Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes

14 November 2005

 

Present: Stephen Bialkowski, Noelle Cockett, Lynn Dudley, John Kras, Terry Peak (for Pat Lambert), David Luthy, Jennifer MacAdam, Derek Mason, Gary Merkley, Bruce Miller, Rob Morrison, Shawn Olsen, Doug Ramsey

Excused: Stan Albrecht, Brent Miller

Presenters: Richard Cutler, Christie Fox, Gary Kiger, Lisa Leishman, Steve Mecham, Gary Straquadine

 

Derek Mason called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm.

 

John Kras moved to accept the 17 October 2005 minutes as written, seconded by Rob Morrison, passed unanimously.

 

University Business

Noelle Cockett presented University Business. 

 

Drs. Ray Coward and Noelle Cockett

Incoming Provost Ray Coward visited the Utah State University on November 7 & 8.  A reception was held on November 8 in the Alumni Center and there was a sizable turnout.  Dr. Coward is looking forward to assuming his duties.  He will move to Logan during the middle of December and will officially onboard January 1, 2006. Interim Provost Cockett will return to her post as the Dean of the College of Agriculture on January 1, 2006, and is also looking forward to resuming her duties in the College. 

 

Fall 2005 Commencement

The Fall Semester Commencement will be on Saturday, December 17.  On the evening of December 16, a dinner will be held for students, family, and guests in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom. Tickets are required.  On Saturday, December 18, students will gather in the Field House at 9:30 am, with the procession starting at 10:00 am. The Commencement Ceremony will begin at 10:30 am in the Spectrum.  There will be commencement speaker, along with valedictorians’ speeches, but their will be no honorary degrees.  The ceremony will finish by 12:30 pm, and be followed by a university-wide reception at the Taggart Student Center. 

 

Promotion and Tenure

Promotion and Tenure reviews are proceeding.  On January 15, the letters from the external reviewers, committee, department head, and dean are due in the Provost Office.  The review process will begin in February.  Provost Coward will lead the central promotion and tenure committee, which includes several administrators including Vice President for Research, Vice President for Extension, Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Issues, and the Graduate Dean, as well as six full professors from across the university.  The six full professors serve on a rotating basis of 3, 3, and 3.  The Provost’s Office is anticipating about 55-60 packets this year.  Recommendations must be given to the President, and forwarded to the Board of Trustees by April 15, 2006.  For this year, there was a change in due dates for the first meeting of the promotion committee for associate professors who want to be promoted to full professor.  The committee was to have met with candidate by October 15, 2005. There are individuals who were not aware of the date change and have requested an extension of the date.  The Deans’ Council decided to extend that date to January 1, 2006 for this year only.

 

Legislative Efforts

The legislative session begins February 2006. President Albrecht, Interim Provost Cockett, and other administrator have begun meeting with the groups of legislators, as well as individual legislators.  The Commissioner’s Office and the Board of Regents will submit an overall system budget request for higher education.  The Board of Regents and Commissioner’s Office believe that this was effective last year, and wish to continue this process.  For Utah State University, the top priority is the same as last year- compensation, with a target 3.5- 4%.  Continuation of funding for retention remains a top priority.  Under mission based initiatives, a request for $1.3 million was forwarded to the Board of Regents, but it is unlikely the entire amount will be received.  USU has also requested for $500,000 for new undergraduate advisors.  Finally, the College of Engineering initiative continues to be an important priority in the upcoming legislature.

 

Other items specific to USU are a request to increase out-of-state tuition waivers begun in House Bill 75.  This is called House Bill 381 and is sponsored by Senator Craig Buttars. The hope is that USU will receive 400 of these waivers. These would enable us to recruit students in surrounding states more effectively. Efforts are continuing to obtain the remaining $5 million for moving the agricultural facilities from North Logan to the south end of the county. It is hoped that funded will be forthcoming for the coming fiscal year.

