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UNL ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING MINUTES
City Campus Union, Great Plains Room
October 5, 1999
Presidents Gail Latta, and Sheila Scheideler Presiding
1.0 Call to Order
President Latta called the meeting to order at 2:37 p.m.
2.0 Announcements
2.1 Campus Dialogue on Race
President Latta announced that the Afrikan Peoples Union and the Office of Student Involvement will be sponsoring a campus dialogue on race "Moving Beyond Analysis to Solutions" on October 6th, 11:30-1:00 at the Culture Center. She encouraged faculty to attend.
2.2 Intellectual Property Policy
President Latta reported that the intellectual property policy is being reworked. She stated that Agnes Adams, Libraries, is representing the faculty in some of these discussions.
2.3 Meeting with AAUP
President Latta reported that the Executive Committees of the Academic Senate and AAUP met to discuss issues that are of mutual interest between the Senate and AAUP. She noted that they discussed many of the actions that the Senate has identified. She stated that they hope to continue the discussion and to involve the AAUP in some of the actions that the Senate hopes to take.
2.4 Diversity Conference
President Latta reported that Sheila Scheideler, President-Elect, Tom Winter, Classics, and herself attended a diversity summit that was sponsored by the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of People of Color held on campus last week. She stated that this was an initial discussion and that the summit is an effort to get better coordination among all of the groups on campus that address diversity issues.
3.0 Senior Vice Chancellor Edwards
SVCAA Edwards reminded everyone of the memorial service for Melvin Jones on Thursday, October 7th at 12:30 in the Lied Center.
SVCAA Edwards reported that they are beginning to put together the campus budget request for the 2001-03 biennial. He pointed out that the process calls for the Chancellor to present his recommendations for that budget to Central Administration. After obtaining the budget recommendations from each of the four campuses, Central Administration will put together a budget that will be presented to the Board of Regents. He noted that the Academic Planning Committee, the Senate Executive Committee, the Council of Deans, and the Chancellor's Cabinet will all be part of the discussion on the budget. He stated that although a budget listing specific items is given to the Legislature, the University only receives one large sum of funding. The Legislature does not define how this should be spent although discussion of the specific items allows the Legislature to get some idea of what the funds will be used for. He noted that Central Administration then gives each of the campuses a total amount to spend as the campus deems fit, although there may be some instructions from either the State or Central Administration on how some of the campus budget can be spent.
SVCAA Edwards stated that some items that are being considered for the budget request are:
Faculty/staff salaries. This should be the top priority. He noted that if we stay on the four year plan, which is broken down to increases of 4.74% for faculty, 4.62% for administrators, and 4.75% for staff salaries, it would require $9.5 million of new money in the first year of the biennium and $10.1 million in the second year. He pointed out that the Governor and Legislature were very supportive of faculty salaries last year, but that the farm crisis could have an effect on us.
SVCAA Edwards pointed out that these next items were not prioritized.
Research Challenge Fund. SVCAA Edwards stated that they want to propose a research challenge fund at the state level. He noted that this would be a pool of funds that would be available for the University to draw upon only when we are successful in increasing our external funding. He stated that we would use this fund at the state level as a match in our grant applications. This would engage the state in a partnership that would emphasize research. He noted that a number of states have similar programs.
Extended Education. SVCAA Edwards noted they would like to propose a $2 million appropriation for extended education. He pointed out that the Regents have decided that the tuition policy is that non-residential students will pay the same tuition rate for extended education courses as residential students pay for on campus courses. He noted that this creates a problem because we receive a state appropriation which pays approximately 2/3 of the instructional courses for residential students but that we do not receive this funding for students taking extended education courses. He pointed out that as a result of this policy, we will have to take funds that are being used for residential education to help provide extended education. He noted that if we want to improve extended education, we need the appropriate funding.
Public Works. SVCAA Edwards pointed out that a number of infrastructure improvements on campus, in particular electric substations, have been repeatedly taken off the budget to accommodate other needs. They are proposing a small, but continuing fund that will allow for these improvements. He stated that they are seeking $500,000 for these projects.
