Minutes for October 4, 2004

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, October 4, 2004 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Siegel called the second 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
^ D. Mohallatee attended in place of G. Smith

Visitors to the Senate were: Jim Conneely, Student Affairs; Tracy Haney, The Eastern Progress; Karen Janssen, Graduate Council; Linda Kenley, Bookstore; Lance Melching, SGA; Bart Meyer, Advancement; Deborah Newsom, Financial Affairs; John Shafer, Athletics; Hayden Shawler, Bookstore; Cheryl Stone, CEDET; Aaron Thompson, Enrollment Management; Virginia Underwood, Chief of Staff; Elizabeth Wachtel, Academic Affairs; John Wade, Economics; Tom Watkins, Economics; Mel White, CEDET; and Marc Whitt, Public Relations and Marketing

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Senator Siegel expressed her thanks and appreciation to Senator Glasser for the reception in Walnut Hall for the senators and guests prior to today's meeting.

Senator Siegel announced that Senator Marchant will serve as Parliamentarian for today's meeting.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The September 13, 2004 minutes were approved as written.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Glasser

Senator Glasser announced that the capital campaign is progressing nicely. To date over $5,000,000 has been raised and while a definite goal has not been announced, the expected goal will probably be around $50,000,000.

EKU's phonathon started on September 22 and will continue through December 1. Over 50 EKU students were recruited to participate in the phonathon. Last year's phonathon raised over $241,000 and hopefully this year will exceed that amount.

Dustan and Becki McCoy are the National Chairs of EKU's Capital Campaign and they're featured on the cover of the Fall edition of Eastern's magazine which will be mailed out later this week.

A gift of $250,000 designated for the Center for Economic Education was recently matched by the "Bucks for Brains" program. A $125,000 pledge from an EKU Foundation Board member was also matched by the "Bucks for Brains" program.

Senator Glasser continues to meet with alumni in the surrounding areas and will continue providing monthly progress reports on her visits.

Campus safety continues to be an important issue. Public Safety, Facilities Services and Student Affairs are working closely to improve campus lighting and safety checks at parking lots, and looking at ways to improve the availability and accessibility of the campus escort service and shuttle bus service. In addition, personal safety tips and educational programming for personal safety awareness are being developed to help provide a safe, secure working, teaching and learning environment. If anyone has safety concerns or issues, please share those with either Public Safety, Facilities Services or Student Affairs.

The parking forums have concluded. A recommendation from the Parking Consultant is expected within the next thirty days and that information will be shared when it becomes available.

Mona Isaacs was recently appointed Interim Director of ITDS. The Provost will begin the process for a national search soon to fill the position permanently.

While not an all inclusive list, Senator Glasser shared some recent faculty highlights:

1. Congratulations to the Theater Department for a successful production of Hedda Gabler.
2. Silas House's new book, "Coal Tattoo", was released on September 24, and Southeastern booksellers have already ranked it at number ten on the best seller list.
3. Dr. Pat Calie, Biological Sciences, and Dr. Debra Bautista, Chemistry, are co-principal investigators on a $1.16 million dollar grant researching computational approaches to molecular biology.
4. Congratulations to Marcel Robles, faculty advisor to Phi Beta Lambda. EKU's Phi Beta Lambda was recently voted one of the most outstanding chapters in the nation at the National Leadership Conference in Denver.
5. Dr. Allen Engle, Marketing, received the Alumni Association's Award for Teaching Excellence.
6. Professor Garner, Marketing, received the Jack L. Dyer Teaching Award.

Senator Glasser shared several upcoming dates:

1. Tomorrow Senator Glasser will be attending a meeting in Frankfort with Governor Fletcher and Secretary Fox to discuss a summit on civic literacy.
2. Later this week, Senator Glasser will be speaking on campus to the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce executives and also to the Kentucky Association of Housing Officers.
3. George Mehaffy, Vice President of AASCU, will be on campus on Wednesday, October 13 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Keen Johnson Building to discuss the American Democracy Project for Civic Engagement.
4. On Tuesday, October 19, Senator Glasser will be the keynote speaker at the Governor's Annual EEO Conference in Louisville.
5. Homecoming weekend will be on October 29-30. On Friday evening, the Temptations and Supremes Revue is scheduled in Brock Auditorium, Coates Building. On Saturday, the parade begins at 11:00 a.m., followed by the football game later in the afternoon.

Senator Glasser recently spoke to the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the Hazard Chamber of Commerce. She and the Provost also recently attended a Somerset Community College articulation signing agreement for an Associate of Applied Science in General Occupational and Technical Studies.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Siegel

Senator Siegel reported that the Executive Committee met on September 20th, and will next meet on October 20th. She reminded everyone that materials for the Executive Committee should be submitted at least one week prior to the scheduled meeting.

Senator Siegel reminded everyone that hard copies of any motions that come from the Senate floor as well as committee reports, should be presented to the secretary.

Senator Siegel announced that a new e-newsletter, EKU Today, will be introduced soon to replace all mass e-mails. Marc Whitt will be at the next Executive Committee meeting to discuss this issue further.

Please provide feedback on the Promotion and Tenure revision. Feedback should be sent to mixon.ware@eku.edu by October 21st. Senator Ware requested senators to collect comments from faculty in their area and compile into one e-mail to send to her.

Dr. Tom Watkins was in attendance at the last meeting to present the two General Education motions on goals and objectives and the overall framework. Also in attendance was Preston Elrod to introduce the Intellectual Policies motion.

