The University of Southern Mississippi
Faculty Senate Meeting
April 16th, 2004
Union Hall of Honors
2:00 p.m.
Members Present and Those Represented by Proxy (listed in parentheses):
College of the Arts and Letters:
Amy Miller, Kate Greene, Stephen Judd, Tony Lewis, John Meyer, Bill Powell, Bill Scarborough, Paula Smithka, Mary Ann Stringer, Susan Malone
College of Business and International Development:
James Crockett, David Duhon, Trellis Green, Mark Miller (Amy Young)
College of Education and Psychology:
Taralyn Hartsell (Karen Juneau), Janet Nelson, Joe Olmi (Susan Malone), John Rachal
College of Health:
Joyous Bethel (Mary Frances Nettles), Margot Hall, Bonnie Harbaugh, Susan Hubble, Amal Khoury (Margot Hall), Kathleen Masters (Bonnie Harbaugh), Stephen Oshrin (Stan Hauer), Mary Frances Nettles
College of Science and Technology:
David Beckett, Randy Buchanan, Peter Butko, Ray Folse, Mary Dayne Gregg, Myron Henry, Jerry Mattson, Gail Russell (Ray Folse), Alan Thompson, Denis Wiesenburg (Susan Malone)
University Libraries:
Mary Beth Applin
USM Gulf Park:
Darlys Alford, Kathy Davis, Shadad Naghshpour (David Duhon), Pat Smith
Members Absent: Phillip Gentile; Melanie Norton; Janice Thompson.
1.0 Call to Order (2:05)
2.0 Approval of March 26th and April 7th meeting minutes (moved/seconded/passed)
3.0 Approval of Agenda: Changes were made to the order, moving Other, under Old Business, ahead of A Possible Faculty Senate Position Statement; (moved/seconded/approved by acclamation)
4.0 Officers’ Reports
4.1 President
4.1.1 FYI Items
4.1.1.1 Senate press release regarding Gary Stringer research – Myron noted that the officers submitted press release to various media outlets and said he hoped it represented the Senate’s position, as discussed earlier. He asked if Senate prefers that future releases be shared over the listserve before being released; Bill Scarborough expressed full confidence in the officers’ judgment; Ray Folse asked that, if any controversial issues arise, they be shared first on listserve.
4.1.1.2 Senate letter(s) regarding outsourcing – Myron yielded to Mary Beth Applin for this part of the report. The letters went as attachments to committee members; the committee met last Wed. and viewed the proposals as more in line with committee expectations; two companies, Follett and Barnes & Noble will sit down with the committee to discuss their proposals.
4.1.1.3 Second request for budget and organizational information – Myron indicated this second request went out late last week; the new deadline was set to give the administration sufficient time to respond; nothing to report today.
4.1.1.4 Board of Trustees meeting on April 15th— Myron attended; he reported the Board’s accolades for the members who are rotating off this year and added his own comment that those members have served the state well and thanked them for their years of service. He urged patience with the new members who will be joining the Board in May, saying they have a way of growing into their responsibilities. He reported one issue that surprised him and raised possible concerns: the chair of the Presidents’ Council reported that the presidents were collectively discussing “the institution of tenure” – Myron stated that it is important for us to get more information about what sort of discussion is going on among university presidents about the institution of tenure
4.1.1.5 UFSA April 15th meeting – Art Kaul reported on this meeting: five institutions were represented. He said the big question for all representatives was “what’s going on at USM?” He reported genuine, wide-spread support at other institutions for our faculty, questions about where hearing will be held, interest in attending the meeting as a show of support, and encouragement from UFSA president that all Faculty Senates pass resolutions in support of us and our Senate. Myron said it is gratifying to know the other senates are in support of us and that it was interesting to hear the other representatives discuss the relationships they feel they have with their administrations and their presidents, in particular.
4.1.1.6 Jackson State University Faculty Senate letter of support – this was included in the packet and shared with senators; Myron reiterated appreciation for this and all other letters and resolutions from Senates across the state and region.
