The University of Southern Mississippi

The University of Southern Mississippi

Faculty Senate Meeting on November 11, 2005

Union Hall of Honors at 2:00 p.m.

1.0 Call to Order: 2:03pm

2.0 Minutes of September 16, 2005 and October 7, 2005 approved.

3.0 Agenda approved

4.0 Officers' Reports
4.1 President

4.1.1 CoH Tenure & Promotion document

The COH administration asked its faculty to Vote on a new Tenure and Promotion policy for the COH. Wording in that new document, placed there by Dean Fos, stated that grant attainment would be a requirement for P&T. The Faculty Senators from COH expressed concern to Dr. Fos about this policy stating that policy for T & P needs to be set by academic units (i.e. Departments), not by the whole college. Further, they expressed that Administration and CAC does not have the authority to modify or create T & P policies, that must come from each department (like Nursing). Dean Fos, after conferring with the College Advisory Committee (CAC), halted the voting process and agreed that a process that directly involved academic units would be preferable and more in concert with the Faculty Handbook. The senate discussed the concern that the university's administration will still be using grant attainment as an implicit criterion for judging P&T.

4.1.2 Gulf Coast Status

Bill P. thanked volunteers for giving baked goods which were brought to Gulf Coast campus to welcome students and faculty back to classes. Classes have resumed at the Garden Park hospital – not the perfect situation (cramped, not enough phones, etc.) but faculty and students are managing. Faculty and staff volunteers have also been going down on weekends to help coast faculty and staff with their homes and yards. Also, volunteers (faculty and students) from PA came down to help (arranged by Joe Olmi).

4.1.3 Visit to Hattiesburg & USM by Dr. Belle Wheelan, President, SACS Commission on Colleges
In October, Dr. Belle Wheelan, president of SACS, made an overnight visit to Hattiesburg and visited the USM campus in route to a statewide summit of university and community college administrators. No faculty or faculty representatives were invited to participate in this visit nor was mention of the visit made to faculty at any point by the university's administration. The president of the Senate and the chairs of Graduate, Academic, and Council of Chairs wrote and signed a letter to Dr. Wheelan expressing "disappointment and surprise" by the visit and the university administration's omission to include faculty representation, particularly after the faculty's immense efforts to correct the issues related to the probationary status. The senate voted 31-1 authorizing the exec. committee to write a letter to the university administration expressing the same concern. (Appendix 1 – PR release about the visit and Appendix 2 letter from FLC)

4.1.4 Raises
The senate had voted last meeting to authorize the senate's budget committee to write a letter to President Thames concerning the recent raises given to select administrators and faculty as well as concerns regarding MIDAS. The budget committee wrote a letter which was distributed to senators who approved the letter unanimously. The letter will be hand delivered to the president Monday (Appendix 3).

4.1.5 Discussions with Provost Grimes

4.1.5.1 Tenure & Promotion calendars
There are discussions with the Provost to consider granting latitude to faculty who request extensions of the P&T deadlines if they were adversely affected by Katrina.

4.1.5.2 Revision of FAR due date
Bill Powell stated that the Provost office will be pushing the FAR due date back to January.

4.1.5.3 FAR qualifying comment
Bill P. has also asked the Provost that a qualifying statement be put on all faculty's FAR reports due to SACS and Katrina.

4.1.5.4 Summer Grants, sabbaticals, etc.
Because of the budget uncertainties, summer grants and sabbaticals may be canceled. Senators expressed the opinion that if budgetary concerns were the impetus to cancel summer grants and sabbaticals MIDAS should also be canceled for the same reason.

4.1.5.5 Awards

A committee was formed by Cynthia Moore to do the Headwae Awards this year, a task usually performed by the faculty senate awards committee. 3 of the 5 members appointed to the committee by Dr. Moore inadvertently were senate members. With the deadline for Headwae awards upon us, the senate will not take any action regarding the by-passing of the senate awards committee but Bill P. has asked the Provost to make a final determination regarding the awards committee.

4.1.5.6 Emeritus status

The FS executive committee addressed with the president and provost the issue of emeritus status for assistant and associate professors. This administration has only been granting emeritus status to full professors contrary to the faculty handbook. Both the president and provost have agreed that the faculty handbook should be followed and therefore will also consider asst. and assoc. professors for emeritus status.

4.1.6 Cabinet meetings

Cabinet meeting issues have been addressed in other points of the senate president’s report.

The Tulane game is a faculty/staff appreciation day. All faculty/staff will be eligible for 2 free tickets.

4.1.7 Executive committee meetings with Dr. Thames

The president has agreed to ask Gregg Lassen to reconvene the budget committee. It will meet again Tuesday.
Dr. Thames reported that he has requested approximately $300 million from Congress through the governor to help USM Gulf Coast recover from Katrina.

