The University of Southern Mississippi
Faculty Senate Minutes for January 27, 2006
Cook Library 123 at 2:00pm
Forum Speaker Dr. Jay Grimes, Provost
Dr. Grimes answered questions posed by Faculty Senators at the meeting. Provost Grimes covered the following topics: Confidentiality during Searches, internal faculty research grants, sabbaticals and awards, budget decisions, developmental accounts, posting jobs/searches, overall financial situation, advisement week for Summer and Fall 2006, third year review, lost equipment funds and research progress (Katrina), rebuilding the Coast Campus at Gulf Park, outsourcing of Physical Plant, shared governance document request, policy on midyear raises, and mini Sessions. The complete forum audio is posted on the Faculty Senate Website.
1.0 Call to Order at 3:15pm
2.0 Approval of November 11, 2005 minutes. Moved, Seconded, Approved.
3.0 Approval of Agenda- Moved, Seconded, Approved.
4.0 Officers Reports
4.1 President
4.1.1 Guest Speaker- Mark Goodman, President of the Robert Holland Faculty Senate, Mississippi State University. Dr. Goodman spoke to the USM faculty senate to explain the MSU Presidential search process to date. In the original search process, a committee, sworn to secrecy would review the candidates, and then forward the names of the finalists to the IHL. The consulting firm may also introduce candidates to the IHL. Then the IHL Board would make a final decision. The president would not meet alumni, faculty, staff, students, etc. until after the selection. The MSU Senate has been working to include more faculty in the process, and to allow interaction and evaluation of the final candidates with the broader MSU community before the final selection of President is made. They have made some progress in faculty participation on the search committee, reducing the secrecy of the process and providing reliable witnesses in the process.
USM faculty senators were concerned that while the search process is more transparent and inclusive, the secrecy of the final candidate pool is disturbing. Concerns also included that Universities are public institutions, where taxpayers should be informed about who is being interviewed to run a major educational institution. Trust issues concerning the Board’s previous choices for University Presidents were discussed, including whether the IHL will take responsibility for a poor choice or match and act prudently to rectify the situation. USM Senators offered assistance to the MSU Senate and commended the work Mark Goodman was doing to encourage transparency in the search process. Dr. Goodman said that he would keep the USM Senate informed through the USM Faculty Senate President.
4.1.2 Chief Technology Officers
The CTO‘s were dissolved January 31, 2006. The process was ambiguous to faculty. Concern for departmental IT support was expressed, and complaints were made about the current email system problems. It was recommended that anyone who needs to send a time sensitive message should use the phone or a note, not the email at this time.
4.1.3 Gulf Coast Status
Gulf Coast Senators reported that no significant changes have been made since December 2005. Classes are continuing in the Gulf Park Hospital site. Faculty expressed concern that they were getting behind in scholarly activities; Bill Powell stated that he had discussed this problem with the Provost. Senators expressed gratitude that no one has been let go involuntarily and appreciation of the fact that they still have jobs, work they love, and paychecks. Issues related to mold in buildings, lack of workspaces and offices, loss of equipment, enrollment numbers, a center for Katrina research, the Center for Oral History, FEMA trailers and support for rebuilding were discussed. The library collection at Long Beach is available, on a closed stack basis.
A senator asked if GP faculty had any input into where the rebuilding of the campus will occur. The answer one senator gave was a preference to move back to the GP campus, and a fear that the campus would be shut down. Bill Powell reported that he has asked for a meeting with Dr. Meredith about Coast issues, but that has not occurred yet. A suggestion was made to solicit preferences from the GC faculty and staff and send this to IHL. Bill Powell said that was something he would work on. Bill Powell was informed that no decisions have been made yet about relocating the GP Campus or where it will be rebuilt has been made by the IHL.
