Faculty Senate President Janet Whitley called the meeting to order at 3:30 P.M. Twenty-one
Senators were in attendance.

I. Minutes of the January 13, 2004, meeting were approved.

II. Secretary-Treasurer Malcolm L. Cross reported a balance of $1104.61

III. Announcements.

A. Bookstore Issues: Janet Whitley thanked the committee established by the Senate
to investigate bookstore issues for its service and reported that Gary Peer would
like the faculty to know how the Campus Store processes book orders. Several Faculty Senators reported that the Campus Store still had book shortages for various classes, but it was also noted that the personnel in charge of ordering texts were responsive to complaints and problems brought to their attention. Janet Whitley recommended that Campus Store personnel concerned with textbook orders meet with the Faculty Senate to discuss procedures and problems.

B. Faculty Excellence in Scholarship Awards: Janet Whitley announced that Gary
Peer has begun soliciting nominations for the Award.

C. Arthur Award. Kelli Styron distributed to the Faculty Senate information packets
and nomination forms for the Arthur Award, and said that should a department
decide to select a nominee, its Senator should complete and return all relevant paperwork to her by 5:00 p. m., 2/24/04.

D. Travel Committee: Steve Field reported that Gary Peer understood the desire to
more quickly provide reimbursement for faculty travel expenses, as well as
reduce the forms which must currently be completed to obtain reimbursement.
David Weindorf announced that while Gary Peer had no issues with Enterprise
Rent-a-Car, from whom Tarleton rents cars for official use, he nonetheless was
soliciting e-mails detailing faculty experience with Enterprise.

E. Budget Hearings: Janet Whitley encouraged Faculty Senators to attend budget
hearings currently being held.

F. Other Announcements: Janet Whitley:
· Announced that according to Dr. McCabe, Tarleton currently did not have a budget crunch, that funds may be freed up for the hiring of faculty to fill both old and new positions, and that the recommendations of the Salary and Benefits Committee could be further studied
· Reported that she had met with Gary Peer and Cynthia Carter to discuss issues relevant to faculty membership on university committees in general and the Calendar Committee in particular, and that she asked for the inclusion of additional faculty with 9-month teaching contracts on the Calendar Committee, since they could better represent the perspective of the teaching faculty than could faculty and administrators with 12-month contracts;
· Recommended that beginning next year whoever is elected Faculty Senate President-Elect should also represent the faculty for three years on the Calendar Committee, the term to coincide with the remainder of the President-Elect’s service in the Senate, in order to acquire more knowledge and experience;
· Announced the evaluation of deans and department heads this spring;
· Commented that that attendance at budget hearings would be educational, providing a behind-the-scenes perspective on administrative workings while offering the opportunity for greater faculty input.

Kelli Styron reported on the meeting of the Texas A & M University System Faculty Senate Advisory Council, where the issues discussed included “stealth fees” the procedures by which system-wide policies were developed, and general creation issues for the newly established group.

David Weissenburger solicited Faculty Senate input in the scheduling of its
Spring luncheon; the Senate scheduled it for Wednesday, 4/14.

IV. University Committees.

A. Committee Reports:
1. Academic Council: Janet Whitley announced that the Academic Council was
examining the possibility of changing admission requirements for both transfer
students and regular students.
2. Curriculum Committee: No report.
3. Enrollment Management Advisory Council: No report.
4. Employee Benefits: No report.
5. Distance/Distributed Education: No report.
6. TLTR: George Mollick reported that the TLTR’s vision statement had elicited
considerable feedback indicating the need to recast parts of the vision
statement to make it seem more advisory rather than mandatory. He
recommended that the Senate select representatives to summarize and present
issues and recommend-ations to the TLTR to assist it in developing its vision
statement. Janet Whitley appointed Steve Field, Jenealle Barrett, and Kelli
Styron to represent the Senate and assist the TLTR on this matter.
8. EEO/AA Committee: Janis Petronis announced that the EEO/AA Committee
would start meeting the eleventh of each month, beginning 2/11.
9. Other Committee Reports: Janet Whitley announced that the new Tenure and
Promotion Committee on which she was serving had met the previous
Wednesday, and would continue to meet every Wednesday to formulate new
tenure and promotion criteria. She added that:
§ A major question to consider was whether to keep tenure and promotion together (i. e., to promote a faculty member simultaneously with granting him tenure), or make the processes more separate;
§ The committee will look at requirements for each rank separately; and
§ Feedback and ideas are encouraged.

VII. New Business: Janet Whitley distributed a letter and supporting materials from Gary Peer concerning proposal to eliminate the Writing Proficiency Test and replace it with writing intensive courses. She recommended that Senators discuss this proposal with their colleagues and discuss the matter at the next meeting.
The Faculty Senate discussed the advisability of amending the Senate’s By-laws to allow for the election of a Senator by the Killeen faculty to explicitly represent their campus in the Senate. Currently Killeen faculty are considered to be members of the departments on the Stephenville campus and to be represented by their departments’ Senators, but advocates of creating a position to represent the Killeen faculty noted that its incumbent would be able to present a special Killeen perspective on matters. David Weissenburger recommended that Article 2, Section 1, of the By-laws be amended to include a section saying “Each system center is to elect one at-large member to the Senate. Janet Whitley appointed a committee consisting of Bill Bane, Kelli Styron, David Weissenburger, and Janis Petronis to study the matter.
Randy Harp, at the request of his department, raised several personnel issues incuding:
§ The degree to which faculty should be required to supply documentation, such as doctors’ excuses, when requesting leaves;
§ The issue of when a faculty member wins protection from job-related injuries, given that a faculty member is required to report for work before the official starting date on his contract.
Janet Whitley suggested that Angie Brown, Director of Human Resources, be invited to meet with the Senate to discuss personnel issues. Kelli Styron suggested that the Senate give Angie Brown questions before the meeting which could help her better discuss matters of concern to the Senate, and that a Senate subcommittee be formed to meet with Gary Peer and Jerry Graham to further pursue issues raised at any such meeting.
Malcolm Cross announced that two administrators had contacted him to offer interpretations of announcements different from what he had reported in the 11/11/03 Faculty Senate Minutes:
§ Gary Peer noted that “The enrollment required currently at TCT for ‘eligibility’ to apply for independent status is 2500 full-time-equivalent students as opposed to head count as some may infer from the minutes.”
§ Dennis Jones, Director of General Studies, noted that the Academic Council had not “decided to no longer require the TASP Test,” as reported in the 11/11/03 minutes. Rather, “the Academic Council approved the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) Plan as a replacement for the current TASP policies.” Moreover, Texas had renamed the TASP Test the “Texas Higher Education Assessment,” or THEA, and it remained one of the instruments which could be used to assess entering undergraduate students.

XI. Adjournment: The Senate adjourned at 4:55 P.M. The next meeting is scheduled for 3/9/04, at 3:30 P.M. in the Library Multi-Purpose Room