Email: Senate@unlinfo.unl.edu
Website: http://www.unl.edu/asenate/welcome.htm
UNL ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING MINUTES
Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, Auditorium
January 13, 1998
Presidents James Ford and Patricia Kennedy Presiding
1.0 Call to Order
President Ford called the meeting to order at 2:40 p.m.
2.0 Announcements
2.1 Sign-in Reminder
President Ford reminded the Senators that they needed to sign-in at each Senate meeting for attendance records. He stated that Senators missing more than three meetings may be replaced. Ford also reminded Senators that they were allowed to have a substitute attend a meeting for them but the substitute would not be allowed to vote.
2.2 Academic Presidents' Meeting with President Smith
President Ford reported that the Presidents of the Academic Senate from each campus met with President Smith. Ford reported that President Smith was solidly in favor of asking the Regents for a 6% raise in faculty salaries in the next biennium and an increase in retirement benefits to 8%.
2.3 TKE House
President Ford announced that the space allocation for the Senate office in the TKE house was not resolved yet and that the issue was still being reviewed.
2.4 Post Tenure Review Policy
President Ford reported that after many hours of input, the UNL campus passed a post-tenure review document that is now the model for the other campuses. He stated that Provost Jones was asked by President Smith to draft a post tenure review policy and that Provost Jones used the UNL document. Ford stated that in the model Provost Jones' felt that the review panel should have external members on it.
2.5 Martin Luther King's Birthday Observance
President Elect Kennedy reported that many groups were involved in the planning of activities to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday. She reported that ASUN had activities scheduled from 10:00 until 4:00 in the Student Union; a Youth of Lincoln program was scheduled with a march beginning at the Student Union and culminating at the Lied Center where there will be guest speakers and music; a discussion on what Martin Luther King means to the University followed by a reception at the Sheldon Art Gallery. Kennedy encouraged all to attend and participate in the activities.
2.6 "Florida Bank"
President Ford reported that a presentation by Provost Elizabeth Capaldi of the University of Florida on the "Florida Bank" was held earlier in the day. He stated that there was a great deal of interest in this particular model of allocating resources at UNL. Four members of the Executive Committee were invited to participate.
3.0 Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association Donation (Roeber)
Ron Roeber, President of the Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association presented the Academic Senate with a donation of $750 from the NCEA. Presdient Ford thanked Ron Roeber and the NCEA for their continued support of the Academic Senate. Sartori moved that the Senate formally express their appreciation and gratitude to the NCEA for this support. Motion unanimously passed.
4.0 Chancellor Moeser
4.1 "Florida Bank"
Chancellor Moeser reported that Provost Capaldi and two of her associates were invited to the campus to present information on the "Florida Bank". Chancellor Moeser stated that the bank is an allocation system for funds internal to the University and that it creates a process for qualitative productivity evaluation. He stated that it will be helpful in the allocation of new funds and the reallocation process which he stated will be conducted in another year. Chancellor Moeser stated that the University of Florida was very interested in working with UNL in developing a similar system.
4.2 Academic Rigor
Chancellor Moeser reported that he discussed with the Executive Committee the academic rigor of the campus and he stated that he will be sending a letter to the faculty asking that they engage in serious discussion with their colleagues on the rigor of the Undergraduate program. Chancellor Moeser stated that in the past two years there has been a culture shift on campus brought about by the new admissions standard and the aggressive recruitment of top students. Chancellor Moeser stated that the campus needs to increase the level of rigor with the goal of having more positive effects on the retention and graduation rate. Chancellor Moeser stated that a change in budgeting is needed to reward those colleges and departments that improve and stress teaching.
4.3 Martin Luther King Observance
Chancellor Moeser stated that a rich variety of activities were planned to honor Dr. Martin Luther King on January 19th and he encouraged faculty and staff to attend the many events.
4.4 Board of Regents Meeting
Chancellor Moeser stated that the budget request to the Board of Regents on January 17th will be large because the aggregate needs of the University are great. He stated that real attention will be placed on faculty salaries at UNL. Chancellor Moeser reported that the only issue for the short session will be deferred maintenance.
5.0 Approval of 12/2/97 Minutes (Secretary Albrecht)
Haller, English, moved and Lingren, Family and Consumer Sciences, seconded approval of the minutes as amended.
6.0 Committee Reports
Teaching Council (Peterson)
Professor Peterson, Chair of the Teaching Council, reported that awards for excellence for teaching were listed in the report. He stated that the Teaching Council was working on initiatives to obtain more funding for teaching and compared the budget for the Teaching Council which is $13,000-$14,000 a year as compared to the Research Council which receives $360,000 per year. Peterson reported that the committee was working with the University Foundation and wrote a proposal to try to obtain more funding. He stated that the Teaching Council was trying to obtain funding from the Pepsi Endowment Fund. Peterson reported that the Teaching Council, along with the Teaching/Learning/Technology Roundtable received $60,000 of reallocated funds and that the two committees will be working with Evelyn Jacobson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, to coordinate the use of the funds. Peterson stated that due to the fiscal year system, it would be more advantageous for the Teaching Council to submit its report to the Academic Senate at the end of the spring semester. Mientka, Mathematics & Statistics, praised the Teaching Council for their allocation of funds and stated that it would be helpful to know the consequence of the allocated funds. Peterson stated that all allocated projects required reports upon completion of the project and copies of the reports could be obtained from Professor Del Wright, Teaching and Learning Center. Ford suggested that the reports be put on the web. Peterson stated that he will check into this.
6.2 Academic Planning Committee
Professor Clements, Chair of the Academic Planning Committee, reported that the Academic Planning Committee worked as mediators in the formulation of the School of Natural Resources and the renaming and restructuring of Geology to Geosciences. He reported that the Geosciences proposal has not been totally resolved yet and that Geography was still in the process of being reconfigured. Clements stated that a resolution was passedstating that "The Academic Planning Committee does not approve of the message about the University that this project presents." Clements reported that the APC is currently reviewing a proposal to start an architectural engineering program at UNO. Clements suggested that the reallocation process should not be conducted prior to any biennial legislative session. Clements also asked where the money was to come from in regards to the NRI reallocation.
7.0 Small Group Discussions "Shared Governance"
Ford stated that the focus of the small groups was to discuss the proper balance of faculty governance with administration and gave examples of areas in which faculty input was needed. He stated that the Executive Committee and administration wanted to co-sponsor meetings to discuss faculty governance and that these discussion groups were the kick-off to address this issue.
Small Group Comments:
Group 1:
There has been a change in the role of the Senate. In the past the Senate was more powerful and administration felt some accountability to the faculty. The faculty are often presented with something and asked to endorse it rather than give input on it. The faculty would like to hear from administration "what can we do to help you do your jobs better". There is a need to think about what the university is: do faculty and students serve policy or vice versa.
Group 2:
Ways to improve communication are needed. The language that administration uses with faculty is important. They need to invite dialog. The group questioned the image administration has of the Senate. Administration's view appears to question whether faculty should be involved in governance.
Group 3:
There is cynicism towards administration in that they come with the intention of spending a few years and using the University as a stepping stone to further their own careers. As a result, this gives rise to grandiose proposals that are not well thought out. All initiatives should come to existing faculty committees and the committees should be involved from the beginning. The group urges people to come to the Executive Committee with issues.
Group #4 & 7:
The group wondered why faculty were not as involved as they used to be and asked whether faculty would become involved in faculty governance. They asked whether the committee structure is adequate to jump into governance? The group felt that the governance approach of the university is a top down administration. How well are faculty utilized in the reallocation process?
Group #5:
The group noticed how many Senators left when the small group discussions were to begin and wondered how important the issue was to faculty. New administration is setting up task forces and is duplicating efforts. The group stated that administration sends the message that faculty are not important. Faculty now have more responsibilities than before and are being stretched too thin.
Group #8:
The group felt that many people were opposed to the idea of small group discussions. They felt that a good definition of shared governance was needed and asked what areas should administration take jointly and what areas should faculty legitimately take. The group felt that administration should involve faculty at all levels to inform meaningful input and that administration should act upon that input. There should be a tenure vote of administration candidates and that there should be a process of faculty reviewing candidates for administrative positions. They asked if there was a faculty representative on the Board of Regents. Ford replied that they had asked many times but they were turned down each time.
Group #9:
The University is not a business and should not be treated as such. How do we get administration to change to allow faculty governance? Faculty are held accountable for many things. The administration's function should be to support, not control.
8.0 Unfinished Business
8.1 Resolutions Concerning the Academic Calendar
Professor Sartori, Physics and Astronomy, stated that only one of the three resolutions of the Academic Calendar Committee was acted upon at the last Senate meeting and that the Senate needed to act upon Resolution #2 and Resolution #3. Resolution #2 was endorsing the elimination of the day after Labor Day as a holiday and instituting a "fall break" on the Monday and Tuesday of the week following the eighth week of classes. Sartori reported that students highly favored a fall break. President Ford stepped down and President Elect Kennedy took over as President. Ford stated that he was opposed to reducing the number of teaching days and that he could see no benefit in shortening the semester. Gay, Physics and Astronomy, stated that he hoped that the Chancellor would speak out against the motion in favor of academic rigor. Resolution #2 did not pass. Resolution #3 endorsing the proposal to change the spring break from the week after the tenth week of classes to the week after the ninth week of classes was approved: 35 yes, 11 no. Sartori stated that a formal count was not taken on Resolution #2. Brand, Parlimentarian stated that the resolution must be accountable and a motion would be needed to reconsider the vote. Profesor Mayo, Entomology, suggested taking a straw vote. The straw vote on Resolution #2 was 15 yes, 31 no.
8.2 Martin Luther King Vote
Professor Roysircar Sodowsky, Educational Psychology, stated that the members of the Town Hall Meeting appreciated the vote at the last senate meeting and she stated that she was withdrawing the second part of the motion put forth by the Town Hall committee. Roysircar Sodowsky reported that the Town Hall members will be creating a Web site in the near future.
The meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m. The next Senate meeting will be February 3, 1998 in the Auditorium, Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, East Campus. Respectfully submitted, Julie Albrecht, Secretary.