Academic Senate: MINUTES 4/17/2007

Absent:Dr. Jackie Waggoner, Dr. Dan Pierce, Dr. Zia Yamayee

Invocation: The invocation was given by Br. Donald Stabrowski

Minutes of the March 20 senate meeting were accepted with one amendment.

Standing Committee Reports

Executive Committee: Dr. Jeff Gauthier gave the report. He postponed his report to allow Mr. Roy Heynderickx to give the university's financial report, the first item of new business.

Dr. Jeff Gauthier reported that the main business of the Executive Committee meeting in April was to generate a slate of candidates for chair and secretary elections. Dr. Gauthier read the proposed slate of officers, but stressed that these were only nominations for election, and to be official, the nominations must be made from the floor.  

Committee on Committees: Dr. John Orr gave the report. The committee has not met.

Committee on Rank & Tenure: Dr. Louis Masson gave the report. The committee finished it work on the periodic reviews; faculty members up for periodic review next year have been notified. The committee has updated the Rank and Tenure guidelines, and will give a workshop on Faculty Development Day, May 8.

Committee on Teaching & Scholarship: Dr. Carol Dempsey gave the report. The faculty awards have been decided, and the program for May 8 Faculty Development Day is done. Dr. Carol Dempsey presented a written version of the Butine fiscal report.  

Committee on Faculty Welfare: Dr. Susan Baillet gave the report. The committee met with Br. Donald to discuss the sabbatical statement in the Faculty Handbook, and the recommended changes have been submitted to his office. The committee addressed the issue of the amount of travel money granted during sabbatical as it differs from school to school given that it is up to each budget unit to disperse funds. The committee made a recommendation to grant full amount of travel money to faculty during sabbatical as Butine funds are not always an option.

Committee on Curriculum & Academic Regulations: Dr. Karen Eifler gave the report. The committee met electronically concerning (informational) internal changes to the curriculum in the Business school.

Presidential Advisory Committee Reports

Committee on Student Media: Dr. Jeff Gauthier gave the report. The Student Media Committee subcommittees have all met, held interviews, and passed on to the President their recommendations for the Editor-in-Chief of the Beacon, the general manager of KDUP, and the editor of the Log.

Committee on Athletics: Dr. John Schouten gave the report. The committee made good progress on its report of the NCAA reaccreditation outcomes with attention to the question of gender equity as the university is not in full compliance (in part because the female/male ratio of students is 60/40), a solution for which is to create another women's team. Softball, Rowing and Lacrosse are being considered.

Committee on Health & Safety: No report was given.

Committee on Information Technology: Dr. Chris Hallstrom gave the report. The state of the web report is done and available. The infrastructure subcommittee is considering recommendations for information security on portable storage devices like laptops, and is considering a color-coded system to indicate the level of security required for kinds of information.

Other Reports

President Beauchamp reported that he has sent his condolences to the president of Virginia Tech, and, in the wake of the Virginia Tech murders, he reassured us that there are emergency plans in place at the University of Portland. He reported that we have received over 7000 applications, and the rate of returning students is the same as or better than last year. The university has had a successful fundraising year, raising one million dollars in unrestricted funds. He mentioned capital projects that will be undertaken with these funds including the renovation of Shipstad and Villa residential halls to begin this summer. President Beauchamp responded to two questions: What is the target enrollment this year? (725 freshmen and 110 transfers); Is the Emergency Plan available to campus members? (It's published on the university website).

Deans Report: Bro. Donald Stabrowski gave the report.The deans' meeting has received visits from Dr. Deana Julka and Mr. Jeremy Koffler on Freshman Orientation, and Mr. Bill Reed on Founder's Day, and Mr. Paul Meyer on accommodations for testing. He reported that last semester 276 faculty members posted their grades on-line, 10 did not. He reported that Ms. Brenda Greiner is spearheading a program to make the university the center in Oregon for the national environmental program, Focus on the Nation. The Dean's Award is currently being decided.

ASUP: No report was given.

New Business

1. Vice-President Roy Heynderickx’s financial report on the university. Faculty can expect a 3% salary increase. Mr. Heynderickx pointed out several large increases in the university’s budget for next year including Bon Appetit, and new faculty and staff positions. He reported changes to fringe benefits for healthcare, explaining that Kaiser requested a 21% increase to our plan, and that the real increase was negotiated down to 9%, with changes to co-pay and deductible amounts. Mr. Heynderickx announced a new retirment healthcare plan being considered, essentially an investment plan in which the dollars invested, and taken out for healthcare after retirment, are tax-free. He brought our attention to a letter to students and parents, which was included in the university’s financial report given to each senator, on the 5.8% tuition increase.

2. Report of Ad Hoc Committee on Computers and Telecommunications. No report was given. Dr. John Orr, whose committee appointed the members to the Ad Hoc committee, and Dr. Jeff Gauthier discussed how to disseminate the report now that the Ad Hoc committee will be disbanded.

3. Elections. Senate elections were held by secret ballot:

Executive Committee Chair: Dr. Jeff Gauthier
Committee on Committees Chair: Dr. Todd Easton
Committee on Rank and Tenure Chair: Dr. Becky Houck
Committee on Teaching & Scholarship Chair: Dr. Susan Decker
Committee on Faculty Welfare Chair: Dr. Elise Moentmann
Committee on Curriculum & Academic Regulations Chair: Dr. Caroline Mann
Secretary to the Senate: Dr. Karen Eifler

The elections for Committee on Committees members were held. The following four faculty members were elected: Dr. Will Deming, Ms. Susan Hinken, Dr. Diane Martin, Dr. Martin Monto

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 5:55 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,Lora L. Looney, Secretary to the Senate