4.1.2 Nominations’ Committee for Faculty Senate Officers – Myron introduced committee members Amy Chasteen Miller (chair), Bonnie Harbaugh, and Ray Folse and thanked them for serving. He expects a slate of nominees by our May meeting, when nominations will also be accepted from the floor. He noted that a new position, web manager, might also be included.
4.2 President-Elect – David Beckett reminded the Senate that our May meeting will be on the coast and asked coast faculty to let us know where to meet; plans were made to follow that meeting with a time for socializing. Darlys Alford will organize this and significant others are welcome.
4.3 Secretary – reported proxies (refer to the attendance roster above)
4.4 Secretary-Elect – no report
5.0 Old Business
5.1 Other –
5.1.1 A Resolution of Appreciation for Dr. Susan C. Malone was introduced by John Rachal, and co-sponsored by Bill Scarborough, Mary Ann Stringer, Amy Miller; John asked the Senate to waive the requirement for introducing this week and voting next week: (moved/seconded/approved). The resolution was introduced for a vote, read aloud by John Rachal:
A Resolution of Appreciation for Dr. Susan C. Malone
Whereas, Dr. Susan C. Malone has announced that she will be leaving The University of Southern Mississippi at the end of the spring semester;
Whereas, she has served the university with distinction for ten years;
Whereas, she has been Secretary-elect of the Faculty Senate for 2003-2004;
Whereas, she has brought the Faculty Senate Web page to life in design and by posting current information in timely ways;
Whereas, she has had a key role in framing important Faculty Senate letters, resolutions, and reports;
Whereas, her courage and quiet resolve have served faculty and the Faculty Senate in significant ways during the exceptionally challenging 2003-2004 year;
Be it therefore resolved that members of the Faculty Senate express their deep respect for and heartfelt thanks to Dr. Susan C. Malone for her dedicated service to the Faculty Senate and the faculty she has so ably represented.
Susan, we wish you the very best in all your future endeavors.
With grateful appreciation,
Your Faculty Senate colleagues
April 16, 2004
The resolution was moved and seconded; comments were made by co-sponsors and several other senators; a request was made that it be approved by acclamation; approved.
5.1.2 Amy Young announced that additional funds are urgently needed for the AAUP’s legal defense fund.
5.1.3 Pat Smith gave an update on the bill from auditing firm; he had submitted it to Dr. Grimes, requesting a letter that it was a legitimate expense so that the Faculty Senate could pay for it; Provost Grimes had forwarded the request to Jack Hanbury, but, as of yesterday, had not heard from Hanbury; the question was raised, but no reason was given, as to why this expense request was forwarded to the risk manager.
5.1.4 David Duhon discussed the difficulty of figuring out how many people we really have on faculty, passed out a table from Brad Bond, thinks real number is closer to 600 than 650; Bond’s numbers don’t seem to fit the numbers we get from colleges; Peter Butko reported that he had distributed 702 ballots for senate elections – some are eligible to vote, but not be elected; only 509 are tenure or tenure-track faculty; 145 are instructors or “other” – 655 eligible to be elected to senate. Amy Young questioned discrepancy between numbers from Human Resources and Brad Bond – thinks it should be 619; Myron suggests Peter make the list of 702 available to see who they are. Mary Dane Gregg noted that the problem of getting an accurate list is perennial, not recent. Peter Butko indicated that he deliberately decided to err by risking sending out ballots to some who shouldn’t get one than not send one to someone who should, and, therefore, didn’t question the 702 number. Since this discussion related to Senate Elections, Peter continued with his full report: He regrets that the committee will not have election results by the May meeting; expects it to not be finished until May 14, because a second round is likely to be necessary and faculty need at least 10 days to vote; if third round is required, which is sometimes is, that round would have to occur after the end of the semester. Myron raised concern about officer elections, which usually happens at the May meeting; he would like new members to be eligible; asks for the authority for the Executive Officers to make a decision about how to proceed on this issue. Granted.
