FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Minutes

University Center, Concho Room

December 12, 2001

Attendance:

Rasheed, A., Del Carmen, A., Nussbaum, C., Formanowicz, D., Silva, D., Maher, D., Reinhartz, D., Estes, E., Gintole, G., Courtney, H., Amster, H.,Clark, ,J., Porter, L., Rouse, L., Fincher, L., Rosado, L.,Jones, , M.E.,, Bond, M.L., Spindler, M., Lehmann, P., Clements, P.,Elmasri, R., Maizlish, S. (Secretary), Kleiser, S., Wilding, T., Ingram, T., President R. Witt, Provost G. Wright, Vice President D. Dunn, Assistant Vice President M. Moore, and Chair T. Chrzanowski.

Call to Order:

2:35 p.m. Senate Chair Thomas Chrzanowski called the Senate to order.

Approval of Minutes:

The minutes of the November 14, 2001 meeting were approved unanimously.

Remarks by the Chair:

The Chair reported that he and Sen. Reinhartz attended a Faculty Advisory Committee meeting in Austin the week of December 1. The search for a new Chancellor is underway, in hopes that a replacement will be hired by fall, 2002. The Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs presented information on his efforts to increase component visibility at the federal level. This could include awareness of federal funding received by UTA faculty. Dallas attorney Robert Estrada has been appointed as a new regent. Other speakers included Darcy Hardy from the System Telecampus office. UTA began the DE effort in 1999 with 190 students enrolled in two programs. Currently we have 2,004 students enrolled in a total of 12 programs, with a target of 142 programs.

President Witt noted that UTA accounts for nearly 50% of system telecampus enrollment.

Other FAC business included an update from Assistant Vice Chancellor Mel Hazelwood on the arcane nature of fee assessment. A 12% increase in health premiums is expected. The Faculty Quality Committee received $50,000 from System to conduct a Faculty Satisfaction Survey, the first since 1994. An RFP for electronic formatting of this survey is forthcoming, and the Chair feels UTA should compete for this opportunity.

In updates from other campuses, it was noted that M.D. Anderson is considering a “market value” approach on faculty raises, based on a comparison with Fortune 500 companies which views university administrators as executives. Other campuses have implemented direct deposit of expense reimbursements, and it was suggested that this should be adopted on our campus. At at least one campus, student ID photos are linked to class rosters. Advantages include prevention of cheating, and earlier recognition of students by faculty. Chair Chrzanowski inquired if a similar system could be put in place at UTA.

Sen. Reinhartz added that the Medical Branch of the Tyler campus has no tenure, and that faculty are working on one year renewable contracts. Contracts are not renewed until two weeks before the semester begins. M.D. Anderson has 7-year renewable tenure. The FAC is reviewing the solidity of tenure, including the question “Can you have tenure and be unpaid?”

Remarks by the President:

President Witt had no comments.

Sen. Jones asked when Feast of Carols might be reinstated.

President Witt described the significant costs required to update the costumes, and issues relating to student compensation and time constraints during finals. Until funding to address both concerns is secured, there will be no plans to resume the event.

Sen. Jones suggested that Mrs. Witt take this on as a project.

Remarks by the Provost:

Provost Wright had no comments.

Sen. Schindler asked the Provost if class rolls provided by the Registrar could be forwarded in spreadsheet format.

The Provost referred this to Dr. Dunn, who advised that new student information management systems are being researched. Sen. Moore suggested that faculty copy rolls directly from the CICS screens to a spreadsheet.

Sen. Estes advised that many of his colleagues had difficulty with the on-line compliance training. Some took up to 4.5 hours to complete it, due to computer problems. Provost Wright asked to be made aware of specific needs for computer upgrades to address this problem. President Witt asked that a list of computers to be replaced (including age of the computers) be forwarded to the Provost for action.

Sen. Porter asked why recreational activity cards for spouses were not valid for use of the tennis courts. President Witt agreed to look into this.

Senator Amster had not yet received the faculty survey on Vice President Williams. Sen. Wilding advised that it was mailed to the entire faculty list, and offered to send a link to the survey. Sen. Maizlish noted that Netscape users may have difficulty with the survey format. Using MS Explorer or downloading the newer version of Netscape can solve this problem.

Sen. Elmasri expressed concerns regarding the forwarding of mail from the exchange server.

Committee Reports:

The Council of Faculty Senates had no report.

Equity: Sen. Formanowicz reported that the Equity Committee received a formal grievance in late November. After two meetings, it was decided to dismiss the grievance. All parties have been notified of their findings. Sen. Formanowicz suggested that the Senate revisit the 10-day time constraint, as this could be a problem in May or June when many faculty are off campus.