4.1.4 Katrina Relief Fund
The amount collected is about $250,000. Of that, about $60,000 will go to faculty and staff for recovery. The rest will go to students. Decisions will be made for distribution in the next few weeks. Students are also eligible for 2.7 million Federal Relief Funds for Spring 2006, Summer 2006 and Fall 2006. Students need to contact the Financial Aid Office for assistance. Also, 1.5 million was received from the Bush-Clinton monies to recoup some USM operating costs. The Katrina Research Center has been established, and the library (Kay Wahl) is the contact person.
4.1.5 Meeting with President Thames and Provost Grimes
Provost Grimes was reminded about Tenure and Promotion calendars for those affected by Katrina. There is a possibility that faculty may change their T & P calendars. This has been done on an ad hoc basis.
4.1.6 Student Online Evaluations of Teaching
Sue Hubble reported on the results and process of the online evaluations of teaching from Fall 2006. The process was more successful this time (about a 75% return rate, which is comparable to the written), and she thanked faculty for their efforts to improve the numbers. She also thanked others who worked on the committee: Bill Powell, Stan Hauer, and Steve Oshrin. She also thanked those who helped streamline the process. A standing committee will be established to provide suggestions and feedback about the online evaluations to administration. Sue urged broader input to the committee from faculty through herself, Bill, Stan or Steve. Sue reported that evaluations can be accessed through a link in SOAR, and the access is somewhat streamlined as compared to printing the FAR. One senator expressed a concern about the incentives given to students to perform evaluations, suggesting that may affect results. Another senator stated that students who had withdrawn from a course (WP, WF) should not be allowed to participate in evaluation since they had not taken the whole course. Bill Powell stated that the instrument is different than last year, so be cautious about comparing last year’s scores to this year’s.
4.1.7 NCAA/Athletic Council
Sue Hubble, Chair of Academic Integrity Subcommittee for the NCAA reported that representatives from the Faculty Senate, and the Academic Integrity Subcommittee met with the NCAA site visit representative to discuss student athlete academic issues. AD Richard Giannini expressed appreciation to faculty for facilitating final exams this year for students participating in the bowl games. Mr. Giannini wants to build a stronger relationship with faculty committees in order to maintain quality. The statistic was reported that out of 56 bowl teams, there were only 6 universities with better graduation rates than USM. The site visit went well, there was one recommendation that is required, and two that were suggested, to be done by April.
Mary Dayne Gregg, chair of the Equity Subcommittee reported on equity issues that were problematic 10 years ago, but are much improved now. The two judged that the site visit went well.
4.2 President-Elect Report
4.2.1. Physical Plant- Myron Henry reported that a letter was sent in early December regarding concerns of the Faculty Senate on outsourcing to Mr. Russ Willis, without response. A statement was presented for senator review re: do senators agree with the statement, and do they think a statement should be made? Discussion ensued about privatization of other departments at the University. A senator asked if the food services folks have been asked about the privatization issue? Dr. Henry reported that he did not think so. Dr. Henry stated that about 55 % of Universities outsource food and book store services, while only 9% outsource physical plants. A senator expressed concern that the faculty senate is perceived to be opposed to outsourcing. Bill Powell and another Senator urged a fair process to evaluate outsourcing of the plant. The statement as presented addresses the process and outcomes of outsourcing, not an opposition of it.
A Senator made a motion to change the statement, and instead, send the last sentence of the draft (to include one sentence) to the administration, “The Faculty Senate urges the administration to respond to the legitimate questions and concerns the University community has about the possible outsourcing of the physical plant operations.” He then made a second motion to send an open letter to the public, as it includes the background of the statement. Both motions were seconded. More discussion about outsourcing, including the effects upon retirement benefits ensued. Bill Powell stated that this issue and others need to be evaluated by the outsourcing committee, but the committee has not met, and it is not clear what is occurring. Russ Willis has not responded to the inquiries. The sentiment of comments included the problem of involving faculty meaningfully in shared governance with regards to outsourcing is again occurring. The two motions were withdrawn. The second agreed. A new motion was made that would accept the statement, but would place the last sentence in the beginning and allow the Senate Executive Committee to edit the statement and send it to administration. The motion was seconded and the Ayes carried the motion unanimously.
