Academic Senate: Minutes 1/17/2012

VI.  Standing Committee Reports:
   a.   Executive Committee, Dr. Larry Larsen
      1.   Committee met Dec. 6
      2.   Committee discussed business to be addressed at today’s Senate meeting.
      3.   Six members of Senate and one dean will be leaving Senate at the end of the year. Larry Larsen will contact deans to indicate which positions need to be filled.
      4.   Four members of the Senate Executive Committee will be leaving at the end of the year.
   b.   Committee on Committees, Dr. Genevieve Brassard
      1.   Nothing to report.
   c.   Committee on Rank & Tenure, Dr. James Baillie
      1.   Committee has completed its work for fall.
      2.   The committee will begin spring semester work (promotions to full professor and periodic review) by the end of January.
   d.   Committee on Teaching & Scholarship, Dr. Aziz Inan
      1.   Committee representative was not present.
      2.   Butine recipients have been posted; requests for nominations for Teaching & Scholarship Awards have been announced. 
   e.   Committee on Faculty Welfare, Dr. Laura McLary
      1.   In November, staff members approached the committee with a question about tuition remission and taxation. Since the issue affects both staff and faculty, the committee investigated the issue:
         a)   Staff taking graduate-level coursework are, by law, taxed on any tuition benefit that exceeds $5,250. Employees who are taking classes for job-related reasons are not exempt from the taxes.
         b)   Committee invited Alan Timmins to attend the January committee meeting; he provided more information about the benefit and clarified that the taxes must be withheld by law. 
         c)   To assist employees who were affected by this change, UP offered an interest-free loan. 
         d)   Alan Timmins is working with Accounting to spread the tax burden over the entire year rather than collecting the full amount at the end of the year.
         e)   These regulations affect employees using the tuition benefit for themselves; spouses and family members taking courses are subject to different regulations.
      2.   Bryn Sopko also attended the January committee meeting. 
         a)   The HR web page includes detailed information about the tuition benefit and tax implications, as well as other information about HR policies and benefit.
         b)   A representative from TIAA-CREF will be on campus January 24-26. Check the HR web site for information about making an appointment to meet with the representative. 
         c)   Training session on “Five Habits of Highly Successful Investors” will take place on January 25.
         d)   Paperwork for the flexible spending account is due by March 15 for fiscal year 2011. 
         e)   The current “Thrive Across America” campaign is going very well; the new campaign will begin in February. 
         f)    Additional information about the UP Home Grant program has been added to the HR web site.
         g)   Employees are encouraged to sign up for electronic W-2 forms.
         h)   UP’s medical premiums with Kaiser Permanente are currently locked into an 18-month rate; the open enrollment period for Kaiser will be transitioning to fall to coincide with open enrollment for the flexible spending account.
      3.   Alan Timmins will provide a financial report to the Academic Senate during the February meeting. He requested the committee’s feedback about topics he should address.  The committee suggested that he include:
         a)   a financial statement looking back over the past year and looking ahead to the next year
         b)   connections between the budget and the tactical plan
         c)   deferred maintenance issues
         d)   new projects such as renovations to the library and the Chiles Center.
To suggest additional feedback, contact the Faculty Welfare committee.
   f.    Committee on Curriculum & Academic Regulations, Dr. Brian Adams
      1.   Committee has not met.

VII. Presidential Advisory Committees: 
   a.   Committee on Student Media, Dr. Kaye Wilson-Anderson
      1.   Committee representative was not present.
   b.   Committee on Athletics, Dr. Alex Santana
      1.   Committee has not met this semester. 
      2.   Committee met twice during fall semester. 
         a)   During the first meeting, the committee heard reports from: Dan McGinty on academic performance, Karen Peters on gender equity, and the philosophical approach to athletics by Larry Williams.
         b)   During the second meeting, topics included: possible changes to NCAA rules, new initiatives (such as renovations to the Chiles Center), and potentially adding a tenth member to the committee.  
      3.   Larry Williams has accepted a new position; Karen Peters will serve as interim director.
   c.   Committee on Health and Safety, Dr. Sally Hood
      1.   Committee met January 10.
      2.   During the November committee meeting, Sally Hood shared questions and concerns about fire drills expressed by the Academic Senate.
      3.   Fire drills will occur during spring semester, five minutes before the end of classes. Faculty will be notified 1-2 days in advance by their deans or department heads. Jeff Rook will work with people in each building to schedule the fire drills (which will happen building by building at different times of day). Procedures will be disseminated during staff meetings. Students should take their belongings and go to their next class. Jeff Rook will work with science and chemistry departments to make sure that no active experiments are occurring during the scheduled fire drills.
   d.   Committee on Information Technology, Dr. Teri Woo
      1.   The committee’s last two meetings have been cancelled.
      2.   The committee has divided into subcommittees. 
      3.   Teri Woo is serving on the Online Instruction and Mobile Computing subcommittee; last year this subcommittee worked on a guideline about online texting. This year the committee is looking at software to prevent cheating. The subcommittee will also make recommendations for mobile applications for the portal (and resources accessed through the portal). 
   e.   Committee on Sustainability, Dr. Hillary Merk
      1.   Committee has not met this semester.
      2.   John Schouten has stepped down as committee chair; Bill Barnes will serve as committee chair for the rest of this year.

VIII.       Other Reports:
   a.   Fr. William Beauchamp
      1.   There are several new hires in the administration:
         a)   Fr. Mark Poorman, Executive Vice President
         b)   Fr. Gerald Olinger is the new Vice president for Student Affairs
         c)   Danielle Hermanny, Executive Assistant to the President. She will be working with the president on special projects and tracking of the strategic plan and reporting requirements over the next five years.
      2.   Larry Williams, Athletic director, has accepted a position as Vice President and Director of Athletics at Marquette University. Fr. Beauchamp has already received names of many potential candidates for the position; an official position announcement may need to be posted. A new Athletic Director likely would not start until summer. 
      3.   Enrollment numbers for spring semester look fine.
      4.   Applications for next year are being reviewed; UP has already received 700 more applications than at this time last year. UP is targeting a freshman class of about 830 students. 
      5.   Board of Regents will meet in January; they will be presented with the budget for next year and will approve tuition, room and board. Board will also be presented with UP’s salary needs, potential spending needs due to strategic plan, and data about how departments would cut budgets if necessary. Board will spend Friday considering how to prepare and plan over the next five years to activate the strategic plan, and how to allocate resources and set priorities. A presentation about student life and residency will take place during the Board meeting.
      6.   The new Athletic Affairs committee of the Board will meet for the first time in January; Karen Peters will discuss compliance, and an update will be given on the planning and fundraising for the new Recreation Center.
      7.   Fr. Beauchamp has received twelve tenure files, which he will review in the next few weeks. Letters will be sent by the end of the month.
      8.   Fr. Beauchamp, Br. Donald Stabrowski, and Tom Greene met with the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities (UP’s accrediting body) last week. A few questions were asked about assessment; overall the meeting seemed very positive. UP will receive a final decision within three weeks. UP received two commendations and four recommendations as a result of our recent accreditation visit.
      9.   Fr. Beauchamp just attended a board meeting of the NCAA. The board recognizes the need for major reform; some academic reform was accomplished at this meeting. 40% of the current rule book may be eliminated. Penalties may be increased. Representation will be a future issue for the board. Fr. Beauchamp’s last meeting with the Board will occur in April.
      10. Commencement will occur May 6. Honorary degree recipients will be:
         a)   Fr. Tom O’Hara, former president of King’s College
         b)   Kay Toran, president of Volunteers of America of Oregon and UP Board member.
         c)   Sister Rita Ferschweiler, former administrator at Providence St. Vincent Hospital
         d)   John Heily, CEO of Continental Mills and UP alumnus (1967). He was honored at the 75^th anniversary of the Pamplin School of Business.
         e)   The Christus Magister medal recipient will be Fr. David Tyson. He is completing a successful term as Provincial Superior. He will also be the speaker for graduate commencement.
         f)    The undergraduate commencement speaker will be Lou Hultz, former football coach, sportscaster and motivational speaker.
   b.   Dean’s Meeting (Br. Donald Stabrowski)
      1.   Deans met last week. 
      2.   Deans are addressing the recommendations from our recent Northwest accreditation visit on Standard 1 (Mission and Mission Fulfillment). Deans have met twice; they hope to finish the revisions this week. The Deans will bring the revisions to their units for discussion and feedback. UP has two years to submit our changes to NW. 
   c.   ASUP
      1.   Representative was not present.

IX.  New Business:
   a.   None.

X.   Announcements:
   a.   The Academic Senate Executive committee will meet on February 7; the next Academic Senate meeting will be February 27.
   b.   Inauguration of Michael Andrews as the new McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics will take place on Thursday. Michael Andrews will give a lecture at 3:30, which will be followed by a mass, where Bill Reed will receive a Spirit of Holy Cross Award. 
   c.   During inclement weather, UP generally does not close, since 95% of students live on or near campus. Faculty should use their own judgment about whether to come to campus.

XI.  Adjournment: 4:36pm.

Note: All members of the University community are welcome to attend any meeting of the Academic Senate. The meetings begin promptly at 4:00 pm .