dec-10

Thursday, December 10, 2009

1. Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order by President Turner at 1:48 P.M.

2. Guest: Provost Lisa Staiano-Coico

Provost Lisa began by discussing her Retreat with the Faculty Senate Steering Committee which took place the morning of Friday, December 4, 2009. The Retreat’s focus was on creating a collaborative and communicative environment between the administration and the faculty. Provost Lisa mentioned some of the issues discussed that included:
The need for a fall survey about faculty’s attitudes toward shared governance;
The selection of a standard time for faculty senate meetings that would not conflict with any other meetings;
The creation of service awards.
The Provost then took questions from the faculty. Some of the concerns that were raised were the following:
The lack of wireless access in all classes at Tuttleman Learning Center was mentioned and the Provost indicated that she would bring this issue up with Tim O’Rourke, Vice President for Computer and Information Services. The Provost also said that she felt these kinds of issues should have been put in the suggestion box of the Dysfunctional Rules Committee. Unfortunately, very few faculty suggestions were offered to that committee. In the future, she will frame the concept differently and will ask for dysfunctional processes or policies, and she hopes to get faculty offering suggestions anonymously;
The grants administration needs to be fixed and Provost Lisa agreed.
In the Middle States report, the percentage of adjunct faculty was not stated. For transparency sake, the numbers should have been there and the Provost said she would look into this;
Non-tenure track faculty members are not told early enough if they will be removed. The Provost agreed that there was a problem, and she asked Deputy Provost Englert to look into this issue and also to encourage the Deans to use multi-year contracts;
The Graduate School website needs to be more current and user-friendly;
Compression of salaries as an issue needs to be pursued, and the Provost said this would be the case;
There was a question about faculty searches and if they would continue, and the Provost said that they would;
The issue to be proactive and not wait for the state to hold off on our funding needs to be addressed and the Provost agreed. She also suggested that not only should the four state-related institutions lobby, but she feels that the faculty voice should be heard as well.
The Provost asked for some good news from the faculty. Some of what we heard was:
The Theater Department's original production of SHOT, written by Dr. Kimmika-Williams Witherspoon, with documentary footage by former Professor Eugene Martin and directed by Douglas C. Wager, was one of nine productions selected, out of over 200 productions from a seven state plus Washington, D.C. area to be invited to be performed at the Region II Kennedy Center American College Festival, which will take place in January. This production is the result, in part, of a 2008 Provost's Seed Grant.
John Callahan, a former Temple football player, completed a video for his master’s thesis that was purchased by and shown on the military channel;
Students from the School of Communications and Theater created an archive exhibit which was part of The Legacy of Harvey Milk, and it was shown on Wall Street with Mayor Bloomberg and other notables in attendance.

3. President’s Report: Karen M. Turner

Karen Turner continued to speak of the Faculty Senate Steering Committee and the Provost’s Retreat. She spoke of other suggestions that emerged. They included focusing on the 360 degree evaluation of deans enabling faculty to provide feedback as well as inviting Faculty Senate Steering Committee members to meet with Deans at their Spring Retreat with the Provost.

She then went over the proposed Representative Faculty Senate Meetings for the Spring. They included:

January 25, 2010, will be a theme meeting focusing on the Quality of Life issues at Temple. She hopes that the new Quality of Life Committee from the Faculty Senate will meet prior to the Representative Faculty Senate to set the agenda;
February 16, 2010, will have Tony Wagner, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, as a guest to discuss the 20/20 Plan. President Hart may join the meeting as well;
March 17, 2010, will be an open discussion focusing on Shared Governance;
April 15, 2010, Eleanor Myers, Faculty Athletics’ Representative, Bill Bradshaw, Director of Athletics, and four coaches will present.

Since two meetings will now have a discussion format, President Turner is going to encourage those groups who would generally be presenting at the monthly meetings to write instead to the Faculty Herald about their work.

Karen Turner also mentioned that she and Paul LaFollette visited the Engineering School to receive some feedback from the Collegial Assembly and it seemed that their visit was very much appreciated.

4. Guest: Larry Alford, Dean of the University Libraries

Larry Alford gave a power point presentation about the libraries at Temple. Highlights of his talk included:

The eight libraries at Temple and two more in Japan were mentioned;
The need for libraries in an age of Google was displayed by the 8,500 to 10,000 people use of Paley each day, the millions of downloads not associated with Google searches, the approximately 60,000 volumes a year and 500,000 monographs;
The 21st Century libraries where technology and scholarship merge was discussed;
Films on Demand and Early English Books on-line were given as positive examples of the libraries’ growth;
Special Collections were discussed, especially the Urban Archives, the Jewish Archives Collection, the Afro-American Collection and Gertrude Stein’s signed editions;
The use of the libraries were stressed as well as the easy ways to reach the library for help through emails and text messaging;
The importance of including more staff was emphasized to bring up the rankings and the need to integrate teaching and library skills was also cited;
The Library Prizes for Research were introduced with three prizes of $1,000 each to be given to undergraduates; faculty were encouraged to nominate students;
Chat in the Stacks, taking place twice a semester, bringing faculty and student together, was mentioned;
The Temple 20/20 Plan for the new library on Broad Street was brought to our attention.

After the presentation, there was time for a brief question and answer period. Comments included:

The positive interlibrary loans that are now so easy to obtain;
The issue of reciprocity between Penn and Temple which Larry Alford is now working on.

5. New Business:

None

6. Unfinished Business:

None.

