UNL ACADEMIC SENATE

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES

PRESENT: Bender, Bryant, Humes, Baum Kuska, Mayo, Prochaska-Cue, Scheideler

ABSENT: Ford, Kennedy, Latta, Williams, Zorn

DATE: August 26, 1998

PLACE: 1227 R Street, Academic Senate Office

_____________________________________________________________________________

1.0 Call to Order

Secretary Bryant called the meeting to order at 3:05 PM.

2.0 Announcements

No announcements were made.

3.0 Approval of 8/19/98 minutes

Mayo moved and Bender seconded approval of the minutes as amended.

4.0 Finalizing NAGPRA statement for Senate meeting

The Executive Committee worked on writing a statement regarding the Native American issue on campus.

5.0 Nominations for Office of Civil Rights Committee

The Executive Committee completed nomination of people to possibly serve on the committee to review the recommendations made by the Office of Civil Rights to the UNL Affirmative Action Office. Nominees are: Patricia Kennedy, Marketing; Brian Humes, Political Science; Dick Thien, News Editorial; Julie Albrecht, Nutritional Science and Dietetics; Stephen Russell, Family and Consumer Sciences; Gargi Roysircar Sodowsky, Educational Psychology; Mary Beck, Animal Science; Sally Wise, Law; and Jody Isernhagen, Educational Administration.

6.0 Topics for Small Group Discussions

The Executive Committee discussed possible topics for the small group discussions at the Senate meeting. Scheideler suggested that the "Florida Bank" is an issue and asked how far the process has gone. Mayo stated that administration is collecting data and will be running a simulation at the college level. Scheideler than asked to what extent did faculty have input into this planning stage. Bryant responded that they were informed that faculty would have considerable input. Scheideler stated that they need to know administration's goals. Mayo reported that the Entomology department has already been selected as one of the departments to participate in a trial simulation of the bank. Other topics for discussion are reallocation, implementation of post tenure review, benefits and salaries, how the Senate could better represent faculty, how the Senate can play a larger role in faculty governance, and faculty concern on the creation of business centers. Scheideler stated that the departments are under tight fiscal constraints and asked who is going to be fiscally responsible for replacing faculty members who are unable to teach due to health concerns or other crisis. Prochaska-Cue suggested that an emergency contingency fund needs to be established to cover these costs. Humes suggested that an account be set up for unfunded mandates to cover such things as an additional work load in covering honors courses as well as crisis leaves. Baum Kuska brought up issues on faculty morale and it was agreed that apathy still appears to be a problem for many on campus. Concerns related to the University's latest ranking and the high ratio of negative publicity to positive publicity overall that the University receives were discussed. Scheideler suggested that Karen Griess, journalist with the Lincoln Journal Star, be invited to an Executive Committee meeting. Bryant stated that the administration needs to come up with a plan to generate more positive publicity and suggested that they work with the College of Journalism. Bender stated that the College of Journalism works with some of the newspapers in the state. He suggested that Kennedy, Latta and Ford could meet on a regular basis with the city editor from the Lincoln Journal Star, the Omaha World Herald, or some of the local TV stations to chat informally about issues on the horizon.

7.0 Unfinished Business

7.1 Executive Committee Nominations

Coordinator Griffin reported that senators recommended by the committee have been contacted and that she was waiting for a reply from the nominees regarding their decision to run for election.

7.2 Meeting with ASUN and Daily Nebraskan Students

Bryant asked for suggestions of topics to discuss with the ASUN and DN students. Scheideler suggested discussing what expectations students have of faculty and how much representation do off-campus students have. Mayo suggested getting feedback from the students on the comprehensive and integrated studies programs. He also suggested that the students could host a debate on the proposed constitutional lid.

8.0 New Business

No new business.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 pm. The next Executive Committee will be held on September 2, 201 Canfield Administration Building. Respectfully submitted, Miles Bryant.