Minutes for January 12, 2004

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, January 12, 2004 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Johnson called the fifth meeting of the academic year to order at 3:30 p.m.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

^*denotes prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary

Visitors to the Senate were: Paul Blanchard, Government Relations; Julie George, Library; Claire Good, Student Affairs; Ken Johnston, Finances; Gary Kuhnhenn, Arts & Sciences; Bart Meyer, University Advancement; Kristina O'Brien, SGA; John Shafer, Athletics; Aaron Thompson, Enrollment Management; Elizabeth Wachtel, Academic Affairs; and Marc Whitt, Public Relations & Marketing

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The December 1, 2003 minutes were approved as written.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Glasser

Just before the holidays, the public state colleges and universities were asked to absorb a 2.5 % cut. For Eastern this amounted to approximately a 2.1 million dollar cut to be taken before June 30 this fiscal year. EKU had already made preparations for this cut.

This past Wednesday at the Presidents' meeting at the CPE, the new State Budget Director, Brad Cowgill, and the new State Secretary of Education, Ginny Fox, informed the university presidents that Governor Fletcher is hoping to cut another 2.5 % of both restricted and unrestricted university revenues to bring an additional $45 million back into the state during the current fiscal year to deal with current state deficits. This could mean an additional $2.1 million cut this fiscal year if taken from unrestricted funds or it could mean as much as $3.7 to $3.9 million depending on what formula the CPE and the state mandates be used for the cut. This could mean a total cut in this fiscal year alone of $5.8 to $6 million which is a significant amount of our budget. President Glasser and the other university presidents argued that the universities should be allowed to decide which funds would be affected by the next cut. The Budget Director said he would relay that to the Governor.

The State Budget Directors from each institution met today, and the Presidents will be meeting on Friday. The Governor has requested that a consensus be reached among the Presidents by Friday on how this additional 2.5% cut will be absorbed by the institutions. A campus e-mail will be sent out when additional information is known about the additional cuts and how the university will absorb them.

President Glasser has instructed her cabinet to start preparing a list of recommendations to help deal with the cuts. In addition to the one-time surcharge that students have been assessed, the President will, regrettably, be recommending a significant tuition increase for the next biennium to the Board of Regents this spring. The President's Cabinet is also looking at new internal cost-saving measures, and new ways to create sources of revenue from the internal campus. In addition, the implementation of the major capital campaign should be launched sometime this spring.

President Glasser gave a speech at the Nicholasville Rotary earlier today where she stressed that university presidents can't be the only voices fighting for education. There must be other voices in the community going to the legislature explaining that any cuts in education at any level will be absolutely devastating and will set the Commonwealth back. This is not just an education issue, it's a quality of life issue. President Glasser goes to Frankfort on February 5, in addition to this coming Friday, with representatives from the Council on Postsecondary Education to speak with legislators about the proposed cuts to postsecondary education and its potential impacts.

The President has worked hard the past 2 1/2 years to build up EKU's fund balance and the contingency fund for emergency situations. One such emergency occurred at 3:00 a.m. Monday morning when the transformer in Burnam Hall blew out and arrangements had to be made to temporarily relocate over 230 students.

The Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by David Sefton, is currently reviewing all strategic plans and will be providing feedback to the planning groups and units.

The University Assessment Committee, chaired by Dr. Carole Garrison, is meeting with the heads of all planning groups and units to inform them of the progress and procedures to use to assess objectives in the strategic plan. Every department head is responsible for evaluating the units in their area and the objectives for those units. Those evaluation reports will be due to the University Assessment Committee by March 1.

The president is currently working with Laura Koppes on a three-year time table, developing the infrastructure and identifying committee members for the SACS accreditation group.

