Faculty Senate Meeting
September 12, 2006
3:30 p.m.
Library Multipurpose Room

Faculty Senate President Janelle Barrett called the meeting to order at 3:40 p.m.

I. Roll Call.  Twenty-two Senators or their substitutes were in attendance.

II. Minutes of the May 9, 2006 meeting were approved.

III. Treasurer’s report. Dr. Cross reported a balance of $1394.80 reflecting payments of $92.40 for photocopying and $250.oo for Annual Awards Picnic inflatables.

IV. Election of Parliamentarian. Dr. Stuart Warnock was elected parliamentarian.

V.Announcements and special guests

    1. Senators in attendance introduced themselves.
    2. David Weissenburger, President of the Texas Council of Faculty Senates, discussed his role at the state level and welcomed senators.  Dr. Weissenburger expressed his appreciation for their service on Tarleton’s Faculty Senate and commended accomplishments of the previous year’s senators.
    3. Piper Award: Dr. Martinez is awaiting announcement of the fall semester award and will email information about the timeline when it becomes available.  She encouraged senators to elicit nominations from their departments.
    4. Excellence in Research Award: Dr. Barrett reported that Dr. Mark Yu received the award last year and the award process will begin again in the spring.
    5. Faculty Salary and Benefits Committee: Dr. Jeremy Curtoys recommended the committee become a permanent committee of Faculty Senate and that suggestion has been implemented.  Additional suggestions include the staggering of member’s terms and a inclusion of a member with expertise in compensation analysis.
    6. Academic Honesty and Integrity: Dr. Barrett reported that a task force is being created consisting of 12-15 people from each department, Faculty Senate, Student Life and the student body.
    7. Discussion of Writing Intensive Curriculum: Dr. Barrett announced that Ms. Benedda Konvicka has been appointed as the new director for this program.
    8. University Web Calendar: Dr. Priddy reminded senators to periodically check the web calendar when scheduling events to avoid overlap and conflicts.
    9. Senators Dr. Doughtery, Dr, Higham standing in for Dr. Beach, and Dr. Milford were recognized as representatives from new departments on campus.

VI. University Committees

    1. Reports
      1. Academic Council-Dr. Barrett announced that Academic Council had not met yet.
      2. Curriculum Committee- Dr. Barrett announced that Academic Council had not met yet.
      3. Enrollment Management Advisory Council-It was announced that EMAC would be meeting soon.
      4. TLTR/CITDE advisory committee- Dr. Barrett announced that Academic Council had not met yet.
      5. EEO/AA- It was announced that EEO/AA had not met yet.
      6. University Planning Council-Planning council meets soon.
      7. Other Committee Reports- Dr. Martinez announced that calendar committee had met to discuss length of add/drop period. Discussion ensued and Dr. Martinez noted feedback for next calendar meeting.  Dr. Martinez also led discussions on how the change in late starts for public schools will effect our start date

VII. Motions to Approve

    1. Payments of Dues to Texas Council of Faculty Senates were approved by the Senate.
    2. Texas Council of Faculty Senates expenses for travel were approved by the Senate.

VIII. Fall Luncheon-Dr. Priddy announced the tentative date of October 26th for the Fall Luncheon and asked for recommendations on potential speakers.

  1. Old Business
    1. Promotion and Tenure Revisions- Dr. Barrett reported that the revisions to the Promotion and Tenure chapter in the faculty handbook were with the system lawyer.  Any proposed changed would come back to committee.  Discussion reviewed highlights of the changes and comments were made in regard to reductions in teaching loads to meet the new research requirements.
    2. Faculty Development Leave Committee and faculty feedback- Dr. Barrett reported that 4 leave awards had been approved and that 3 had been utilized.  Dr. Barrett also discussed changing submission deadlines to better coincide with grant deadlines in the fall.
    3. Faculty Senate Web Page- Dr. Priddy announced that the web page is almost complete and announced the Senate is looking for a graduate assistant to take over these duties among others.
    4. Faculty/Staff Directory—Dr. Joe Brocato and Dr. Barrett presented feedback on a survey on use of the online faculty/staff directory versus a printed directory.  Discussion followed with an agreement that Dr. Barrett, Dr. Brocato, and Ms. Leah Schultz would work on recommendations for Web Services to improve the online directory.
    5. Committee assignments
      1. Administrative Confidence-Dr. Thomas Doughtery agreed to serve as Faculty Senate representative.
      2. Complaint and Grievance-Dr. Barrett postponed this appointment until it is determined if the representative needs to be tenured.
      3. Faculty Development Leave- Dr. Barrett postponed this appointment until it is determined if the representative needs to be tenured.
      4. Calendar – Dr. Richard Sale agreed to represent Faculty senate on the Calendar Committee.
      5. Distance Education Advisory-Dr. Pam Lindsey agreed to serve as Faculty Senate representative.
      6. Diversity Advisory-Dr. Carol Rey agreed to serve as Faculty Senate representative.
      7. Faculty Salary and Benefits Committee-Dr. Mike Milford  agreed to serve as Faculty Senate representative.

IX. Other items of business- Dr. Priddy distributed a handout discussing faculty senate’s accomplishments from the previous year.

X. Adjournment.  The Faculty Senate adjourned at 5:10 p.m.