The Chair expressed his thanks to the Equity Committee for their cooperation with the new policy.

Academic Freedom and Tenure: Sen. Maizlish reported that the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee has received the receivership document and will meet to discuss it.

Operating Procedures had no report.

Research & Development: Sen. Rosado reported that data is being collected on the number of faculty members in each unit to determine if enough senators are currently serving. One senator is to be elected for each 15-faculty members. The document is unclear on how eligibility for a second senator is determined.

The Chair agreed that senators may not be apportioned correctly, and reported that the Handbook of Operating Procedures is being reviewed.

Budget Liaison had no report.

Academic Liaison: Sen. Porter reported that the Academic Liaison Committee had begun updating the Faculty Guide. A meeting is scheduled for December 13. Only the most essential information will be presented in printed form. Information that changes often will be provided on the faculty website. The committee was asked to remain for a meeting after adjournment

The Chair serves on the Risk Assessment Task Force, which identifies risks, gauges the severity of risks, and suggests solutions to mitigate identified risks. He feels that faculty are unaware of many things for which they are accountable, and suggests that Academic Liaison work with Dr. Marianne Woods to review risks and identify them for new faculty in matrix form. These are not covered in compliance training.

President Witt noted that many well-intentioned faculty members are unaware of current compliance requirements, and therefore vulnerable to exposure. Proper record keeping is essential. Researchers may encounter problems when time and effort records are audited and found to be incomplete. Eighty to ninety percent of compliance regulations originate with state or federal regulations.

Student Services Liaison had no report.

Ethics had no report.

Special Projects: Sen. Fincher reported that four nominations for Senator Emeriti had been received. The committee will meet in January to review these and to work on the tenure document.

The Chair asked committee chairs to move forward on their charges and to avoid delay of committee work.

Old Business:

The Chair reported that the Periodic Reviews of Academic Administrators are progressing. The review of Provost Wright is on schedule, and the committee will meet on January 14 to begin drafting a report.

The Chair discussed the structure of the Faculty Development Leave Committee, and indicated a need for a rolling appointment process, as well as representation from all schools and colleges. The current system does not allow for the development of “institutional memory” while maintaining fair representation.

Sen. Maizlish asked how the composition of the committee was determined and if more representatives could serve. More people are needed to explain proposals to those from other disciplines.

Assistant Vice President Moore advised that the Handbook of Operating Procedures calls for seven members who serve two-year terms. He will use the three administrative appointments to balance composition of the committee if necessary.

The Chair asked permission to draft senators to serve this year. A motion was made by Sen. Amster and seconded by Sen. Rasheed that the Chair and Executive Committee appoint four members to serve on the Faculty Development Leave Committee. The motion carried unanimously.

The Chair discussed Sen. Porter’s request from the previous meeting to review the drop policy, and advised that this issue was more appropriate for the Undergraduate Assembly.

Sen. Porter agreed, but expressed concerns that no action had been taken by the Assembly when they previously reviewed this item. President Witt agreed to follow up on this item as Chair of the Undergraduate Assembly.

Sen. Amster had previously raised the issue of providing two representatives to the Council of Faculty Senates. The Executive Committee and President Witt are in favor of sending two representatives. Sen. Amster was asked to attend meetings until the next election. This was confirmed in a motion made by Sen . Rasheed and seconded by Sen. Estes. The motion carried unanimously.

Sen. Amster has been asked by TCOFS to have one representative serve a three-year term to establish continuity. Currently reps serve one-year terms. The Chair indicated that current two-year senate terms would preclude a three-year assignment. Moving Senate elections to January would help establish institutional memory, but a three-year term would still not be possible.

Sen. Amster announced a four-day training in June, 2002 for TCOFS members. The Chair agreed to address this at the next Executive Board meeting. Sen. Silva asked if this change would require a change of bylaws. The Chair advised that it would.

Sen. Amster asked why annual reports had not been received. The Chair advised that they were published on the Faculty Senate website in the May, 2001 minutes.

New Business:

Sen Courtney requested computer access for retired faculty. It was also suggested that students could retain UTA email accounts after graduation so that all who corresponded with retirees and graduates were more aware of UTA’s presence. With more library resources moving to on-line, faculty will need access. Graduates might not need library access. There would be no cost for e-mail forwarding, and the service would be disconnected if not used in two years. E-mails would be forwarded to retirees at their home ISP. The Chair agreed to work with President Witt on this issue.

Announcements:

Faculty Development Leave proposals and Research Enhancement Proposals are due to departmental committees by January 7^th.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 p.m.