Academic Senate: MINUTES 10/21/2008

I. Call to order and announcements: meeting came to order at 4:05 PM

II. Roll call-- Present: Brian Adams, Robin Anderson, Fr. Bill Beauchamp, Genevieve Brassard, Allison Able, Maria Ciriello, Colton Coughlin, Carol Dempsey, Todd Easton, Karen Eifler, Lauretta Frederking, Jill Hoddick, Aziz Inan, Mark Ghyselinck, Laura McLary, Caroline Mann, Elise Moentmann, Hans Nordstrom, Shannon Mayer, Anissa Rogers, Fr. Stephen Rowen, Br. Donald Stabrowski, Jacquie VanHoomissen, Jackie Waggoner, Karen Ward. Absent: Sue Decker, Marie Napolitano

III. Invocation offered by Maria Ciriello, OP

IV. Approval of minutes from 9/16/08 meeting

V.  Standing Committee Reports:
   i. Executive Committee: Dr. Aziz Inan
      ·  Academic Senate EC met twice before fall break, on September 30^th and October 7^th
         ·  Last May, the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) of the Board of Regents (BoR) asked the BoR member and UP attorney Annie Buell to review the The Constitution of the Academic Senate and the Academic Senate Bylaws for compliance with the overall documents and policies of the University. This request was triggered by the constitutional amendment proposal related to the By-Laws of the Academic Senate (specifically, request to make a change in the wording of Article III, Section 6, Subsection 1) which was approved by the Academic Senate last spring and sent to the BoR for their consideration. In their meeting last May, the AAC of the BoR did not pass this amendment proposal simply because they didn’t want to approve any amendment changes while they were having their own statues examined by lawyers. Also, at their May meeting, for the purpose of having a consistency among all the governing documents of UP, the AAC of BoR also asked Annie Buell to conduct a thorough review of the The Constitution of the Academic Senate and the Academic Senate Bylaws.
      · Annie completed her review last summer. Her findings indicated that the Senate documents seem to be entirely lacking of any reference to the controlling documents of the University (particularly to the Statues), of the mission of the University, and of any collaborative effort on the part of the constituents of the AS with the remainder of the University community. In summary, her report suggested that the Academic Senate documents need to be revised for the purpose of eliminating inconsistencies, providing a more congruent chain of command, putting an enabling language for the Academic Senate, etc.
      · Annie presented her findings to the AAC at the BoR meeting that took place on September 18^th.
      · At the beginning of fall semester, Br. Donald met with Aziz to brief him about Annie’s report and asked me to share it with the EC and I did. Br. Donald also pointed out that an Ad Hoc Committee including members from UP faculty is needed to work with him and Annie in reviewing and revising the Academic Senate documents. Br. Donald suggested that the EC members should meet with him and Annie to discuss these matters and to come up with a plan. The purpose of this meeting was twofold: 1) Annie can brief EC members on her findings and address/clarify any questions/concerns; 2) To identify UP faculty members who could serve on the Ad Hoc Comm., the timeline involved for the committee to complete its task, etc.
      · EC met with Annie and Br. Donald on Tuesday, October 7^th. The meeting went very productive. Annie informed EC that with the help of the Ad Hoc Committee, she can complete the task of revising the AC documents this fall and the revisions could be brought to the Senate’s attention at the January 2009 meeting.
      · Following the Oct. 7th meeting, thanks to the members of the EC and prompt efforts of Dr. Todd Easton, an Ad Hoc Comm. is formed consisting of Dr. Susan Baillet (Psychology Dept.), Dr. Gary Malecha (Political Science Dept.), Annie Buell and Br. Donald. Aziz mentioned that his understanding after talking with Br. Donald is that Annie is making great progress and the Ad Hoc Committee will have their first meeting sometime next week. 

   ii. Committee on Committees: Dr. Todd Easton
      · Executive Board of the Senate surfaced names and from the list, COC made the selections of Susan Baillet and Gary Malecha.

   iii. Committee on Rank & Tenure: Dr. Jill Hoddick
      · The committee continues to meet.

   iv. Committee on Teaching & Scholarship: Dr. Susan Decker (report generated from the executive board meeting in Susan’s absence)
      · Butine proposals are due Friday, Oct. 10.
      · 2 faculty colloquia will take place on Oct 31 (Thacker and Hood) and Nov. 14 (Regan)

   v. Committee on Faculty Welfare: Dr. Anissa Rogers
      · The child-care group will have a proposal ready by the end of fall break for the entire Faculty Welfare Committee to review
      · Anissa met with Denis Ransmeier concerning the child-care project.
      · The committee is meeting with Brother Donald Oct. 7 to discuss any issues that he feels the committee should address, and with Fr. Rowan in November to discuss CAS faculty salaries
      · Jim Kuffner will be speaking with the committee in the spring.
      · The committee is reviewing the family leave policy, and is reviewing an email request from a staff member regarding the family leave policy.
      · Baby changing tables have been installed.

    vi. Committee on Curriculum & Academic Regulations: Ms. Caroline Mann
      · Committee has met to draw up and discuss a proposal for changes in the CAR procedures. The proposal will be discussed and voted upon during the “new business” of this meeting.

