Floyd said the ballots will be forwarded to faculty following Spring Break.  Dr. Floyd opened the floor for nominations.  Dr. Schellhammer nominated Dr. Janis Beaird for chair.  Dr. Schellhammer moved that the nominations be closed, and Dr. Collison seconded.  The motion to close passed.  Dr. Collison nominated Dr. Schellhammer for vice-chair.  Dr. Mechitov nominated Dr. James Todd for vice-chair.  Mr. Smith moved that nominations be closed.  Tina Jones seconded.  The motion to close passed and the Senate agreed to send these candidates before the faculty.  Mr. Smith nominated Mr. Donnie Cobb for secretary.  Dr. Collison nominated Ms. Tina Jones for secretary.  Dr. Collison moved that the nominations be closed and Mr. Smith seconded.  The motion passed to close and send the nominations to the faculty.  Ballots containing the two nominees for each office shall be prepared by the Secretary and distributed by April 1 to all full-time academic faculty, who shall cast their vote for one of the two names proposed for each office.  Senate representatives shall be responsible for collecting the ballots from their particular academic units and returning them to the Rules Committee by April 7.

5. Faculty Evaluation & Service Report Forms
   It has been suggested that the annual Faculty Service Reports forms as well as the annual Faculty Evaluation Reports forms and related processes may benefit from some revision.  Dr. Floyd noted that the current faculty evaluation process has remained unchanged for the last decade or so.  One suggestion has been to reduce the form.  One of the concerns is consistency in the evaluation of faculty across campus.  Another aspect is to give faculty members more guidance in filling out the Faculty Service Report.  Mr. Cobb noted that criteria needs to be set for some of the evaluations, for example, professional affiliations.  Dr. Floyd asked that any concerns or ideas should be sent to Dr. Floyd or forwarded to the Provost.  Dr. Cowan asked if it has been addressed doing the report over only one academic year.  The Provost will possibly appoint a committee consisting of some department chairs, deans, and Faculty Senate representatives to review these documents.  We need input from all concerned.  Modifications that are developed will be brought to the Senate for final review.  Some issues are that the Faculty Evaluation grading system is not necessarily used consistently by department chairs and between different departments and colleges, lack of specific useful feedback on the Faculty Evaluation form, lack of detailed direction and suggestions as to what should be included on the Faculty Service Report, and self-evaluation.

6. Legislative update and continued need for action
   We need to continue contacting the Legislators to thank the ones who supported Higher Education & encouraging support from the ones who did not.  For this list refer to the email Dr. Floyd forwarded to faculty & staff on 3/7/01.  (Alabama Senate www.legislature.state.al.us/senate/senators/senateroster_alpha.html)  (Alabama House of Representatives www.legislature.state.al.us/house/representatives/houseroster_alpha.html)  The ACUFP passed a resolution similar to the one forwarded to the Senate last week.  Faculty senates at state universities are encouraged to consider passage of similar resolutions.  Mr. Cobb motioned that the Senate accept the resolution and forward it to the Governor and the Legislature.  Dr. Schellhammer seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.  The resolution will be forwarded to the Governor and Legislature.

7. Election of Faculty Senate Representatives
   Elections for representatives shall be held in each academic unit between April 22 and May 1.  The representatives’ term of office shall be for two years, from August 16 through August 15.  Half of the departments, those from the Department of History and Social Sciences, the Department of Instructional Support, the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Physical Sciences, the Department of Mathematics, and the professional library staff, will be elected in odd-numbered years.

8. Financial Affairs Committee
   I have issued the following charge to this committee.  Review and report to the Faculty Senate the current process for budgeting financial resources as they relate to the University academic programs.  If, in your review, you determine as a committee that any revisions or improvements in the process may be indicated, please provide a detailed explanation and rationale for each.  Also, please provide an update on the status of the budget for the current academic year.  Please provide a preliminary report at the 6/19/01 meeting with a final report due at the 7/17/01 Faculty Senate Meeting. 

9. Other
   Dr. Floyd referred to an article in The Tuscaloosa News concerning cheating.  He noted a need for an increased awareness of Internet cheating.  He added that information about sites to aid professors will be circulated to faculty.  

V.   Adjournment
Dr. Collison moved to adjourn and Dr. May seconded the motion.  The Senate adjourned at 4:35 p.m.