The
Faculty Senate Meeting
Union Hall of Honors
Attendance: (See end of minutes)
1.0 Call to Order
2.0 Approval of
3.0 Approval of Agenda:
moved/seconded/approved with two changes – possible that 4.1.3 exchanged with
4.1.8 since Susan Hubble would be giving that report and she might be
late. Also Bill Powell asked that 4.2.1 be changed from “Graduate Council
to “Provost Council.”
4.0 Officers' Reports
4.1
President (Dave Beckett)
4.1.1 Opening Remarks
a. Introduction of officers - Dave Beckett, president; Bill Powell, president-elect; Mary Beth Applin, secretary; Bonnie Harbough, secretary-elect. Each of the new senators introduced themselves: Joe Brumbeloe, Barton Spencer, Allisa Beck, Chet Rakocinski, Don Redalje, Bill Gunther, Laurie Babin, Mary Lux and Margot Hall (who is representing Amal Khoury).
b. Welcome to New Staff Council President, Valerie Horne: (Valerie is actually Staff Council President-elect)
c.
Susan Bone, Payne Center, briefly addressed Faculty Senators to invite them
and faculty in their depts. to participate in a Worksite Wellness Pilot Program
at the
4.1.2. Merit Raises: Dave B. gave an overview of how the
faculty senate exec committee participated in the merit raise process over the
summer. The exec committee (ec) met with Greg
Lassen, CFO, and proposed a block raise for all faculty
with money allotted to colleges on a per capita basis. The ec was then invited to speak to the deans and the
president’s cabinet to present their proposal. Though the president and deans
did not use the ec proposal, Dave B. noted two
things: faculty senate actually were allowed to participate in the
process, which has never happened before; and the ec
made a case for all faculty/staff to receive raises since no substantial raise
has been given in 5 years. The administration felt that there was some
merit in this which contributed to their decision to give $400 across the board
raise. Dave B. is appointing an ad hoc committee to review this past
year’s process used by the deans for merit increases and make recommendations
for improvements. Mary Beth Applin has been
named chair. Dave B. also noted that Council of Chairs was looking into
the merit raises. Discussion and question/answers followed. A senator
asked that we at least get from deans an outline of what criteria will be used
for getting a raise (and criteria for depts. for receiving monies) so that in
the future, faculty will know what to do in order to receive raises.
4.1.3. Provost Search: Dave B. deferred this to Susan
Hubble. Susan described makeup of the search committee: Joe Paul
(chair), Jay Grimes, dean, associate dean, dept. chair, student govt.
president, several faculty. The president
charged the committee to create a job description (which they have done) and
Susan is leading a sub-committee to facilitate meetings, interaction and
feedback from all constituents during the interview process of the
candidates. An evaluation tool will also be developed to elicit
quantitative feedback on each candidate. President asked the committee to
submit to him three names, unranked, for consideration. Committee is hoping to
start interviewing by Thanksgiving. Question and answer followed.
Susan was asked why the president specified “unranked list” – she said no
reason was given by the president. Another senator wanted to be sure that
faculty from the coast were included in the search committee and that coast
members were also included in the interview process and that the job ad and
interview process emphasized that the coast campus (and other satellite
campuses) were intricate parts of USM and this position. Susan assured
senators that these issues were being covered. Another senator asked that
the evaluation of each candidate be done after all 3 had been interviewed so
that a basis of comparison could be established. All thought this was a
good idea.
4.1.4 Faculty Handbook: Dave B. reported that Faculty Handbook Committee (FHC) met three times this summer. Members included Cynthia Moore (Provost Office), Cecil Burge (VP of Research), Russ Willis (Human Resources), Dave Beckett (Faculty Senate President), Renee Falconer (faculty appointed by president), and Lee Gore (University Council) (non-voting member). The committee was to address four issues outlined by Bill Taylor, outgoing chair of the old FHC: 1) Termination policy; 2) FAR; 3) Coupling of tenure/promotion; and 4) Remand of tenure and promotion disagreements from the office of the provost. Before the committee looked at other issues, Lee Gore requested that the committee change a statement made on the cover and Forward of the handbook “The handbook will govern all relations between the faculty and administration.” Dave B. objected, much discussion ensued and the committee agreed to make a change to say “The handbook will provide guidance for the relationship between faculty and administration.” The committee did not address the termination policy. Tenure and promotion coupling was discussed and it was agreed that the two are distinct actions and will remain that way. As far as the remanding of tenure/promotion by the provost, the provost can remand the case back to the CAC (College Advisory Committee) in the event that the Provost disagrees with the recommendations of both the CAC and the UAC (University Advisory Committee) (see page 80 of the new Faculty Handbook). So the provost could disagree in two different ways: CAC and UAC vote for tenure and promotion, provost votes against, CAC and UAC vote against tenure and promotion, provost votes for. Provost must provide all parties a rationale when he/she denies a recommendation for tenure/promotion. Also, the handbook now reads that the UAC will notify the provost of their decision and simultaneously notify the faculty member of their decision. Much discussion ensued but faculty senators were generally pleased with the committee’s decisions. As for the FAR, the handbook committee agreed to the wording that the FAR “may be used” as part of the faculty’s evaluation process. Now that President Thames has signed the handbook, a new committee will be formed to discuss any problems or changes. Faculty Senate must appoint a member of FS and appoint a faculty that is not a FS member. Dave B. has appointed Myron Henry to be the FS member. The non-member has not been chosen at this point.