While not an all inclusive list, President Glasser shared with the Senate some of the more recent academic and faculty honors:

1. Dr. Connie Callahan recently received the Kearney Campbell Award from the Kentucky Counseling Association. This is the highest award given from the association and it is given to a person who has contributed significantly to the profession of counseling in the state.
2. Dr. Sue Strong was recently awarded the Counselor Educator of the Year from the Kentucky Counseling Association.
3. Dr. Steve Konkel was elected as a Fellow by the Order of the Counsel of the Royal Institute of Public Health on December 16, 2003.
4. Dr. Doris Pierce, the first endowed chair in Occupational Therapy, has submitted a grant for $1,000,000 entitled "Providing Rural Interdisciplinary Services for Youth with Mental Health Needs." The purpose of this project is to train psychology, social work and occupational therapy students at sites serving rural youth with mental health needs.
5. The Geography faculty (specifically Bruce Davis and Alice Jones, Richard Sambrook Don Yow and Dave Zurick) will be presenting papers at an upcoming association for the American Geographers meeting in Philadelphia.
6. Dr. Alice Jones,along with Danita LaSage, is submitting a final EPSCoR grant proposal this month which could result in approximately $700,000 of funding for a new center for environmental research in education at EKU.

Governor Fletcher's State of the Commonwealth address will be tomorrow night in Frankfort. President Glasser and Dr. Paul Blanchard will be in attendance. They will also attend the Governor's budget message next week in Frankfort.

President Glasser recently returned from a very successful alumni reception in Nashville and the Ohio Valley Conference Annual Presidents Meeting where EKU students were singled out as student-athletes that continue to excel academically and have the highest graduation rate. She mentioned how proud she was of our student athletes and expressed her thanks to the coaches, Athletics Director John Shafer, and Joan Hopkins for their continued emphasis on academic achievement at Eastern.

President Glasser will be speaking at the Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast in Lexington on Monday, January 19. EKU's Martin Luther King celebration will be on Thursday, January 15 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. in the Powell Building in the Kennamer room. President Glasser encouraged everyone to attend.

Next week the first of five finalists for the Dean of Arts and Sciences position will be brought to campus. There will be forums held and opportunities available for faculty, staff and students to interact with each of the candidates. President Glasser encouraged everyone to attend the forums and forward their comments on to the search committee.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Johnson

Senator Johnson reported that the Executive Committee met on December 15, 2003. Two rules committee motions were discussed with Senator M. Yoder in attendance to answer questions.

Senator Johnson was approached by the SGA President to consider the creation of an Ad Hoc Committee on advising. Senator Johnson will discuss the issue further with the Provost in the near future.

The committee members also discussed the issue of Academic Integrity. Betsy Bohannon and Judy Spain are working on an updated policy on academic integrity and have asked to present a report to the Executive Committee in February and then to the Senate in March.

Senator Johnson announced that James Conneely, Vice President for Student Affairs, will give an informational report to the Senate at the February meeting.

FACULTY REGENT REPORT: Senator Schlomann

Senator Schlomann reported that the Board of Regents met December 3 & 4. December 3rd was a full day retreat. At the meeting on the 4th, the Board approved the Senate's recommendations on the Foundation Professorships procedures and the Sabbatical Leave process. The Board also approved an increase in the parking ticket fees schedule. In addition, the Board approved an increase in graduate and undergraduate Applications fees.

PROVOST REPORT: Senator Cook

Senator Cook reported on the status of the equity study and the process of distributing the $100,000 that is available to faculty. A profile of each department's faculty has been distributed to the department chairs and to the deans. Corrections should be sent to Bethany Miller or Senator Cook by January 23.

The President has agreed with the recommendations for sabbatical leave. Seven people will be recommended to the Board for sabbaticals for next year. Another six people will receive release time to continue work on projects, and those individuals will be eligible to reapply for sabbaticals next year. Also, several RTP recommendations have been made and should be approved at the next Board meeting.

REPORT FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT: Kristina O'Brien

Ms. O'Brien reported that there will be a student rally in Frankfort on February 5. SGA will be sponsoring transportation for any faculty, staff or students who would like to participate in the rally. Ms. O'Brien encouraged faculty to consider making the rally an out-of-classroom learning experience for students.