 

The request to build an Ag Science and general classroom building had been ranked 2nd by the state’s Building Board, but the Board ended up ranking 13th – so it will not be funded.  Discussion of this matter will continue with the Capital Facilities Committee of the Legislature, who will be urged to use the Board of Regents ranking rather than the Building Board’s.  Merrill Library will still be demolished per the requirement of the new library’s funding agreement.  Asbestos removal will begin in January 2006, with the building coming down sometime in late September 2006.

 

Derek Mason thanked Interim Provost Noelle Cockett for everything she has done for the Faculty Senate and how wonderful it has for him to work with her. 

 

Consent Agenda

Cultural Activities Council

Gary Kiger, Chair, presented the Cultural Activities Council report.  This summer the Regents gave official recognition to the Caine School of the Arts.  A goal of the Cultural Activities Council is to identify ways for the University to partner with fine arts and cultural activities in the community. The Council seeks to co-ordinate campus fine arts and cultural activities and similar activities in the community. Lynn Dudley motioned that the Cultural Activities Council report be placed on the Consent Agenda, seconded by Bruce Miller, passed unanimously.

 

EPC Business

Richard Cutler presented EPC Business.  Bruce Miller moved to place the EPC business on the consent agenda, seconded by John Kras, carried unanimously.

 

Action was taken on the following items.  1) The suspension of enrollment in the Culinary Arts/Food Service Management Emphasis.  An open forum on this issue was held on October 28, 2005.  Vice-Provost Joyce Kinkead presided over the forum. She outlined the process for suspending a degree program. The reasons for suspending this program is that it relies on a single professional employee (not a faculty member) and one classified employee, and accreditation for the program would require additional hires for which resources are not available. 2) Approval was given to offering an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in Latin American Studies housed in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; a request for a Master of Accounting Specialization in Personal Financial Planning; a request to change the name of Financial/Audit Specialization in the Master of Accounting to Professional Accountancy; and a request to change the name of Management Accounting Specialization in the Master of Accounting to Finance. 3) The Graduate Council and Curriculum Subcommittee recommendation that all 6970 and 7970 classes be pass/fail only accepted. 

 

Parking Committee

Lisa Leishman presented the Parking Committee report.  Parking is an auxiliary service.  Over the past several years, we have not had a parking permit increase, but the new parking structure has a bond of about $380,000. Repayment of the bond begins in fiscal year 2007.  This necessitates an increase in parking permit rates. The rate increases were approved by the university’s Executive Committee in February, 2005. Faculty and staff will be able to pay for their permits through payroll deduction over a 12 month period. The new structure will be fully operational in August 2006. Parking is also trying to improve communication with the departments on campus.  One initiative is to designate department representatives so when parking issues arise direct dialogue can take place. A second would be to have a customer appreciation day.  The number of citations written compared to peer institutions are still much lower.  The Aggie Shuttle ridership is nearly a million riders per year, which is phenomenal for an operation of its size.  Parking did propose an increase to the students this last year to increase the fee that students pay for the Aggie Shuttle.  Students were paying $8 and we proposed it be increased to $12.50.  They did not approve the whole increase, but it is up to $11.  Parking is looking to purchasing newer rolling stock and to cover the increase in operating cost.  However, they did initiate an advertising program where on the interior of the buses they sell advertising, which generates about $25 thousand in net revenue to off set the cost to students.  Stephen Bialkowski moved to place the Parking Committee Report on the consent agenda, seconded by Bruce Miller, passes unanimously.

