Approved 9-6-01

Thursday
August 30, 2001
12:00 noon
Alumni Center

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PRESENT
Bruce Christensen, Bill Clapp, Gary Dohrer, Mark Henderson, Dave Eisler, Ron Holt, Marie Kotter, Dan Schroeder, Gene Sessions, President Thompson, Jenny Turley, Kay Brown - Secretary

GUESTS
Steve Starks, John Valletta

UNIVERSITY UPDATES
Informal discussion and updates from President Thompson and Dave Eisler. Items discussed: enrollment figures, budget cuts, Utah College of Applied Technology, P Card for Faculty Travel, Online access for Online Education.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Steve Starks and John Valletta discussed with the Executive Committee the possibility of making faculty evaluation available on the web through the Student Activities web page. Renovation ideas for the Union Building are being explored by the students.

COMMITTEE CHARGES
Discussion of committee charges for the 2001-2002 academic year.

ARCC ACADEMIC RESOURCES AND COMPUTING

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.1: The Committee on Academic Resources and Computing shall recommend policies and operational procedures on the acquisition and utilization of computers and academic resource material.
  1. Allocate ARCC resources.
  2. Monitor the expenditures of all ARCC funds, including those supported through WSUSA funding.
  3. Maintain close communication with all other computer resource entities on campus.
  4. Be represented on the IT Council and routinely invite IT Division directors to summarize status of new projects and ongoing IT support.
  5. Develop a policy for inclusion in the PPM regarding the upgrade and maintenance of faculty computers.

MOTION
Gary Dohrer: Moved to approve the above charges for the Academic Resources and Computing Committee for 2001-2002.
Second: Dan Schroeder
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

ASSA ADMISSIONS, STANDARDS AND STUDENT AFFAIRS

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.2: The Admissions, Standards and Student Affairs Committee shall be concerned with standards for admission, retention and graduation from the University and policies pertaining to student affairs.
  1. Continue to monitor the STAARS programming of previous and current legislation.
  2. Continue to handle student initiatives as they come from Student Senate.
    3.
  3. Monitor the work of the ad hoc task force on mathematics to determine if faculty legislation will be required.
  4. Review the new dual degrees such as those in the Bachelor's degree in music and determine if the current policy on multiple degrees applies or needs to be amended in some way.

MOTION
Bruce Christensen: Moved to approve the above charges for the Admissions, Standards, and Student Affairs Committee for 2001-2002.
Second: Jenny Turley
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

APAFT APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND TENURE

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.3: The committee on Appointment, Promotion, Academic Freedom and Tenure shall formulate policies and operational procedures on these matters and on due process and merit.
  1. Review current policies and practices on faculty titles. Specifically review the usage of titles such as visiting, adjunct, tenure-track, non-tenure-track, clinical, lecturer, etc. Propose clarifying language for the PPM in cases where ambiguity exists.
  2. Review the current policies and practices on the use of collegiality and/or ethics as part of the tenure review process.
  3. Review the current policies and practices on the review and evaluation of teaching of on-line courses. Are on-line faculty being reviewed in a comparable way to "traditional" faculty? For example, data can be collected on response times between student queries and faculty replies while no such comparable data is available for "traditional" faculty.
  4. Monitor the implementation, use, and value of the peer review process across campus.

    5. MOTION Dan Schroeder: Moved to approve the above charges for Appointment, Promotion, Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee for 2001-2002.
    Second: Bruce Christensen
    Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

CRAO CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW, APPORTIONMENT AND ORGANIZATION

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.4: The Committee on Constitutional Review, Apportionment and Organization shall review, update and preserve the integrity of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Weber State University faculty government. This Committee shall study ratios of college representation on the Senate and recommend procedures for electing its members. The Committee shall also be responsible for recommending policies on the organization and operational procedures of the University.

  1. Calculate apportionment for Faculty Senate representation using the Hamilton Method and present the apportionment figures to the Faculty Senate during Autumn Semester 2001.  

    Address the following issues concerning the Faculty Senate Constitution:      

    Organization
  2. The numbering of the articles and sections is confusing and should be changed. For example, there are two Articles I - at the beginning of the document under the heading and on p.5 under
  3. Constitutional Bylaws. It is hard to refer to a specific statement in the Constitution because of dual numbering.
    4.

    Terms of office.

  4. Currently, the newly elected senators, elected in March of each year, assume their duties as of July 1 and continue in office until June 30 of their term. Would it be more appropriate to have the term of office begin after the last Faculty Senate meeting of a given academic year and extended through the last Faculty Senate meeting of the following year?

    5.

    Dates

  5. Take out the specific dates.

    6.

    Update Secretary duties.
  6. Secretary should post Faculty Senate minutes on the Faculty Senate Home Page.
    7.

    Election of the chair of Faculty Board of Review and terms of office.
  7. Language of the Constitution is not clear on how the chair of the Faculty Board of Review is to be selected. Some years the Senate has voted a chair, some years the Executive Committee has recommended a chair and the Senate has given their approval via a motion, some years the Faculty Board of Review Committee has elected its chair. Another issue is term of office. Waiting until the September Faculty Senate meeting to establish the Chair of the Faculty Board of Review has been a problem. After the tenure and promotion process has been completed, faculty sometimes request a review of administrative action. We need to have an assigned chair to refer to them to so that the chair can see the process through during summer months and into the new academic year. In general, term of office should follow that suggested for senators.
    8.

MOTION Marie Kotter: Moved to approve the above charges for the Constitutional Review, Apportionment, and Organization Committee for 2001-2002.
Second: Dan Schroeder
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

The following additional charges for the Constitutional Review, Apportionment and Organization Committee were discussed.

  8.    Recommend to the Faculty Senate the creation of an ad hoc committee on Online 
         Education and Distance Learning.

  9.    Investigate establishing a new Faculty Senate Standing Committee on Online 
         Education and Distance Learning.

AMENDED  MOTION 
Ron Holt: Moved to amend the above motion to include in the charges that the committee investigate establishing a new Faculty Senate Standing Committee on Online Education and Distance Learning.
Second: Mark Henderson
Outcome: The motion passed with 1 abstention.

MOTION 
Bruce Christensen: Recommend to the Faculty Senate the creation of an ad hoc committee for Online Education and Distance Learning.
Second: Gary Dohrer
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

CGE CURRICULUM AND GENERAL EDUCATION

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.5: The committee on Curriculum and General Education shall study and evaluate the curriculum and general education needs of the University, initiate new programs and revise old ones and consider specified proposals of instructional departments or individual faculty members.
  1. Review and approve curriculum and program proposals.
  2. Continue to conduct workshops with college curriculum committee chairs to acquaint them with curriculum procedures.
  3. Investigate the role of faculty in the growing curriculum issues emerging in WSU Online and other Distance Learning offerings.
  4. Monitor the state-wide task force working on issues of what makes an educated person.

MOTION 
Bruce Christensen: Moved to approve the above charges for the Curriculum and General Education Committee for 2001-2002.
Second: Ron Holt
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

HD HONORARY DEGREES

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.6: Faculty members on the Honorary Degree Committee shall review the recommendations presented to them and shall act as the faculty representatives on the Committee on Commencement and Honorary Degrees.
  1. Meet separately and early as the faculty portion of the committee to discuss representing in a unified manner the constituent needs and interests of the faculty in the deliberation of the larger committee.
  2. Ensure faculty involvement in the nomination and selection of candidates for honorary degrees and for commencement speakers through maintaining the important voice of the faculty and the Faculty Senate as a major force on the institutional committee.
  3. Encourage the selection of at least one honorary degree recipient each year who has made an outstanding academic contribution to higher education, preferable a WSU faculty member
  4. Work to achieve a representation of gender and ethnicity among degree recipients and ensure that all recipients are of stature to enhance the image of Weber State University.
  5. See that the criteria for honorary degrees are considered , so that the understandable desire of the administration to cultivate donors and potential donors does not overwhelm the deliberations and pass over otherwise worthy candidates.
  6. Provide the larger committee with a way to carry forward information so next year’s committee can benefit from work done this year.

MOTION 
Marie Kotter: Moved to approve the above charges for the Honorary Degree Committee for 2001-2002.
Second: Gary Dohrer
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

RSPG RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.7: The Committee on Research, Scholarship and Professional Growth shall recommend policies on research, scholarship, teaching loads, instructional and faculty development and faculty productivity., It shall facilitate faculty in obtaining grants, travel funds, physical facilities, etc., to pursue research and scholarly activities.
  1. Continue to issue RFPs for Research and Instructional Improvement grants and review the proposals in a timely manner.
    2.
  2. Continue to coordinate deadlines for submission of proposals with the chairs of the Institutional Review Board and the Animal Care and Use Committee.
    3.
  3. Review and update as needed the proposal guidelines and forms to ensure they are clear to applicants.
    4.
  4. Continue efforts to publicize the committee’s activities. Seek ways to broaden participation campus wide. Explore opportunities to disseminate information about funded projects.
    5.
  5. Develop a proposal for additional funding for RSPG.
    6.

MOTION 
Bruce Christensen: Moved to approve for the Research, Scholarship and Professional Growth Committee the above charges for 2001-2002.
Second: Gary Dohrer
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

RSPG FUNDING 
The Executive Committee would like to discuss with President Thompson and Provost Eisler additional funding for RSPG.

SBBFP SALARY, BENEFITS, BUDGET, AND FISCAL PLANNING

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.8: The Committee on Salary, Benefits, Budget and Fiscal planning shall study, evaluate and make recommendations on salaries, salary schedules, cost of living, retirement plans, annuities, health and life insurance, hospital plans, other faculty benefits, budget and fiscal planning.

This Committee shall not exceed ten members with representation from each organization unit. The Faculty Senate chair shall serve as the Executive Committee liaison. A subcommittee shall serve under the direction of the Committee and represent the faculty in salary and related negotiations with the University administration. No two members of this subcommittee shall be from the same organizational unit. This subcommittee shall consist of the Faculty senate chair, the chair of the Committee on Salary, Benefits, Budget and Fiscal Planning and a third member nominated by the Committee and approved by the Faculty Senate.
  1. Reinforce the importance of University administrators’ commitment to the third year goal of obtaining the 6% necessary to further narrow the gap between the CUPA averages and faculty salaries.
  2. Monitor health insurance coverage, options, and potential changes in vendors.
  3. Investigate the ramifications of the new IRS ruling disallowing the designation of miscellaneous income (such as honoraria) to personal expense accounts in departments.
  4. Maintain a continuing dialogue with the University administration with regard to the impact of the current budget cut on salaries, benefits, budgets, and fiscal planning.
  5. Investigate the effect of the new promotion and tenure schedule on salaries and make recommendations.
  6. Investigate with the Payroll Office ways to itemize the various payments included in the check.

TLA TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

PPM 1-13, Article 5, Section 4.9: The Committee on Teaching, Learning and Assessment shall endeavor to enhance the learning environment. It shall study, evaluate, and make recommendations on issues affecting the teaching environment and the assessment of student learning. It shall also advise the chair of the committee and coordinate the activities of the Forum for Teaching and Learning.
  1. Continue support for faculty development of teaching and learning strategies by:
    2.
  2. Offering workshops, discussions, and seminars on effective learning, teaching and assessment, especially concerning recently passed curricular initiatives;
    3.
  3. Continuing to create forums for faculty to showcase diverse scholarly and teaching activities, including projects funded through RSPG;
    4.
  4. Develop and implement plans to increase participation in the Teaching, Learning and Assessment projects.
    5.
  5. Assess the effectiveness of the New Faculty program and the need for increasing follow-up activities for new faculty.
    6.
  6. Clarify the responsibilities of the Forum in regards to non-tenure track and adjunct faculty in conjunction with the Adjunct Faculty Task Force.
    7.
  7. Strengthen the Forum’s commitment to WAC, SPEC, and Numeracy Across the Curriculum, and the university diversity requirement.
    8.

MOTION 
Jenny Turley: Moved to approve the above charges for the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee for 2001-2002.
Second: Dan Schroeder
Outcome: The motion passed unanimously.

ADJOURN 
The meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m.