Student Technology Fee Allocation Applications are now available from SGA office. All those who apply must have a faculty sponsor, the department chair's approval and the application must be accompanied with a supporting letter of recommendation from students or student organizations.

The first First Weekend this year will be February 5, 6, and 7.

Ms. O'Brien indicated that SGA would like to be involved in the process of creating an Ad Hoc Committee on Advising and also on the issue of academic integrity. SGA is also interested in creating an Ad Hoc Committee to review the class attendance policy.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Elections Committee. Senator DeBolt reported that the committee met before Christmas break to establish a time line for the spring Faculty Regent election. This Friday a mass e-mail will be distributed which will include nomination petitions and the criteria and procedures required. Nomination petitions should be returned by February 2. The nominee forums will be held during the week of February 23. The online voting process will be from March 1-5. If a second ballot is required, it will be sent after spring break on March 19 and online voting will be available through March 26. Please encourage faculty in your departments to participate in this process.

Senator DeBolt asked those senators whose term will be expiring soon to remind their departments that a new representative will need to be selected before the May Senate meeting. The new senators are expected to be at the organizational meeting in May. The Elections Committee will also be contacting the departments soon.

Faculty Welfare Committee. Senator G. Yoder reported that the committee met with the Provost in December to discuss ways to identify faculty with inequitable salaries. The Welfare Committee will meet within the next couple of weeks to establish an agenda for this semester.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Salary Inequities Adjustment Appeals Motion. At the December meeting, Senator G. Yoder moved approval of the salary equity appeals process, seconded by Senator Reed. Senator Johnson ruled the motion substantive and deferred further discussion to today's meeting.

Senator Hubbard moved approval of a replacement for number one, seconded by G. Smith. The motion to amend number one was approved by the majority of the Senate. The replacement statement reads as follows:

1. It is the appellant's responsibility to begin the appeals process by submitting a letter of appeal and supporting material to his or her chair by March 1st. The chair will write a recommendation to uphold or deny the appeal. The chair's recommendation will be provided to the appellant by March 14th so that If the chair recommends against the appeal, the faculty member may should include a response to the chair's recommendation as part of his or her supporting materials.

Senator Carmean moved to amend number one to the following, seconded by Senator McKenney:

1. It is the appellant's responsibility to begin the appeals process by submitting a letter of appeal and supporting material to his or her chair the Provost's Office by March 1st. The chair Provost's Office will write a recommendation to uphold or deny the appeal. The chair's recommendation will be provided to the appellant by March 14th so that the faculty member may include a response to the chair's recommendation as part of his or her supporting materials. The Provost's Office will request clarification from the chair, if appropriate.

Senator Siegel, seconded by Senator Sexton, moved to postpone further discussion to the February Senate meeting so that senators could discuss with their departments prior to voting. The motion to postpone further discussion to the February meeting was approved by the Senate.

NEW BUSINESS:

Council on Academic Affairs. Senator Cook moved approval, seconded by Senator Flanagan, of the following items:

1. Program Revision in Administrative Communications & Services (BBA) - Change title to Corporate Communication and Technology, change ACS prefixes to CCT and change option from 28 to 31 hours
2. Revision in Biology Major (MS) - Add an option in Bioinformatics (to be cross-listed with the MS in Applied Computing)
3. Revision in Printing Management program (BS) - Change title to Graphics Communications Management and change course prefixes to match
4. Revision in Speech Communication Minor - change title to Communication Studies and change course requirements

The above four items were approved by the Senate.

Rules Committee Motion on Regents Election Process. Senator M. Yoder moved approval of the motion, seconded by Senator Konkel. The motion was approved by the Senate.

Rules Committee Motion on Faculty Status of Librarians. Senator M. Yoder moved approval of the motion, seconded by Senator Coyer. The motion was approved by the Senate. The motion will need to go before the Faculty-at-Large in August, 2004 and then before the Board of Regents before the motion takes effect.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Cook moved to adjourn at approximately 4:45 p.m.

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