December 2, 2005

 

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order at 2:05 pm with Charlotte Daughhetee presiding.

Members Present:  Misty Bennett, Jason Cooper, Charlotte Daughhetee, Michelle Duran-McClure, Sherry Ford, Brook Miller, M.E. Spencer, Elizabeth Thrower, Cindy Tidwell, Jill Wicknick. 1 guest

Approval of October 28, 2005 Minutes:  M.E. Spencer moved that the minutes be approved and Cindy Tidwell seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

President’s Report:  No report - Michael Patton was out of town.

Committee Reports:

• Faculty Survey - Questions for the mini-survey need to be submitted to Jason Cooper.
• Bookstore - Additional complaints have been forwarded to faculty senate.  The senate discussed problems related to the practice of under ordering books and the failure to order the correct books.  The committee will schedule a meeting with the bookstore representatives in the spring.

Liaison Reports:

No reports at this time 

Old Business:

• Pre-tenure Sabbatical - Jill Wicknick and Cindy Tidwell are developing a cost-effective pre-tenure sabbatical plan.  After gathering additional information, they hope to present a proposal at the next senate meeting.
• Ethnicity Record - The ethnicity designation on faculty records is obtained from the self-report forms filled out by newly hired faculty.
• Facilities use - Michelle Duran-McClure reported that the official written policy indicates that Continuing Education is responsible administratively for special activities; however, the policy does not specify a fee.  The fee appears to be arbitrarily set, usually at 30%.  This fee is waived for functions that are fundraisers for the college or a department.  The senate discussed the need for clarification.  Most universities view such events as excellent PR and recruiting opportunities.  It was agreed that senators will gather information regarding such policies at other institutions and the senate will write a facilities use recommendation.      

 

New Business:

• Budget - The senate discussed the need to continue analysis of the university budget.  Harry Hamilton is willing to keep up the data base and do the trend analysis.  Sherry Ford moved that the senate appoint Harry Hamilton as the Chair of the Budget Committee.  Elizabeth Thrower seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
• Faculty Assembly - the faculty assembly cookout was a great success and the senate agreed to have a cookout for the spring assembly. 
• CUPA Reporting - a faculty member expressed concern that there are inaccuracies in the reporting of CUPA averages.  The faculty salary committee will look into this matter.  Elizabeth Thrower volunteered to join the faculty salary committee.
• Faculty taking classes - The senate discussed the many roadblocks to faculty taking classes at the University of Montevallo.  It seems redundant to submit a transcript to the university when each faculty member’s transcript is already on file.  Other fees and paperwork impede the process as well.  Brook Miller and M.E. Spencer agreed to look into this matter and report back to the senate.
• IDEA Assessment - The senate discussed the IDEA assessment process which focuses on student learning and is a potential replacement for the current evaluation forms.  The assessment can be adapted to a particular course and senate members who have experience with IDEA assessment were favorably impressed with this evaluation process.
• Department Chairs - The senate discussed whether the department chair position should be a temporary or rotating position.  More feedback from faculty is needed on this issue.  The senate will look at the 2005 survey data on this issue and ask more specific  questions related to department chairs in the 2006 survey.

 

 Announcements: 

The next meeting is on January 13, 2006 in the Merrill room at 2:00 pm

 

Adjournment: 

Michelle Duran-McClure moved that the meeting be adjourned, Sherry Ford seconded and the motion passed unanimously.  The meeting adjourned at 3:25 pm.

 

Charlotte Daughhetee, Faculty Senate Secretary