4.1.8 MIDAS
The senate is involve in meetings with the administration to discuss some of the inequities of the MIDAS program. One of the more positive outcomes is the consideration of incentives to faculty/staff who attain grants without salary recovery.

4.1.9 Push for online program in each college
Bill P. reminded senators to remind colleagues in their respective colleges that newly developed online courses need to go through appropriate councils for approval. Senators expressed concern over the administrations push to force colleges to develop online courses believing that this violated SACS criteria which stated that curriculum is developed by faculty. The senate's Academic and Governance Committee will review.

4.1.10 Calendar committee
Next fall (2006), school semester will begin on Wed. instead of Thurs. and there will not be classes on the Wed. before Thanksgiving. The senate also voted 32-0 in favor of spring breaks going back (in 2007) to being scheduled in mid-semester and coordinated with public school breaks if a t all possible.

4.1.11 Online evaluation of teaching
An online policy has been sent to senators to send out to their colleges for review and comment. All comments should be sent to Bill Powell, Steve Oshrin or Stan Hauer.

4.1.12 Half tuition for spouses
Bill Powell asked senators to be sure to fill out the staff survey and to encourage their constituents to do the same.

4.1.13 Other

Bill P. has contacted IHL Commissioner Tom Meredith asking for a meeting and asking that the faculty be ensured a say in the search process for the new university president.

4.2 President-Elect

No report

4.3. Secretary

Absent-no report

4.4. Secretary-Elect

No report.

5.0 Committee Reports
5.1 Academic and Governance

Chair (B. Scarborough) stated that the committee would begin work on the Shared Governance document at their next meeting on the 17^th. They would try to have it completed by the end of the semester.

5.2 Administration and Faculty Evaluations

Chair (S. Oshrin) stated that he has contacted J.T. Johnson and will be looking at the administrative evaluation forms to see if any revisions are needed. He hopes to have the evaluations out before the end of semester.

5.3 Awards
5.4 Budget

Completed the letter concerning raises and Midas and will deliver letter to president Monday.

            5.5      Constitution and Bylaws
            5.6                   Faculty Welfare
            5.7      Government Relations
            5.8      Technology

Chair (B. Spencer) attended ITech Goverance meeting. ITech says that the network slowdown is due to student downloads of music. ITech is implementing a new firewall software they hope will help prevent this. ITech has also lost a lot of key personnel which has contributed to a lot of issues. Issues still to be addressed by this committee: 1) Email surveillance policy 2) Home/office compatibility (and support) of software.

5.9 Elections

Chair (P. Smithka) reported that the 3^rd round ballot for the coast senator will soon be begun again.

5.10 Ad hoc committee reports and liaison reports

5.10.1 President’s Council

Meeting this month was cancelled.

5.10.2 American Association of University Professors
Next meeting November 17th LAB. Also, exec. officers have a meeting with Tom Meredith Nov. 28th.

5.10.3 Academic/Graduate Council

Academic Council has requested that all colleges submit their 124 hour program plans to them by their Dec. meeting. There has been some controversy concerning what some depts. in colleges consider 124 hours programs (ie. Education is claiming that the 124 hours does not include core – that the 124 hours is above and beyond core). The chair of Academic Council has been trying to schedule a meeting with the provost to settle this issue.

5.10.3 Faculty Leadership Council

Issues discussed at FLC have been addressed in other points throughout the senate meeting.

5.10.4 Transportation

B. Scarborough reported that the “Parking Management Committee” met Oct. 14^th and asked Gregg Lassen about the raise in parking fees. Lassen reported that the raise in rate was a joint agreement between Dr. Thames, Joe Paul and Gregg Lassen. Bill P. will talk to Joe Paul about lowering the parking rate for staff.

6.0 New Business

There was a lengthy discussion concerning the mini-courses being offered during the winter intercession. A motion was passed recommending that the Academic and Graduate Councils consider a review process for courses offered through an alternative learning mode of delivery.

7.0 Old Business
7.1 Associate Dean search in College of Education and Psychology

This issue will be tabled and placed on the agenda for next meeting.

7.2 Gulf Coast Resolution

The author of this resolution, D. Duhon, was absent from this meeting but his committee will look at this issue further and bring up again at a later date.

8.0 Other

A senator asked that Bill Gunther revisit the budget analysis of the money saved by collapsing the colleges in light of all the new administrative hires.

