Minutes for October 1, 2007
The Faculty Senate of Eastern Kentucky University met on Monday, October 1, 2007, in the South Room of the Keen Johnson Building. Senator Eakin called the second meeting of the academic year to order at approximately 3:30 p.m.
The following members of the Senate were absent:
| T. Adams*^ | B. Bentley | M. Case |
| D. Clay | B. Houston | K. Johnson* |
| K. Kean*^ | J. Koontz | D. Phillips |
| R. Richards | R. Ruddell* | C. Ruppel |
| B. Wesley |
*Indicates prior notification of absence to the Faculty Senate Secretary
^SUB James Adamsonattended for T. Adams
^SUB Elizabeth Young attended for K. Kean
Visitors to the Senate: David Fifer, SGA; Debbie Newsom, Financial Affairs; Jerry Pogatshnik, Graduate Education & Research; Sherry Robinson, Provost Office; Virginia Underwood, Chief of Staff; Janna Vice, Academic Affairs; and John Wade, Arts & Sciences
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The September 10, 2007 minutes were approved as written.
REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT: Senator Whitlock
At the last meeting, Senator Whitlock announced that the CPE had requested a business plan from each of the universities. A draft of EKU's plan was recently shared with the campus community and 25 or 30 individuals provided feedback. Another draft of the plan will be distributed campus-wide within the next few weeks.
The joint committee formed to plan and execute the Business and Technology Center's performing arts center has met once. The committee is comprised of eight individuals from the university and seven from the community, some representing the county, some representing the city of Richmond, and one representing the city of Berea.
A draft of CPE's funding recommendations for the next biennium was received last week for discussion purposes only. Senator Whitlock reviewed the recommendations with the Senate. One area yet to be determined on the draft budget is the statewide priorities listed under the strategic investment category. This is the category that deals with the process of doubling the numbers by 2020. University business plans will be used to determine funds available in this area.
Senator Whitlock also mentioned that the proposed budget for 2008-09 recommends $100,000,000 in nonrecurring funding to fund the "Bucks for Brain's" matching gifts programs again.
A hearing is scheduled on Wednesday in Frankfort where the institutional representatives will have an opportunity to react to the CPE Finance Committee.
NEW BUSINESS:
Report from Council on Academic Affairs
- Medical Administrative Certificate - Program Suspension
Senator Piercey moved to suspend the Medical Administrative Certificate, seconded by Senator Flanagan. The majority were in favor and the motion carried.
GENERAL & STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Senator Eakin
Senator Eakin reported that Cheryl Harris, University Counsel, came to the last Executive Committee meeting to discuss clarifications needed in the promotion and tenure recommendations in order to avoid possible legal ramifications. At the Executive Committee's request, Senator Eakin, Senator Piercey, Cheryl Harris, Dr. Sherry Robinson and members of the Rights and Responsibilities Committee will work together to make the required changes. Once the updates have been made, hopefully by mid-October, Senator Piercey has agreed to hold an open forum to give faculty an opportunity to provide feedback. The updated recommendations will be presented to the Board of Regents at the January, 2008 meeting.
Charges are available for all standing committees. All committees need to meet as soon as possible to appoint a chair. Let both the Senate chair and the secretary know of the appointments so the committee charges can be distributed.
Senator Eakin reminded everyone that the President will host a dinner for the Senate at the Mulebarn on Wednesday, October 17 at 6 p.m.
FACULTY REGENT REPORT: Senator Frisbie
Senator Frisbie shared the following in his written report to the Senate.
The Council on Postsecondary Education hosted the 2007 Governor's Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship on September 16-17 in Louisville. The theme of the conference was "Doubling the Numbers by 2020: Meeting the Challenges of
Postsecondary Reform". The conference concluded with addresses by Steve Beshear and Governor Ernie Fletcher.
The Board will next meet on October 22 to review proposals submitted by executive search firms. The next quarterly meeting of the Board will occur in January 2008.
COSFL REPORT: Senator McKenney
Senator McKenney shared the following in her written report to the Senate.
COSFL met at the close of the 2007 Governor's Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship. The meeting was held at 2:00 p.m. in the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.
The main order of business was the election of officers for 2007/2008. The following candidates were elected by affirmation:
- Terry Irons (Morehead University) - Chair
- Peggy Pittman-Munke (Murray State University) - Vice Chair
- Nancy McKenney (EKU) - Treasurer
- Mixon Ware (EKU) - Secretary
Mark Wattier, Representative from the Council on Postsecondary Education, reported that draft business plans had been requested by the CPE from the universities, and those reports have already been submitted by the university presidents. Two meetings will be held in October for universities to discuss these budgets. The draft business plans will serve as the budget model for the next biennium.
Brad Cowgill will continue as Interim Head of the CPE until April.
PROVOST REPORT: Senator Piercey
Senator Piercey stated that the administration and the Senate through its Executive Committee and the University Counsel are currently working on some minor edits in the promotion and tenure policy to bring it into compliance with University policy.
