Tuesday, October 17, 2006
1. Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 1:50 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes:
The minutes were approved as distributed.
3. Report from Dr. Aaronson about the Provost search:
President Hart has decided to put five faculty and four deans on the committee. She has been very active in helping the committee identify a search firm, which has now been hired. There was been much discussion of the desirable characteristics of a Provost for Temple. This has built on CATA’s work. President Hart is generally in sync with CATA’s recommendations. The search firm will be on campus next week and plans to meet with various constituencies. They are most eager to hear what we have to say, and want as open a search as is possible.
Dean Stewart commented that, thus far, this has been a very collegial experience.
Karen Turner asked what the timetable would be.
Answer: The search firm will be on campus next week. They hope to begin “airport interviews” by January, followed by campus visits of finalists early in the Spring semester. A final decision should be made in March or April.
Art Hochner asked if the same sort of confidentiality would apply as was applied in the recent presidential search.
Answer: Yes, but they envision a more open process for the final 2-5 candidates.
4. President’s Report:
The FSSC has been going “full bore” and will continue its work to restore the balance of faculty governance. They are also attempting to provide coordination between GEEC and EPPC. Acting Provost Englert has asked us to help in planning and forming committees for the Middle States accreditation which will be happening within the next few years. We and the provost’s office are forming a coordinating committee and an assessment committee. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact your representative on FSSC.
President Hart visited with the FSSC. You can read about her visit by reading the online minutes of the FSSC for October 3, 2006 at http://www.temple.edu/senate/minutes.htm. Evans further reported that at the recent meeting of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Hart gave an overview of Temple and her view for its future. She says that it is time to stop growth and begin to consolidate service. We need to increase fund-raising and extend our partnership with the community. She expects 120 new faculty this year. We have a new Dean of CST, and new P&T guidelines.
Evans commented that the new P&T document depended heavily on the recommendations of the new taskgroup over the summer. It is a document that provides both clarity and humanity. It is now important that individual schools and colleges get busy creating their own discipline specific P&T guidelines. If those are approved in time, they will be used this very year.
The handbook committee is meeting regularly. The great majority of the current handbook was written in the 1960s. It has been tinkered with roughly every 10 years since that time. The committee is currently looking at issues of who should be allowed membership in the faculty senate. Recommendations will be brought to the full faculty senate (not the representative senate) for multiple readings and opportunity for comment.
Acting Provost Englert has provided the “workload document” to the steering committee. A subcommittee has been created to look at it and provide comment and recommendations.
The international committee and CARA are working hard.
5. Vice-President’s Report:
We continue to solicit volunteers for various senate committees. Committee chairs are reminded that they cannot themselves choose members, but rather must submit proposed members to the steering committee (with a brief biography and explanation of why they are interested) for the FSSC’s approval.
We are asking all committees to review and update their charges (or create them if they do not exist).
We will be expecting written reports from all committees at semester’s end (as called for in the by-laws) and we will be inviting committee chairs to meet with the steering committee, and to make oral reports at senate meetings throughout the Spring semester.
A LISTSERV for committee chairs has been created.
We still need an editor for the Herald. Interested parties may contact Frank Friedman.
Terry Halbert asked what the editor can expect in terms of support.
Answer: One course release per semester (as negotiated with their dean), one graduate assistant, and a stipend of $600.00/month.
6. Report on Informal Meeting with President Hart:
Ira Shapiro reported on the October 11th Informal Discussion at Dr. Hart’s home. His full report appears on the Senate web page as an addendum to these minutes.
7. Report from the GEEC by Terry Halbert:
We will be piloting 13 Gen Ed courses in the Spring `07 Semester. There will be a workshop which those piloting courses will be urged to attend. The academic year 2007-2008 will see continuing piloting of Gen Ed courses with the goal that by the end of that year ALL approved Gen Ed courses will have been run at least once.
The GEEC continues to wrestle with the difficult implementation details such as AP credit, transfer credits, and how to define “natural sciences.” A document discussing the granting of waivers should be available in a “couple of weeks.” There are also issues to be resolved with respect to honors courses, international programs, course development, and issues of resources and planning. The goal is to have humane, sensible, natural implementations.
Many questions followed Halbert’s report:
Harrison from Tyler asked how generated credits would be directed to deans and elsewhere.
Answer: “We are still trying to figure that out.”
Hochner from FSBM asked about the proportion of TT, NTT, and adjuncts expected to make up the Gen Ed faculty.
Answer: We are seeking participation across the board. We need to maintain quality at all levels.
Hochner followed up be observing that in IH and the writing program, the faculty are mostly adjunct and NTT with little commitment from TT faculty. Will we do the same here? That is, will we hire cheap disposable faculty for Gen Ed?
Answer: No answer was forthcoming.
Evans from Tyler asked how the GEEC would police the quality of teaching if hiring and teaching assignments were controlled by departments.
Answer from Peter Jones: In Gen Ed, all responsibility lies ultimately with the GEEC. The GEEC will work closely with area coordinators who will have the authority to decide who may teach Gen Ed. The coordinators will work closely with deans and departments.
Evans: How can the GEEC police 400 sections of courses?
Jones: Area coordinators will look after their own areas.
Evans: Will coordinators have the time and power to do that?
Jones: They will bring any problems they may have back to the GEEC.
8. Old Business:
Cutler from History (CLA) announced that the Pennsylvania Legislature’s committee which was formed by the Academic Bill of Rights legislation, a committee that is looking for “liberal bias in academe,” has completed their hearings and made a preliminary report. Currently this report is conservatively biased. Hopefully Temple will have a response.
Lindorff from the Boyer School of Music and Dance reminded us that Temple’s “new” policy with respect to this issue is not “new.” Rather the Board directed that we should make out existing policies more clear.
9. New Business:
There was no new business.
10. Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 2:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul S. LaFollette, Jr.
Secretary