5.2
6.0 Committee Reports
6.1 Academic and Governance – no report
6.2 Administration and Faculty Evaluations – no report
6.3 Awards
6.3.1 Tony Lewis report – The Awards Committee received 46 nominations, 26 completed application process; final selection meeting will be held Apr. 19; Headway announcements going out soon. A meeting scheduled with Assoc. Provost to discuss committee makeup was been postponed by the Associate Provost. Tony indicated that a meeting will be scheduled after the current awards process has been completed and that Faculty Senate Officers will be included in that meeting.
6.4 Budget – Mary Ann Stringer noted second request (included in packet); expects to hear something by next meeting
6.5 Constitution and Bylaws
6.5.1 Codifying Constitutional/Bylaws changes – Darlys noted that the Senate has already passed 5 changes; 2 changes were postponed – she asked if there were any recommendations to pursue the issue of officers being tenured. This will be discussed at the May meeting.
6.6 Faculty Welfare – no report
6.7 Government Relations – no report
6.8 Technology – no report
6.9 Elections
6.9.1 Peter Butko report (see discussion under Old Business: Other)
6.10 Ad hoc committee reports and liaison reports (AAUP and others)
6.10.1 Ad Hoc Committee on Credentials and Hiring and Tenure Processes (Susan Malone) – The committee is still waiting for responses to public records requests; deadline for request to the Office of Graduate Studies is Apr. 20; deadline for the request to President Thames for hiring information is Apr. 29. The committee has received no response to Myron’s most recent letter to Dr. Dvorak, indicating a willingness to meet with her, but requesting the vita before such a meeting can be scheduled.
6.10.2 AAUP (Bill Scarborough) – Bill Scarborough reported that the AAUP National office is sending expert witnesses to the hearing; the next AAUP chapter meeting is Apr. 27. On the agenda for that meeting will be discussion of concerns about the fate of University Forum, which is being discontinued after this year. Many senators expressed concerns about the loss of the Forum and of the Honors Colloquium.
6.10.3 Transportation Committee (Bill Scarborough) – Bill reported a name change for the Transportation Office to Parking Management. The policy of presenting ID when requesting a visitor’s pass will not go into effect until summer; price of parking pass goes to $40 for everybody; bicycling/walking project will begin this summer; some concern about Zone 5 permits.
7.0 New Business
7.1 Other – Bill Scarborough reported that at this week’s cabinet meeting there was discussion about dismantling the Faculty Senate (from a secondhand source); he and Amy Young then asked Dean Pood to confirm; Dean Pood said it was brought up, but was dropped, under advice from Pood and Dean Doty. Pat Smith said he asked the same thing of Provost Grimes, who said no decision was made to shut down the faculty senate. Amy Young expressed concern that such a discussion would even come up in that group and found it remarkable that the existence of the Senate had to be defended. Myron pointed out that the Faculty Senate President is not part of the “kitchen” cabinet, where this discussion apparently took place. He also noted that the cordial relationships that most Faculty Senates at other institutions have with their presidents are in stark contrast to what we’ve seen at our university, where it is apparently proposed at the President’s Cabinet that the senate be disbanded.
7.2 Amy Miller asked if is there a way for the Faculty Senate to have a “seat” reserved up front at the hearing; Bill Powell said his understanding is that Provost Hudson will be asked if there could be reserved seats for someone from Academic Council, Graduate Council, Faculty Senate, and Staff Council. Alan Thompson asked if we could arrange for the hearings to be videotaped on our behalf; Myron suggested that would not be necessary, since they will be taped anyway and those tapes will be made available to the defense. Stephen Judd asked whether there were regular meetings between the President and Faculty Senate officers with previous presidents. No clear answer about what Fleming did, but Susan Hubble said meetings occurred when there were issues to be discussed. Regular meetings with officers began with Thames (under Cabana).
8.0 Adjournment – at 4:28 pm