Faculty Senate
February 7, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 2:03 pm.
Members Present: Cost, Hamilton, Hardig, Kurtz, McMinn, Murphy, Parker, Puleo, Scott, Simone, and Walsh
The minutes of January 24th meeting were corrected and approved.
President Report (Delivered by Senator Parker)
A procedure for CASE professor nominations has been established; the Faculty Senate will accept nominations from faculty, chairs, and deans and will review the list of candidates at the next senate meeting.
President Meyer and Senator Parker will meet with Dr. McChesney next week and asked senators for appropriate agenda items.
President Meyer will be meeting with Cynthia Jarrett soon regarding sick day banking details.
Talking points/themes were discussed in preparation for the Trustees’ reception. There was a concern that comments might dwell on the negatives and that senators and, by extension, UM faculty might then be perceived as cynical pessimists. It was agreed that recent positive gains/accomplishments should also be brought up in senator-trustee conversations.
Senators were informed that they needed to consider wrapping up their committee assignments, with an eye toward some tangible evidence of completion, e.g., a letter of findings/recommendations.
Liaison Reports.
SGA – no report.
Chamber of Commerce – Senator Murphy reported that the dialogue is continuing and that a Domino’s Pizza place is coming to town.
OSP – Senator Simone reported that OSP is planning a large meeting.
Committee Reports.
Grievance – Senator Hardig reported that a letter of findings/recommendations is being drafted.
Faculty Salary Administration Procedures – work is completed, but the committee members are uncertain regarding proper closure.
University Budget – a report is in progress.
Faculty Morale and Retention – Senator Parker presented a revised faculty survey handout for comment; expressed a desire to distribute to faculty ASAP. General questions/comments included: Should there be a general question re: morale? Should there be a question re: faculty opinion on administration decision-making issues? How should the questionnaire be distributed? Should there be questions re: student/faculty issues, e.g., recruitment? Senator Parker will consider these questions, edit, and redistribute.
Technology – no report
Academic Policies – (Need some help here folks. Think I must have dosed off. My notes say something to the effect of “Senate as forum. Jeter concerns: GEC assessment.” I haven’t a clue!)
Final Week Procedures – The scheduling process for finals week exams is cloaked in obscurity. Apparently the task falls to personnel in Records who employ a random improbability generator. It was recommended that the procedure be reexamined, with an aim of improving semester-by-semester consistency.
Other.
The issue of public prayer at university functions was brought up and discussed. Senator concerns included: alienation of non-christian students (by continuation of the practice), alienation of Christian students (by ending the practice), possible threat of legal action against the university. It was agreed that the Faculty Senate should investigate the reasons for the administration’s apparent insistence on prayer at university functions and then draft some type of resolution indicating the senate’s position on the subject.
The faculty senate meeting was adjourned at 2:55 pm.