Academic Senate: Minutes 9/15/2009

I.    Call to order and announcements: meeting came to order at 4:02 PM

II.   Roll call
Present: Brian Adams, Robin Anderson, Susan Baillet, Rev. E. William Beauchamp, CSC, Genevieve Brassard, Alyssa Schmidt-Carr, Susan Decker, Tim Doughty, Jill Hoddick, Larry Larsen, Laura McLary, Kathleen McManus, OP, Nick McRee, Hilary Merk, Stephanie Michel, Elise Moentmann, Hans Nordstrom, Samantha Riofta, Fr. Stephen Rowan, Br. Donald Stabrowski, CSC, Jacquie Van Hoomissen, Diane Vines, Jackie Waggoner, Karen Ward, Joanne Warner. Absent: Barbara Breen, Todd Easton

III.    Invocation offered by Fr. Stephen Rowan

IV.    Approval of minutes from 21 April 2009 meeting

V.     Standing Committee Reports:

       i. Executive Committee: Larry Larsen
           ·        See new business (below)
           ·        Brief discussion of need to balance number of senior and junior faculty on Academic Senate to have a large enough pool of eligible related faculty members to fill committee chair positions

       ii. Committee on Committees: Elise Moentemann

           ·        met twice in summer

           ·        presented suggestions to Fr. Beauchamp for committee appointments, all appointments now posted on the Academic Senate website

           ·        has been asked to provide names for a committee to conduct the search for a new dean in the School of Education

       iii. Committee on Rank & Tenure: Jill Hoddick

            ·        committee has started its work

       iv. Committee on Teaching & Scholarship: Nick McRee

             ·        fall calendar for Butine deadlines is posted on Academic Senate webpage

             ·        call for Butines has been sent out

             ·        faculty workshops for applying for Butine grants will take place on 16 and 17 September, times and places posted on the Academic Senate website

             ·        Fr. Richard Rutherford, recipient of last year’s scholarship award, will give a presentation (Friday in 2 October at 4:00) to the faculty.

       v. Committee on Faculty Welfare: (chair position vacant)

            ·        Has not met yet

       vi. Committee on Curriculum & Academic Regulations: Brian Adams          

            ·        Will be meeting this month

VI. Presidential Advisory Committees: 

       i. Committee on Student Media: Jackie Waggoner

            ·        Has not met yet

       ii. Committee on Athletics: Jacquie Van Hoomissen

            ·        Has not met yet

       iii. Committee on Health and Safety: Hans Nordstrom

            ·        Meeting 16 September 2009 for the first time in the semester

            ·        A new crosswalk signal has been installed at N. Willamette

            ·        Discussing H1N1 protocol

       iv. Committee on Information Technology: Karen Ward               

            ·        Has not met yet

       v. Committee on Sustainability: Stephanie Michel

            ·        Has not met yet

VII. Other Reports: 

       i. Fr. William Beauchamp:

          ·        PAC appointments went out last week and all are filled; recommendations for students to serve on PACs come from ASUP.
Committee on Health and Safety meeting at conflicting time for students, still need to fill student position on this committee.

          ·        Enrollment has held for the year and will be larger than last year, which seems to be true at universities across the country. Keeping enrollment numbers strong may be more of concern for next year if the economy does not improve.

          ·        University budget is fine for 2010-11, will be presenting increases for phased retirement replacements to Board of Regents.

          ·        Endowment is impacted by the economic downturn, projected to be even less next year.

          ·        Pledge payments are coming in but not at as quickly as needed.

          ·        University will need to pay close attention to cash flow.

          ·        Freeze on faculty salaries will hold for this year, but may be adjusted for those at the lowest level, similar to what other universities are doing around the country.

          ·        Deans and academic units and non-academic units have looked to see where they could reduce their individual budgets by 5%. Officers are looking at proposals to see what might need to be done. Advanced planning will allow for changes to be made if needed rather than waiting until the last minute.

          ·        Dedication of new buildings is beginning: Fields and Schoenfeldt were dedicated last week. The new residence halls are a reminder of the special role residence halls play on campus in supporting the community.

         ·        This Friday, 18 September, the dedication and blessing of Bell Tower will take place at 12:00, followed by mass and dinner later in the day. Beginning Friday, bells will begin to ring on the hour.

         ·        Four new Holy Cross religious have arrived on campus to teach and serve in Campus Ministry.

         ·        Board of Regents will be meeting in committees on Thursday, 17 September; the entire Board of Regents meets on Friday, 18 September. They will be looking carefully at the budget. The Board of Regents has established some joint committees with specific responsibilities: enrollment, technology, athletics, buildings and grounds.

      ii. Dean’s Meeting (Brother Donald):

           ·        Deans worked over the summer on identifying 5% reductions in their budgets.

           ·        Deans established a priority not to reduce positions, would like to add positions.

           ·        Deans defined new guidelines for searches, specifically to reduce costs (e.g. hotels and meals), with greater emphasis on interviewing good matches on campus, using guest rooms on campus, more meals on campus, and limiting the number of people from departments, who go out to meals with candidates.

          ·        85% of the university’s budget is devoted to salaries, and this will hold.

          ·        At the deans’ retreat Norah Martin provided a presentation on reviewing core requirements, especially as they apply to transfer students.

          ·        In October 2011, NWCCU (the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities) will be visiting the University of Portland. The number of standards has been reduced from 9 to 5, to be reviewed spread out over three years. UP is a pilot group for the reorganization. UP has chosen to complete all 5 standards at the same time.

          ·         UP’s mission statement must be reapproved by the Board of Regents. The deans met to work on revising the mission statement into a more active style. (Deans Rowan, Green, Warner have been charged with the actual revision.) Objectives and goals must be reviewed and revised to fit the mission statement.
Forums for faculty will be held in fall to provide input on the revisions.

          ·        Faculty searches most likely will begin after the Board of Regents retreat.

           ·        Fr. Rowan is chairing the search committee for the dean of the School of Education and is awaiting recommendations from the Committee on Committees to complete the search committee.

           ·        Over 40 faculty members from CAS will be participating in the pilot for on-line course evaluations.

           ·        Retention committee report recommends academic regulations changes, which will need to come to through the Academic Senate for approval, e.g. requiring midterm grades.

            ·        Deans are meeting again 16 September.

       iii. ASUP

           ·        First day of campaigning for new senators has begun. Upcoming elections will be held on-line.

           ·        The ASUP annual retreat will take place on 16 October.

VIII. New Business:

            ·        Anissa Rogers, who was chair of the Committee on Faculty Welfare, was appointed chair of Social and Behavioral Sciences in summer 2009 and chose to resign her position as chair of Faculty Welfare. Susan Baillet has agreed to fill in as the chair of Faculty Welfare. Elise Moentmann nominated Susan Baillet, Jill Hoddick seconded. Larry Larsen called for a voice vote, seconded by Susan Decker. The motion to elect Susan Baillet as chair of Faculty Welfare passed with no objections.

IX. Announcements:

            ·        The Academic Senate will meet again on Tuesday, 13 October at 4:00 pm in BC 163, one week after the meeting of the Executive Committee.

X. Adjournment: 4:36 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.