Presenters: Richard Sherlock

Excused: Kermit Hall (1157), Brent Miller (1180)

Call to Order

Janis Boettinger called the meeting to order at 3:10 pm.

Minutes
Shawn Olsen moved to accept the minutes of September 20th. The motion, seconded by Bruce Miller, passed.

Announcements
The next FSEC Brown Bag lunch with President Hall, will be held on Tuesday, November 2nd at noon in Champ Hall.

Meeting with President Hall
Janis Boettinger and Derek Mason met with President Hall and Provost Albrecht on Friday, October 15. They are encouraging faculty to support the proposed tuition increase which would help maintain and enhance faculty. This increase would support a 4% salary increase as well as add to operating budgets. It is important for faculty to step up and sell this proposal to other faculty constituents and students. Stephen Bialkowski moved that Janis Boettinger and Derek Mason draft a resolution for the tuition increase. The motion seconded by Rob Morrison, passed. President Hall and Provost Albrecht suggested meeting with Janis and Derek every 3 weeks. Please send items to be discussed with President and Provost to either Janis or Derek. It was suggested that in the future an agenda item “Informal Meeting with President Hall” be added to the agenda. This would allow Janis and Derek to update the committee on the outcome of the meetings.

Faculty Review of New Policies/Practices that Affect Faculty: Policy vs Practice
Richard Sherlock raised the issue that some of the Promotion and Tenure standards and procedures are being enforced, but are not in the code. For example, many colleges are saying that the external review letters must be from institutions “better” than Utah State. This specific policy is not in the code. There are standards and procedures that are being altered without the input of faculty. Stephen Bialkowski motioned to forward 1) the interpretation of the policies regarding excellence in terms of role in the policy manual, 2) choice of external reviewers and 3) Faculty Advisor Evaluations, to the PRPC. The motion, seconded by Derek Mason, passed. Bruce Miller motioned to forward the Faculty Advisor Evaluations to the Faculty Evaluation Committee. The motion, seconded by Derek Mason, passed.

USU Faculty Library Endowment
The USU Faculty Library Endowment does not have a very large endowment. The endowment was instituted in 2001, and only a handful of faculty are contributing to it. Janis Boettinger will be meeting with Kent Clark and Lisa Berreau to get more information about the endowment. The question of whether or not Faculty Senate would like to generate the drive and encourage other faculty to do so. Faculty may be more opt to donating if it is not part of the Friends of Libraries. It was recommended that the Faculty Senate along with the Library Advisory Board generate interest, advertise, and instigate an annual drive. Stephen Bialkowski moved that Janis Boettinger work with Kent Clark and Lisa Berreau to draft a resolution for a USU Faculty Library Endowment annual drive. The motion, seconded by Bruce Miller, passed.

Utah State’s New Appointments
Janis Boettinger suggested that the new Vice President for University Advancement, Scott Mietchen and the new Director of Athletics, Randy Spetman, take 5 minutes to introduce themselves as well as share their vision of Utah State to the Faculty Senate at the December meeting or whenever their schedules allow. Derek Mason moved to extend these invitations. The motion, seconded by Stephen Bialkowski, passed.

Faculty Forum Format
There was much discussion on the format for the Faculty Forum. Following policy 402.9, the Faculty Forum is open to elected faculty senators without participation from or by the President, Provost, and Presidential and student appointees of the Faculty Senate, except by specific invitation. Because it has already been announced that faculty at larger are welcome to attend and voice their views, the meeting will be open to all USU faculty by invitation. The forum needs to be an open discussion with multiple topics, where faculty can feel safe to speak their mind. Janis Boettinger will send a draft email invitation along with the ranked topics to the FSEC for feedback.

Adjourn:
Stephen Bialowski called for adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.