9.0 Adjournment: 4:33pm

Appendix 1

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
Marketing and Public Relations
NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Contact: Christopher Mapp

10-26-05 (601) 266-4497

SACS PRESIDENT TOURS SOUTHERN MISS DURING

STATEWIDE SUMMIT WITH UNIVERSITY LEADERS

HATTIESBURG – Jonathan Krebs relishes the opportunity to show off the past, present and future of The University of Southern Mississippi.

The president of the Student Government Association got to talk about his favorite subject Wednesday as he toured the Hattiesburg campus with Dr. Belle Wheelan, the new president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

“We always love the chance to show off our campus and the Southern Miss spirit,” said Krebs, who gave Wheelan a guided tour of the new International Center and other locations. “We have so many defining features on campus and in Hattiesburg that make us one of the finest institutions in the country.”

Wheelan, who has been in the position for about 13 months, was in Hattiesburg Tuesday and Wednesday to tour the campus and meet with academic leaders from Southern Miss. Wheelan also spoke at the Hattiesburg Lake Terrace Convention Center during a luncheon for leaders of all the university members of the Institutes of Higher Learning and for community college presidents.

Wheelan said her goal while in Hattiesburg was “to do a lot of listening.”

“I want to hear what the leaders of the different institutions have to say about their issues and explain the process because we’ve changed the accreditation process a little over the last couple of years,” Wheelan said.

“We want to see where their stumbling blocks are, see what the questions are and what the good things are,” she added.

Dr. Joan Exline, assistant to the president for accreditation, planning and articulation, said the idea of statewide reception for all of the universities and community colleges came about in July.

“Dr. Wheelan asked us if we’d be interested in staging this, and we gladly agreed. We broadened it to include presidents from community colleges and even some of the private colleges like Millsaps,” Exline said.

Exline said she thought Wheelan would take away from her time at Southern Miss a positive image of a university on the move.

“I think she’ll see that we’re proactively planning new programs that meet the needs of our growing population. There’s also lots of construction underway, movement to new facilities and meeting the needs of our students,” Exline said.

President Shelby Thames said Wheelan’s visit would allow her to learn about the university on a personal level.

“Building relationships is always important, especially when you’ll be dealing with people on a business basis at a later date. Her visit gives her the opportunity to learn what kind of institution Southern Miss is and what our motivations are for the future,” Thames said.

Wheelan spent the morning with the deans from Southern Miss’ five academic colleges, who told her of their academic plans for the future.

“This was just a real unique opportunity to have her time and energy devoted to Southern Miss and to give her a chance to meet our colleagues around the state also. Hopefully, when she leaves here, she’ll have a better understanding of higher education in Mississippi,” Thames said.

Appendix 2

November 18, 2005

Dr. Jay Grimes, Provost

The University of Southern Mississippi

Dr. Grimes:

We are concerned about your emails to the chair of the Academic Council restricting the Council’s ability to communicate with the IHL Board staff.

We contend that it is the prerogative of faculty to contact the board regarding matters of academic significance. Such prerogative is essential to the effective conduct of university business. We call upon you to affirm your commitment to the free flow of information within the university system.

Respectfully,

Appendix 3

November 14, 2005

To: Dr. Shelby Thames, President

From: The Faculty Senate Executive and Budget Committees on behalf of the Faculty Senate

Topic: Questions and Observations arising from the October 7 Faculty Senate meeting

First, we thank you for sharing your thoughts with us at the October 7 meeting of the Faculty Senate. Although the conversation was spirited at times, we think that it was both informative and respectful. As you might speculate based on the discussion while you were present, additional observations and questions were forthcoming from senators after your departure. We want to provide to you a sense of the discussion and pose a few questions.

Raises for Administrators. Much concern was expressed about your decision to award substantial raises to selected administrators after the preparation of the University’s 2005- 2006 budget book. Senators observed that over the last year, USM was placed on probation by the Southern Association of College and Schools (SACS) and remained in the fourth tier in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. Pre-Katrina enrollment in terms of student credit hours has remained virtually flat for several years. Parking fees for faculty, staff, and students have more than doubled. Health costs have increased for faculty and staff. Academic units were told to prepare for budget reductions, and fiscal restraint is being emphasized. With few exceptions, faculty and staff did not receive raises for 2005-2006. In this context, senators see no justification for your decision to increase the salaries of selected administrators by 10% and $11,000 on average.

It seems to us that true leaders make significant sacrifices for the common good before they ask others to sacrifice. That is leadership by example. We think asking others to sacrifice while $161,000 was spent to create another new administrative position and give selected administrators (who are already among the highest paid individuals in the university) substantial raises is the opposite of leadership by example, inconsistent with your “focus on students” (their tuition is paying for these raises), and contrary to your claims of “efficiency and accountability” in administration. Further, the process for awarding the salary increases to these administrators was essentially invisible and therefore did not provide an opportunity for input from those these administrators serve.

