Minutes for December 11, 2006

The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, December 11, 2006 in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator May called the fourth meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The following members of the Senate were absent:

^*Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary
^ALT Stuart Kendall attended for D. Carter
^ALT Kathy Halcomb attended for B. Gaffney
^ALT Pat Costello attended for M. Gebert
^SUB Elizabeth Young attended for J. Kontz
^ALT Rob Christensen attended for C. Resor

Visitors to the Senate were: Jim Conneely, Student Affairs; David Fifer, SGA; and Deborah Newsom, Financial Affairs

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
As Senator Eakin was absent due to illness, Senator May announced that he would chair the meeting.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The November 6 minutes were approved as written.

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Glasser

Senator Glasser was in attendance at the 2006 SACS-COC Annual meeting and sent her apologies for missing the Senate meeting. She shared the following information in her written report to the Senate.

The QEP draft report will be distributed to the campus communities for review and feedback in early January. Also, the QEP Committee welcomes the opportunity to visit with any department, unit, and group to discuss the plan and answer any questions.

Deans and chairs have been informed about the new budget process for the next academic year. The process is intended to give departments the opportunity to include for consideration in their budget requests needed academic support. This includes both operational and capital requests.

Since the last President's report, the CPE has established tuition and fee parameters for all Kentucky public universities. The maximum percentage increase for all the comprehensive universities is 9.5%. EKU's Budget Advisory Council has completed its work relative to the overall budget guidelines for next year's budget. The proposed budget guidelines and a tuition recommendation will be presented to the Board of Regents for approval at the January 12th Board meeting. Following the Board's approval, the University's tuition increase request will go forward to the Council on Postsecondary Education in late January. There is also a plan to discuss the tuition, residence hall, and meal plan increases at a student forum in January.

More detailed information regarding the budget guidelines and tuition request will be available in early January.

Senator Glasser expressed her gratitude again for the EKU Foundation's commitment of one million dollars for one-time funding of campus-wide proposals. Numerous proposals were received, and the committee, chaired by Mr. Tom Coffey, has spent countless hours reviewing proposals and carefully considering their funding decisions. The committee should be able to make announcements by December 8th.

The Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs Search Committee has completed the on campus interview portion of the search. Five finalists were interviewed: Dr. Rodney Piercey, Dr. D'Ann Campbell, Dr. Chris McGowan, Dr. Linda Calendrillo, and Dr. William Trumble. Each candidate was on campus for a two-day interview schedule. The committee is now considering the summaries of strengths and weaknesses for each candidate that will be provided to the President.

Senator Glasser announced that Mr. Dan Mason will be the Honorary Degree speaker at the 10:00 a.m. Commencement Ceremony on December 16. At the 3:00 p.m. Ceremony, Mr. Homer Ledford will be the Honorary Degree recipient. Mr. Ledford's daughter, Ms. Cindy Lowy, will speak on Mr. Ledford's behalf.

Senator Glasser thanked everyone for their hard work and dedication throughout the fall semester and wished everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Report from Council on Academic Affairs

1. Transfer of Graduate & Undergraduate Catalogs (informational item)
2. Transfer of African/African-American & Appalachian Studies Courses (informational item)
3. Course Syllabi Policy Revision
4. Forensic Anthropology Minor Program Suspension
5. AGR w/Business Minor Program Suspension
6. Horticulture w/Business Minor Program Suspension
7. Post MSN Certificate - New Certificate
8. Agriculture Area Major (B.S.) - add Minor in Business option
9. Horticulture Area Major (B.S.) - Add Minor in Business option
10. MBA - add Accounting option & Integrated Communication Option

Items 1-2 were presented as informational items only.  On behalf of Senator Chapman, Senator Johnson moved approval of items 3-10, seconded by Senator Ciocca.  The majority were in favor and the motion carried.

SACS Update Report. Senator Johnson gave a brief update on SACS and the QEP report. He announced that Onda Bennett, Jaleh Razaie and Byron Bond are willing to meet with individual areas to discuss the QEP report and to answer any questions. He reminded everyone that the SACS visit will be on April 10-12, and that SACS must give their approval before any funds can be expended on any of the QEP proposals that have been put forth up to this time. Check the QEP web site for any additional information you might need.

Update Report on Parking & Transportation. Vice President Conneely give an update on campus parking and transportation. He first addressed a question from the last Senate meeting regarding the Enterprise leasing program. He has received confirmation from Enterprise that cars may be picked up the night before without incurring additional charges.

