Members Present: Daughhetee, Dunne, Hamilton, Hardig, Manning, Parker, Patton, Powers, Puleo, Scott, Simone, Truss, Walsh

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 2:00.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
Minutes of the Sept. 12 meeting were approved with 2 changes.

PRESIDENTS REPORT
Welcome to two new senators – Don Alexander and Erin Spicer. It was voted to wave the time requirement of being off the Senate for Dr. Alexander which will allow him to serve.

President Parker encouraged everyone to work to get things done as early as possible which will enable the senate to follow through on some of the sub-committee’s findings.

COMMITTEE, SUB-COMMITTEE, AND SPECIAL PROJECTS REPORTS
Academic Policies

>Academic suspension policy – A handout was distributed with the Goal, Objective, Time Table and Resources Needed delineated. Most schools don’t allow inclusion of the summer
semester to count toward a full year. Dr. Truss made a recommendation to drop it to one semester.

>Finals week schedule – Ms. Hoefker will be forwarded a draft from last year. Make finals week as random as possible. Provost wants the final to be a culminating experience for each class. Are take home finals acceptable?

>Excused absences – CDC wants the Senate to work on this. A joint committee was recommended.

>Analysis of Faculty Satisfaction Survey – A handout was distributed with the Goal, Objective, Time Table and Resources Needed delineated

>Sabbatical Policy – Will analyze other published policies. Faculty can only apply in the fall for sabbatical in the following academic year. Junior faculty need to go through the Office of Special Programs and Research.

>Sick day bank/Catastrophic Leave Policy

>Child Care benefits – Trying to get information from Penny Ticen. Dr. Alexander interested in working on this committee.

President Parker will send something out to rank order and get additional ideas. He will tour the places and present it to the Space Utilization Committee. It was noted that it is possible to share a space.

>University’s Scholars Wall – Scott Meyer, Houston Byrd and Robert Barone are working on it.
>Facility Use Policies – Will get the policy in writing before providing any recommendations.

Budget
A handout was distributed with the Goal, Objective, Time Table and Resources Needed delineated. A motion was made and passed to authorize a request for information for actual expenses of the University and the Foundation. Need to wait for the budget to be passed.
Information will be provided at the next Faculty Assembly. The budget planning process begins each spring. Budget requests should be based on the 5 year plan and departmental plan.

Salary Administration Policy
the information gathering process will include the history of this issue to avoid duplication of questions. Is there merit pay? How is the amount determined? Is there a connection between evaluation and merit? Are there gender discrepancies? Need to prioritize questions, gather data, and analyze the data. Collect this information from other schools and compare it to other schools.

Technology
The Technology Committee is a liaison to IITC. Last year the committee was active in promoting technology in the University’s five year plan. That involvement can continue with the Strategic Plan for Technology.

Bookstore Policies/Procedures
Faculty expressed a frustration over problems with the Bookstore. The suggestion was made to inventory the issues and present it as a way to make improvements for the good of all. A recommendation was made to be patient. It was noted that it is to the Bookstore’s benefit to hear the problems and issues.

Commencement/Convocation Policies
This committee will obtain a copy of the policies and more information about how decisions are made.

Faculty and University Policies
How are policies communicated? Ideally we should work together with the ability to comment on issues ahead of time.

LIAISONS
OSP
This semester OSP Council scheduled a luncheon (9/30) and University-wide meeting (10/21). They are in the process of deciding which organization they will support for their Christmas Project.

SGA
Expand votes on Board.

Chamber of Commerce
Brian Motii would like assistance with this committee..

OTHER
Life Raft coming up.
No meeting next Friday.