Site
Index




September 17, 2001

October 15, 2001
November 26, 2001

February 4, 2002
March 4, 2002

April 1, 2002

April 29, 2002


The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate
MINUTES
September 17, 2001

Those absent were: Basil Antar, Elizabeth Aversa, Mark Dadmun, Narendra Dahotre, Dennis Deyton, Tom Doherty, Catherine Faver, Bruce Fisher, L. David Fox, Jens Gregor, Ray Hamilton, Mark Hedrick, Leslie Hickok, LaVinia Jennings, Henry Kattesh, Majid Keyhani, Ken Kimble, Jon Levin, Jeff MacCabe, Terri Mangione, Gary McDaniel, Tamara Miller, Bill Nugent, Harold Roth, Phil Scheurer, Gilya Schmidt, Karen Sowers, C. A. Speer, Richard Strange, Elizabeth Sutherland, Esteban Walker, Dan Ward, Gretchen Whitney, Rick Williams, William Woodcock

Katherine Greenberg, Presiding

K. Greenberg called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
President's Report (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg presented Bob Glenn, the immediate past president, a plaque and a framed resolution expressing gratitude for his many services to the Faculty Senate and the institution. The resolution was adopted unanimously. Greenberg next presented Norma Cook with a plaque and a framed resolution expressing gratitude for her service to the Faculty Senate and the institution, including especially her recent services as parliamentarian. Greenberg also introduced and thanked Sharonne Winston for her extensive assistance as office secretary. She also thanked M. Combs, the president-elect, S. Jordan, the secretary and T. Hood, the new parliamentarian. Finally, she introduced the chairpersons of the Faculty Senate committees and then asked all the new senators to stand and be recognized.

Greenberg next read a list of senators honored at last spring's Chancellor's Award Ceremony. She reported that two special-topics meetings have been held and noted that two more will occur soon. She also noted that State Senator Rochelle will be at the discussion immediately before the next Faculty Senate meeting. Finally, she reminded everyone that Room 203 in the University Center is now a Faculty Senate room.

Greenberg next reviewed activities of the Faculty Senate Executive Council during the summer. She particularly noted its input into the presidential search process. She also said that M. Miller has written a brief summary of literature related to effective searches that is available on the UT search website for selection of a president.
MINUTES
Minutes of the May 7, 2001, Faculty Senate meeting were approved without change.
REPORTS: GOOD OF THE ORDER
Special Topics Meetings Reports

Faculty Involvement in Seeking Increased Funding for Higher Education
(a) Legislative Update (T. Ballard)
Ballard reported that there is better understanding of higher education's needs in Nashville than one might expect. He said that there are three groups in the legislature; one does not wish to do anything, one wants an income tax and one wishes to do patch-work only. Ballard sees no movement toward a special session. Meanwhile, the state's income is running well below last year's income. Ballard sees five options: (1) an income tax, (2) retention of sate-shared taxes, (3) retention of road funding, (4) a patch job, and (5) further cuts. He will be trying to help legislators and others to find, first, common ground and, second, a compromise that would yield better funding for higher education. Students, parents, alumni and others will be involved.
(b) Legislative Committee Report (T. Galligan)
Galligan said he, Greenberg, and others have met with various individuals and groups to discuss what can and should be done. Contact with legislators is a fundamental ingredient. A public forum, probably in late November, is one possibility. Individuals inviting legislators to campus to be shown the impact of budget problems is another possibility. Letters, e-mails and other methods of communication provide another approach. There also probably will be a brunch for legislators before the football game with Vanderbilt. Galligan next read a resolution (distributed at the meeting). It urges the legislature to provide adequate funding and invites legislators to campus. S. Smith suggested that having legislators on campus after Thanksgiving would reduce faculty participation. L. Gross suggested that copies of the resolution should be mailed to each legislator and the Governor; Greenberg agreed. J. Gehlhar suggested that "and the world" be inserted after "United States" in the first "resolved" statement. The suggestion was accepted as a friendly amendment. It also was agreed to add "Knoxville," after "Faculty Senate" for clarity. B. Glenn then distributed another resolution with the same "whereas" clauses and with three "resolved" statements which commend the governor for his leadership, express profound disappointment in the repeated failure of some members of the Knox and Anderson County delegations to the General Assembly to support adequate funding for higher education, and encourage friends of the University to support candidates for election to the General Assembly who pledge to vote for tax reform and for adequate funding for UT. Glenn proposed inserting his three "resolved" statements between the original two such statements and then renumbering the original item 2 as item 5.

Bill Lyons spoke against Glenn's proposal and warned that it would be counterproductive. H. Pollio agreed that we should not tell the legislature how to get adequate funding and suggested deleting "for tax reform and." B. Glenn did not agree to use Lyon's suggestions as a friendly amendment. He did not object to Pollio's suggested deletion. G. White proposed adding Blount County. Glenn did not object to adding more counties. J. Hall suggested that no counties should be singled out since UT is the flagship institution of the entire state. T.-W. Wang suggested using "Knox and surrounding counties." Glenn suggested using "legislators who represent the University." Pollio responded that the resolution should be pointed toward local legislators. J. Hall then moved to delete "the Knox and Anderson County delegations to." The motion was seconded, but failed.

D. Teeter then proposed replacing the second resolved statement with "That the Faculty Senate asks the delegations representing the University of Tennessee in the General Assembly to support adequate funding for higher education and especially for the University of Tennessee." Wang commented that this wording is too mild. F. Weber noted that the third "resolved" statement has some teeth. T. Davies expressed concern about the Faculty Senate getting involved in electoral politics. Teeter's motion failed.

M. Moffett then objected to the first "resolved" statement in Glenn's motion, since the governor did so little for higher education his first four years. Glenn's amendment with the deletion of "for tax reform and" then was voted on; it failed.