Graduate Education and Research would like to announce the new GEARS scholars. They are as follows:
- Ogechi Anyanwu, History
- Tom Butler, English and Theatre
- Vincent Castellana, Mathematics and Statistics
- Stephanie Hall, Counseling and Educational Psychology
- Beverly Miller, Art & Design
- Rick Mott, English and Theatre
- Richard Osbaldiston, Psychology
- Nicholas Santangelo, Biology
- Deneia Thomas, Counseling and Educational Psychology
Congratulations to the McNair program which has been renewed for five years. This equates to a total of $1,125,000 of external funding that will enhance the EKU living and learning community. Congratulations to Rich Richmond and his staff for their great work on this program.
The University has developed a comprehensive set of policies related to the administration of grants and sponsored programs at EKU. The policies are posted on the sponsored programs website and have been adopted on an interim basis to meet requirements associated with the review conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services as part of our Facilities and Administrative Cost negotiations. Please forward questions and comments to Jerry Pogatshnik. The policies will be presented to the Board for approval in January.
Information Technology has developed a new faculty training facility, the Technology Studio for Professional Development to provide hands-on technology training for faculty and staff. The new facility is located in Case Annex Room 256.
Institutional Effectiveness has been busily working on university planning and program review. Senator Piercey recognized Dr. Keeley for his leadership in the process.
Institutional Effectiveness also reported that the University accreditation process and SACS is in its final phase. All final documentation has been submitted and full reaffirmation is anticipated in December.
Senator Piercey mentioned that Institutional Effectiveness, Graduate Studies, and Enrollment Management are cooperating and generating automatic enrollment projections and forecasts to be used in institutional planning. Within the next month or so, it will be possible to generate enrollment forecasts on a regular basis.
At the inquisition of Senator Robles, Senator Piercey held a lengthy discussion with the Senate on the effort reporting forms which faculty have been asked to complete. The overall idea is that one can identify what percentage of a total faculty member's effort is dedicated to instruction, service, research, scholarship, etc. However, a timeline to implement this has not been determined yet.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: David Fifer
Mr. Fifer reported that SGA recently held an open forum to discuss whether or not to bring the the racially-themed theater show N*W*C* to campus. Following the forum, the Student Activities Council voted to bring the program to campus sometime in February, 2008. SGA is working with the Offices of Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs to make sure there is appropriate educational context for this program, and there will be workshops and seminars held to compliment it.
Mr. Fifer reported that 60 clubs and groups were in attendance at the organizational funding meeting to pick up applications. The deadline for returning those applications is tomorrow.
Mr. Fifer stated that one of his responsibilities as student body president is to nominate students for University committee appointments. If student representatives are not attending or not contributing to the University committees, please let him know.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Rules Committee. Senator McKenney announced that she will serve as chair of the committee. The committee plans to meet on October 18. One of the committee's charges this year will be to work on creating a standing committee for new senator orientation.
Rights & Responsibilities Committee. Senator Robles shared the following in her written report to the Senate.
The Rights and Responsibilities committee has not yet received its charge for this year but is anticipating revisions to the Promotion and Tenure document again and discussions on the Faculty Workload issue.
Paula Kristofik and Marcel Robles will be meeting with Dave Eakin, Sherry Robinson, and Cheryl Harris regarding promotion and tenure revisions.
The Rights & Responsibilities Committee will be working with the Faculty Welfare committee on the Faculty Workload issue, considering the 2020 goals, distance education needs, and the balance of teaching, scholarship, and service. Mixon Ware (Vice Chair of Senate and member of Faculty Welfare) will be our liaison to the Faculty Welfare Committee.
Elections Committee. Senator Randles reported that he will serve as Committee chair this year.
Welfare Committee. Senator Waters announced that anyone experiencing problems with Express Scripts should contact Mr. Wally Skiba in Human Resources.
Senator Waters shared the following in her written report to the Senate.
The Committee met on September 24, 2007 and elected Senator Waters as chair.
The Committee plans to continue work on the analysis of the faculty and administrative hiring trends.
Shared governance is another issue which will be under discussion. Senator Ware proposed that the committee work with Rights and Responsibilities to address faculty workload issues.
Ad Hoc Committee on New Senator Orientation. Senator Robles announced that the new senator orientation was held on September 24. A binder with Senate information is available from Senator Robles for those who were unable to attend.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER:
The topic of discussion was "Discussion Topics for the 2007-2008 academic year."
Senator May thought next month's topic should be the faculty workload issue. Another future discussion should be about mentoring.
Senator Reed suggested addressing ideas for reducing drudgery and discussing ways to become more efficient. Senator Eakin felt that problems associated with the technological changes in our culture should also be discussed at the same time.
Senator Carter suggested the topic of available access to university records. As an advisor, she doesn't have direct access to any of her first major students records, such as CARES reports. Also, her area is currently working on their program review and yet they don't have direct access to TRACDAT.
Senator Gerken said that several faculty have suggested the need for a discussion on a 15-week semester versus a 16-week semester.
Senator Rainey suggested a discussion for things that do not fall under the academic structure of the university that are academic-related problems. One example is the temperature level in classrooms. Another is the placement of snack bars in classroom buildings.
Senator Hesse moved to place a time limit on the FTGOTO discussion and to dedicate the last five or ten minutes of discussion for possible solutions, seconded by Senator Sanchez. Senator Carter suggested a friendly amendment to use the first five or ten minutes of the next meeting for possible solutions rather than the current meeting in order to allow for feedback from colleagues. The motion failed for lack of support.
ADJOURNMENT:
Senator Piercey moved to adjourn at approximately 5:20 p.m.
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