4.2.2. Heroes of Katrina- Myron Henry asked for nominations, and for faculty to give rationale for the nominees. One Senator said he wanted to nominate the entire faculty on the Coast. He was encouraged to nominate and send in the rationale.
4.2.3. Provost Council- has not met.
4.3 Secretary –No report
4.4 Secretary-Elect- No report
5.0 New Business
5.1 Discussion of IHL Presidential Search Process
The Executive Committee suggested that we write the MSU Senate and commend Dr. Mark Goodman’s efforts in the name of us all in the Presidential Searches. We also propose a simple statement could come out of the Senate and then embed that statement in a letter to Dr. Meredith and Ms. Chanteau-Newton (President of IHL Board). The statement reads “The Faculty Senate of the University of Southern Mississippi supports open searches for presidents of State of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning. While we understand the need for confidentiality in preliminary stages of a search for the president of the university, the USM Senate believes that university and community stakeholders need access to the credentials of finalists and the opportunity to meet and converse directly with the finalists.” A Senator moved that the senate adopt the statement and send it to Dr. Meredith and Ms. Chanteau-Newton.
Permission was given for editing by the Executive committee to include congratulations for movement towards transparency by the IHL.
More discussion ensued related to past presidential searches and the amount of faculty participation that occurred. It was agreed that the process is changing, and that there is a need for more transparency and involvement by the University and general community. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
A Senator had concerns that the IHL board is on record stating that the 2 major universities will be Old Miss and MSU, and that USM and Jackson State will be comprehensive state universities. This may create a mismatch between what the faculty at USM expects in a president (as we view ourselves as a major university) and what the IHL board will expect because they have a different goal for us than we have for ourselves.
5.2 Old Business
5.2.1 Academic and Governance Committee
5.2.1.1 Shared Governance Document- Bill Scarborough led the discussion and reported that the Shared Governance document had been revised. Changes included: Paragraph 1 line 1, instead of saying academic freedom and shared governance are, it has been changed to should be living principles, paragraph 3 line 1 instead of saying The University of Southern Mississippi adheres to the principles, it states intends to adhere. In paragraph 4, the first sentence has been reworded to emphasize that the delegated authority from the IHL and faculty supports the president’s role. Adoption of the document was moved and seconded. Discussion involved whether the wordage reflected the strength of the problems experienced and continues to be experienced is in the document, and whether the document can be endorsed by faculty due to the lack of meaningful shared governance in existence. A suggestion was made to change the words to “must be”. The committee accepted the friendly amendment to use the words “must be” and to change the 3rd paragraph to must adhere. The motion, with the changes, carried unanimously.
6.0 Committee Reports
6.1 Athletic Council, NCAA Site Visit. See 4.1.7.
6.2 Administration and Faculty Evaluations: Steve Oshrin, chair
6.2.1 Administrative Evaluations were sent last week, the deadline is February 24th. Please make sure the opportunity is provided to evaluate the administrators in your department, school, college, and above.
6.3 Awards: Mary Lux, chair
Mary reported that the Faculty Senate, in the past, has selected the Grand Marshall. In opposition to that, Mary received an email today from Dr. Cynthia Moore saying would Mary meet with another committee to select the Grand Marshall. Her response was to say that she wanted to bring her entire Faculty Senate Awards committee, since that has been the charge of the committee in the past. Mary has not heard back yet from Dr. Moore. Bill Powell stated that this was very unacceptable, and that he would also respond and work with Mary about this.
6.4 Budget: Myron Henry, chair – No Report
6.5 Constitution and Bylaws: Randy Buchanan, chair- Will be meeting in February
6.6 Faculty Welfare, Tim Rehner, chair- No report
6.7 Government Relations: Dave Duhon, chair- Will be meeting and discussing the Gulf Coast location situation.
6.8 Technology: Barton Spencer, chair- No report
6.9 Elections: Paula Smithka, chair- Bill Powell thanked Paula Smithka for the elections that were recently concluded on the Gulf Coast. She reported that she is gathering accurate data on faculty numbers on which to base future elections. The Academic Council reported that they have accurate lists of faculty for the elections they have just performed.