The original resolution was considered next. In item 1, replacing "is urged to" with "must" was accepted as a friendly amendment. Bill Lyons then moved that in item 1 "undertake and complete the tax and financial reform" be replaced with "provide the resources." Glenn pointed out that striking the reference to tax reform would require changing the "preamble" clauses which refer to tax reform. Bill Lyon's motion failed. The original resolution with the change of "is urged to" to "must" and the addition of "and the world" after "United States" in item 1 was passed.
M. Peterson then urged Faculty Senators to attend the meeting September 25 with a representative of the "head-hunting" firm for the presidential search. She, Gehlhar and Teeter then said they would postpone their reports until the next meeting.

Faculty Senate Retreat (B. Lyons)
Beauvais Lyons reviewed plans for the retreat and urged each Faculty Senator to complete the Web survey on governance and to let R. Blecke know his/her preferences for focus areas.
Medical Excuses for Students (J. Boyle)
Boyle reported that the Student Health Center sees many students every day and many ask for written excuses for missing class. He listed several reasons for not providing the excuses and said that they will no longer be provided. If a student has a long illness, then faculty may ask the student to sign a release which will allow faculty to obtain medical information concerning prolonged absences. The form is available to the student from the Student Health Center.
Educational Policy Committee (F. Weber)
Weber said the committee has prevailed upon A. Mayhew to notify all faculty of the new health excuses policy. Combs suggested including information in the next Faculty Senate Newsletter. G. Graber urged that diagnoses not be provided to faculty.
Task Force on Hiring (S. Phillips)
Phillips noted that the report of the task force was distributed with the agenda and then briefly described its recommendations. She invited suggestions. J. Whelan asked whether anyone compared the cost of retaining an employee to hiring a new employee. Phillips said the task force did not do so. L. Gross noted that hiring faculty requires many steps, but hiring other employees, such as in the athletic department, seems not to require so much. Phillips said that there are requirements for hiring anyone other than a head coach.
The meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Sam Jordan, Secretary



The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate
MINUTES
October 15, 2001

Those absent were: Elizabeth Aversa, Hamparsum Bozdogan, David Buehler, Tim Cross, Marianne Custer, Mark Dadmun, Narendra Dahotre, Tom Doherty, Eric Drumm, Chanaka Edirsinghe, Catherine Faver, Bruce Fisher, L. David Fox, Ray Hamilton, Marian Hansen, Leslie Hickok, Wes Hines, Roxanne Hovland, LaVinia Jennings, Ken Kimble, Jeff MacCabe, William MacMorran, Gary McDaniel, Wayne Mulkey, Bill Nugent, Robert Perrin, Phil Scheurer, Pamela Small, C. A. Speer, Marlys Staudt, Elizabeth Sutherland, Dwight Teeter, Esteban Walker, Tse-Wei Wang, Dan Ward, Jay Whelan, Rick Williams, William Woodcock

Katherine Greenberg, Presiding

K. Greenberg called the meeting to order at 3:37 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President's Report (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg noted that the open conversation before the next meeting will begin at 3:00 p.m.; Jim Haslam will be the special guest. She noted that the Senate Action Plans Table and the Action Plan Proposal (both distributed with the agenda) are working drafts. She also reported that a way to communicate with all faculty through a listserve will be put into use in the next few days. It is titled "Faculty Info." Finally, Greenberg reminded everyone that there will be a meeting of Faculty Senates across the state and anyone who wishes to attend should notify her.
MINUTES
Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting of September 17, 2001, were approved without change.
REPORTS: GOOD OF THE ORDER

Committee and Special Reports
Reallocation (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree reported that the last State finance bill directed state universities to look at their budgets to identify possible reallocations. E. Fly called for identifying 4% to 6% for reallocation. A preliminary plan has been created; it involves about $8 million. Already a $1.2 million fund has been reallocated to improve GTA salaries. More funds are going to programs abroad. The Graduate School, auxiliaries, academic administration and reduced inefficiencies are some of the potential sources of funds. Some extra-section funds will be used to create better paid, short-term teaching appointments. Crabtree believes only 8 or 9 colleges should suffice and that departmental administration expenses can be reduced. He also believes some freed-up funding should go into tenure-track faculty lines. Undergraduate programs, graduate programs and research, salaries and infrastructure all need greater investment. On this campus 49.5% of the budget is used on instruction; comparable institutions spend 53% to 54% of their budgets on instruction. Crabtree's preliminary schematic for reallocation has been delivered to Fly and, if he approves, will be shared with the faculty.

In response to a question from L. Gross, Crabtree said that athletics is providing $500,000 in reallocation money. He also reported that men's athletics is concerned that recruiting is hurt by the reputation of the academic program and is also going to fund brochures and a video that highlight high quality academic features of UT.
Legislative Committee (T. Galligan)
Galligan announced that Representative Haygood will be on campus Friday; a group to meet with her has been identified.
Selection of President (C. Hodges)
Hodges noted that there recently was a forum on the presidency on campus; the main ideas of this forum and others have been categorized by the consultant. A group is working on a description of job qualifications. The Advisory Council will have a role in the screening process, but that role has not been determined.
International Education Committee (J. Gehlhar, S. DiMaria and students)
Gehlhar spoke about a bill submitted by Senator Diane Feinstein of California. She has removed the part of her bill calling for a six-month moratorium on issuing student visas, but it was inserted into another bill. Everything remains in a state of flux.