He announced some upcoming changes regarding on campus parking. Beginning in January, the Powell West lot will be converted to visitor parking. All of the visitor parking behind the Student Services Building will be converted to employee parking which means a net gain of 21 additional faculty/staff parking spaces. Secondly, all the spots in front of SSB which are now faculty/staff and handicap will be converted to metered parking.

New electronic hand-held readers will be implemented in the spring semester to provide more efficient and effective ticketing of illegally parked vehicles. Also in the spring semester, new shuttle buses, similar to those used at airports, will be purchased.

Handicap tickets will increase in January to $100 and fire lane tickets will increase to $60. An updated towing and booting policy will also be finalized sometime during the spring semester.

3 Rules Committee Motions. Senator McKenney introduced three rules committee motions for approval. The first two motions will need to be presented to the faculty-at-large, if approved by the senate. The third motion is for the Senate internal procedures and will not have to go before the faculty-at-large.

Senator Dieckmann moved approval of motion 1, seconded by Senator Collins, to change the Faculty Handbook under VII.C.3.A. to the following: "The Secretary shall be appointed annually by the Chair of the Senate at the regular meeting in December. The term of the Secretary shall be for one year and shall begin on January 1. The Secretary will be paid on an hourly basis from the Senate budget for all services rendered to the Senate." Motion carried.

Senator Shasby moved approval of motion 2, seconded by Senator Shaffer, to change the Faculty Handbook under VII.D.4. To the following: "The current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern conduct of meetings of the Senate, except when the Senate shall adopt rules otherwise. The Executive Committee shall seek a parliamentarian from among the faculty or retired faculty. The parliamentarian shall not be at the same time a member of Senate. If no qualified person is available and willing to serve, or in the absence of that person, the vice chair shall serve as parliamentarian until a qualified person is found." Motion carried.

Senator Taylor moved approval of motion 3, seconded by Gerken, to add the following statement in the Internal Procedures under the Senate Chair section titled "After the May Senate Meeting": "Work with the incoming Vice Chair to define how to share your duties. You should arrange to work together in a way that is comfortable to both of you, and which reflects the ratio of course releases given to each of you. The Chair has two releases, the Vice Chair one, so your arrangement should give about one-third of the burden to the Vice Chair." Motion carried.

GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

REPORT FROM COSFL: Senator Ware

COSFL met on Saturday, December 9th with the main discussion centering on the search for the CPE President. Senator Ware asked for input from faculty on the criteria that should be considered by the search committee in selecting the next CPE President. E-mail comments to her at mixon.ware@eku.edu.

REPORT FROM STUDENT GOVERNMENT: David Fifer
SGA is sponsoring a contest to name and design the new shuttle bus system. A $500 prize will be awarded to the winning design.

All students are charged a technology fee. SGA receives $100,000 of that money to distribute to the university community every spring. This grant program is available to any segment of the University through an application process. Applications will be available beginning next Wednesday with an anticipated deadline in late February or early March.

SGA has scheduled the following events in late January and early February:

• Listen Up Legislators
• Rally for Higher Education in the Capital Rotunda in Frankfort
• O ld Crow Medicine Show Concert - Brock Auditorium
• Lecture session "Inside Iraq" - Brock Auditorium - February 7
• President's Ball - Keen Johnson - February 9 @ 8p.m.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Budget Committee. In her written report, Senator Taylor shared the following:

The committee has just received the data from the faculty survey regarding scheduling.

Forty-eight percent of the tenured and tenure-track faculty on this campus responded. The committee is now analyzing the date and will submit the findings to the Executive Committee in January.

Rules Committee. In her written report, Senator McKenney shared the following:

The Rules Committee met on November 13, 2006 and finalized three motions to be presented to the Faculty Senate on December 11.

Rights & Responsibilities Committee. Senator Robles shared the following in her written report:

The Rights and Responsibilities committee has met a few times with the Provost regarding the charge of "Faculty Workload." The committee are looking at FTE distribution, committees and other service work, scholarship expectations, and flexibility for departments to work within general parameters of the college and the university. Discussion has included the use of faculty activity forms, the accuracy of the FTE calculations, inclusion of faculty/department expectations in the strategic plan, and methods for receiving feedback from Senate members.

Election Committee. Senator Randles reported that the committee met earlier today to discuss two upcoming elections--faculty regent and part-time faculty representatives. More information will be announced on January 26. He urged senators to consider running for faculty regent and also urged them to encourage their part-time faculty to run for the part-time faculty representative position.

