Faculty Senate Meeting
October 10, 2006
3:30 p.m.
Library Multipurpose Room

Faculty Senate President Jeanelle Barrett called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.

Roll Call.  Twenty  Senators or their substitutes were in attendance.

IMinutes of the September 12, 2006 meeting were approved with typographical corrections.

II. Treasurer’s report. Leah Schultz  reported a balance of $5433.70 reflecting the new allocation for the fiscal year.

  1. Announcements and special guests
    1. Writing Intensive Program- Director Benni Konvicka spoke about the Writing Intensive Program.  She stated the courses had two goals to accomplish, Writing to Learn and Learning to Write as Professionals in student’s field.  Courses will have two requirements, talking about writing as writing and opportunities to improve writing.  Teaching is voluntary and Benni can assist faculty in preparing for the courses.  The program will begin in the fall of next year and there will be more information on the website soon.
    2. Piper Award Nominations- Dr. Denise Martinez presented information on Piper nomination process and asked senators to discuss with department and determine nominees by October 18th.  If there are multiple nominees, departmental elections need to be held no later that October 19th.  Completed applications are due Nov. 3rd and Faculty Senate will vote on a candidate to forward to Dr. Peer at the November meeting.
    3. Academic Integrity Task Force- Dr. Don Beach and Dr. Greg Atkinson are attending a conference on academic integrity.  Forums will be held for graduate and undergraduate levels hoping for campus wide discussion.
    4. University Web Calendar- faculty were encouraged to check calendar when scheduling events to avoid overlap of events, if possible.
    5. The need for additional information on assessment and the possible need for training workshops in this area.  Interested parties should send information to Dr. Martinez.

III. University Committees

    1. Reports
      1. Academic Council-Dr. Barrett announced that Academic Council met and Chapter 4 revisions and enrollment numbers were discussed.
      2. Curriculum Committee- Dr. Thomas Dougherty announced there were no major issues for curriculum committee.
      3. Enrollment Management Advisory Council-EMAC had not met yey.
      4. TLTR/CITDE advisory committee- There was no report for TLTR/CITDE.
      5. EEO/AA- There was no report for EEO/AA.
      6. University Planning Council-The council is working on a 10 year plan that addresses issues such as learning facilities, research park, and a multicultural center.  The report is ready for publication.
      7. Diversity Advisory had no report.
    2. Other Committee Reports
      1. Faculty staff directory was still working on recommendations.
      2. Development Leave- Membership has been decided and they will meet soon.

IV. Faculty Senate Luncheon- Dr. Marlin Priddy announced the luncheon date had been changed to October 23rd.  40 faculty members had sent in RSVPs so far and encouraged senators to remind their faculty to RSVP.  The luncheon will feature Leslie Spotz on the piano in the Thompson Ball Room.

V. Old Business

    1. Promotion and Tenure Revisions- Dr. Barrett initiated discussion about revisions and they will be supported by the administration.  Some senators present discussed how their teaching load made it difficult to meet the demands of the research requirements.  Dr. Barrett proposed a committee to revisit the ideas of development leave and graduate banking hours and called for volunteers to study this issue.  Limitations on undergraduate research were also discussed.
    2. Faculty Senate Web Page- Dr. Barrett announced that a student had been recruited to work on updating the page.
    3. Committee Assignments- Dr. Barrett encouraged senators to caucus for members from each college for Administrative Confidence, Complaint and Grievance, and Faculty Salary and Benefits Committee.

VI. New Business

    1. Training on Academic Affairs Assessment Issues was discussed by Dr. Martinez who needs to determine who needs training and will assist in getting forums organized for this purpose.  Each college currently has two faculty members on assessment committee but Academic Affairs supports additional training as needed.
    2. Dr. Barrett asked for Senator’s feedback on members of the Senate’s Executive Committee holding administrative positions and the existing restrictions in the Senate’s constitution.  The item was tabled for later discussion.

VII. Adjournment.  The Faculty Senate adjourned at 5:15 p.m.