E+G and Foundation Revenues and Expenditures. Members of the Faculty Senate are concerned about resources from the USM Athletic Foundation, the USM Foundation, and the USM Research Foundation being used for certain purposes such as for salary increases. We believe that it is somewhat misleading to describe resources from foundations as totally independent of Educational and General (E+G) resources. A recent example in which it was suggested that foundation resources are distinct from E+G resources is the $20,000 from the Athletic Foundation that was used to increase the Athletic Director’s salary by $40,050. Millions of dollars from tax support and tuition (student fees) are dedicated to USM Athletics. Private funds that find their way to the Athletic Foundation could be used for scholarships that are currently funded through E+G resources or to help reduce the portion of student fees that are directed to Athletics. We wonder how private the University’s three foundations really are. As we understand it, the salaries for most of the staff of the University’s foundations are paid for though E +G dollars, so that thousands of dollars from taxes and student tuition under gird the infrastructure of the University’s “private foundations.” Because so much in public funding goes to support USM’s foundations, we believe the expenditures of the foundations should be public information and be available for careful scrutiny. Technically, foundation expenditures may be distinct from E+G expenditures. However, we conclude that in reality, the distinctions between E+G dollars and those of USM foundations are easily blurred and are therefore rather artificial.

Raises for Selected Faculty. If we are interpreting the information correctly, twelve faculty members received raises after the 2005-2006 budget book was published. The process for allocating faculty salary increases has not been explained. We would appreciate learning about the process for faculty raises and the roles of the President, Provost, deans and chairs in that process.

MIDAS Bonuses. A majority of senators have concern about the MIDAS program. Two years of MIDAS bonuses have totaled almost $900,000. It seems to us that the sources for funding for MIDAS bonuses might be from facilities and administrative costs (formally indirect cost recoveries) attributable to grants, E+G dollars freed up because grants are paying a portion of salaries, or revenue from the Research Foundation. We are inclined to conclude that “private” dollars from the Research Foundation are not a source since the $900,000 is so large that such expenditures from cash on hand in the Research Foundation would soon compromise its financial well being. MIDAS bonuses from facilities and administrative costs in grants would violate the claim that universities have facilities and administrative expenses associated with grants and possibly persuade granting agencies that they are paying salary twice for the same work. So, we conclude E+G dollars are the source of the bonuses. This would mean that tax payers and student tuition are a main source for the MIDAS bonuses. Assuming our observations are correct, we think paying MIDAS bonuses to selected faculty and administrators using taxpayer dollars and student tuition is a questionable use of these monies. We would appreciate receiving information from you on who has received MIDAS bonuses during the last two cycles of MIDAS, and how much did each individual received.

We have linked several sources of revenue and expenditures in this letter because we think revenue and expenditures from major university budget categories are very much related. We submit this letter to you in the spirit of sharing information openly, expressing our concerns directly and respectfully, and assuring accountability at all levels. We look forward to your timely response to our questions and would welcome informed and respectful conversation on all the topics of this memo.

Members Present and Those Represented by Proxy (Proxies are in Parentheses):

College of the Arts & Letters

Cindy Brown

Anita Davis

Cheryl Goggin

Stanley Hauer

Stephen Judd

John Meyer

Bill Powell, President

Bob Press

Bill Scarborough

Paula Smithka

Amy Young

College of Business

David Duhon (B. Gregory)

Bill Gunther (M. Henry)

James Magruder

TBA

College of Education & Psychology

Ann Parker Blackwell

Taralynn Hartsell

Joe Olmi

Janice Thompson

College of Health

Wendy Bounds

Mary Lux

Stephen Oshrin

Tim Rehner

Coastal Science, Marine Science & Gulf Coast Research Lab

Chet Rakocinski (D. Redalje)

Don Redalje

College of Science & Technology

Randy Buchanan

Eyler “Bob” Coates (M. Henry)

Mary Dayne Gregg

Myron Henry, President-Elect

Lawrence Mead

Gail Russell

Jeff Evans

University Libraries

Mary Beth Applin, Secretary-Elect

Jay Barton Spencer

USM-Gulf Coast

Patsy Anderson

James Miller

TBA

Eric Nelson

Members Absent:

College of the Arts & Letters:

College of Business:

College of Education & Psychology:

Antonio Rodriguez-Buckingham

Janice Thompson

College of Health:

Bonnie Harbough

Coastal/Marine/GCRL:

College of Science & Technology:

Jerry Griffith

Bobby Middlebrooks

University Libraries:

USM-Gulf Coast:

Patsy Anderson

James Miller