6.10Ad hoc committee reports and liaison reports
6.10.1 Academic/Graduate Council- Jeff Evans reported that the Academic Council is responding to SACS concerns that the core objectives are too broad and immeasurable. The councils are working rapidly to respond and come into compliance. There is a special called meeting on Monday.
Program reviews are continuing in the Graduate Council.
6.10.2 American Association of University Professors- No report
6.10.3 Faculty Leadership Council- No report
6.10.4 Presidents Council- No meeting
6.10.5 Transportation- Bill Scarborough stated that the University Transportation committee had met and the following information was shared would occur by Summer: They are going to add 90 spaces in the District; Southern Drive will become one way between McLemore going East. The money will come from parking fees and E & G. There will be a tunnel under Long-Leaf Trail and the sidewalk on 4th Street down to the baseball field will be completed. The city will put a pedestrian crossing between the Coliseum and the baseball fields. On campus speed limits will be changed to 25 mph or less. The Hurst parking lot will be changed in configuration and the street that goes by it and by the Library will be one way. There were no appeals. No talk of raising parking fees. There will be changes in pictures placed on parking tags.
6.10.6 Other announcements
A Senator reported that there is a Katrina withdrawal for students. If a student had to withdraw and had all F’s the registrar office was making the decisions. There was no provision for faculty input into the change in grade process. Faculty in the units need to be asked about grading decision. He wrote a memo to the Registrar about the situation because a student was denied the withdrawal by the registrar, but the Senator intervened on behalf of the student. Bill Powell stated that this may be changing because he witnessed student withdrawals being passed back to the department as a result of the Senator’s complaint.
Another Senator reported that Provost Grimes said there were no secret search policies at the University of Southern Mississippi. The Senator was concerned that Dean Pood was keeping all of the files of candidates in a search secret from faculty and only the committee’s final applications would be made public. He hoped that the Senate would endorse a statement that supported the Provost statement that there is no University policy that requires keeping the files of applicants secret and that they be made available to all faculty. Discussion ensued about the reality of discouraging candidates by making them all completely public. COAL Senators will advise Dean Pood that the Provost said that there is no University Policy on keeping candidates secret. There may be a College or Departmental Policy.
7.0 Adjournment at 5:20pm.
Faculty Senate Meeting 1/27/06
Members (N=42) Present and Those Represented by Proxy (Proxies are in Parentheses):
College of the Arts & Letters
Cindy Brown
Anita Davis (Ann Blackwell)
Cheryl Goggin
Stanley Hauer
Stephen Judd
John Meyer (Stephen Judd)
Bill Powell, President
Bob Press
Bill Scarborough
Paula Smithka (Mary Beth Applin)
Amy Young
College of Business
David Duhon
Bill Gunther (David Duhon)
James Magruder (David Duhon)
College of Education & Psychology
Ann Parker Blackwell
Taralynn Hartsell
Eric Luce (Janice Thompson)
Joe Olmi
Antonio Rodriguez-Buckingham
Janice Thompson
College of Health
Wendy Bounds
Bonnie Harbaugh, Secretary
Mary Lux
Stephen Oshrin
Tim Rehner
Coastal Science, Marine Science & Gulf Coast Research Lab
Chet Rakocinski
Don Redalje
College of Science & Technology
Randy Buchanan
Eyler Bob Coates
Jeff Evans
Mary Dayne Gregg
Jerry Griffith
Myron Henry, President-Elect
Lawrence Mead
Bobby Middlebrooks
Gail Russell
University Libraries
Mary Beth Applin, Secretary-Elect
Jay Barton Spencer (Mary Beth Applin)
USM-Gulf Coast
Darlys Alford
Patsy Anderson
Allisa Beck
Eric Nelson
Members Absent without proxy:
College of the Arts & Letters:
College of Business:
College of Education & Psychology:
College of Health:
Coastal/Marine/GCRL:
College of Science & Technology:
University Libraries:
USM-Gulf Coast: