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Members present: F. Michael Combs, Kathy Greenberg, Sam Jordan,
Otis Stephens, Glenn Graber, Misty Anderson, Jon Coddington, Paul
Phillips, Olga Welch, Loren Crabtree, Sylvia Davis, Douglas Birdwell,
Barbara Dewey, Salvatore DiMaria, Jim Gehlhar, Louis Gross, Carolyn
Hodges, Laura Jolly, Wesley Morgan, Bonnie Ownley, David Patterson,
Peggy Pierce, Richard Strange, Fred Weber, Candace White, Sara Williams
Combs called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
President’s Report (M. Combs)
Combs reported that President Shumaker is out of town. Combs would
like to schedule special sessions to discuss issues that require
significant discussion. He has scheduled lunch meetings for the
Executive Committee with the Provost on February 21 and March 25.
Combs then read a statement from the president concerning the position
of chancellor. The president plans to appoint a transition committee
which is to consult with faculty. Combs then made a plea that end-of-the-year
committee reports be made in writing with only very special matters
discussed in the Faculty Senate meetings.
Combs next reported that President Shumaker has agreed to an open
conversation with faculty on the topic of the proposed Research
Foundation. The meeting will be 3:30 p.m., February 4, in the Shiloh
Room. Combs reported that Shumaker signed off on the Faculty Affiliates
program, but that departments have the authority to approve those
appointments. He then passed around a report on student applications
for admission, a report on student retention and graduation and
a sample of the new admissions acceptance packet.
Combs noted that he is in regular contact with the office of Human
Resources. A. Chesney has agreed to provide a report regarding UT
employees. He then reported that a new position of Executive Vice
President is being created. The senate presidents of the four campuses
form a President’s Advisory Council at the system level. Combs
hopes that council can be involved in the search process for system
administrators and also with the issue of library resources for
the system. General Council Mizell reviewed with Combs the legal
and official details of the search process.
Combs then yielded to K. Greenberg who asked committee members
to mark their preliminary Committee on Committee ballots and submit
them during the meeting.
Committee on Senate Structure and Effectiveness (P. Phillips)
Phillips noted that the latest version of the committee’s
recommendations had been distributed at the meeting. The committee
is concerned first and foremost with effectiveness. It recommends
that there be fewer senators and that they be elected at the college
(or division) level. In response to a question from B. Dewey, Phillips
said that there is no deans representative because it is a faculty
senate, not a university senate. K. Greenberg noted that a recommendation
from the retreat was that deans be ad hoc members. G. Graber responded
that the committee’s idea was that deans would always be welcomed
and a dean would receive a special invitation to attend whenever
an agenda item concerns that dean’s college. M. Anderson,
C. Hodges and L. Gross questioned the fairness of the voting rules
and noted that large departments still may be able to swing elections
by voting as a block.
K. Greenberg asked whether there is a process for involving the
entire faculty in the restructuring process. Phillips said he would
like to have a special meeting of the Faculty Senate to discuss
only this matter. Gross spoke in favor of a meeting of all faculty
and Greenberg spoke in favor of a vote on the matter by the entire
faculty. Provost Crabtree cautioned (1) that excluding administrators
as voting members is not in the interest of shared governance, (2)
reducing the size of the senate politicizes it, (3) departments
should have to discuss the proposals, and (4) there should not be
a rush to complete the process. Phillips responded that going directly
to the departments now would leave the Faculty Senate out of the
process. J. Coddington suggested that explanations and contexts
should be provided to the faculty for each proposed change. Combs
suggested asking departments to discuss the matter and also holding
special sessions of the Faculty Senate. M. Anderson proposed that
restructuring not be discussed at the February meeting of the Faculty
Senate. Greenberg suggested discussing the process at a Faculty
Senate meeting and then taking all the time needed to discuss the
actual proposed changes. Gross then said that he does not think
the committee’s work is done and mentioned some concerns he
has.
C. White suggested that the Executive Committee needs to have a
thorough discussion of the matter in a special session. After a
lengthy discussion White moved that there be a special session of
the Executive Committee to discuss the proposal and to decide how
to proceed. There were several seconds. The motion passed.
REPORTS FROM PROVOST/SENATE TASK FORCES
Department Chairs vs. Heads (O. Stephens)
Stephens reported that the task force wants to gather information
from other institutions about a number of matters, study it and
then make recommendations to the Faculty Senate. He asked for comments.
Summer School/Mini-Term Policy (M. Combs)
Combs reported for Saudargas that data is being collected and will
be studied. Greenberg reported that a set of questions has been
formulated.
OTHER REPORTS
Faculty Affairs Committee (D. Patterson)
Patterson reported that the policy for cumulative review is being
revised. Proposals include keeping the annual reviews, but having
cumulative reviews only under certain circumstances. The committee
would like to have a special session to discuss the matter. B. Dewey
noted that faculty who choose to apply for promotion do not have
a cumulative review and miss out on an opportunity for a salary
adjustment. D. Birdwell noted that annual reviews need to be more
consistent across campus and urged that the process for triggering
cumulative reviews be reconsidered.
Executive Vice President Search (S. Davis)
Davis responded to a question from L. Gross by saying that there
were no faculty on the search committee, but that Shumaker spoke
with Combs and others. She also said that the search files are in
her office.
Provost’s Report (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree said there are worthy candidates for the positions of Dean
of Arts and Sciences and Dean of Engineering. He also noted that
departments will determine how faculty affiliates interact with
the departments. Faculty affiliates currently are affiliated with
the Provost’s Office, not individual departments. Crabtree
next said that there are two substantive documents for budget planning:
the president’s scorecard and a planning document created
last year. Budget hearings will be open. There will be some open
forums, too. In response to a question from Birdwell, Crabtree said
the ten-page summaries from the colleges will be posted on the web.
Gross urged that auxiliaries and athletics be included. Crabtree
said he supports having a presentation from every unit whose budget
impacts the Knoxville campus, but there is system-level opposition
to that idea. Crabtree was unable to say what would happen to faculty
affiliates with terminal bachelors degrees who are rejected at the
department level. No one knew with certainty what last year’s
temporary policy on titles says about adjuncts and whether they
must be paid. Phillips reported that he never has seen science and
engineering faculty as upset as they are now with the use of “faculty”
in the term “faculty affiliate.” Crabtree responded
that these people have not been given faculty rights, so faculty
are tilting at windmills in this matter. Many questions should be
answered in a meeting this week with science and engineering department
heads.
NEW BUSINESS
D. Birdwell called attention to a resolution from Memphis that
he distributed at the meeting.
W. Morgan distributed copies of the Tempe principles and asked
that they be discussed next time.
The meeting adjourned at 5:20 p.m.
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