October 15, 2004

Call to order: The meeting was unofficially called to order at 2:11 p.m.

Members present: Patton, Bennett, Martin, Miller, Tidwell, Alexander, Webb (no quorum)

Approval of previous minutes: Could not be approved because there was no quorum.

President’s Report: The President updated the senate on a number of issues, to be taken up officially at the next meeting:

• Salary Administration Committee  - In discussions with President McChesney about changing the basis of comparison when applying CUPA raises, it was learned that faculty and staff raises draw from the same monies. Therefore, any CUPA raises applied to faculty would take away from staff raises.
• Faculty Lounge – The Senate needs to let the UM police know the hours of operation, and the police will open and lock up. Since UM can’t pay for coffee used for unofficial business, we will need to find other ways of supplying coffee, perhaps through individual donations or through Sodexho. Ideas for what kind of coffee machine would be best were discussed. Michael Patton will make a formal request from Computer Services to have wireless hubs installed in King House Annex.
• Grievance Committee – The Committee will check old Faculty Senate minutes to find out what recommendations were advanced.
• Lapsed policies – Patton will talk to the Provost on how to follow up on lapsed policies such as course clemency. Don Alexander reported that he has yet to find a proposal for course clemency, and has contacted SGA for their proposal.
• All Faculty Email list – Computer Services reports that the problem is faculty who may also be staff.

Committee Reports

• SGA – Don Alexander has contacted SGA about attending meetings.
• IITC – No meeting scheduled

Old Business:

• Brook Miller and Don Alexander will attend the Annual Conference of Faculty Senate Presidents.
• Turnitin.com – Based on input from the University Writing Committee, the Senate will recommend that a license be purchased, but that use of the service be purely voluntary on the part of faculty.
• Board of Trustees reception will take place on November 5, 2004 from 12:30-2:00 in Reynolds.

New Business

• Lack of quorum. Absent members of the Senate all have conflicts. The Senate discussed whether Friday afternoon is the best time for meetings.
• The Senate also discussed whether a formal structure for having meetings without the chair is desirable.
• Concern about letter to faculty from Dean Proctor re: remaining politically neutral in the classroom. The Senate agreed that faculty must never impose their political views on students (for example, by tying such views to a grade), but expressed concern that neutrality isn’t always possible or even desirable (for example, when confronting political art made by students, or when speaking to students outside of class). In the spirit of collegial debate, the Senate will ask Dean Proctor to respond to Patton’s response, which Patton has already shared and discussed with Dean Proctor.

Announcements: The next scheduled meeting on October 29^th, 2004 will be cancelled due to the president attending a conference and lack of mechanism for conducting meetings in the absence of the president. Any pressing business will be taken up over email as needed.

Adjournment: The meeting was unofficially adjourned at 2:52 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Samantha Webb, Alternate Secretary Faculty Senate