4.1.5 Awards Committee: Provost Hudson had tentatively accepted this past spring a compromise agreement on the makeup of the award committee membership but postponed a final decision until the fall when all the faculty were back. Unfortunately, now the provost is gone. Dave B. will continue to pursue a decision with Dr. Grimes and Dr. Moore in the provost’s office.
4.1.6
Football Thursday: Classes on the coast will be held as
usual. Classes in
4.1.7 Post-Tenure Review: Dave B. and others had a meeting with Provost Hudson concerning the IHL’s request for a post-tenure review policy. The IHL gave us a spreadsheet of what was suppose to be in the policy and what was missing from each of the university’s policies. Dave B. is appointing an ad hoc committee to address the IHL’s policy request to be done by February 2005. Mary Lux will chair this committee.
4.1.8 Drug & Alcohol Policy: Mary Lux and Dave Beckett are serving on this committee. Mitch Berman is the chair. Mitch is trying to put together a policy that is all-inclusive. There is some disagreement about this from other members. But Dave B. feels that whatever policy they come up with will be better than the one given to faculty and then rescinded last year.
Dave Beckett added one more
remark: President Thames requested from the FS last May a plan from
the FS on how they were going to help the university meet some specific goals
pertaining to student recruiting, retention and university funding. Dave
B. believes that budget cuts from the state are a real problem for USM and that
president’s request deserves our input. A faculty senator pointed out
that faculty doing activities that help retention and recruiting (like service
and teaching) are not rewarded for their efforts (ie
through merit raises). Another member pointed out that the IHL even
billed him for a lunch he had while spending a day in
At this point, Kate Greene complimented D. Beckett on the thoroughness of his report.
4.2 President-Elect
4.2.1. Provosts Council: Bill Powell
reported that there is now a provost council that meets every 2 weeks -
members being deans, FS, and other representatives from across campus. It
is an information sharing entity.
4.3. Secretary
(Mary Beth Applin)
4.3.1 Overview of Committee Functions: Instead of reviewing committee functions and relating what committees had done last year, Mary Beth stated that she would post that information on the Faculty Senate listserv so that it would help people decide what committees they would like to join.
4.3.2 Committee Sign-up Sheets: Committee sign-up sheets are available for senators to sign but people could wait til Mary Beth posted the information on the list and then email her to tell her the committee they wanted to join.
4.3.3 College Listservs for Dissemination of Information? Mary Beth stated that she believed that a College Listserv might be helpful for faculty senators to disseminate information to their constituents. MB asked if senators would be interested in having her contact George Booth to discuss the feasibility of doing this. Most senators seemed to like the idea. MB will contact George Booth and investigate.
4.4. Secretary-Elect:
No report
5.0 Committee Reports
5.1 Academic and Governance
5.2. Administration and Faculty Evaluations
5.3. Awards
5.4.
Budget
5.5.
Constitution and Bylaws
5.6 Faculty Welfare
5.7.
Government Relations
5.8.
Technology
5.9.
Elections
5.10.
Ad hoc committee reports and liaison reports (AAUP and others)
AAUP: Amy Young introduced herself as the new AAUP President and announced that the first AAUP meeting of the semester will be in LAB room 204, Friday, Sept. 18th at 4pm.
Transportation: Bill Scarborough reported that in 2 weeks, the parking and lighting project and the bicycle and walking project will begin on campus. Paving project is already underway. They are not going to take out the curb at Kelly Geography Building til December. The lot near the Interior Design will be for faculty/staff and as soon as it is graveled it will be opened. There’s lots of new lots being opened on the west side of campus. The visitor pass system has been changed dramatically. Faculty/staff/students will get one visitor pass per semester. You will have to give a driver’s license number so they can track it.
President's Council: Myron said that he had asked the president for an organizational chart of who reports to the president, who reports to the vice-president and what do they do. Myron reminded senators that if there were any issues that they wanted him or Ray to bring up at President's Council, just to let them know. Ray reported that the U.S.News and World Report issue that he brought up at President's Council was in the context of the credibility issue that things like that create for USM. Another issue he mentioned was the constant reports by the PR office that the university is able to do what it has done because of the “savings” gained from the reorganization. The president said that he has never indicated that there was a ‘savings’ only that money was ‘reallocated’ because of the reorganization. Ray also reported that Ken Malone is suppose to speak at the next President's Council about the economic development program.
6.0 New Business
6.1 U.S. News & World Report’s College Listing: Ray again reiterated how PR’s response to the USNWR was misleading and damaged the credibility of the university as a whole. Much discussion ensued. It was reported that an email has come out that states that the Institutional Research dept., formerly under the provost, is now being moved directly under the president and that this is possibly in response to the poor reporting of data to USNWR.
6.2 EEOC Change: Mary Beth reported that the FS exec committee asked the president for information about why the EEO officer was being let go and how the duties were being disseminated within Human Resources. The president reported that this wasn’t a done deal but only something being considered as a money saving move. Becky Woodrick was notified as a courtesy since her contract might not be renewed in Dec. The president told us to talk to Bud Ginn about the logistics. MB also called Becky Woodrick who confirmed that Dr. Ginn had called her and told her that her contract may not be renewed in December. There was much discussion among senators. It was noted that this position was created under Dr. Fleming’s administration at the strong request of faculty and that eliminating this position is harmful to faculty, staff, students and the university as a whole. The EEO officers ensures that proper job searches are done for positions; that faculty/staff/students have a confidential source that they can turn to for discrimination issues; and that policies and procedures are put in place and followed to ensure compliance of DOL and EEO regulations. Senators noted that this would be a giant step backwards for this university. President Beckett stated that the exec committee would follow up on this situation by meeting with Becky Woodrick and then Bud Ginn and hoped to be able to make a recommendation to the president in support of keeping the EEO position. A discussion ensued about whether or not a resolution by the entire faculty senate would be a stronger method than a recommendation by the exec committee. Ray Folse made a motion that the faculty senate empower the exec committee to speak on the behalf of the entire FS. Dave B. recommended that the exec committee be allowed to talk to all parties involved, including the president, to gather as much information as possible. If nothing could be resolved, the exec committee would then report back to the FS for direction. Myron Henry requested that this item remain on the FS agenda for next meeting. The motion by Ray Folse was passed unanimously.
6.3 Other: A senator asked about new enrollment numbers. Dave B.stated that new numbers were due out today.
Another senator stated that she had heard that the calendar might be adjusted to accommodate the new 2250 contact minutes as early as the spring semester. The senator requested that this information be clarified at the next President's Council or president cabinet meeting.
7.0 Old Business
7.1 Other
8.0 Meeting was adjourned at 4:50pm.
Members Present and Those Represented by Proxy (In Parenthesis):
College of the Arts & Letters
Joe Brumbeloe
Amy Chasteen-Miller (Amy Young)
Phillip Gentile
Kate Greene
Stephen Judd
John Meyer
Bill Powell
Bill Scarborough
Paula Smithka
Anne Wallace (Stephen Judd)
College of Business
James Crockett
David Duhon
Bill Gunther
Laurie Babin
College of Education & Psychology
Taralynn Hartsell (Mary Beth Applin)
Joe Olmi (Mary Beth Applin)
Janice Thompson
College of Health
Joyous Bethel
Bonnie Harbaugh
Susan Hubble
Amal Khoury (Margot Hall)
Mary Lux
Mary Frances Nettles
Department of Coastal Sciences
Chet Rakocinski
Don Redalje
College of Science & Technology
David Beckett, President
Randy Buchanan
Peter Butko
Raymond Folse
Mary Dayne Gregg
Myron Henry
Gerald Mattson
Gail Russell (Ray Folse)
Alan Thompson
University Libraries
Mary Beth Applin
Jay Barton Spencer
USM-Gulf Coast
Hal Shoemaker (Bill Powell)
J. Pat Smith
Members Absent:
College of the Arts & Letters: Tony Lewis
College of Business:
College of Education & Psychology: Melanie Norton
College of Health:
College of Coastal Science:
College of Science & Technology:
University Libraries:
USM-Gulf Coast: