EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES
Present: Alexander,
Alloway, Fech, Flowers,
Hoffman, Moeller, Peterson, Scholz
Absent: Beck, Bolin, Rapkin,
Shea, Stock
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Location: 201 Canfield Administration Building
Note: These
are not verbatim minutes. They are a
summary of the discussions at the Executive Committee meeting as corrected by
those participating.
______________________________________________________________________
1.0 Call to Order
Moeller called the meeting to order
at 3:05 p.m.
2.0 Chancellor Perlman/SVCAA
Couture
2.1 Professor
of Practice Positions – Implementation
Moeller stated that one of the questions raised in discussions on the positions is what the timeline will be for implementing them. Chancellor Perlman stated that there is no rush to implement the titles. He noted that SVCAA Couture is at a Council of Academic Officers meeting this afternoon and will present the proposal to see what the other campuses think of it but they do not have to adopt it. He stated that he hopes that it will be ready by the fall semester.
Moeller stated that another concern raised is that research professors are hired on soft money without input from the faculty who often do not have knowledge that these people are being hired. Chancellor Perlman stated that currently the Professor of Practice positions are dealing only with teaching instructors. He noted that there has been some reference to using these positions as an option for research professors but no conclusions on this have been made yet. He pointed out that research professors are a little different and are hired for particular expertise and when the grant runs out the position is terminated. He stated that he does not know how much faculty involvement is needed to hire research professors who are on soft money.
Peterson stated that most people thought the report made sense but there was concern with why the Executive Committee needed to respond so quickly when the report was written back in December. Chancellor Perlman stated that there was some delay in getting the report out because the administration felt that the Deans should be consulted first to see if there were any problems with it.
Chancellor Perlman noted that the Professor of Practice positions are an option for the departments and colleges to use for non-tenure track faculty members. He stated that the administration will be vigilant that these positions are not used as an alternative for someone who cannot make tenure. He pointed out that this is not the intent of these positions and some evidence of scholarly activity is needed in order for a person to obtain any of these positions.
Hoffman asked if the details for these positions are defined at the department level or the university level. Chancellor Perlman stated that initially they are defined at the department level. Hoffman asked if these people can be promoted and whether their promotion would go through the department promotion and tenure committee. Chancellor Perlman stated that this is the intent of the positions. He noted that the recommendations clearly state that people in these positions should have voting rights on things in the department except on tenure. If an Assistant Professor of Practice is being promoted to a full Professor of Practice then the senior Professors of Practice in the department should be involved in the evaluation process. Moeller stated that in departments with a large number of these people voting could change. Chancellor Perlman stated that he would be surprised if there are a large number of people in these positions.
2.2 Audit Request on Post
Tenure Review
Moeller stated that President Beck sent an email message to SVCAA Couture and VC Owens asking them for an audit on the post tenure review policy to see if it has been effective but there has been no response yet. Chancellor Perlman stated that he has not heard anything about it but he will ask about it.
2.3 Senate Restructuring –
Discussion with Deans?
Chancellor Perlman stated that he has not interacted with the Deans on this subject but SVCAA Couture has and she reported that there are no strong objections from the Deans on this.
2.4 Budget Update
Chancellor Perlman reported that admissions are looking up for next year and if they hold it will look more promising for the budget. He pointed out that definite figures will not be known for awhile yet in part because Varner Hall uses a complicated mathematical formula to distribute the tuition that is generated. He stated that extra tuition funds that come in are not given directly to the campuses. He noted that some one time funds will come back to the campuses to help with urgent needs but these funds will not be built into the budget until the following year. He pointed out that the Regents’ priorities come off the top of the budget before the funds are allocated to the campuses.
Chancellor Perlman stated that if the State Legislature helps with the Mead and utilities deficit the University will be in reasonably good shape and we should be able to take care of the priorities. However, next year there could be some financial challenges because of some costs that are accumulating. He noted that health care costs seem stable for now and there will be a major effort at the system level to continue looking at these costs.
Fech stated that the $30 per credit hour sale is an incredible deal for students. He thought that these courses would be helpful for freshmen students. Chancellor Perlman stated that one of the concerns is to make sure that the incoming freshmen get the courses they need. He stated that the sale is an experiment to see if monetary incentives could be used to make shifts in enrollment. He noted that this could help with some courses that have a backlog of students trying to enroll. He pointed out that the Deans have been good in trying to provide instructional classes that students might need to finish their degree. Hoffman noted that other universities have done similar things and they usually try attracting non-traditional students this way. Chancellor Perlman stated that this is being explored as well.
Peterson stated that he has heard that there is a problem with upper level students taking 100 level classes which prohibits freshmen from taking the class. He stated that if the upper level students took these courses during the summer it might help. Chancellor Perlman stated that this is the first opportunity to address this backlog of students. He noted that the next step might be to enforce a policy where upper level students might have an increase in cost if they wait to take these 100 level classes in the fall semester when they can do it in the summer instead.
Alloway asked what predictions might be for the University with the term limits taking affect in the State Legislature and the governor’s race. Chancellor Perlman stated that it is totally unpredictable at this point.
2.5 Issues on the Horizon
Chancellor Perlman reported that the NCA Accreditation process and the NCAA Accreditation process are moving forward well. He noted that these accreditation processes will consume a lot of time in the fall.
Chancellor Perlman stated that he has not had many comments concerning the email message he sent out on the core values. He noted that everyone seems to have one or two values that they would like to see added but he is trying to stick with the ones that the campus has adopted.
Peterson stated that he is bothered by the use of the word “uncompromising” in the core values. He pointed out that compromises have to be made all of the time. Chancellor Perlman stated that the phrase comes from the 20/20 report. Peterson stated that he has contacted the general education committee asking if what they are working on can be incorporated with the “Leaders” suggestion made by the Chancellor. Chancellor Perlman stated that he is not inclined to promote the “Leaders” thing as the key to the program but it might help people to remember what the program should accomplish.
Hoffman stated that he received an email message about the Semester at Sea program but he could not locate any information about the cost of it. Chancellor Perlman stated that it is probably around $9200 which covers tuition and meals on the ship for the summer and Semester at Sea is offering $5000 off this price for this summer.
Hoffman stated that the Safe Assignment program on Blackboard which checks for plagiarism has two major advantages. He noted that it only costs $9000 a year and gives instructors a significant tool to use for their courses.
Flowers stated that instructors did not know that Safe Assignment was only for a trial period and was to be discontinued at the end of the fall semester but he thinks the Executive Committee has called attention to it so that the program is being continued through this semester. He stated that in order for the program to be evaluated faculty members need to use it and provide feedback. He pointed out that there would be better response to the program if it was communicated better to the faculty. Hoffman stated that with just a few clicks on Blackboard the program can be used and it works very well.
Chancellor Perlman asked who runs the program. Flowers stated that he believes the Libraries were to evaluate the use of it. He noted that an advantage to the program is that it can keep a database of local papers so a student could not use the same paper as their friend’s here at UNL. He stated that the database does not extend to other universities. He pointed out that the program is seamless and instructive and does more than just catch people cheating. He stated that the University needs to adopt some kind of product for the purpose of identifying academic dishonesty.
Peterson reported that Professor Rupnow contacted him about the difficulties he had in getting access to a classroom he was scheduled to hold an exam in on a Saturday. Peterson stated that he does not think Professor Rupnow is satisfied with the situation yet but he did appreciate the Chancellor’s quick response about working on the problem. Peterson noted that the Committee met with Chief Yardley and it is a more complicated situation than people realize.
Moeller stated that the problem is not all under the jurisdiction of the Police. Chancellor Perlman noted that there have been some miscommunications as well. He stated that the University is trying to get a system where one call can be placed and someone will be allowed access to get into classrooms. He stated that eventually things will become easier as card access becomes more commonplace. He pointed out that this is not easily done and it is expensive. He noted that some faculty members may be resistant to a card access system but the campus needs more security.
3.0 Announcements
3.1 Revisions
to Faculty Compensation Advisory Committee
4.0 Approval of 3/8/06 Minutes
Alloway moved and Peterson seconded approval of the minutes as amended. Motion approved.
5.0 Unfinished Business
5.1 Executive Committee
Elections
Moeller noted that there is a candidate for the Secretary of the Senate, one candidate for the Executive Committee, and a possible candidate for President-Elect. She noted that there is no candidate yet for the Extension Educator position and one additional member is needed. The Committee discussed what colleges do not have representation on the Committee.
6.2
Moeller stated that she reviewed the old procedures and pointed out that the charts included in the document give a clearer path of the procedures to be followed than does the narrative. She stated that Mary Beck may want to chair an ad hoc committee to work with her on revising the draft proposal to revise the procedures. She stated that she wants to know where the process was not followed the last time.
Peterson suggested that Beck should be consulted with about this. He noted that the Chancellor seems to be receptive to having a conversation on the procedures. He pointed out that the recently suggested procedures would give faculty more input into the procedures. He noted that during the budget cuts the only faculty input was through the Academic Planning Committee but this is not just a faculty group. He stated that faculty members on the APC were very frustrated with the current procedures because they were not shown all of the options for making budget cuts.
7.0 New Business
No new business was discussed.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:22 p.m. The next meeting of the Executive Committee will be on Wednesday, March 29th at 3:00 pm. The meeting will be held in the Academic Senate Office, 420 University Terrace. The minutes are respectfully submitted by Karen Griffin, Coordinator and Pat Shea, Secretary.