UNL ACADEMIC SENATE

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES

PRESENT: Albrecht, Bender, Past-President Bleed, President Ford, President-Elect Kennedy, Japp, Latta, Mayo, Sartori, Scheideler, Shoemaker, Williams

ABSENT: Baum Kuska

DATE: March 4, 1998

PLACE: 1227 R Street, Academic Senate Office

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1.0 Call to Order

Ford called the meeting to order at 3:01 PM.

2.0 Announcements

2.1 Academic Senate Meeting

Bleed announced that he asked the Antelope Creek study team to send a copy of the traffic study to Don Jensen, Psychology. The committee discussed the possibility of having someone from the Antelope Valley Study come to a meeting of the Senate. It was decided to ask the Academic Planning Committee if they would like such a visit.

2.2 Nominating Committee

Bleed reported that Tom Calhoun, Sociology, will serve as the outside member of the nominating committee.

2.3 Academic Planning Committee

Latta reported that Senior Vice Chancellor Edwards clarified that at this point, university administration has only committed to reallocation for the next fiscal year, not restructuring. The proposal set forth in the "Focusing Our Resources" document, outlines a process and set of goals that are still in the discussion stage. She stated that the APC formed a subcommittee to explore alternatives to the process outlined by Senior Vice Chancellor Edwards' for targeting specific areas for enhancement, and to make a recommendation to APC. Ford asked if Latta could be made an Ex-officio member of the APC subcommittee. He stated that he will check with L. Davis Clements, Chair of APC.

2.4 Reallocation

Mayo questioned how national stature could be obtained for the University by continual reallocation of funds from existing programs to selected areas. Increased stature of some programs will come at the expense of quality in many other excellent and essential areas. Scheideler stated that there was some utility in bringing reallocation and restructuring together. Ford stated an additional issue next year will be faculty salaries. Scheideler stated that there needs to be discussion on the reallocation process and the disconnection between what is being considered and what is actually done. She stated that administration thought that people whose jobs were discontinued through the reallocation process would receive help in finding another job within the university, however, she reported that this did not happen and that several people lost jobs due to the reallocation process. Mayo stated that there are a number of University of Nebraska programs already recognized for excellence nationally and continued reallocation will contribute to erosion of excellence in some areas. Albrecht asked if any documents about the reallocation process had been distributed. Japp reported that the College of Arts and Sciences had distributed a 25 page report on reallocation.

3.0 Approval of 2/25/98 minutes (Albrecht)

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

4.0 Professional Ethics Statement (Kennedy)

Kennedy reported that she met with Helen Moore, Sociology, who was a member of the Ad hoc committee which drafted the Professional Ethics Statement, to discuss the document. She stated that they agreed that formatting changes needed to be made to the document and they discussed how the document could be distributed to faculty. Ford suggested that it be put on the web, Kennedy suggested that it be made part of the faculty handbook, Latta stated that it could be disseminated at new faculty orientation. Bleed suggested that Academic Affairs could have a forum on ethics. Bender stated that sending out the document now was timely and that it would provide an opportunity to discuss the statement. Latta objected that sending out the document to all faculty without providing a context would be counterproductive. Ford suggested that the Senate and administration could send this out as a joint activity. Latta reported that the libraries were hosting a visiting scholar on April 17^th whose area of expertise is ethics in the computer age and that discussion of the document could tie in well with this presentation.

5.0 New Business

5.1 Email Confidentiality

Albrecht stated that she had received an email message from a senator regarding email confidentiality. Latta recalled that last year the Executive Committee was informed that all email on the UNLinfo server is backed up daily, and stored for a period of two years. It is not routinely reviewed, but can be subpoenaed.

5.2 Confidentiality of Student Records

Latta reported that a Daily Nebraskan article disclosed information on a course a student took through Distance Education. She expressed concern that the Director of Marketing had disclosed this information to the media, despite laws protecting the confidentiality of student records. Ford suggested we discuss this incident with the Chancellor and ask him to follow up with the Division of Continuing Studies. Albrecht stated that she is often asked by the University media to disclose comments or names of people who have participated in surveys. She stated that information gathered from surveys is confidential and that the University media needs to be trained on what kind of information can be made public.

6.0 Unfinished Business

6.1 Perks for Senators

Ford reported that only a small number of faculty have any problems with parking for Senate meetings. Albrecht stated that UNL alumni receive a discount card from local businesses and asked if the same can be given for faculty. Sartori suggested that Agnes Adams, Chair of Employee Benefits Committee be contacted about this benefit.

6.2 IPEDS versus AAUP Data

Ford reported that the Office of the Provost prepared a report for state senators on the LB389 gender and minority equity data. He stated that questions asked by the senators were addressed and that the response to these questions were:

1) there was no difference in the campus benchmarks for gender ratio improvement between if AAUP data were used instead of IPEDS fall staff data;

2) there would be no difference in the proportion of women faculty shown in the UNL Fall Staff report if department chairs, department heads, and school directors are added to the report;

3) in comparing UNL, UNO, and UNK with their 29 peer institutions, the composite percentage of female faculty increases from 24.6% to 25% if only the 22 institutions at which librarians hold faculty appointments are included. For the subset of UNL's 10 peer institutions, the percentage changes from 22.4% to 21.6% if only those institutions at which librarians are faculty are included.

6.3 Childcare on Campus

Scheideler asked whether there had been any progress on childcare facilities on campus. She stated that the Ruth Staple Laboratories on East Campus remained unused during the summer months and could be used as a facility to accommodate child care and should be looked into. The Executive committee discussed the possibility of campus recreation to provide childcare services for students with children while they attend classes.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:42 PM. The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, 201 Canfield Administration Building. Respectfully submitted, Julie Albrecht, Secretary.