Undergraduate Scholarships. They want to request $1 million for additional financial aid for students, based on need and merit. He noted that the merit scholarships would be for very good students who may be slightly below the top students. He pointed out that we are losing many of these good students to other schools because we are unable to offer them scholarships.
Diversity. SVCAA Edwards stated that they want to request $1 million for diversity. He noted that this would be used for targeted opportunity hires to help meet the standards of diversity set by the Legislature in 1997.
Child Care. They would like to request $500,000 for child care. SVCAA Edwards pointed out that we have a serious shortage of child care support for faculty, staff and students. He noted that VC Jones was working on a plan with some private child care providers to increase the service of child care for the campus community but that it does not look like this will be implemented.
SVCAA Edwards pointed out that we are in the early stages of discussion on these priorities and he encouraged faculty to get input into the budget planning. He noted that there will be a few major areas that President Smith will recommend in the budget. He pointed out that technology investments are not on the list now, but it may have to be put on the list. He noted they are waiting to see how Central Administration organizes a larger technology package. He stated that the Kiewit plan will be finished after this year so there will be no further requirements from our campus.
Van Roojen, Philosophy, pointed out that graduate student stipends are falling significantly behind those at other institutions and he asked if this isn't something that should be included in the budget? SVCAA Edwards agrees and noted that they hope to address this in a major way through private funding. He stated that they are hoping to go to the Regents with a proposal that would help them to accomplish this.
Scheideler, Animal Science, asked if the proposed research challenge fund is the same as the Nebraska Research Initiative? SVCAA Edwards stated that it is not. The Research Initiative was money that came to the departments for research on campus. He stated that the research challenge fund is a very different concept in that it requires us to perform first, and then we would get access to funding.
Scheideler asked how the proposed new scholarships differ from the scholarships created in the last reallocation by the Chancellor? SVCAA Edwards stated that last year's scholarships went towards positioning us to compete for the very best students in Nebraska. He pointed out that these new scholarships are for students who are very good students, but may be slightly below the top students. He noted that these scholarships are aimed at a different student population. He pointed out that we should be able to recruit many of these students. He stated that we need help with need-based scholarships as well. He noted that while we are number 48 in the U.S. News & World's report of great universities at great prices, we are damaged by the fact that we give very few scholarships and tuition waivers. Scheideler pointed out that the Senate passed a resolution supporting the transfer of tuition remission for faculty and staff and suggested that this be kept in mind when discussing recruitment of students.
Reece, Panhandle Research and Extension, asked for further clarification on the childcare proposal. He asked who would be able to participate and what would be provided with the $500,000 investment? SVCAA Edwards stated that a number of advisory groups are currently working on this project and that he is not familiar with all of the details. He noted that the idea is to provide sufficient support to make a meaningful contribution to solving day care shortage. He stated that whether that is on-campus or off- campus in conjunction with private employers is yet to be determined. Reece pointed out that is understandable to invest funds in on-campus day care programs, but it would not be equitable across the state. He suggested that it may be used to enhance the benefits package. He stated that if day care can not be provided at the research and extension centers than they may want to look at a combination of benefits so that some effort is made to develop an equitable program for all of the employees across the state.
Mientka, Mathematics & Statistics, thanked SVCAA Edwards for his article. He stated that once again he witnessed students climbing between the cars of a stalled train on the tracks on the north side of campus. He suggested that perhaps the university could assess the railroad companies 10 cents a ton for every coal car that goes through the state. He pointed out that while he does not know how feasible this is, it would help provide some much needed funding. SVCAA Edwards stated that he liked the idea. He pointed out that the students climbing through the cars is a very serious problem. He noted that they are trying to deal with that through the Antelope Valley project.
SVCAA Edwards reported that the relational database of the Nebraska Performance Model, is called MYNULOOK. He stated that they hope to get it to the faculty soon. He noted that they have received favorable feedback on it. He stated that the faculty may be getting information this fall on how to log on to the system. He pointed out that they are hoping, as the system develops, that there will be electronic submission of grades, electronic rosters, and the ability to submit grant applications and check on them through the computer.