 

Honors Program

Christie Fox presented the Honors Program report. After seven years as Directo, David Lancy decided to go back to his faculty position in the department of S.S.W. & A.. Christie Fox is the new Honors Director.  The program has moved from Merrill Library to the basement of Old Main , and an open house on Thursday, November 17, from 11 am -1 pm.  Everyone is invited.  Honors continues to maintain its role in the intellectual development of students.  Enrollment is about the same as last fall, even though the freshman class was smaller.  Improvements have been made to data gathering methods, and are now able keep a more accurate track of retention statistics.  Of the students that participated in the Honors Program their first semester, 93% returned to Utah State University.  Not all of them return to Honors, which is more or less by design, but about 65% did remain enrolled in the program.  At the beginning of the semester, Honors had about 670 students in the program. Current efforts are directed at increasing the number of classed offered and to tighten the contract process so that there will be more honors graduates.  John Kras moved to place the Honor Program Report on the consent agenda, seconded by Rob Morrison, passes unanimously.

 

Information Items

Convocations

Bruce Miller discussed the possibility of resuming Convocations, which set aside an hour each month for university-wide events such as lectures. This was lost in the transition from quarters to semesters. Bruce questioned if there should their be an open-time placed back into our University schedule so that University Lectures, University Events, and Forums can be widely attended.  In the past, this also gave a time for departments to have meetings. Gary Merkley made a motion to discuss the issue with President Albrecht and Interim Provost Cockett, seconded by Doug Ramsey, carries unanimously.

 

P & T Committee Participation by Alternative Methods

Gary Straquadine presented P & T Committee Participation by alternative methods.  Gary is the Vice Provost of Academic and Faculties Services, and works with the promotion and tenure process.  Changes in the P & T Code from last year were the implementation of the Ombudsperson Policy and the change in the date of moving from Associate to Full Professor.  There has been some concern over what to do when a committee member is unable attend.  There are several reasons why a person may be unable to show up which are 1) sabbatical leave, 2) long-term illness, and 3) acute illness, accident or family emergency.  Gary’s question was what are the alternative method options are available when emergencies arise?

 

Key Issues and Action Items

PRPC Business

Jennifer MacAdam, Chair of PRPC, presented PRPC Business. 

 

October 2005 item #6 language change of Code 405.7.1 (1) Meetings of the tenure advisory committee:  All tenure advisory committee members shall participate interactively in all committee meetings, either physically or by voice conferencing at the appointed date and time.  Lynn Dudley motioned to place October 2005 item #6 as an action item on the senate agenda, seconded by Stephen Bialkowski, carried unanimously.

 

September 2005 item #2 for Code 405.11.4 Events During the Year in which a Promotion decision is to be Made:   Bruce Miller motioned to place September 2005 item #2 as an action item on the agenda, seconded by John Kras, carried unanimously.

 

October 2005 item #1 l Code 403.3 Standards of Conduct:  Doug Ramsey motioned to place October 2005 item #1 as an action item on the agenda, seconded by David Luthy, carried unanimously.

 

October 2005 item #3 Code 405.7.2(4) Tenure Advisory Committees:  Lynn Dudley motioned to place October 2005 item #3 as an action item on the agenda, seconded by Stephen Bialkowski, carried unanimously.

 

October 2005 item #4 Code 407.7.2 Reasons for Non-Renewal:  PRPC will work with administration for further clarification.  Rob Morrison motioned to place October 2005 item #4 as an action item on the agenda, seconded by Stephen Bialkowski, carried unanimously.

 

October 2005 item #7 question on the 3rd year meeting and inconsistency in the Code:  FSEC agreed that PRPC can go ahead and make the code consistent because it amounts to a “housekeeping” change.

 

Resolution thanking Interim Provost Noelle Cockett

Stephen Bialkowski motioned to charge Derek Mason to write the resolution, seconded by Rob Morrison, passes unanimously.

 

New Business

Faculty Forum

President Stan Albrecht, Interim Provost Noelle Cockett, and VP for Finance Glenn Ford will do a 30 minute Q & A.  Lynn Dudley will lead the discussion on Academic Rights and Responsibility.  Derek Mason will ask if faculty have concerns over the Faculty Code. There will then be an open microphone. Ed Heath will be the time keeper. 

 

Meeting adjourned at 4:42 pm