EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES

 

Present:         Adenwalla, Buan, Franco Cruz, Gay, Hanrahan, Kolbe, Latta Konecky, Minter, Peterson, Purcell, Vakilzadian, Woodman

 

Absent:           Fech

 

Date:              Tuesday, March 17, 2020

 

Location:        Zoom Meeting

 

Note:  These are not verbatim minutes.  They are a summary of the discussions at the Executive Committee meeting as corrected by those participating.

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1.0           Call (Hanrahan)

Hanrahan called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.

 

2.0           Announcements

2.1           Joint Statement on AAUP Guidelines in Response to COVID-19

The Executive Committee worked on a draft statement that will be jointly distributed by the Senate Executive Committee and the administration regarding AAUPÕs guiding principles on addressing the COVID-19 situation.    

 

Adenwalla raised concerns that there is not enough equipment available to allow all faculty members to deliver their courses online.   Hanrahan stated that the administration realizes that not everyone has access to the equipment needed to conduct a course online which is why the administration is encouraging faculty members to consider a variety of other ways to deliver a course, such as using Canvas or Google classroom.   Kolbe and Woodman noted that Canvas crashed Friday evening and Google crashed on Monday.   Hanrahan acknowledged that the capacity for some programs to handle the huge influx of use could be problematical.    

 

Gay reported that Interim EVC Moberly sent an email recently stating that instructors could not have one-on-one meetings with students.   Hanrahan noted that as we get stronger guidance from federal and state agencies, the university administrationÕs messages are becoming clearer.   Buan pointed out that the literature coming out from researchers is that the reason for the guidance to meet in groups of 10 or less is because of asymptomatic spread which will have a huge impact on the increase of infection.  

 

Woodman pointed out that it would be helpful to have one source for academic information.   Hanrahan stated that he has said this to the administration and he thinks this is starting to happen.  He stated that he hopes to see more coordination between the Faculty Senate and the administration as we deal with the impacts from COVID-19.   Buan pointed out that there is a banner on the top of the unl.edu website about COVID-19 and resources which are available to help faculty, staff, and students.  

 

Hanrahan reported that at the recent Town Hall meeting the question was asked who would pay for administrative leave taken by staff if they are paid on a grant.   He stated that at this time it is not clear whether the University would pay or whether payment would come from the grant. 

 

Franco Cruz stated that a faculty member is concerned with students who do not finish a course this semester that is considered a prerequisite for a course the students would take in the fall.   He noted that this could cause some issues later on.   Hanrahan agreed that some students may be at a disadvantage for the next semester, but he believes the faculty will do their best to get the students where they need to be in their academic progress, although there may need to be some alterations of things in the future.  Kolbe pointed out that if the virus situation becomes worse, things may need to get shut down and we need to remain as flexible as possible as we move forward.   Hanrahan stated that the kind of decisions that will need to be made need to be done by faculty working together.   He encourages faculty to work together on remote instruction problems and to discuss impacts on future courses.

 

3.0           Approval of March 10, 2020 Minutes

Hanrahan asked if there were any further revisions to the minutes.   Hearing none he asked for approval of the minutes.   The minutes were approved by the Executive Committee. 

 

4.0           Unfinished Business

4.1           Diversity and Inclusion Committee Syllabus Draft

The Executive Committee reviewed a draft syllabus for a Senate Diversity and Inclusion Committee.   Revisions were suggested, and Peterson moved to remove one of the responsibilities that charged the Committee to communicate with various groups, both internally and externally.   Kolbe seconded removal of the particular charge.   Minter made a friendly amendment to incorporate some of the language of the responsibility into the preamble of the syllabus.  Buan seconded the friendly amendment.   Peterson accepted the friendly amendment.   Motion approved. 

 

The Executive Committee then discussed the membership of the Committee.   Suggestions were made to increase the number of non-tenure track faculty members and to include two staff members.   Hanrahan stated that he would make the suggested changes and share the draft document with VC Barker to get his input.   He stated that he would like to present the motion to create the Committee to the Senate at the April 7th meeting.  

 

5.0       New Business

5.1       Upcoming Faculty Senate Meetings

The Executive Committee discussed conducting the April 7th and April 28th Faculty Senate meetings via Zoom.  Hanrahan stated that Zoom has polling capability and it is anonymous which could be used for Senate voting.  Buan suggested that any PowerPoint presentations be given to the Senators ahead of the meeting for them to review. 

 

The Executive Committee agreed to conduct the meetings via Zoom and noted that the chat function will be used.   Hanrahan stated that he might create a video to show people how to use Zoom and then distribute it to the Senators for their use.  

 

5.2       Ad Hoc Lecture Committee Report

Minter reported that the Ad Hoc Lecture Committee was a very good committee, and she feels comfortable with the draft report.  She noted that she received an email from Dean Button thanking the Committee for sharing the report and for the work of the Committee.   She stated that Interim EVC Moberly has said that he would pass the information on to EVC Spiller.  

 

Woodman stated that a goal of the Ad Hoc Committee is to improve lecturer positions, and possibly set up a structure for promotion, but these would need administrationÕs approval.   He noted that an idea of the CommitteeÕs is to create levels of lecturer.   

 

Minter reported that the open meetings with lecturers and chairs had quality conversations.   She noted that the information gathered by the Faculty Senate from the non-tenure track faculty forums was helpful, and pointed out that the information collected by Professor Pascha Stevenson and Professor Katherine Johnson propelled the Committee to do its work and she wanted to give them recognition for their contributions.   She pointed out that that the lecturers who were members of the Ad Hoc Committee did the additional work without receiving any compensation or recognition for their service in an annual evaluation for their work.  

 

Hanrahan asked if the next step would be to give the report to EVC Spiller for review and to see if she will accept the recommendations of the Committee.   Minter stated that she thinks the colleges could decide what it feels is appropriate for the pay structure of their lecturers.   She stated that what is needed is a consistent definition of the lecturer role across the campus and this should come from the EVCÕs office.   Woodman pointed out that the Ad Hoc Lecturer Committee encourages the EVC office to consider the report in a timely manner, and to issue a response about the feasibility of the recommendations.  

 

Hanrahan wanted to thank everyone who served on the Ad Hoc Lecturer Committee.  He stated that he hopes the recommendations of the report will serve as a model for the rest of the University.  

 

5.3       Agenda Items for Chancellor Green, VC Boehm, and EVC Spiller

The Executive Committee identified the following agenda items for its meeting with the administrators:

-           What is the next step on the recommendations in the Lecturers Report now that it has been delivered?

            -           Updates on VSIP

            -           Updates on Searches

-           Updates on UniversityÕs response to COVID-19 and the projected end of the extraordinary measures being taken.   

                        -           Any ideas regarding summer sessions?

-           Confidentiality Statement – are there alternate forms, and if so what has changed?

 

The meeting was adjourned at 4:41 p.m.  The next scheduled meeting of the Executive Committee will be on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 2:30 pm.  The meeting will be conducted via Zoom.  The minutes are respectfully submitted by Karen Griffin, Coordinator and Joan Latta Konecky, Secretary.