7. Adjournment:

The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Submitted by Joan Poliner Shapiro, Secretary

OFFICERS BY LAWS FACULTY HANDBOOK MEETING SCHEDULE MINUTES COMMITTEES FACULTY HERALD ELECTIONS SENATE HOME TEMPLE HOME		UNIVERSITY SENATE MEETING MINUTES Thursday, December 10, 2009 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Turner at 1:48 P.M. 2. Guest: Provost Lisa Staiano-Coico Provost Lisa began by discussing her Retreat with the Faculty Senate Steering Committee which took place the morning of Friday, December 4, 2009. The Retreat’s focus was on creating a collaborative and communicative environment between the administration and the faculty. Provost Lisa mentioned some of the issues discussed that included: The need for a fall survey about faculty’s attitudes toward shared governance; The selection of a standard time for faculty senate meetings that would not conflict with any other meetings; The creation of service awards. The Provost then took questions from the faculty. Some of the concerns that were raised were the following: The lack of wireless access in all classes at Tuttleman Learning Center was mentioned and the Provost indicated that she would bring this issue up with Tim O’Rourke, Vice President for Computer and Information Services. The Provost also said that she felt these kinds of issues should have been put in the suggestion box of the Dysfunctional Rules Committee. Unfortunately, very few faculty suggestions were offered to that committee. In the future, she will frame the concept differently and will ask for dysfunctional processes or policies, and she hopes to get faculty offering suggestions anonymously; The grants administration needs to be fixed and Provost Lisa agreed. In the Middle States report, the percentage of adjunct faculty was not stated. For transparency sake, the numbers should have been there and the Provost said she would look into this; Non-tenure track faculty members are not told early enough if they will be removed. The Provost agreed that there was a problem, and she asked Deputy Provost Englert to look into this issue and also to encourage the Deans to use multi-year contracts; The Graduate School website needs to be more current and user-friendly; Compression of salaries as an issue needs to be pursued, and the Provost said this would be the case; There was a question about faculty searches and if they would continue, and the Provost said that they would; The issue to be proactive and not wait for the state to hold off on our funding needs to be addressed and the Provost agreed. She also suggested that not only should the four state-related institutions lobby, but she feels that the faculty voice should be heard as well. The Provost asked for some good news from the faculty. Some of what we heard was: The Theater Department's original production of SHOT, written by Dr. Kimmika-Williams Witherspoon, with documentary footage by former Professor Eugene Martin and directed by Douglas C. Wager, was one of nine productions selected, out of over 200 productions from a seven state plus Washington, D.C. area to be invited to be performed at the Region II Kennedy Center American College Festival, which will take place in January. This production is the result, in part, of a 2008 Provost's Seed Grant. John Callahan, a former Temple football player, completed a video for his master’s thesis that was purchased by and shown on the military channel; Students from the School of Communications and Theater created an archive exhibit which was part of The Legacy of Harvey Milk, and it was shown on Wall Street with Mayor Bloomberg and other notables in attendance. 3. President’s Report: Karen M. Turner Karen Turner continued to speak of the Faculty Senate Steering Committee and the Provost’s Retreat. She spoke of other suggestions that emerged. They included focusing on the 360 degree evaluation of deans enabling faculty to provide feedback as well as inviting Faculty Senate Steering Committee members to meet with Deans at their Spring Retreat with the Provost. She then went over the proposed Representative Faculty Senate Meetings for the Spring. They included: January 25, 2010, will be a theme meeting focusing on the Quality of Life issues at Temple. She hopes that the new Quality of Life Committee from the Faculty Senate will meet prior to the Representative Faculty Senate to set the agenda; February 16, 2010, will have Tony Wagner, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, as a guest to discuss the 20/20 Plan. President Hart may join the meeting as well; March 17, 2010, will be an open discussion focusing on Shared Governance; April 15, 2010, Eleanor Myers, Faculty Athletics’ Representative, Bill Bradshaw, Director of Athletics, and four coaches will present. Since two meetings will now have a discussion format, President Turner is going to encourage those groups who would generally be presenting at the monthly meetings to write instead to the Faculty Herald about their work. Karen Turner also mentioned that she and Paul LaFollette visited the Engineering School to receive some feedback from the Collegial Assembly and it seemed that their visit was very much appreciated. 4. Guest: Larry Alford, Dean of the University Libraries Larry Alford gave a power point presentation about the libraries at Temple. Highlights of his talk included: The eight libraries at Temple and two more in Japan were mentioned; The need for libraries in an age of Google was displayed by the 8,500 to 10,000 people use of Paley each day, the millions of downloads not associated with Google searches, the approximately 60,000 volumes a year and 500,000 monographs; The 21st Century libraries where technology and scholarship merge was discussed; Films on Demand and Early English Books on-line were given as positive examples of the libraries’ growth; Special Collections were discussed, especially the Urban Archives, the Jewish Archives Collection, the Afro-American Collection and Gertrude Stein’s signed editions; The use of the libraries were stressed as well as the easy ways to reach the library for help through emails and text messaging; The importance of including more staff was emphasized to bring up the rankings and the need to integrate teaching and library skills was also cited; The Library Prizes for Research were introduced with three prizes of $1,000 each to be given to undergraduates; faculty were encouraged to nominate students; Chat in the Stacks, taking place twice a semester, bringing faculty and student together, was mentioned; The Temple 20/20 Plan for the new library on Broad Street was brought to our attention. After the presentation, there was time for a brief question and answer period. Comments included: The positive interlibrary loans that are now so easy to obtain; The issue of reciprocity between Penn and Temple which Larry Alford is now working on. 5. New Business: None 6. Unfinished Business: None. 7. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m. Submitted by Joan Poliner Shapiro, Secretary

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UNIVERSITY SENATE MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, December 10, 2009