Faculty Senate Meeting
May 4, 2004, 2:00 P. M.
Library Multi-Purpose Room

Faculty Senate President Janet Whitley called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. Seventeen current Faculty Senators and four incoming Faculty Senators were in attendance.

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

II. Secretary-Treasurer Malcolm L. Cross reported a balance of $823.18.

III. Environmental Issues—Carol Thompson: Dr. Carol Thompson of the Department of Chemistry and Geosciences addressed the Faculty Senate to recommend that Tarleton become more environmentally responsible and establish a Committee on Environmental Responsibility to assess and make recommendations concerning the impact of university projects on the environment. Janet Whitley said the issue was worth studying and that Dr. Gary Peer had suggested the formation of a committee to examine the issue more thoroughly; and appointed Steve Field, David Weindorf, and George Mollick to serve on a committee under Carol Thompson’s leadership to further study the issue. A preliminary report is expected in the fall.

IV. Election of President-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer: Janet Whitley announced that the Executive Committee, acting as a Nominations Committee, recommended the election of Marlin Priddy to be President-Elect and the re-election of Malcolm L. Cross to be Secretary-Treasurer, and the Faculty Senate unanimously elected them to their respective positions. Following the election a Faculty Senator noted that both the newly-elected officers had been members of the Executive/Nominations Committee and asked whether the Nominations Committee could be expanded to include Senators other than Executive Committee members to avoid the possibility of “Nominations Committee members nominating themselves.” Janet Whitley replied that the process used was the one prescribed in the Faculty Senate Constitution, that the Executive/Nominations Committee had asked Senators not on the Committee to consider election to the offices in question, and had been turned down.

V. Annnouncements.

A. Introduction of New Senators. Janet Whitley announced the election of
new Faculty Senators, most of whom were in attendance:
· Dena Johnson, Assistant Professor, Computer Information Systems;
· Stuart Warnock, Assistant Professor, Management, Marketing, and Administrative Systems;
· Maj. Daniel Thiebaud, Military Sciences;
· Don Beach, Professor, Education Administration, Counseling, and Psychology; and
· Pamela Harrison, Associate Professor, Education Administration, Counseling, and Psychology, representing Tarleton-Central Texas.

B. Salary Increases. Janet Whitley announced that she had been informed by Dr. Peer that:
· Many of the recommendations of the Salary Committee, which determined that Tarleton faculty at the rank of assistant professor and higher received lower than average salaries and recommended across-the-board pay increases for these ranks, would be followed;
· There would be no across-the-board increases for those at the lecturer and instructor ranks because salaries for those ranks were already above average; but

C. Scheduling of Campus Events. Janet Whitley announced that she had discussed with Dr. Peer the establishment of a centralized system for the dissemination of information about campus events. In response to concerns that centralized dissemination might lead to centralized control of event scheduling, she noted that Dr. Peer had expressed support for the former but opposition to the latter. Several Senators suggested the development of a web page to announce events.

D. Deans’ Evaluation. Janet Whitley announced that Dr. Peer had acknowledged concerns over the Deans’ evaluation process resulting from the failure of the Deans to supply information about their responsibilities until after the process was nearly complete.

E. Bookstore Issues. Janet Whitley announced that David Weindorf had sent out an email to faculty soliciting their concerns about bookstore operations in order to acquire information to give the new Campus Store manager. David Weindorf said he had received 22 responses to date, with several faculty saying they had no complaints, and others expressing concerns about book prices, under orders, and the desire for greater cooperation from the Campus Store management.

F. Travel Committee. David Weindorf reported that a faculty survey on
issues concerning travel-reimbursement had elicited 33 email responses
and distributed a summary of the responses reflecting widespread
dissatisfaction with current faculty reimbursement policies. Kelli Styron
noted that she had found a training session concerning travel
reimbursement policies to be “short, to the point, and very helpful,
complete with handouts detailing how forms were to be completed.”
Janet Whitley said that some issues were department-related,
others university-related, and suggested the publication of a handbook
summarizing travel reimbursement policies.

G. Other Announcements. None.

VI. University Committees.

A. Reports.

1. Academic Council. No report.

2. Curriculum Committee. No report.

3. Enrollment Management Advisory Council. Janet Whitley
announced that the Enrollment Management Advisory Council was
conducting a study emphasizing projected student housing
requirements and additional faculty needs, and that a report was
due June 30.

4. Employee Benefits Committee: Kelli Styron announced that the
survey conducted by the Employee Benefits Committee had
elicited about 200 responses, and that a report would be presented
in the fall.

5. Distance/Distributed Education. No report.

6. TLTR. George Mollick announced that the Vision Statement is
being revamped in response to faculty feedback, and that Dr.
Peer will bring the issue to the Academic Council and the Faculty
Senate in September. He suggested that the Faculty Senate may
want to form a committee to solicit and receive additional feedback
on the new proposed Vision Statement.

7. EEO/AA. Janis Petronis announced that Human Resources
Director Angie Brown is revising the University’s affirmative
action policy to make it more consistent with current law.

8. Other Committee Reports. None.

VII. Old Business.

A. Killeen Representation. David Weissenburger announced that the new
amendment providing for Killeen representation had been adopted by the
faculty and approved by Dr. Dennis McCabe; and that he would add the
text of the amendment to the text of the Faculty Senate Constitution.

B. Faculty Concerns Survey. Janet Whitley announced that the time for conducting the Faculty Concerns Survey had been extended, and that a report on the results it elicited would be presented in the fall.

VIII. New Business.

A. Committee Requests. David Weissenburger presented the Executive Committee’s recommendations for faculty membership on university standing committees and noted that the goal of the Executive Committee had been to recommend the appointment of every faculty member seeking committee membership to at least one, and preferably two, committees of his or her choice. Janet Whitley, replying to a recommendation that the Faculty Senate monitor the committee appointment process to determine the percentage of its recommendations accepted by Dr. McCabe:
· Reminded the Faculty Senate that it can only recommend committee appointments, that it cannot make them, and that she had raised the issue in the past.
· Noted that some faculty members, frustrated with their inability to secure committee positions, had ceased trying to secure committee assignments; and
· Recommended that in the future the Faculty Senate seek:
§ A guarantee that it can fill a minimum number of committee slots;
§ The right to observe the appointment process; and
§ Term limits for committee chairs.

B. Regents Professorship: Janet Whitley announced that Dr. Peer said that
the University could now fund a stipend for a Regents Professor and that
the Faculty Senate could help nominate one. She appointed, with the
Senate’s unanimous approval, a committee consisting of herself, Kelli
Styron, Linda Tally, Judy Cadle, and Sherill Easterling to make a
recommendation by July 12.

C. Faculty Concerns about the J-TAC. Malcolm Cross announced that
several members of the faculty had expressed concerns about the
management and supervision of the J-TAC, citing quality issues and its
use by a student staff member to publish a personal attack on a faculty
member. He said the concerned faculty may request that the Faculty
Senate to examine the issue in the fall.

IX. Adjournment. The Faculty Senate adjourned at 3:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for September 14, 2004, at 3:30 p.m., place to be announced.