Tuesday, March 21, 2006
1. Call to Order:
President Evans called the meeting to order at 1:50 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes:
Minutes of January 27 were accepted as submitted.
Minutes of February 9 were presented; Evans asked that corrections be emailed to jevans@temple.edu.
3. President’s Report:
At the House and Senate Appropriation Hearings, which I attended at the invitation of Adamany, he was commended for raising the standards at Temple University while not losing the sight of the Conwellian tradition. Adamany was further commended on having been able to remove barriers for transfer students; allowing students to apply most, if not all, of their credits towards graduation.
The governor has asked for 4% increase in appropriations to Temple for next year – Temple asked for 6%.
Academic Affairs /Trustee Meeting – The motion by the Senate to table the Graduate Faculty proposal was presented; however Adamany’s proposal was accepted by the Board. Bob Aikens (CST) expressed his disappointment that the Senate’s motion was not accepted. Jim Korsh (CST) noted that we have a serious problem, and the faculty needs to be educated on how we can make a difference. It’s important that we make an effort to communicate with Board members.
Presidential Search Committee – Special ads were placed in order to attract more minorities and women. Over 600 letters inviting applications were sent out. The top 4 candidates will be introduced to the University community at the end of April.
Periodic Program Review –The FSSC talked with department chairs to assess the process of review. Then we met with Dick Englert, Deputy Provost, to discuss the strengths and especially the weaknesses of the review process. The FSSC felt our concerns were received by him.
TAUP/FSSC Moral Survey – We had a 40% survey return. FSSC and TAUP representatives will meet and discuss how best to release the findings to the public.
4. Vice-President’s Report:
Faculty elections will be online for the first time this spring. Faculty who are interested in becoming a candidate for President, V. President or Secretary or for any of the elected committees below, please submit your name with a brief bio to the Nominating Committee - Faculty Senate Office (041-12) or email, Lois.Millner@temple.edu. For the following elected committees, the number of vacancies for each committee is in the parentheses to the right of the committee:
Education Programs and Policies Committee (EPPC) (3), Personnel (2), Research Programs and Policies Committee (RPPC (2), University Study Leaves Committee (USLC (2), University Tenure and Promotion Committee (UT&PAC (4) and University Honors Program Oversight Committee (UHPOC (2). Paul LaFollette (CST) encouraged faculty to volunteer not only for these committees but for all faculty committees. The FSSC is asking all committee chairs to submit a year-end report before May 12.
5. Old Business:
Adamany’s document on Temple’s freedom policy and student grievance procedures – After much discussion and since these procedures are ongoing, it was moved; that the response to this document be taken up by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee and brought back to the Senate before May 9, 2006.
Motion passed unanimously.
6. General Education Executive Committee (GEEC) update:
Terry Halbert, Director
GEEC meets every Monday afternoon. We are continuing to look at course proposals.
We have 20 that we are looking at very carefully. Area coordinators are helping faculty teams to develop and revise their proposals to be completed by the end of May. There is still time to submit proposals and ideas. GEEC is well represented across campuses including graduate, undergraduate, honors and non-honors students. Faculty representatives are: Robert Baren (Engineering, Richard Brodhead (BCM&D) David Kern (SCT), Lewis Gordon (CLA), David Ryan (FSBM), Ira Shapiro (THM), Lara Toran (CST), Karen Turner (SCT), and Kate Wingert-Playdon (Tyler). There are over 200 people working on courses in groups. Orin Chein (CST): where will the teachers come from? Halbert replied that the GEEC has agreed to a pilot for each of the courses before being offered as Gen-Ed. The Provost is looking at who is now teaching the CORE. We will need to figure this out. The pilot study will determine the starting date. Five thousand dollars have been allocated for each building team.
7. New Business:
Oscar Chow, student president – Co-op program at Temple. The Provost has embraced this program and we are asking the faculty how best to proceed. Since Temple has had a co-op program in the past it was suggested that students talk with Dick Englert; look at Drexel University’s program and present a proposal to EPPC, a subcommittee of the Senate.
Leroy Dubeck (CST) – Chair Faculty Senate Budget reported on a major financial challenge facing the Temple University Health System. According to the report sent to the Board of Trustees recently, the TUHS had an operational loss of $51,000,000 for the first six months of the 2005-06 fiscal years. A letter sent to Temple's clinical faculty referred to a "$61 million shortfall in Healthcare Operations". Regardless of which number is used this large a deficit will impact the entire University if it is not corrected relatively quickly. The Faculty Senate Budget Committee was also told that the Governor's budget message for fiscal 06-07 would remove over $30 million in state aid to the TUHS/Medical which we are receiving this year. The administration is seeking to get these funds restored in the legislature.
Bill Cutler (CLA) – Instructional Support Center in Tuttleman is set to close. TAUP is sending out a letter with more details.
8. Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn at 3:03 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Maxine Chisholm, Pro-tem
