September 4, 2007
Attendance: Robert Aiken (Chair), Jane Evans (Past Chair) Karen Turner (Vice-Chair), Paul LaFollette (Secretary) Bonnie Averbach (SBM), David Baron (Med), Joan Delalic (ENG), Terry Dolan (TYL), Judith Goode (CLA), Luke Kahlich (BCDM), Diane Maleson (Law), Ira Shapiro (STHM), Joan Shapiro (Educ), Cheryl Mack (Coord)
1. Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 1:00 PM
2. Approval of Minutes:
Minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
3. President's Report:
Aiken began by welcoming our new member, Therese Dolan, and also our new Administrative Coordinator, Cheryl Mack.
Aiken reported that he received comments from several faculty throughout the summer that portions of administration still seem not to understand the new environment here. He has passed these comments on to the President and the Provost.
FSSC meetings will begin promptly at 1:00 PM and end at 2:30PM. Representative Faculty Senate meetings will begin at 1:45 PM. The schedule of meetings for the academic year will appear on the Faculty Senate web site.
We are continuing to explore the possibility of video linking our Senate meetings to outlying campuses. David Baron suggested that before we put too much energy into this, it is important to check with various campuses as to whether they would actually appreciate it.
The FSSC should be prepared next week with nominations for Board of Trustees committees.
We have been requested to provide another 100 names of faculty for informal receptions with President Hart. We need 5-10 nominations from each school.
Aiken announced President Hart's decision to create an academic plan. This will be accomplished using faculty driven committees. There will be seven committees, a steering committee composed of the chairs of the seven committees, and an executive committee.
We need to provide nominations.
There was some discussion as to how to proceed. We agreed that this needs to be an open process. We proposed that President Hart announce her plan to the university community, after which Aiken will follow up with an announcement describing the nomination process and we will contact our individual schools and colleges. There was also some discussion as to what role, if any, CATA should play. Aiken plans to contact their chair to discuss this with him.
Finally there was some discussion about re-considering the possibility of changing the by-laws to allow NTT and Academic Professionals to be a part of the Faculty Senate. Consensus was that a motion should come forth from the FSSC as soon as possible to allow ample time for discussion.
4. Vice President's Report:
We approved Chris Harper, Cornelius Pratt, Gary Milsark, and Rena Krakow for the Library Committee.
Turner announced that there is a committee meeting about upgrading the administrative computer systems. They are looking for a faculty representative with an understanding of ISIS and undergraduate affairs. Aiken will talk to Frank Friedman about the possibility of his serving.
Finally, Turner summarized her experience this summer of being denounced by a student on the Horowitz website. After discussing this issue with University Counsel and others, she suggests that it might be well to form a group of people to establish guidelines for responding to such attacks.
5. Old Business:
The GenEd committee has been meeting over the summer. David Watt (CLA History) is now working full time with Terry Halbert. Terry has a video completed explaining GenEd. Pilot courses continue to run.
6. New Business:
There was brief discussion as to whom we should invite to FSSC meetings. The Provost will visit us next week. Other possible invitees include Terry Halbert, Teresa Powell, and Pamela Barnett, director of the Teaching & Learning Center
7. Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Paul S. Lafollette, Jr.
Secretary