Vice President Conneely spoke to the Executive Committee on several issues of faculty concern including parking, the recent problems with the bookstore, and the fee structure for the new Wellness Center.

The Executive Committee briefly discussed the fall break and expressed concerns about its sudden appearance in the academic schedule.

A charge has been issued to the Faculty Welfare Committee to consider the temporary suspension of the tenure clock for faculty facing extraordinary situations. The committee has been asked to make their recommendations to the Executive Committee by January 24, 2005.

REPORT FROM FACULTY REGENT: Senator Schlomann

The Board met on September 17 and addressed relatively routine matters. Later that weekend, the Board members attended the Governors Conference. The conference theme was "Can We Talk" . The report, "Measuring Up 2004: The State Report Card on Higher Education", was discussed in depth.

The Board members also observed a SCOPE meeting which provides an opportunity for legislators and the Governor to discuss educational progress with CPE. In addition, the Board members participated in a mock regional forum.

REPORT FROM THE PROVOST: Senator Chapman

The SACS committee recently met on September 21. One issue of concern is that some faculty may have less than a master's degree. In order to be in compliance with SACS, Senator Chapman stated that both full-time and part-time faculty must have at least a master's degree to teach at Eastern. The only exception to the rule is if an individual has exceptional qualifications. For example, a recipient of a Nobel Prize could be viewed as an exception to the rule. If there are individuals who don't currently meet this criteria, they may need to be assigned to other duties. Another possibility is that they could possibly teach under the auspices of someone who does have the necessary qualifications.

Senator Chapman expects to have all the basic faculty information entered into the database by October 15 so that the salary equity issue can be reviewed for this year.

Senator Chapman stated that he now has a better understanding of EKU's financial resources, thanks to Deborah Newsom's help. He further stated that most of the reserve fund from the Provost's office has been doled out to different areas to cover positions, lectureships, salaries, etc. Only a small amount has been set aside to cover any significant problems or emergencies that may arise.

The paperwork has been completed on the Graduate Dean and Associate Vice President for Research, and a search committee will be appointed soon.

Senator Chapman continues to have great concerns about diversity. He commended Dean Schoolmaster for putting together an excellent program for new faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences. However, he stressed the importance for all faculty members to show their support and provide assistance to all new faculty and to individuals moving toward tenure.

REPORT FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT: Lance Melching

Mr. Melching reported that student directories should be distributed by the end of October or early November. If you need extra copies, contact the SGA Office.

Mr. Melching encouraged the student organizations that are registered with Student Life to participate in the "Colonel Spirit Challenge." For more details, go to the SGA website at: www.sga.eku.edu.

Kristen Hale was recently elected as Ethics Administrator for the three branches of SGA.

Mr. Melching encouraged everyone to participate in the parking survey available on Public Safety's website.

The next Chautauqua lecture on Oppression is scheduled for October 7 from 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room in the Powell Building.

The main academic issue SGA will be focusing on this semester is academic advising. Mr. Melching will be meeting with Senator Chapman in the near future to discuss this issue further.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Budget Committee. Senator Eakin reported that the Budget Committee met at the end of the last Senate meeting and he was elected chair. Since that meeting Senator Eakin has developed a blackboard site for the committee and has added staff members as guests to that site, per the Senate chair's suggestion. The blackboard site should make it easier to gather information from the appropriate places and provide better communication between committee members.

Rules Committee. Senator Johnson reported that the committee met on Wednesday, September 29 to work on internal procedures for the Senate. The Executive Committee should receive a copy to review for their next meeting.

Elections Committee. Senator DeBolt announced that the committee continues to work on having an online voting system for senate positions in the near future. This will move up the timetable for electing new replacements to the Senate. Departments will need to notify the senate of new replacements by February rather than March or April.

Faculty Welfare Committee. Senator Hubbard reported that the committee will begin meeting every other week in the near future.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Council on Academic Affairs. At the September Senate meeting the senate were in agreement to postpone discussion on removing the mid-term grade requirements for Graduate Level Classes until the October meeting. The motion was approved by the Senate.

NEW BUSINESS:

General Education Motions. Two motions were introduced on general education. The first to approve the goals and learning objectives and the second one to approve the framework. Tom Watkins was in attendance to answer questions regarding the two motions. Senator Jones made the second to bring the motions on the floor for discussion. Senator Siegel announced that as this is a substantive motion, a vote will be postponed until the November meeting. She encouraged the senators to take the motions back to their areas to gather feedback and be prepared for discussions in November.

Intellectual Properties Motion. Senator Ault made the second to bring the Intellectual Properties Policy Motion on the floor for discussion. Senator Siegel stated that as this is a substantive issue the vote will be postponed until the November meeting. Cheryl Stone was present to answer any questions and will be attending the November meeting as well to answer any further questions.

Election to Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Senator Robles was nominated. Senator Harter moved to cease nominations and appoint Senator Robles by acclamation. The motion was approved.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER:

Senator Siegel introduced the new agenda item "For the Good of the Order" will provide a venue for general discussions on different topics of concern and interest for faculty. Today's discussion concerns the bookstore and the recent textbook problems that have arisen. Senator Siegel has compiled seven pages of feedback from faculty regarding this issue and will be sharing those in a meeting within the next couple of weeks with members of the bookstore staff and James Conneely, Student Affairs.

ADJOURNMENT:

Senator Chapman moved to adjourn at approximately 5:15 p.m.

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