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Members Present: Mike Combs, Sam Jordan, Otis Stephens, Glenn Graber,
Jon Coddington, Paul Phillips, Olga Welch, Sylvia Davis, Doug Birdwell,
Barbara Dewey, Salvatore DiMaria, Ann Fairhurst, Jim Gehlhar, Louis
Gross, Carolyn Hodges, Wesley Morgan, Bonnie Ownley, David Patterson,
Peggy Pierce, Richard Strange, Fred Weber, Candace White, Sara Williams
M. Combs called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m.
INTRODUCTION
The secretary confirmed that a quorum was present. Combs then introduced
four visitors: Anne Mayhew, Alan Chesney, Monique Anderson, and
Richard Bayer
President's Report (M. Combs)
Combs noted that Educational Marketing Group, Inc. has been hired
to assist in marketing the university.
He also noted that representatives of the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools had been on campus and he had met with them.
REPORTS
Admissions (R. Bayer)
Bayer distributed a one-page statistical summary of the fall, 2002,
freshman class. Applications were up 15% over the previous year.
The test score profile also improved from 23.5 to 24.2 (ACT Equivalent).
The number of African Americans increased from 291 to 319 and the
number of Asian, Hispanic and Native American Indians increased
from 110 to 168.
D. Birdwell reported concern in Engineering about the quality of
transfer students. A. Mayhew
reported that, overall, transfers did as well as non-transfer students
and suggested addressing problems through the curricular process.
P. Phillips reported that some transfer students realize they have
deficiencies and drop back to lower level courses.
Educational Policy Committee (F. Weber)
Weber called attention to three pages distributed with the agenda.
They deal with proposed changes to the Bylaws. Under the proposal,
the Graduate and Undergraduate Councils would report regular curricular
changes to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee rather than the
Educational Policy Committee. After some discussion there was agreement
that curricular changes should be posted on the web. Several spoke
in favor of changes being seen by the entire Senate. P. Pierce suggested
the use of a "consent agenda" to avoid delays at Faculty
Senate meetings. Mayhew suggested that the full minutes of the Councils
be posted on the web after Executive Committee approval, but also
that changes not become official until the full Senate has had an
opportunity to review them and comment at the next Faculty Senate
meeting. F. Weber said he would add to the proposal the following:
All changes approved by the Executive Committee will be disseminated
(probably electronically) to the Faculty Senate. Moving forward
with the proposal, including the addition, was approved.
Creation of a Chancellor Position (G. Graber)
Graber called attention to a draft of a resolution distributed with
the agenda. It concerns the creation of a chancellor position. L.
Gross suggested deleting a sentence expressing support for L. Crabtree
to fill this position. J. Coddington spoke in favor of strengthening
a statement on faculty involvement in designing a new administrative
structure. Birdwell spoke in favor of leaving in the reference to
Crabtree, since his current position is to be deleted. D. Patterson
expressed concern about how nebulous the proposed change is. Pierce
spoke in favor of deleting references to both Crabtree and Shumaker.
The resolution was approved (although not unanimously) with the
following change: Replace the last sentence with "We look forward
to the Senate and the faculty as a whole playing a central role
in the planning and implementation of the new administrative structure
as it being developed and in the filling of these administrative
positions once they are established."
New IT Policy (D. Birdwell)
Birdwell reviewed the creation of the old IT policy, which was put
in place in 1999 or 2000. The Faculty Senate had a substantial role
in creating the policy. F. Muly recently informed the Research Council
that the policy had been replaced with a new policy, which was created
without Faculty Senate involvement. The new policy mostly addresses
user activities and lines they must not cross. Matters such as security
and stability of systems are not addressed. A meeting of a small
group with Muly has been scheduled; further information will be
provided after the meeting. Gross moved that the Executive Committee
recommend to the Faculty Senate that the new IT policy be rejected
and the old policy be reinstated. Weber seconded the motion. Gross
noted that new recycling policies and summer school policies also
had been implemented recently without faculty consultation. Gross
accepted a motion from S. DiMaria that his proposal be preceded
with a phrase referencing recent failures in shared governance.
B. Dewey then reported that IT reports to D. McKay, not Crabtree,
and that, as of last spring, the new policy was to go to the Faculty
Senate, but it did not. The following motion then was approved:
"In the spirit of shared governance, the Executive Committee
has concerns about the adoption and implementation of the new IT
Policy, which was created without involvement of any Faculty Senate
committee. Therefore, the Executive Committee recommends to the
Faculty Senate that the new IT Policy be rejected and the old policy
be reinstated."
Information Technology Committee Possibility (B. Dewey)
Dewey reported that during the Faculty Senate Retreat there was
discussion of establishing a Faculty Senate Information Technology
Committee to consider a wide range of matters. She then proposed
establishing such a committee. Gross commented that the charge of
this committee would have to be clearly stated to avoid overlap
with other committees. Combs created an advisory group of Dewey,
Gross, Weber, Morgan and Blass to create a proposal for establishing
such a committee.
Draft of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Policy (A. Chesney)
Chesney called attention to the draft policy distributed with the
agenda. He requested e-mail messages with comments and suggestions.
Coddington noted that the AAUP has recommendations on the maximum
percentage of faculty who are non-tenure-track; he urged that they
be included in the document. Gross stated that non-tenure-track
research faculty should be addressed specifically, possibly in a
separate document. Weber noted that there needs to be a procedure
in place for last-minute hiring of teachers for one term.
Campus Recycling Committee (L. Gross)
Gross reported that in response to complaints this committee has
been formed. Small recycling bins can be requested, but must be
kept In offices.
Executive Planning and Budget Committee (L. Gross)
Gross is attending meetings of this committee as a Faculty Senate
Budget Committee representative.
Legislative Committee (C. White)
White recommended removing from the Faculty Senate web site the
following: "Response to State Budget Situation: To sign a pledge
to vote only for candidates who promise to support a State tax system
that provides adequate funding for public education,' click here."
White also proposed changing the committee's title to the Government
Affairs Committee.
Other Information (M. Combs)
Combs called attention to various reports to be included with the
next agenda; there was no objection to including them. Combs next
reviewed proposed faculty members for university committees. F.
Weber, T. Diacon, R. Strange, and V. Long will be recommended to
serve on the University Calendar Committee. Combs and T.-W. Wang
and a person to be named will be recommended to serve on the Enrollment
Management Committee. Combs and Welch were recommended for the Commissions
for Blacks and for Women, respectively.
Professional Development Committee (S. Williams)
Williams said the committee recommends deleting its charge to develop
a policy of professional leave and to monitor the resulting program.
The recommendation was approved.
Committee on Senate Structure and Effectiveness (P. Phillips)
Phillips reviewed a report distributed at the meeting. The committee
unanimously agrees that the Faculty Senate should be a true faculty
senate, with only faculty having voting rights. It also is recommended
to reduce the size of the Faculty Senate to 40-60 members, and to
reduce the size of the Executive Committee. Re-establishing the
group TENNSENS consisting of the faculty senate presidents from
the UT system is recommended. Finally, re-establishing the Senate-Chancellor
Committees to decide academic and other polices also is recommended.
The meeting adjourned at 5:24 p.m.
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