DiMaria next introduced Will Pedigo and Amelia Parker, two students who shared some of their experiences as students in Italy and Ghana last year. Both emphasized how much they learned and how broadening their experiences were.
Instruction with Technology Subcommittee (F. Weber)
Weber called attention to a resolution (distributed with agenda) which was passed Spring 2000, and briefly reminded Senators of some of its highlights. He also spoke briefly about the L. Painter report from August 2000; he hopes it can be posted on the Web. The report recommended that courses using technology be so marked in the course timetable. When CARS asked for information about courses, there was little response. Weber asked that those teaching courses with technology so identify those courses to their units' course-scheduling individuals and ask that the information be reported to CARS. He also noted that the teaching of a course with technology is approved within units (as opposed to the creation of a course which requires the usual curricular approval).
Professional Development Committee (B. Howell)
Howell reported that there had been a very good special topics meeting and described some of the matters being worked on. A policy proposal on professional development will be submitted spring term. A survey on mentoring will be created and administered.
The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Sam Jordan, Secretary



The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate
MINUTES
November 26, 2001

Those absent were: Hamparsum Bozdogan, David Buehler, Tim Cross, Mark Dadmun, Dennis Deyton, Tom Doherty, Chanaka Edirsinghe, Ann Fairhurst, Catherine Faver, Bruce Fisher, L. David Fox, Bob Glenn, David Golden, Glenn Graber, Jens Gregor, Ray Hamilton, Marion Hansen, Wes Hines, Tom Hood, Roxanne Hovland, Benita Howell, LaVinia Jennings, Majid Keyhani, Ken Kimble, Baldwin Lee, William Lyons, Jeff MacCabe, William MacMorran, Maribeth Manoff, Gary McDaniel, Bill Nugent, Bonnie Ownley, Howard Pollio, Edward Ramsay, Ian Rockett, Harold Roth, Phil Scheurer, Pamela Small, C. A. Speer, Richard Strange, Bruce Tonn, Joe Trahern, Esteban Walker, Dan Ward, Fred Weber, Candace White, Rick Williams, William Woodcock

Katherine Greenberg, Presiding

K. Greenberg called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President's Report (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg expressed appreciation for everyone's reordering his or her schedule to attend today and then called for a moment of silence in honor of Jerry Stoneking, the recently deceased dean of the College of Engineering. She then moved that (1) the Committee on Committees Voting report occur immediately after her report, (2) the report by C. Hodges of Selection of a President Update be deleted and (3) a report from B. Lyons on a faculty-staff raise proposal be added to the list of reports. Her motion was approved.

Greenberg next encouraged attendance at the Faculty Senate/SGA Forum with the Knox County legislative delegation tomorrow from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. She then reported on a meeting she recently attended which has resulted in work to establish a Tennessee Universities Faculty Senates Association. She concluded with a brief description of what is to happen with the presidential search and an expression of thanks to T. Galligan for the use of College of Law Room 132 for today's meeting. She asked that Senators note today whether this room would be a better place to meet than the Shiloh Room.
Committee on Committees Voting (M. Combs)
Combs read the policy concerning the election of members to the Committee on Committees. He noted that ballots are available at the meeting and turned the floor over to Greenberg who asked for nominations. There were none and it was voted to close nominations. Completed ballots were to be placed face-down at the back of the room at the end of the meeting.
MINUTES
Minutes of the October 15, 2001, Faculty Senate meeting were approved without change.
COMMITTEE AND SPECIAL REPORTS
Report on Impact Tennessee Week (A. Lay)
Lay reported that the Student Government Association at this campus is organizing with similar organizations on other state campuses to hold forums and to register students to vote to send a message to state legislators that students do care about what the legislature does regarding higher education and about other matters. In response to a question from Combs, Lay said that students here vote for Knox County legislators. He also reported that at least three legislators from Knox County are expected at tomorrow's forum, but others need to be in Nashville.
Religious Diversity Committee Report (C. Reynolds)
Reynolds stated that the Faculty Senate would be asked to endorse the report (distributed with the agenda) and then briefly described the history of the report. He noted that some of the recommendations in the report have been implemented, but others have not. He asked that the Faculty Senate work with the administration on ways to implement recommendations not yet implemented. B. Robinson moved that the report be approved in principle. The motion was seconded and approved. In response to a question from T.-W. Wang, Reynolds said that any recognized student organization may ask to and may use a room in the University Center.