SVCAA Edwards announced that Dan Bernstein, Psychology, has received a $750,000 grant from the PEW Charitable Trusts for continued support of the peer evaluation of teaching project. He noted that we will be the lead institution in this 4 year project. The University of Michigan, Indiana University, Texas A & M, and Kansas State will be the junior institutions on the project. He stated that we will be working with these institutions to develop cross-campus linkages among faculty on peer evaluation of teaching. He noted that there will be a national conference held here to bring some of these people in from the junior institutions. This will be followed up with a national conference that will be open to representatives from all institutions across the country. He congratulated Dan Bernstein and all of the other faculty who have worked on this project.
Faculty Retreat - SVCAA Edwards reported that he and VC Omtvedt will be hosting the second annual faculty retreat in mid-October at Grand Island. He stated that approximately 75 faculty will participating in the retreat.
SVCAA Edwards reported that the Chancellor will be making an announcement at the end of this week or next week to replace VC Jones both for the interim and perhaps for the longer term search process.
SVCAA Edwards stated that the search committee for the Vice Chancellor of IANR has been announced. The committee will be chaired by Cynthia Milligan, Dean of CBA, and will include: Mark Gustafson, Ron Raikes, Mark Kuzila, Keith Glewen, Pat Dussault, Pat Crews, Jim Van Etten, Don Beermann, Juan Gonzales, Roy Frederick, and Betty Diaz (undergraduate student representative). Kim Robak and Gail Latta will serve on the committee as ex officio members.
SVCAA Edwards announced that Dean Jim O'Hanlon of Teachers College has been appointed as Associate Vice Chancellor for Extended Education. He will be reporting to both SVCAA Edwards and VC Omtvedt. He stated that this is a two year appointment at .25 FTE.
4.0 Health Insurance Update (David Lechner, Vice President for Business and Finance and Linda Mannering, Assistant Vice President for Planning, Budget, and Information Management)
Latta reported that Agnes Adams, Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee was unable to attend the Senate meeting due to an illness. Latta stated that Adams wanted the Senate to know that the UNL and University-wide Benefits Committee are very much involved in the discussions of the changes that are being proposed to the health insurance coverage. Lechner explained that the University health plan is a minimum premium plan which means that we give very few dollars to an insurance company to provide us the insurance component of the plan. He pointed out that if our claims get to a certain level, then Blue Cross/Blue Shield pays the amount that exceeds our limit. He stated that when this occurs, the dollar amount of the losses over the stop loss level, are passed on to the people in the plan in the ensuing years.
Lechner reported that the income to the insurance plan comes from four sources: appropriations, contributions from the University out of its general funds, auxiliary business units, payments made by the employees, and interest on the health trust. He noted that the University is charged $150,000 per month for processing the insurance claims. He stated that the reserve levels in the trust are to cover any claims that have been cut off due to the end of the fiscal year. He pointed out that the total expenses have been steadily increasing over the last few years.
Lechner reported that in 1998 the trust balance was down but that a price increase was not passed on to the employees at that time. He noted that the last time prices were raised was in 1993. He pointed out that there has been an 11% increase in health claims in the past year. He reported that some of these increases has been the result of increased pharmacy costs and increased visits to the doctors which has risen by $1.3 million. He indicated that the contributions made by the auxiliary units has gone down and that people switching plans has also resulted in some costs.
He noted that there is still $12 million in the reserve but that this fund will be -$90 million by the year 2004 if prices are not increased. He stated that there will probably be an average increase of between $7 - $28 per month depending on the insurance coverage of the employee but that the increase will be migrating to a 21% increase over the next few years. He noted that there will be some minor coverage modifications, which have been endorsed by the Employees Benefits committee. He stated that our deficit plan will work only if our claims remain at 11%. He pointed out that we are still covered by the remaining reserve but that we need to act now in order to have a health trust fund in the future.
Jaswal, Physics and Astronomy, asked why the income is going down and the auxiliaries are bringing in less money? Lechner stated that a number of people who were employed by the University Hospital have been able to switch their premiums over to NHS resulting in less money being put into the health care plan.
Van Roojen, Philosophy, asked if part of the problem is the ageing of the employees? Lechner stated that this is a factor and that we are heavy users of the insurance. He noted that they have hired consultants to look at the pricing. He stated that the pricing of the plan has not been looked at in detail since 1987. He noted that we need to align our pricing with our demographics. He pointed out that President Smith is very adamant about ability to pay. He stated that President Smith has asked, as part of that consultant study, to look at breakage in rates. He stated that they should have the results of the study by the end of December. However, he pointed out that we will not be able to put any of the recommendations into rates until the year 2001.
Jaswal stated that he was surprised at the pharmacy costs being so high. Lechner reminded him that our plan also covers retirees which plays a significant factor in the increase in pharmacy costs since Medicare does not cover pharmacy items.
A member of the audience asked for elaboration on changes to the mental health benefits. Lechner responded that it has been mandated by law that we need to provide certain mental health benefits. He stated that rough estimates show that, with the $25 co-payment, which was discussed by the benefits committee, that it will cost us approximately $1.5 million a year. He noted that some of the benefit changes endorsed by the benefits committee would cover part of this aspect of the plan.
Latta asked when Caremark coverage for prescriptions was initiated? Lechner stated that he believes it was done in 1997. He stated that Caremark was going to try to regulate the pharmacy costs and that they will be looking into whether this has helped.
Lechner pointed out that the NUFLEX booklet will be distributed to employees in November. He stated that anyone with questions can send them via email to nuhealth@uneb.edu.
5.0 Approval of 9/7/99 Minutes
Mayo, Entomology, moved that the minutes be approved as amended. Diffendal, Conservation and Survey, seconded the motion. Motion approved.
6.0 Committee Reports
6.1 Academic Rights & Responsibilities Committee (Professor Wise)
Wise, Chair of the Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee, noted that a copy of the report was distributed to the senators and asked for any questions. She pointed out that the committee is working on procedures that were approved in 1994. She stated that changes may be presented to the Senate this year.
6.2 Academic Standards Committee (Professor Pfieffer)
Pfeiffer, a member of the Academic Standards Committee, noted that a copy of the report was distributed to senators in their packets and asked for any questions. He stated that the committee is seeking to expand the size of the committee and that they are currently working with the Committee on Committees on this. He noted that they currently have 9 members and that the committee meets 27 times a year. He pointed out that there needs to be at least 3 members in attendance. He stated that they need to have more members to alleviate scheduling problems and workload.
6.3 Grading & Examinations Committee (Professor Lee)
Latta stated that Professor Lee was unable to attend the meeting and the report will be given at the December meeting.
7.0 Unfinished Business
7.1 Parking Advisory Committee
Latta reported that she had asked Jim Specht, Chair of the Parking Advisory Committee, to report on the latest business of the committee, but that he was working in the field and was unsure whether he would be able to attend the Senate meeting. She reported that there was a Parking Advisory Committee meeting at which two motions were voted upon, one of which was to proceed with the parking garage at 17th & R streets. She stated that this motion was approved by the committee. The second motion that was acted upon, called for the campus to look at additional sources of funding beyond the fee structure for the building of parking garages. She stated that, based upon the outcome of this motion, the office of Business and Finance decided to send the program statement for the first parking garage to the Regents in November. She noted that some members of the Parking Advisory Committee stated that they understood the second motion about looking for other sources of funding to apply, not only to future parking garages that might be proposed, but also to the one being proposed at 17th & R. She stated that this means that there would need to be some indication of the funding structure in the statement that would go to the Board of Regents. As a result of this question, it became clear that the members of the Parking Advisory Committee had a different understanding of whether or not the diversified funding applied to the proposed structure at 17th & R streets. The committee has agreed to meet again and hold another vote on this issue. She stated that it is her understanding that the parking proposal will not go to the Regents until after that meeting occurs.
8.0 New Business
No new business was discussed.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:52 p.m. The next Senate meeting will be November 2, 1999 in the East Campus Union, Great Plains Room. Respectfully submitted, Miles Bryant, Secretary.