Faculty Senate Meeting
January 14, 2003, 3:30 P.M.
Library Multi-Purpose Room

Faculty Senate President David Weissenburger called the meeting to order at 3:30 P.M.
Eighteen senators were in attendance.

I. Minutes of the December 5, 2002, meeting were approved.

II. Secretary-Treasurer Malcolm L. Cross reported a balance of $2774.03 in the Faculty Senate account

III. Posting of Course Syllabi on the Web: Student Government Association representative Ms. Jackie Ruess attended the meeting to discuss faculty feedback to her presentation made at the December, 2002, meeting. At issue was whether the Faculty Senate would endorse the SGA proposal, since Gary Peer had said he would endorse the proposal and encourage faculty compliance if the Senate endorse it first, but that he would not endorse the proposal if the Faculty Senate declined to do so. David Weissenburger reported that of the faculty members whom he had consulted, about 60% to 70% supported the SGA plan, but that other faculty members had expressed concern that faculty could be held liable for discrepancies between posted syllabi and syllabi distributed to students in class, that preparing syllabi for the SGA imposed additional duties, and that the SGA’s proposed policy was redundant since many faculty members already posted their syllabi on their web pages or made them available to students who came to their offices for information. These sentiments were endorsed by several other faculty senators who also expressed concern that the SGA policy would only help students “shopping” for the easiest professors. Ms. Reuss replied that acquiring syllabi from faculty members’ web pages, or their offices, was frequently quite difficult and that the SGA wanted to make it easier for students to acquire pre-existing information, that the SGA was open to any faculty-suggested changes in its proposal, and that the SGA was willing to implement its proposal on a trial-run basis with the understanding that it would be reviewed after its first semester of implementation. The Faculty Senate then passed a resolution endorsing the implementation of the SGA proposal with the understanding that faculty compliance will be voluntary and the program will be reviewed within one year. Passage was by a vote of 10 in support to 8 in opposition.

IV. Announcements.
A. Report on the University Planning Retreat. David Weissenburger reported that the main topic of discussion at the University planning retreat had been measures of institutional quality and indicators of excellence. He distributed a handout summarizing the findings of a survey on employee perceptions about Tarleton and briefly discussed the findings of the survey.

B. Proposed Revision of TAMUS Vacation Regulation. David Weissenburger distributed a copy of some of the proposed changes in vacation regulations, calling attention to the proposal, in Paragraph 1, section 1.1, to delete a passage which denies vacation with pay to faculty “whose appointments are for less than 12 months. He noted that the proposal, if adopted, would say that “Nine-month based employees are not entitled to accrue vacation time. However, these faculty members are free to take vacations during all university holidays and student recesses.” He stressed the necessity to endorse this change.
C. Proposed TAMUS Council of Faculty Senate Speakers. David Weissenburger reported that the System Chancellor was currently opposed to meeting with the assembled Faculty Senate presidents/speakers, in the absence of approval from the system university presidents, and he raised the possibility of system-wide meetings of other faculty senate officers, such as presidents-elect. He also announced that the next Texas Council of Faculty Senates meeting would be on 2/21 and 2/22. He and Janet Whitley will be in attendance.
D. Revision of Process for Committee Assignment Requests. Teresa Davidian discussed the possibility that an on-line form might be designed to enable faculty members to apply for membership on university committees, but that discussion of this matter was still in progress.

V. Motions to Approve.
A. Faculty Development Leave COAHS Representative: The Faculty Senate appointed Randy Hines to be the Faculty Development Leave/COAHS Representative.
B. Funding of Noon Aerobics and Strength Classes. The Faculty Senate agreed to donate $625.00 to help fund the noon aerobics and strength classes.
C. Other Motions: There were no other motions to approve.

VI. University Committees.
A. Reports.
1. Academic Council: David Weissenburger reported that the Academic Council had approved both the proposed curriculum changes submitted for its consideration, and the Academic Calendar. He noted that the new calendar did not include Veterans Day as an official state holiday, and that Spring Term grades would be due the Monday after commencement.
2. Curriculum Committee: No meeting.
3. Employee Benefits Committee: No meeting.
4. Distance Education Committee: David Weissenburger announced that the Distance/Distributed Education Committee would meet on 1/16/03 and the Teaching and Learning Technology Roundtable would meet on 1/27/03.
5. Other Committee Reports: None.
B. Other Committee Business: None.

VII. Faculty Research Award. Russell Higham announced that he was reviewing the notes of the previous Faculty Research Award Committee, and that the current committee would be operational by mid-March..

VIII Salary and Benefits Committee: The Faculty Senate selected Drs. Jeremy Curtoys, Joe Gillespie, Carol Thompson, Joseph Cadle, and Sankar Sundarrajan to serve on the Salary and Benefits Committee.

IX. New Business.
A. Faculty Handbook Revision: David Weissenburger announced that Pam Littleton, the new editor of the Faculty Handbook, and Gary Peer want a committee to meet with Karen Murray to discuss revisions to the Faculty Handbook. The Faculty Senate selected George Mollick and Janet Whitley to represent it.
B. Faculty Development Research Grant Workshop. David Weissenburger announced that Bert Little, Associate Vice President for Academic Research and Grants, was proposing to offer a grant-writing workshop for new and junior faculty, and was seeking the Faculty Senate’s endorsement and commitment to encouraging faculty attendance. In the ensuing discussion, concern was expressed about the exclusion of senior faculty from workshop participation, despite the fact that they may need to do research and obtain grants to further their careers and enhance their chances for promotions and pay raises. The Faculty Senate passed a resolution to “Support a grant-writing workshop for both inexperienced and experienced grant writers, regardless of faculty rank or tenure status.” The vote in favor of the resolution was unanimous.
C. Other New Business. In response to issues raised by various senators, David
Weissenburger announced that the University Research Committee was planning to set a spring deadline for the submission of applications for university research grants to be awarded the following fall, that the possibility of assigning grades with plus and minus signs was being considered in the Academic Standards Committee, and that the extent to which faculty have input in course scheduling varies from department to department.

XI. Adjournment.
The senate adjourned at 4:50 P.M. The next meeting is scheduled for 2/11/03, at 3:30 P.M. in the Library Multi-Purpose Room