VI. Presidential Advisory Committees: 
   i. Committee on Student Media: Mark Ghyselinck
      · Has not met

   ii. Committee on Athletics: Dr. Elise Moentmann
      · Has not met

   iii. Committee on Health and Safety: Dr. Hans Nordstrom
      ·Physical plant—has contacted some contractors about putting up warning lights on Willamette Blvd.
      · Physical Plant is working on the exit door in the Pilot House
      · No reported incidents
      · Athletic cleaning staff---complaint about proper ventilation at night because the doors are on alarms and cannot be opened

   iv. Committee on Information Technology: Karen Ward
      · Met Oct. 7
      · Introduced themselves; review work done
      · Nov. 4 next meeting and will set the agenda for the year at that time

   v. Committee on Sustainability: Dr. Lauretta Frederking
      . Met Sept. 30; 4 working groups were formed: action on campus; education on campus; American college and university presidents’ climate commitment working group; working group around the issue of water
      · 3 month extension has been granted for the carbon audit which is part of the President’s Climate Commitment. The audit that was due Sept. 15, and many schools were granted an extension.

VII. Other Reports: 
    i. Fr. William Beauchamp:
      · Tonight Fr. Bill is having dinner with University Park Association. Fr. Bill stressed the importance of having good relations with the neighborhood, especially for the Master Plan and amendments to it.
      · Construction Projects: Shiley Hall is on schedule and coming along well; new dorms are on schedule; other fall projects include: addition and renovation of the student commons, and the bell tower.
      · On a serious note, Fr. Bill commented on the reality of the economy crunch, reminded us that we as a community are not immune to it; the endowment is down as a result of the national economic situation. Fr. Bill made the point that the institution is not in financial difficulty but expenses and the budget are being monitored carefully in light of many unknown factors, i.e., loans programs for students, enrollment numbers for the next two years.
      · Because of the economic situation in the country, the public phase of the capital campaign may not be announced next year; significant gifts for the silent phase have been very good.
      · Enrollment—highest ever been, but concerned about next year and the following year.
      · Some projects and other university related items are being put on hold to prevent financial difficulties
      · A new task force on retention has been created, and it will look at every aspect involved in keeping students here; Fr. Rowan chairs this task force, and members have had one meeting thus far. The task force has identified critical nodes and will be interviewing various campus people regarding these nodes.

   ii. Dean’s Meeting (Brother Donald): 
      · The deans have met with many people: had a session with Denis Ransmeier and working on the budget that there will involve no more overspending---monies spent are to reflect exactly what is in the budget; the deans met with Harold Burke-Sivers who informed everyone that a university emergency plan is in place and training sessions have been occurring. The plan is a thorough one with several scenerios, ie, earthquake. The deans had a long session with Jim Ravelli—the new IT person. The meetings with Karen Nelson, Bobbi, Brenda were straight forward. Brenda informed the deans that the university has marvelous services for freshmen, but the people who need to take advantage of these services do not always avail themselves of the services.
      · On-line course evaluations is still being considered; another vendor is being looked at tomorrow
      · Executive Summary is being done now on the Strategic Plan, Tactical Plans; the summary should be done by Dec. 1.

   iii. ASUP
      · Updates: CPB Events Coordinator---Homecoming was the most successful ever—more than 980 people attended. CPB will also have nine of their leaders attending the Necca Conference.
      · ASUP has begun brainstorming on how to spend their improvements monies. This year, they have about $21,000.00 to spend.
      · ASUP’s first resolution will be presented on Monday, regarding debit/credit card system in the Cove.
      · The Executive Board is going to Notre Dame to meet with their Executive Board. Members will also visit Notre Dame’s social justice department to see how Notre Dame implements social justice into their curriculum. ASUP will be presenting a report on how UP works with sustainability and the projects that are in place to support sustainability. Members of Notre Dame’s Executive Board are considering coming to visit UP.

VIII. New Business: 
      ·Proposal for Changes in the CAR Procedures were explained by Caroline Mann
      ·The proposal generated no discussion and passed unanimously

 IX. Announcements: none

X. Adjournment: 4:40 PM

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.