Gerald Schroedl read a short statement from B. Howell which repeated a question she had raised previously about whether the academic calendar could be changed to avoid Saturday examinations in the interest of Jewish and other students and faculty. M. Anderson noted that there will be a Sunday commencement and that future calendars (available on-line) show that there will not be Saturday exams. Saturday exams.
Task Force on Shared Governance (M. Miller)
Miller listed some ways that shared governance too often does not function well and noted that the task force is working on ways to overcome these difficulties. He briefly described some particular topics, including regular and timely communication among all university groups, a list of principles of shared governance (distributed at the meeting), the relation between the Faculty Senate and various administrative committees, and the question of how to engage the faculty with the administration, so that faculty interests are not lost. It is hoped that a standard procedure for establishing policies can be followed. A flowchart for such a procedure was presented and discussed. Other topics to be considered include the size of the Faculty Senate and the number of its committees. In response to a question from L. Gross about the title of the flowchart, "Academic Affairs Policy Process," Miller said that the task force is concentrating on academic affairs, but does not want to suggest that there should not be faculty/administrative interaction in other areas.
Reallocation Update (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree said that the report on reallocation is due to the Board of Trustees soon. It recounts reallocations made over the last five years, describes current reallocation actions and then looks to future reallocations. The report also discusses consequences of having only reallocations. He also announced that J. Simek will replace J. Stoneking as chair of the task force looking at the possible merger of some or all of the Colleges of Education, Human Ecology, Nursing and Social Work. In response to a question from S. Smith, Crabtree said that if there is no better funding from the state for next year, then tuition will have to increase. He noted that it is the recent rate of increase of tuition that is unusual, not the percentage of support that tuition provides.
Legislative Committee (T. Galligan)
Galligan urged those present to attend tomorrow's legislative forum.
Research Council (D. Birdwell)
Birdwell briefly reviewed the committee's report (distributed with the agenda), but concentrated on the topics of computing and networking. A resolution to create a Strategic Planning Group on Computing and Networking was distributed at the meeting. Birdwell described why the resolution is needed and stated that the intention is for the group to be inclusive and to do much of its work electronically. The most active individuals will develop and maintain a strategic plan. In response to a question from L. Gross, Birdwell said that all computing and networking is to be included and agreed to a friendly amendment changing the last part of the last sentence to "Š Faculty Senate, the Vice President for Research and Information Technology and other appropriate administrative units for implementation." In response to comments from T.-W. Wang, Birdwell agreed to change the second sentence in the next to last paragraph to read "... member, appointed for a renewable one-year term, to be selected ...". He also agreed to change "faculty and staff" to "faculty, staff and students" in the last sentence. The revised resolution was adopted.
Faculty-Staff Raise Proposal (B. Lyons)
T. Davies moved to adjourn the meeting prior to this agenda item. The motion was defeated. Lyons discussed a resolution (distributed at the meeting) which calls for allocating "faculty and staff an equal percentage of funds for any additional raises to be implemented during the 2001-2002 academic year." Lyons agreed to change "an equal" to "the same." Birdwell suggested that funds for trying to keep faculty recruited by other employers and for addressing salary inequities should be excluded from the funds mentioned in the resolution. Lyons said he would like to keep the resolution's wording simple. One senator said that he believes that faculty are more valuable to the institution than staff and should be rewarded better. Gross expressed concern that "staff" includes administrators and others who should be excluded. Lyons accepted a motion to change each "staff" to "support staff" and another motion to change "percentage" to "percent increase" in the resolved statement. The resolution was approved.
The meeting adjourned at 5:03 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Sam Jordan, Secretary



The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate
MINUTES
February 4, 2002

Those absent were: Elizabeth Aversa, Hamparsum Bozdogan, Tim Cross, Marianne Custer, Mark Dadmun, Narendra Dahotre, Tom Davies, Dennis Deyton, Tom Doherty, Chanaka Edirsinghe, Bruce Fisher, L. David Fox, Tom Galligan, Jr., Bob Glenn, Louis Gross, Ray Hamilton, Marion Hansen, Ralph Harvey, Les Hickok, Wes Hines, LaVinia Jennings, Majid Keyhani, Ken Kimble, Jeff MacCabe, Gary McDaniel, Wayne Mulkey, Bill Nugent, Bonnie Ownley, Loretta Price, Roland Roberts, Ian Rockett, Phil Scheurer, Gilya Schmidt, Pamela Small, C. A. Speer, Barbara Thayer-Bacon, Esteban Walker, Tse-Wei Wang, Jay Whelan

Katherine Greenberg, Presiding

K. Greenberg called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President's Report (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg reported that it appears that Faculty Senate resolutions of the past year have had an effect on how raises for staff are being handled. She then noted the availability of copies of a draft document, "Constitution of the Association of Tennessee University Faculty Senates." The document will be voted on at the next meeting; Greenberg asked for comments before the next Senate Executive Committee meeting, if possible. She then reported that two special topics meetings have been held since the last Faculty Senate meeting. Three more are scheduled for February; the subject of the last one has not yet been determined. Requests for topics are welcome. Greenberg next described some Senate-related activities intended to push for adequate funding of education at all levels in Tennessee.

T. Berry then announced a brown bag lunch discussion on teaching for February 27. A. Mayhew then noted that she had intended to bring several sets of fliers. One concerned study abroad for which there will be a meeting February 15. The others concerned teachers' rights and responsibilities in the classroom and faculty rights and responsibilities in accommodating students with disabilities; meetings on these topics will occur February 28 and March 13, respectively. P. Pierce then announced a forum on athletics with the SEC Commissioner of Athletics; details will be provided later.
MINUTES
Minutes of the November 26, 2001, meeting of the Faculty Senate were approved with the addition of the sentence "The resolution was approved." at the end of the section titled "Faculty-Staff Raise Proposal (B. Lyons)."
Strategic Planning for UT Knoxville (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree reported that this campus lacks a current strategic plan. He noted that a plan should drive the budget, instead of the budget driving the plan. The Provost Council has created a preliminary document with a mission statement, statements of values and a list of twelve institutional goals. The statement will be taken to various groups to flesh it out. On February 28 the revised document will be widely distributed; campus input will be due a month later. The final document then will be created. B. Lyons asked about the timing with a president search in progress. Crabtree responded that the institution was asked to create a document to be shown to the candidates and that the institution would seem delinquent without a current plan. In response to another question he noted that none of the goals concerns athletics.
Committee and Special Reports

Nominating Committee (M. Moffett)
Moffett asked that nominations for President-Elect be submitted and noted that it is not necessary to get the nominees' permission, since the Nominating Committee will do so.
Committee on Committees (M. Combs)
Combs thanked committee chairs and Greenberg for their help in identifying the number of members to be replaced (or renewed) for next year. He then briefly described the procedures to be followed and quickly read the names of members of the Committee on Committees (M. Combs, B. Ownley, J. Coddington, J. Trahern, B. Howell, S. DiMaria, H. Bozdogan, C. White, D. Thompson, D. Birdwell, S. Smith, B. Robinson, L. Price, T. Miller, P. Pierce, C. Faver, K. Kimble and E. Ramsay).

