FSSC Minutes February 3, 2009

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Attendance: Karen M. Turner (Pres.), Paul S. LaFollette (V. Pres.), Bonnie Averbach (Secy.), Robert M. Aiken (Past-Pres.), Z. Joan Delalic (Engr.), Marge Devinney (CLA), Luke Kahlich (BCMD), Stephanie Knopp (Tyl), Lois Millner (SSA), Mark C. Rahdert (Law), Joan P. Shapiro (Educ.), Joel B. Sheffield (CST), Roberta Sloan (SCT), Roy Stevens (Dent.), David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald), Cheryl Mack (Coord)

1. Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 1:10 PM.

2. Approval of Minutes:

The minutes of January 27 were approved as corrected.

3. President’s Report: Karen M. Turner

Michelle O’Connor was not able to be at the meeting today. She may be able to come next week.

There will be no meeting on February 17, since there is a Representative Senate meeting on that day.

The Provost will be at the March 17 meeting and the President will be at the March 24 meeting.

At this time there is no guest scheduled for the February 17 Representative Senate meeting.

A discussion followed about possible guests for this meeting and for future Steering Committee meetings.

A discussion followed on the role of faculty in the Academic Strategic Plan. Rahdert mentioned that the faculty had been told that, the Plan had to first be approved by the Board. Now that it has been approved by the board, the faculty needs a chance to reflect on what it means and what its implementation involves. He feels there should be some medium in which the Faculty Senate can reflect on it and discuss it. “It will only be real if the faculty buys into it.” He added that this is similar to Gen Ed in that the faculty had to spend a long time reflecting on that program, until finally it was accepted.

Turner mentioned that the Provost has been having luncheon meetings with various constituencies and is still asking for feedback. The Plan has not yet been posted on the Blackboard.

LaFollette mentioned that the presentations that have made so far only indicate a selection of goals for the Plan. He feels that when the goals are tweaked, the faculty should be involved in the specific ways in which the goals are achieved. “The time to make sure that we are involved is now.” Rahdert suggested that this topic be brought up at the Representative Faculty Senate Meeting and that we should keep rolling out this issue at future meetings. Aiken suggested that we discuss thiswith the Provost before bringing the topic up at the Senate meeting.

LaFollette mentioned that he hopes that there will be faculty discussions on the Senate listserv and in letters to the editor in the Faculty Herald.

Turner mentioned that some faculty are reluctant to ask questions at the monthly meetings and that we should have a mechanism to relay questions to the speakers, in a way that the posers of the questions remain anonymous.

Vice President’s Report: Paul LaFollette

An election is pending and Cheryl Mack has provided a time line. A nomination Committee is needed. LaFollette will be the Chair. Aiken and Shapiro volunteered. He mentioned that a statement must be sent out to the University Community as soon as possible. All responses should be in by the end of February and the nomination committee should make a report to FSSC to finalize the slate by the beginning of March.

The ballot will be sent out late in March. In addition, we must provide nominations for one person to be on the University Promotion and Tenure Committee. These nominees must be tenured full Professors from Fox, Education and/or SSA. CV’s are needed.

4. Herald Update: David Waldstreicher:

The next issue of the Herald will be out by next week. It will include some very good letters from faculty members. There is also a profile of David Post, I. Herman Stern Professor of Law at Temple University, and author of ‘In Search of Jefferson’s Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace’ (Oxford U. Press, 2008) which just came out. The book is about law and the internet and Thomas Jefferson. It’s a takeoff on Jefferson’s book on the state of Virginia. In addition there is something on Sustainability from Sandra McDade.

In a future issue Waldstreicher will have something on the Strategic s Plan.

5. Faculty Life committee draft charge: sub committee on the charge to look into the issues involved in quality of faculty life:

After much discussion, the charge was amended to read:

The Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Life was assembled by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee to evaluate the strengths, limitations, and opportunities for career development and evolution in the areas of faculty satisfaction and faculty life at Temple. The committee will design and conduct a series of surveys to assess the attitudes and needs of faculty related to their satisfaction with all aspects of faculty life at Temple University. These surveys will include such matters as: the level of "family friendliness" experienced; the level of respect perceived from colleagues and administration; the quality of support services; perceptions of the degree of fairness; balance in work load among Teaching, Scholarship, and Service; perceptions regarding university service; how much all aspects of diversity (age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, etc.) are celebrated; opportunities for collegiality; opportunities for career development and evolution at all stages of faculty life; and other faculty experiences. The Committee may want to convene focus groups with various segments of faculty, including but not limited to: tenure-track faculty, tenured faculty, NTT faculty, and adjunct faculty, as well as faculty at different career stages. This process could precede the design of the survey in order to be sure that the major issues are included. While the work of the Committee may extend past a single semester, the Committee will submit a report to the Faculty Senate as to their activities and findings at the end of the spring, 2009 semester.

A Motion was made and seconded to accept the document with the suggested changes made by Rahdert.

The question was called. There was no discussion. The vote was called with 15 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 abstentions.

6. Unfinished Business: LaFollette

We approved the establishment of a Student/Faculty Liaison Committee. TSG President Nadine Mompremier will put out a call for the student members; LaFollette will put out a call for faculty to be members of this committee.

