Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes for April 26th, 2004 Call to Order Kevin Kesler called the meeting to order at 3:06 pm. Minutes Doug Ramsey made a motion to accept the minutes of the April 5th meeting. The motion, seconded by Carol Kochan was passed. Information Items Committee on Committees Report Marv Halling presented the Committee on Committees report, including the Faculty Senate election results, and the new appoints from the committee selection survey. He announced next year's Faculty Senate President-Elect which will be Derek Mason. Link on the Syllabus Stephanie Kukic briefly described the ASUSU resolution to request a link be placed on all course syllabi. She explained that it is a non-obtrusive link that can easily be placed on the syllabus, and will allow the students to easily access their rights as listed in the Student Code. Commencement Information Sydney Peterson explained the procedure of the upcoming commencement ceremony. Faculty and then students are to line up by college and enter the stadium from both the north and south tunnels. This will seat the graduates faster. Leaving the stadium at conclusion will be in two lines allowing the students to walk through the faculty outside of the building. Consent Agenda Carol Kochan moved to accept the Consent Agenda. The motion, seconded by Stephanie Kukic, passed. Key Issues and Action Items Honorary Degrees and Awards Candidates Marv Halling briefly described the process of selection members for the Honorary Degrees and Awards Screening Committee. Nominees have been accepted for the past week, and so far, there have only been collected three, who are Stephen Aust, Elizabeth York, and Lance Littlejohn. He explained that there can be up to seven nominees and asked for any more nominations. No more nominees were offered, and Tom Schroeder moved to accept the three existing nominees to send to the President's Office. The motion, seconded by Vicki Simonsmeier, was passed. Research Policy #306 Brent Miller introduced the proposed research policy and briefly explained the reason behind it's creation. Russ Price then went into more detail of what the policy is. It is a broad policy covering research topics ranging from the care and use of animals and human participants in research to scientific misconduct. Brent Miller than moved that the Faculty Senate accept the research policy, Stephen Bialkowski seconded the motion. Discussion continued and DeeVon Baily moved to strike the words "and space" from the phrase, "As Utah's land and space grant University..." in section 306.1.1. The motion, seconded by Jeff Banks, passed with two dissentions and one abstention. The newly modified policy was then voted on and passed unanimously. Tuition Task Force Glenn McEvoy presented the Tuition Task Force report. To meet the needs of the University, the tuition task force is recommending a 6% increase in Tier II tuition for the next three years, assuming that Tier I tuition will raise by the expected 4%. This will generate an 18% tuition increase at the end of three years. The university's tuition is low enough that even with an 18% increase, Utah State University will still be lower than the other Utah institution's tuition rates. The uses of these raised Tier II funds will go towards completing work on the Library, reducing class size by hiring more professors, increasing financial aid, and reducing and/or eliminating course fees. Stephanie Kukic moved to accept the Tuition Task Force report. The motion, seconded by Janis Boettinger, passed. Budget and Faculty Welfare Stephen Bialkowski presented the Budget and Faculty Welfare annual report. He highlighted issues where other committees are looking at issues which according the policy manual, is the job of BFW. He then reviewed the BFW recommendations, including the recommendation to place a Senate placed representative, including BFW members, on all ad hoc committees. Also, the BFW chair be invited to become a member of, or at least participate in these ad hoc committees. Stephen Bialkowski, as the standing committee moved to accept the Budget and Faculty Welfare report. The motion was seconded by Dean Miner. Discussion commenced and Kevin Kesler yielded the floor to President-Elect Janis Boettinger. He moved to amend the motion that less input be made from the faculty through BFW. The motion, seconded by Ronda Callister, passed. The main motion to accept the report was then voted on, and was unanimously passed. New Resolution Chris Coray presented a resolution which he introduced in the FSEC meeting, which is that all searches for presidents of this university from this time forward be completely open searches. He so moved to accept the resolution. Vicki Simonsmeier seconded the motion and discussion commenced. Several differing opinions were spoken, including the desire to see how the rest of the faculty feel about it. Janice Hall moved to table the resolution. The motion to table, which was seconded by Ronda Callister, passed with 26 votes for, and 23 votes against. University Business Stan Albrecht gave the latest in University Business. He spoke about the openness of University President searches, and that now in the State of Utah, it is completely closed. To involve faculty input in the process, he encouraged making the process more open than it is now. He then announced that Gerry Giordano, the Dean of the College of Education, has accepted a position as Provost at the University of North Florida. He will interview the faculty and administration in the College of Education for the placement of an interim Dean, then a national search will be conducted in the Fall Semester. He covered the construction projects of the Taggart Student Center, and listed all the movements that will start to take place this Summer. He turned the time over the Juan Franco who introduced the new student body president, Les Essig, and confirmed the student support of the changes in the Student Center. The memorandum of understanding has finally been signed which shifts some responsibility on Continuing Education to the Provost side of the operation, which will place Evening School under the responsibility of the Provost. He announced the search to fill the new position of Associate Vice Provost. This position will report to Vice Provost Joyce Kinkead and help organize the new Evening School responsibilities. The budget hearning are going well. Dean's and VP's are submitting candidates for special merit funding, which will be allocated based on recommendation coming from the units of the University. Administration is funding all the Promotion and Tenure increases. New Business President-Elect Janis Boettinger presented Kevin Kesler with a plaque commemorating his service as Faculty Senate for the 2003-2004 school year, congratulating him for a successful year. He was then honored with a round of applause. Kevin then passed the responsibility of Faculty Senate President over to her. Adjourn The new Faculty Senate President, Janis Boettinger, called for adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 4:37 pm.