Combs concluded by recalling that he chairs the Bylaws Committee and it is ready to receive suggestions for changes to the bylaws.
Geier Fund: A Challenge for Faculty (D. Teeter)
Teeter recalled that the "Geier agreement" required $1.125 million to be spent on minority scholarships. If $675,000 is raised by the institution, then the State will provide an additional amount. He then appealed for contributions. The fund will be called The Alex Haley Endowment, according to L. Davidson of the Alumni Office.
Changes in Academic Titles (A. Mayhew and A. Chesney)
Mayhew called attention to the draft proposed revision for the Faculty Handbook distributed with the agenda. She then briefly reviewed the history of the document and some of the difficulties with titles. She specifically noted the issues not addressed in the report and to be addressed by other groups. A list of these issues is on the last page of the report. She also called attention to the new expectation that assistant professors will begin professional work of the discipline in ways other than research. Chesney noted that decisions on titles are made almost everyday, so there is some urgency to this matter.

A motion to adopt the report was made and seconded. S. Wallace noted then that the Task Force on Contingent Faculty is concerned that the report would place all hiring and firing decisions concerning lecturers solely in the hands of the employee's department head, that it is not specified who will decide whether certain employees will be allowed to participate in departmental/college governance, and that there is a lack of parallelism between the titles for clinical faculty and those for other faculty. Mayhew and Chesney thought that the first two concerns could be addressed by appropriate deletions. They also agreed that the third concern is correct, but noted that the proposal conforms with current practices across the country. R. Strange explained why there may be a need for a title "Adjunct Lecturer" and Mayhew agreed that the list of adjunct titles needs to be considered further. Other areas of different degrees of concern also were noted. F. Weber suggested including a definition of "emeritus." B. Lyons then pointed out that at the last Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting a motion was approved to have a first reading of the draft document today and to vote on a revised version at the next meeting. A motion to postpone then was made, seconded and approved. H. Pollio then suggested that the statement of what the report does not concern be moved from the end of the report to the beginning of the report. He also stated that faculty concerns are not related to nomenclature but rather what it means to be a faculty member.
Task Force on Contingent Faculty (S. Wallace)
Wallace called attention to the report distributed with the agenda. He pointed out that the data show that fall term, 2000, regular faculty taught 22% of undergraduate credit hours generated by freshmen, while contingent faculty taught 30% and graduate students taught 48%. He expressed the hope that the data would lead the institution to reassess its practices.
NEW BUSINESS
M. Moffett spoke about a draft (distributed at the meeting) of a policy regarding Faculty Senate Sponsored Forums. A motion was made to adopt the policy. There was no discussion. The policy was approved unanimously. The policy reads as follows:
To further communication across our community, the Faculty Senate sponsors forums. While some of these are ad hoc sessions, one regular type of forum, called an "Open Conversation," takes place prior to each Faculty Senate meeting. Senate sponsored forums are open to all faculty, staff, students, and community members. Speakers at these sessions will have opportunity to address the audience. At Open Conversation forums, at least half of the session needs to be open to conversation between the speaker and those attending. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee determines the topic and speaker for each forum based on current issues. Requests are welcome from all members of the university community and beyond. Topics must meet the following criteria:
  1. Pertain to the welfare of The University of Tennessee,
  2. Relate in some manner to the interests of faculty.

The meeting adjourned at 4:56 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Sam Jordan, Secretary





The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate
MINUTES
March 4, 2002

Those absent were: David Basset, Hamparsum Bozdogan, David Buehler, Mark Dadmun, Narendra Dahotre, Tim Cross, Tom Doherty, Chanaka Edirisinghe, Ann Fairhurst, Bruce Fisher, L. David Fox, Ray Hamilton, Marion Hansen, Ralph Harvey, Bob Glenn, Robert Heller, Les Hickok, Roxanne Hovland, Majid Keyhani, Ken Kimble, Jeff MacCabe, Terri Mangione, Gary McDaniel, Wayne Mulkey, Bill Nugent, Loretta Price, John Rehder, Gilya Schmidt, Pamela Small, Susan Smith, Karen Sowers, C. A. Speer, Marlys Staudt, Bruce Tonn, Esteban Walker, Dan Ward, Fred Weber, William Woodcock

Katherine Greenberg, Presiding

K. Greenberg called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS I
President's Report (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg asked and received permission to add an Educational Policy report to the agenda if F. Weber arrives. She then noted that a Task Force on Contingent Faculty is being created. A Task Force on the Senate Web Site also is being formed; persons interested in being involved should contact Greenberg soon. She then called everyone's attention to the fact that there are two Faculty Senate meetings in April.
MINUTES
Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting of February 4, 2002, were approved without change.
Committee and Special Reports I

Professional Leave Policy (B. Howell)
Howell noted that the policy was distributed by e-mail and with the agenda. In response to a question from L. Gross, Howell said that the reference in B.1.b. to previously granted professional leaves refers to leaves under this policy. She also stated that the six-year period of full-time service between leaves is to be between leaves covered in the policy (i.e., those centrally funded by the University), independent of separate externally-funded leaves, but that staffing concerns also will play a role in decisions about leaves. T. Galligan moved that "To the extent permitted by state law," be inserted at the start of item D.6. This friendly amendment was accepted. D. Birdwell moved that "or are consistent with university policies" be added to the end of the first sentence of item D.1. Gross seconded the motion, which was approved. T. Davies then suggested that "compensation" be changed to "salary and benefits" in item C.1.a. and to "salary and full benefits" in item C.1.b. This friendly amendment was accepted. The amended policy then was approved. Birdwell then raised another concern which he agreed to discuss with Howell; if necessary, an amendment will be brought to the next meeting.
ANNOUNCEMENTS II
K. Greenberg read a resolution honoring C. Hodges for her work in the selection of a new president. The resolution was approved and presented to Hodges.
Selection of UT President Search Process (C. Hodges and J. Shumaker)
Hodges called attention to a report distributed at the meeting and then introduced J. Shumaker, the new President of the University of Tennessee, who had asked to speak to the Faculty Senate. He expressed his desire to stay in close contact with shared-governance organizations and his desire to have regular question-and-answer sessions with faculty. In response to a question, he said he would like to attend Faculty Senate meetings across the system.
Committee and Special Reports II

