Faculty Senate Meeting
Attendees:
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Minutes from
Approval of Minutes from
Reports from Standing Committees
Planning & Resources Committee
Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meetings with President Jackson
Clinical Faculty Policies and Procedures
Faculty Input on Performance Planning
Proposed Amendments to Faculty Senate Constitution
Approval
of Minutes from
President Peter Persans brought the meeting to order at
Reports
from Standing Committees
Planning
& Resources Committee
Reports from the standing committees began with Roger Wright (Chair, Planning & Resources) who remarked that the committee reviewed the proposed Cognitive Science Department's doctoral program, and will write a statement that will be useful in obtaining State certification for this program. Secondly, the committee reviewed the Performance Plan draft presentations, and found them informative. One of the main concerns about the future was that it was difficult to extrapolate some of the future objectives from the tactical problems of the moment. Thirdly, the committee considers the Compensation Initiative effort a high priority issue, and a meeting with Curtis Powell regarding the issue would be sought in the short term
Gary Gabriele reported that the Curriculum Committee would
shortly address a proposal from the
The Promotion & Tenure Committee will meet in early March.
Faculty
Senate Executive Committee Meetings with President Jackson
President Persans, for the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, commented that they met with President Jackson on February 4 to discuss a variety of issues. Among the issues were the nature of advising and faculty responsibility in advising; the philosophies of President Jackson concerning clinical appointments, and the differences from school-to- school, and department-to-department with respect to expectations for clinical faculty.
Clinical
Faculty Policies and Procedures
President Persans remarked that the FS Executive Committee's
concerns regarding clinical policies and procedures had been addressed. Provost
Peterson indicated that the appointment of clinical and research faculty
follows a very structured process and checklist. A clinical appointment, and
reappointment, involves a recommendation from the Department Chair, and a
review by an appropriate Department Committee (and since this is not a
"tenure" and promotion issue, this would not necessarily be the
Promotion and Tenure Committee's responsibility.)
The same situation exists for research faculty in that there
is a formal process and checklist structure for research appointments.
Recommendations come from the Department, to the Department Chair, to the
School, to the Dean, to the Provost, and then the Provost makes the decision.
The Provost does not send it to the Faculty Senate's P&T committee, the
Dean's Council and then to the joint committee, because that would have
"tenure" implications. The policies and checklist followed are well
structured and consistent with the Handbook.
Also discussed with President Jackson, was Cheryl Geisler's proposed satisfaction survey. The President expressed a desire that such an instrument would produce action items. The FSXC is considering this, and will present a revised survey at the next meeting.
Faculty
Input on Performance Planning
Faculty input on Performance Planning was another topic of conversation with President Jackson. She desires some substantive input from the Faculty Senate on specific items in the Plan and what specific issues the faculty may have with the Plan. President Persans asked that faculty send comments to him, and he will filter, compile and send them on the President and Provost, as quickly as possible due to time constraints.
The Provost wanted to clarify the process of the Plan, stating that a calendar of dates is initiated in July. The Departments and Schools develop their plans. Then there is a daylong retreat with the academic portfolios, to which the P&R committee is invited (as well as the Faculty Senate Executive Committee). The deans of the academic schools, Enrollment Management, Gary Gabriele for undergraduate education, Tom Apple for graduate education, and Alan Eckbreth for Hartford/working professionals, make presentations that are fairly informal, but describe some of the overarching goals, new directions, and any specific changes for the upcoming year. This is an information-sharing day in mid-October. November 1, the first draft is due, and then it is placed on the web. There is then a period of about a month where there is additional discussion, and "cross pollination." The Deans and the portfolio owners make presentations of the Plan to the cabinet on December 1. There are additional discussions, and based upon that feedback, budget preparation begins. In the January timeframe, the budget is presented. He noted that President Jackson very specifically requested that the Faculty Senate collect information, review it, and make specific suggestions regarding the Plan. Big issues should be the Faculty Senate's focus.
Provost Peterson mentioned that he was working with outside
legal counsel on the Handbook for Academic Staff. At virtually every other
institution looked at, the appeal process for tenure and promotion appeals the
procedure of the process and not the decision itself. The reason for that (and
the Provost is consulting with Tammy Cousins, legal advisor, on this issue) is
the litigation that has occurred. It is desired that
Proposed
Amendments to Faculty Senate Constitution
The next item on the agenda concerned changes to the FS
Constitution, and President Persans excused the Administrators.
The meeting adjourned at