Committee on Committee. Senator Dieckmann shared the following in her written report:

The committee met on Thursday, November 16th to plan to address the two charges of the committee. The committee identified three action steps for the upcoming year:

1. Contact the former Chair of Committee on Committees to learn how to recommend faculty for the various university committees (I.e., to complete our primary purpose);
2. Obtain archived lists of university committees for the past 10 years and analyze to determine if a problem actually exists regarding faculty who are sitting on too many university-level committees; and
3. Obtain minutes of all university-level committees over the past 10 years to determine activity and develop a recommended list of committees that could effectively be merged or deactivated.

The committee is in the process of drafting a report to the Executive Committee that effectively explains the philosophy of the Committee on Committees regarding this task. Such letter will be delivered to the Executive Committee at the beginning of the Spring semester.

Welfare Committee. Senator Collins reported that the committee is analyzing the data gathered with regards to the number of full time faculty, part time faculty, and administrators. The committee should have some data available to share at the next Senate meeting.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER:

The topic of discussion was "Discussion of EKU's Benefits Package and Arlington Membership."

Senator Flanagan stated that with the new increase in Arlington membership dues, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for faculty to participate which is why he asked for this to be considered as a "For the Good of the Order" topic.

Senator Johnson mentioned that when he was chair of the Senate, he went to the Board at Arlington and voiced frustration concerning their raising of fees, etc., and suggested that they break apart some of the memberships so it would be more affordable. In their bylaws it states that Arlington is supposedly for the faculty and staff of the University and yet the vast majority of the faculty and staff at this institution cannot afford to be members.

Senator Flanagan said that it actually states in the bylaws that Arlington is for faculty, staff and members of the University community plus friends of the University community.

Senator Shasby indicated that she and her husband are Arlington members and it saddens her to hear people in the community refer to it as "the Richmond Country Club" or "the Arlington Country Club". A large number of people do not realize that it is an EKU event. She expressed concerns about the $2800 assessment fee that has been mandated and how that will affect current membership.

Senator Rainey mentioned that she and her husband used to be members of Arlington and dropped their membership some years ago. When they first joined there were various social activities and other activities available. After that, it seemed to become more or less a restaurant. Why pay dues to belong to Arlington when you can go to any restaurant without having to pay monthly fees?

Senator Gerken said that if this is really a place where we are wanting faculty and staff to be engaged, then there should be opportunities available for those that want to go maybe one time a week or one time a month.

Senator May suggested that the Executive Committee write a letter to the Arlington Board capturing the discussion today. Once drafted, the letter would be shared with the Senators for feedback before forwarding on to the Arlington Board. Senator May asked that anyone with comments or suggestions should contact either the Senate secretary or one of the Executive Committee members.

Senator Flanagan called for a straw pool to see how many senators are members of Arlington and about how many of those will drop the membership because of the increase in dues. Approximately 10% are current members and of those the majority indicated they plan to drop their membership because of the assessment fee and the dues increase.

Senator Robles stated that one faculty member suggested allowing faculty to go to Arlington for a year without having to pay the initiation fee but being required to pay the monthly dues. Then if they wanted to continue membership after the one year period, they could pay the initiation fee at that point.

Senator Houston would like the Senate to discuss what has been going on with the employer contributions to the optional retirement plan and asked that it be discussed as a"For The Good Of The Order" topic at some point.

Senator Ware stated that while she didn't have an answer, she could address the topic. The Benefits Committee has been reviewing this topic as well as all the other Universities. She heard an unconfirmed report at the last COSFL meeting that one of the new KTRS board members is from Murray State and that individual reports that KTRS is aware of the displeasure and realizes that something is going to have to be done. Senator May requested that Senator Ware include any updates on this situation in her monthly COSFL reports.

Senator Johnson asked that anyone with suggestions regarding the ORP should contact a member of the Senate Welfare Committee, because they also serve as members on the University Benefits Committee.

Senator Collins reminded everyone that EKU is self insured and the health costs keep going up. The biggest way to help insurance costs, is to reduce health care costs. That is one of the reasons why so much emphasis is being placed on wellness programs.

Senator Waters indicated that the University is looking at several programs aimed at reducing costs, especially pharmaceutical costs. When compared to benchmark schools, EKU's medical claim costs and pharmaceutical costs far exceed those of other surrounding Universities.

Senator Robles commented that if the University is focused on reducing health care costs, one benefit the university could offer is to allow faculty to join the new fitness and wellness center. The cost isn't that much per year, and it might help reduce health care costs.

Senator Collins mentioned that Weaver is available for use and has a lot of the same type of equipment as the new center. The new facility was originally designed for students.

Senator Waters mentioned that flexible spending accounts can help in costing out health care dollars, and it is also pre-taxed. More faculty should consider this option.

Debbie Newsom stated that the University spends $11 million a year in health care costs.