Faculty Titles Report (A. Mayhew and A. Chesney)
Greenberg said the discussion would begin with requests for clarifications and then proceed to statements for and against. Chesney then responded to an earlier question saying that research faculty who teach are paid extra-service pay for the teaching. Birdwell said he knows of a counter-example occurring this term. Chesney also discussed how clinical faculty titles can be used in the College of Nursing. In response to a question from Birdwell, Chesney and Mayhew said that the policy is intended to eliminate inconsistency in the use of titles across campus. In response to a question from J. Coddington, Mayhew said she had worked with many contingent faculty on other issues, but she could not say that such faculty were on any of the committees or groups consulted about titles. In response to a question from Gross, Chesney said he knew of 50 to 60 people who will become eligible for benefits if reappointed, but he was not certain how many titles would change. Gross also pointed out that the policy's definition of "adjunct lecturer" includes that of "lecturer," so that the category of lecturer can be deleted. Mayhew said the title "adjunct lecturer" was added in response to a request made at an earlier meeting. In response to a question from D. Anderson, Mayhew said that "degree appropriate to their disciplines" in the definition of lecturer refers to the degree appropriate for the teaching the person is being hired to do. J. Trahern then expressed concern that although the discussion is supposed to concern only titles, other matters, such as grandfathering (or grandmothering) in certain titles for certain employees are arising. In response to questions from B. Blass and Birdwell about the need to draw sharp lines between teaching and research, Mayhew and Chesney said that there will be some special cases, but almost all cases cleanly fall into one of the two categories. Mayhew also agreed with S. Wallace that the first paragraph on no. 3 of the policy ("Individual departments…") does not belong in the policy and will be removed.
Comments for and against the policy were accepted next. Gross spoke in favor of retaining more flexibility in titles than the policy permits and noted that "lecturer" has a meaning that does not apply to many teachers. M. Moffett then spoke in support of the policy and noted that English universities use the title, "lecturer." P. Höyng then spoke on behalf of the UTK chapter of AAUP; he noted that the description of lecturer is in violation of the national AAUP policy. B. Lyons then said he favored the policy for the consistency it will bring. D. Leatherman expressed concern that the titles, if adopted, could be used to affect negatively the positions of some employees and could be used to increase the number of contingent faculty. After several more comments Mayhew noted that no one will lose benefits if the policy is adopted and Greenberg reminded everyone that the question is whether the policy should be ratified for use for approximately two years, at which time it will be brought back for further consideration. Birdwell then proposed inserting "primarily" between "hired" and "for" in the last sentence of item 1.1. This friendly amendment was accepted. Birdwell then proposed changing all phrases "are not expected to" to "may not be expected to." Mayhew felt this proposal was not friendly and expressed concern that it would remove some protection from contingent faculty. Gross then seconded Birdwell's motion. The proposed amendment failed. Birdwell then proposed changing the last sentence under "Adjunct Faculty" to "Staff-exempt employees with appropriate expertise who, on occasion, provide instruction or participate in research in a department other than that in which their budget line resides may be given adjunct appointments." This friendly amendment was accepted, as were proposals to include "Clarification of eligibility for benefits" as a seventh bullet item in the first paragraph and to delete all sentences concerning participation in governance. The amended proposal then was approved.
Bylaws Committee (M. Combs)
Combs noted the proposed changes concerning chairs of the Graduate and Undergraduate Councils, the change from "Webmaster" to "Senate Information Officer," the proposal to increase from six to eight the number of members on the Instruction with Technology Subcommittee, and the proposal to include the chief officer in charge of business and finance on the Executive Committee. A vote on the proposed changes will occur at the next meeting.
Election of Faculty Senate Secretary and Senate Webmaster (K. Greenberg)
S. Jordan was elected secretary and G. Graber was elected Senate Information Officer for academic year 2002-2003.
Constitution for the Association of Tennessee University Faculty Senates (K. Greenberg)
In response to a question from Gross, Greenberg said that annual dues probably will be $50 to $100 and she has no idea where funding will be found. The constitution then was accepted.
General Education Revisions Subcommittee (F. Gilliam)
Gilliam briefly presented the report he gave to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting of February 18, 2002. There were several comments afterwards, including one from Anderson that it is sad that the qualitative requirements will be at the ninth or tenth grade level and one from T. Hood that the textbooks used in college for language skills are written at those levels. Howell noted that the introductory courses should prepare students for upper-division courses. In response to a question from Gross, Gilliam noted that some matters, such as the oral communication requirement, will have to be addressed in currently required courses rather than in additional required courses. T.-S. Wang complimented Gilliam on the science requirement.
The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Sam Jordan, Secretary


The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate
MINUTES
April 1, 2002

Those absent were: Hamparsum Bozdogan, David Buehler, Loren Crabtree, Tim Cross, Marianne Custer, Mark Dadmun, Narendra Dahotre, Thomas Davies, Dennis Deyton, Todd Diacon, Tom Doherty, Chanaka Edirisinghe, Catherine Faver, L. David Fox, Bob Glenn, David Golden, Glenn Graber, Jens Gregor, Ray Hamilton, Marion Hansen, Les Hickok, Roxanne Hovland, LaVinia Jennings, Majid Keyhani, Ken Kimble, Baldwin Lee, Jeff MacCabe, William MacMorran, Gary McDaniel, Marian Moffett, Wayne Mulkey, Bill Nugent, Robert Perrin, Peggy Pierce, Harold Roth, Phil Scheurer, Gilya Schmidt, Pamela Small, C. A. Speer, Dwight Teeter, Barbara Thayer-Bacon, Bruce Tonn, Esteban Walker, Fred Weber

Katherine Greenberg, Presiding

K. Greenberg called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President's Report (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg reported that A. Chesney will chair the Task Force on Contingent Faculty and that its members have been identified. She announced that the Executive Committee decided that the Past President of the Faculty Senate will serve as our representative to the Tennessee Association of Faculty Senates; B. Lyons will be the alternate for Greenberg next year.