7. New Business:

None

8. Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 PM

Bonnie Averbach, Secretary

OFFICERS BY LAWS FACULTY HANDBOOK MEETING SCHEDULE MINUTES COMMITTEES FACULTY HERALD ELECTIONS SENATE HOME TEMPLE HOME		Faculty Senate Steering Committee Tuesday, February 3, 2009 Attendance: Karen M. Turner (Pres.), Paul S. LaFollette (V. Pres.), Bonnie Averbach (Secy.), Robert M. Aiken (Past-Pres.), Z. Joan Delalic (Engr.), Marge Devinney (CLA), Luke Kahlich (BCMD), Stephanie Knopp (Tyl), Lois Millner (SSA), Mark C. Rahdert (Law), Joan P. Shapiro (Educ.), Joel B. Sheffield (CST), Roberta Sloan (SCT), Roy Stevens (Dent.), David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald), Cheryl Mack (Coord) 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 1:10 PM. 2. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of January 27 were approved as corrected. 3. President’s Report: Karen M. Turner Michelle O’Connor was not able to be at the meeting today. She may be able to come next week. There will be no meeting on February 17, since there is a Representative Senate meeting on that day. The Provost will be at the March 17 meeting and the President will be at the March 24 meeting. At this time there is no guest scheduled for the February 17 Representative Senate meeting. A discussion followed about possible guests for this meeting and for future Steering Committee meetings. A discussion followed on the role of faculty in the Academic Strategic Plan. Rahdert mentioned that the faculty had been told that, the Plan had to first be approved by the Board. Now that it has been approved by the board, the faculty needs a chance to reflect on what it means and what its implementation involves. He feels there should be some medium in which the Faculty Senate can reflect on it and discuss it. “It will only be real if the faculty buys into it.” He added that this is similar to Gen Ed in that the faculty had to spend a long time reflecting on that program, until finally it was accepted. Turner mentioned that the Provost has been having luncheon meetings with various constituencies and is still asking for feedback. The Plan has not yet been posted on the Blackboard. LaFollette mentioned that the presentations that have made so far only indicate a selection of goals for the Plan. He feels that when the goals are tweaked, the faculty should be involved in the specific ways in which the goals are achieved. “The time to make sure that we are involved is now.” Rahdert suggested that this topic be brought up at the Representative Faculty Senate Meeting and that we should keep rolling out this issue at future meetings. Aiken suggested that we discuss thiswith the Provost before bringing the topic up at the Senate meeting. LaFollette mentioned that he hopes that there will be faculty discussions on the Senate listserv and in letters to the editor in the Faculty Herald. Turner mentioned that some faculty are reluctant to ask questions at the monthly meetings and that we should have a mechanism to relay questions to the speakers, in a way that the posers of the questions remain anonymous. Vice President’s Report: Paul LaFollette An election is pending and Cheryl Mack has provided a time line. A nomination Committee is needed. LaFollette will be the Chair. Aiken and Shapiro volunteered. He mentioned that a statement must be sent out to the University Community as soon as possible. All responses should be in by the end of February and the nomination committee should make a report to FSSC to finalize the slate by the beginning of March. The ballot will be sent out late in March. In addition, we must provide nominations for one person to be on the University Promotion and Tenure Committee. These nominees must be tenured full Professors from Fox, Education and/or SSA. CV’s are needed. 4. Herald Update: David Waldstreicher: The next issue of the Herald will be out by next week. It will include some very good letters from faculty members. There is also a profile of David Post, I. Herman Stern Professor of Law at Temple University, and author of ‘In Search of Jefferson’s Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace’ (Oxford U. Press, 2008) which just came out. The book is about law and the internet and Thomas Jefferson. It’s a takeoff on Jefferson’s book on the state of Virginia. In addition there is something on Sustainability from Sandra McDade. In a future issue Waldstreicher will have something on the Strategic s Plan. 5. Faculty Life committee draft charge: sub committee on the charge to look into the issues involved in quality of faculty life: After much discussion, the charge was amended to read: The Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Life was assembled by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee to evaluate the strengths, limitations, and opportunities for career development and evolution in the areas of faculty satisfaction and faculty life at Temple. The committee will design and conduct a series of surveys to assess the attitudes and needs of faculty related to their satisfaction with all aspects of faculty life at Temple University. These surveys will include such matters as: the level of "family friendliness" experienced; the level of respect perceived from colleagues and administration; the quality of support services; perceptions of the degree of fairness; balance in work load among Teaching, Scholarship, and Service; perceptions regarding university service; how much all aspects of diversity (age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, etc.) are celebrated; opportunities for collegiality; opportunities for career development and evolution at all stages of faculty life; and other faculty experiences. The Committee may want to convene focus groups with various segments of faculty, including but not limited to: tenure-track faculty, tenured faculty, NTT faculty, and adjunct faculty, as well as faculty at different career stages. This process could precede the design of the survey in order to be sure that the major issues are included. While the work of the Committee may extend past a single semester, the Committee will submit a report to the Faculty Senate as to their activities and findings at the end of the spring, 2009 semester. A Motion was made and seconded to accept the document with the suggested changes made by Rahdert. The question was called. There was no discussion. The vote was called with 15 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 abstentions. 6. Unfinished Business: LaFollette We approved the establishment of a Student/Faculty Liaison Committee. TSG President Nadine Mompremier will put out a call for the student members; LaFollette will put out a call for faculty to be members of this committee. 7. New Business: None 8. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 PM Bonnie Averbach, Secretary

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