MINUTES

Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting of March 4, 2002, were approved without change.

COMMITTEE AND SPECIAL REPORTS

Nominating Committee (E. Drumm)
Drumm reported that B. Lyons and D. Patterson are the nominees for President-Elect. He encouraged all senators to vote.

Council on Faculty Service and Outreach (J. Coddington and D. Teeter)
Coddington reported that the Faculty Handbook does not contain a chapter on service. The Council is formulating such a chapter. Service is being viewed as having civic and scholarly aspects. Coddington read a draft preamble attempting to integrate teaching, research and service.

Bylaws Committee (M. Combs)
Combs noted that proposed changes in the Bylaws are available in a handout distributed at the meeting and then identified and thanked the committee members. He next described briefly the first two changes which concern the chairs of the Graduate and Undergraduate Councils. The proposals were approved without change. The next item, which increases from six to eight the number of members of the Instruction with Technology Committee, also was approved. A proposal to change "webmaster" to "Senate Information Officer" was approved next. Including the Chief Officer in charge of Business and Finance (or designee) as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee also was approved. Combs concluded by reading a proposal to be voted on at the next meeting. It adds the President of the University to the list of ex-officio administrative members of the Faculty Senate.

Equity and Diversity Task Force (D. Patterson)
Patterson reminded the Faculty Senate of actions taken at the retreat fall term concerning equity and diversity. He listed several individuals who have agreed to be involved in studying these issues.

Faculty Affairs Committee (D. Patterson)
Patterson called attention to a preliminary report available at the meeting. He then briefly described some of the items in the document.

International Education Committee (S. DiMaria and J. Gehlhar)
Gehlhar noted that the committee's report is available at the meeting and then briefly discussed the report. He also noted that there is an effort under way to create a handbook for faculty leading students abroad and a handbook for students about to begin studying abroad.

Development and Alumni Relations Committee (K. Sowers)
Sowers reported that the committee developed its own charge and then read the statement it developed. She then described other activities of the committee. The committee's report was distributed with the agenda. In response to a question from T. Hood, Sowers said that development at the system level and development at the campus level are separate and intertwined. Some donors and potential donors are "off-limits" to campus development officers. Sowers also reported that the committee will interview L. Davidson, the head development officer for the Knoxville campus. A report on the interview will appear in the "Faculty Senate Newsletter."

Budget Committee (L. Gross)
Gross reported that the committee has been attending budget meetings and also met with the Provost. Documents related to the hearings are available. Gross next turned to the committee's report (distributed with the agenda). He noted that the salary data do not include longevity payments or summer salaries and that the UT data are for fall, 2001, but the non-UT data are for 2000. It was noted that the salaries for library faculty are for twelve months and that all tenured and tenure-track faculty salaries are included. J. Coddington suggested that it would be very useful to obtain similar data for contingent faculty. Gross responded that the institution's information system does not permit the gathering of that data now.

Task Force on Shared Governance (M. Miller)
M. Miller reported on the work of this task force during the 2001-2002 academic year. He referred senators to the written report provided at the meeting and to a more detailed report that will be attached to the April 29th, 2002 meeting agenda. He stated that the task force included six past presidents of the senate, the current president and president-elect, and a former president of the Senate at LSU as well as other members. He also stated that the members are preparing three options for what could be major senate changes that they are planning to present for consideration at the Senate Retreat in fall, 2002. Miller also expressed concern that the president-elect has opted not to continue this task force next year. The group has spent most of this year gathering information and had expected to bring major motions to the senate during the 2002-2003 academic year. In response to a question from Coddington, Miller said that the task force has discussed a smaller senate with release time for at least some of its members.

The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Sam Jordan, Secretary


The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate
MINUTES
April 29, 2002

Those absent were: Teresa Berry, Hamparsum Bozdogan, Marianne Custer, Mark Dadmun, Narendra Dahotre, Dennis Deyton, Tom Doherty, Eric Drumm, Chanaka Edirisinghe, Catherine Faver, Bruce Fisher, L. David Fox, Bob Glenn, David Golden, Ray Hamilton, Marion Hansen, Les Hickok, Wes Hines, Roxanne Hovland, LaVinia Jennings, Majid Keyhani, Ken Kimble, Don Leatherman, Baldwin Lee, Jon Levin, Jeff MacCabe, Gary McDaniel, Tamara Miller, Wayne Mulkey, Bill Nugent, Robert Perrin, Howard Pollio, John Rehder, Ian Rockett, Phil Scheurer, Gilya Schmidt, Pamela Small, Marlys Staudt, Richard Strange, Dwight Teeter, Dixie Thompson, Bruce Tonn, Esteban Walker, Tse-Wei Wang, Dan Ward, William Woodcock

Katherine Greenberg, Presiding

K. Greenberg called the meeting to order at 3:29 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President's Report (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg reported on a meeting of the Executive Committee with the new president, John Shumaker. Among other matters, she mentioned that he plans to continue the Advisory Council from the search for at least a year. Greenberg also noted that the Faculty Senate Executive Council for the summer will include M. Combs, D. Patterson, G. Graber, B. Lyons, P. Pierce, and B. Robinson. She also reported that the Faculty Senate retreat next fall probably will be held October 24 and 25. She concluded by asking those leaving the Faculty Senate to stand and be thanked with a round of applause and then by reading an excerpt from James Autry describing what she has tried to do during her year as President of the Faculty Senate.

MINUTES

Minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting of April 1, 2002, were approved without change.

COMMITTEE AND SPECIAL REPORTS

Nominating Committee (M. Moffett)
Moffett reported that B. Lyons is the President-Elect.

Instruction with Technology Subcommittee (M. Peterson)
Peterson reminded everyone that this subcommittee is a standing committee and then reviewed its report (distributed with the agenda). She emphasized that instruction with technology must be a part of any strategic plan and that it is necessary to track diverse committees on campus dealing with various aspects of instruction.

Faculty's Role in Development (L. Davidson)
Davidson said that fund-raising priorities are determined by academic needs. Funds for supporting faculty and for scholarships are high on the list. Development priorities also are kept in step with priorities of the strategic plan. Of about $64 million received recently, less than $2 million was unrestricted and $15 million was for athletics. B. Lyons suggested that, although scholarships are important, there are many "nuts-and-bolts" needs that need to be addressed, especially since a student may not have a professor as a teacher until the sophomore year. Davidson responded that many potential donors know about only scholarships, but the development staff try to talk about other needs. In response to a question from L. Gross, she also said that little funding comes from foundations and similar institutions, but little effort is expended on those sources. The national pattern is similar.

Senate Budget for 2002-2003 (M. Combs)
Combs noted that a one-page summary of the proposed budget was distributed with the agenda and then he briefly reviewed it. It is the Faculty Senate's first budget. In response to a question from K. Sowers, Greenberg described how workload reductions for the Faculty Senate President were handled this year and how the funding now will be provided by the Provost's Office. J. Coddington urged that the reduction by regularized and that there be a reduced load for each president the year after service to help the person get back into research. The budget was seconded and approved unanimously.

Committee on Committees (M. Combs)
Combs first reminded everyone that a proposal to change the bylaws by making the president of the university an ex-officio member of the Faculty Senate was presented at the last meeting. F. Weber suggested changing "President of the University" to "chief executive officer of the University." This friendly amendment was accepted. It also was noted that "Article I, Section I" should read "Article II, Section I." The amended proposal then was approved. Combs next moved to the new committees for next year. Since the handouts had not arrived, he quickly read the memberships of the various committees, including the special committees. Among the latter is the Non-Tenure Track Line Faculty Task Force, formerly known as the Contingent Faculty Task Force. The new committees were approved.

Enrollment Strategy for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (A. Mayhew)
Mayhew noted that the committee's report was distributed with the agenda and then briefly reviewed some key points of the report. Further reports will be completed next year. Matching capacity to enrollment is a major concern; great effort is being devoted to having enough sections in freshman courses next fall to meet the anticipated demand. In response to a comment Mayhew said that there is a recruitment program aimed at honors students, but agreed that much more needs to be done. In response to a question from D. Anderson, Mayhew said that she does not know the lowest ACT score for an admitted student nor the highest ACT score of a denied student; she also said that "standard" cases have an ACT score of 20 or more.

Athletics Committee (P. Pierce)
Pierce noted that the committee's report was distributed with the agenda. There were no questions.

Educational Policy Committee (F. Weber)
Weber noted that the committee considers academic changes, reports its approvals to the Executive Committee and reports problems to the Faculty Senate. On behalf of the Calendar Committee he reported that there will be "14-week" semesters next year. Classes meeting MWF will lose one day and TR classes will lose two. Coddington urged that faculty be informed of this change before the end of this term. Mayhew noted that schedules through 2004 have been approved, but can be altered. The calendar in the fall 2002, timetable is correct for fall term.

Legislative Committee (T. Galligan)
Galligan briefly reviewed activities of the committee. The committee's report was available at the meeting.

Professional Development Committee (B. Howell)
Howell reviewed the committee's report (available at the meeting). Results of a survey on mentoring will be provided next year.

Research Council (D. Birdwell)
Birdwell noted that the lengthy report of the Research Council is available on the Faculty Senate Website at web.utk.edu/~senate/RC_Annual_Report_2002.pdf and that an update is available at the meeting. He then briefly spoke about a few of the Council's activities and recommendations.

Student Affairs Committee (G. Graber)
Graber said he believes the new forum for leaders of the faculty and of the students to meet to discuss problems will provide the committee with several tasks for next year.

Teaching Council (F. Spicuzza)
Spicuzza noted that the Council's report was distributed with the agenda and then briefly reviewed it.

Faculty Affairs Committee (D. Bassett)
Bassett said that the full report on the post-tenure review process is lengthy, but is available from the Office of Institutional Research. He then reviewed two surveys, results of which were available at the meeting. Birdwell reported that he had very little time to prepare for his review and suggested that any future survey should ask about the time allowed. T. Hood asked for information on the number of surveys mailed to each college; he also expressed concern about differential compliance across campus and about the surveys' level of non-response. The report was approved.

NEW BUSINESS
Combs presented R. Blecke and K. Greenberg with corsages for their work this year and noted that copies of his committee report are now available.

The meeting adjourned at 5:12 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Sam Jordan, Secretary

 


Senate Directory
   Officers
   Committees
   Members
Governing Documents
   Senate Bylaws
   Faculty Handbook
   Tenure Policy
Search

Reports
Calendar

Archives
Resources

Senate Home


To offer suggestions or comments about this web site, please click here.