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Members Present: Mike Combs, Beauvais Lyons, Kathy Greenberg, Sam Jordan, Otis Stephens, Glenn Graber, Misty Anderson, Jon Coddington, Loren Crabtree, Sylvia Davis, Barbara Dewey, Salvatore DiMaria, Ann Fairhurst, Jim Gehlhar, Louis Gross, Carolyn Hodges, Laura Jolly, Majid Keyhani, Wesley Morgan, Bonnie Ownley, David Patterson, Paul Phillips, Peggy Pierce, John Shumaker, Richard Strange, Fred Weber, Olga Welch, Candace White, Sara Williams

Guests: Phil Scheurer

Introduction (M. Combs)
Combs called the roll and introduced each committee member.

Opening Statement by the Senate President (M. Combs)
Combs reminded everyone of his "Statement of Vision and Guiding Principles," a final draft of which was included with the agenda. He said he would like to focus this year on eliminating the "big orange screw," to focus and direct the Senate's work in an efficient way and to open lines of communication at all levels to better facilitate the charge from the Board of Trustees to the Faculty Senate. Combs then expressed his intent to preserve balance of input, his hope that all items requiring input or action will be provided as an agenda item in advance if at all possible, his desire to limit the length of meetings and to provide information in more ways, his intent to have a Presidential Advisory Group (consisting of Senate officers, M. Anderson, S. DiMaria, C. Hodges, C. White and P. Phillips) to meet with him on short notice when matters requiring a quick response arise, and, finally, his plan to get input concerning assignments to campus committees.

MINUTES
Minutes of the April 15, 2002, meeting of the Executive Committee were approved without
change.

Dialogue with President Shumaker (J. Shumaker)
Shumaker reported that he is looking at the issue of whether the Knoxville campus needs a chancellor. He said he wants the Executive Committee's input on the matter. He hopes to take a proposal to the Board of Trustees in October. He is not interested in trying to manage the Knoxville campus, but he is willing to be available for discussions. He said he believes in openness and transparency. He also stated that he is talking about the structure of higher education in Tennessee with people in Nashville. Campus beautification in Knoxville is another area of activity. He then reasserted his commitment to shared governance.

L. Gross expressed concern about which programs would report to a chancellor and which would report to system administrators. Shumaker responded, in part, that athletics is a state-wide function and the system administration usually has responsibility for such functions, but that the whole matter will have to be discussed thoroughly. In response to a comment by Phillips, Shumaker said he does not think the system administration needs to reflect the campus administration, but again the matter will have to be discussed in detail. After B. Lyons commented that members of the Board of Trustees have been invited to the retreat in September, Shumaker said he would encourage Board members to attend. He also responded to a comment from M. Keyhani by saying that the success of athletics teams helps the institution's image, but it is not enough; many have expressed to him concern about how students sometimes are treated. He cautioned that marketing and communication efforts must be followed by sincere efforts to improve how students are treated. D. Patterson asked whether replacing a provost with a chancellor would weaken the focus on academic affairs. Shumaker responded that he would expect a chancellor to focus on academic affairs and to have a vicechancellor for academic affairs. He then listed several positive aspects of the academic program. In response to another question from Gross, Shumaker said that he would seek faculty, staff and student input before making decisions about reallocations. He noted that discussions on how to refocus and reshape UTSI have already begun with various constituencies in Tullahoma; constituencies in Knoxville also will be involved. It was noted that the UTSI budget is roughly $78,000 per student and about half of the students are international students.

Dialogue with Provost Crabtree (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree noted that he is in agreement with Shumaker on the matter of shared governance and that he hopes to eliminate "command and control." He also said that students may be first, but they are not customers who can buy something off the shelf; they are co-creators of learning and knowledge. He then said that he wants to add to "students first" the phrase "faculty first." He said he would like for the Faculty Senate to be more nimble and more effective in order to change the nature of governance. In response to a question from Keyhani about having department heads or department chairs, Crabtree said he likes five-year terms with a significant review to determine whether the leadership continues. He added that authority, accountability and responsibility must be placed with the deans and department heads and everyone must buy into the collective mission of the institution. He agreed that better evaluation is needed. Phillips noted that there had been a recommendation to switch to chairs, but the president at the time rejected the idea on the grounds that he wanted to be able to remove any administrator at any time. DiMaria asked whether Crabtree would favor elections of department heads by the faculty and of deans by the heads. Crabtree said he had operated under that system and found it effective and, in particular, had removed a dean because of substantiated faculty complaints. He also said that he prefers a faculty handbook with succinct policies that will outlive any particular administrator.

Campus Tour by Vice President Scheurer (P. Scheurer)
Scheurer distributed copies of the Master Plan for the Knoxville campus and then discussed it. Parking is being moved to the periphery of campus. A surface parking lot in Fort Sanders will be converted to a park. Renovation of Hesler is another major project. Part of Alumni Memorial Building will be used for the first time this term. A pedestrian mall, an outdoor amphitheater, a time line of campus history and an "arts quad" will change the west end of the main campus. Scheurer also distributed information on classroom upgrades.
Review of the Shiloh Room/Full Senate Meetings (M. Combs)
Combs asked that everyone read the material (distributed with the agenda) on these topics and send him any comments.

UPDATES FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES

Faculty Handbook Committee (J. Coddington)
Coddington noted that, in light of some of the comments by the provost, the committee will look at policies concerning centers and institutes.

Also, Combs presented the new and continuing special committees for 2002-03. All were approved with no objection form the Executive Committee. Beauvais Lyons offered corrections to the membership list and there was no discussion. The special committees include

Senate Committee to revise the Faculty Handbook
Marian Moffett, Chair
Members include: Mary Albrecht, Michael Combs (ex-officio), William Dunne, Clark Garland, Bob Glenn, Katherine Greenberg, John Haas, Peter Hoyng, Benita Howell, David Patterson, Charles Reynolds, Beauvais Lyons, Joe Trahern, and Jon Coddington.

Senate Committee on Non-Tenured Faculty
Alan Chesney, Chair
Members include: Don Cox, John Haas, Ray Hamilton, Marva Rudolph, Don Scroggins, Dolly Young, Penny Tschantz, Jenny Fowler, Amadou Sall, Denise Harvey, Lou Gross, David Patterson, and Fred Weber.

Senate Committee on Equity and Diversity
David Patterson, Chair
Membership to be recommended by chair 2002

Senate Retreat Planning Committee
Kathy Greenberg, Chair
Members include: Beauvais Lyons, Mike Combs, Wes Morgan, Candace White, David Patterson, and Peggy Pierce
BRIEF REPORTS FROM CHAIRS OF STANDING COMMITTEES

Bylaws Committee (B. Lyons)
Lyons briefly reviewed proposed changes, statements of which were distributed at the meeting. They will be presented at the September meeting and voted on at the October meeting. There was no discussion.

NEW BUSINESS

Combs called attention to the announcements listed in the agenda.

The meeting adjourned at 5:11 p.m.



MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive Committee
October 7, 2002

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.



MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive Committee
November 4, 2002

Members present: F. Michael Combs, Beauvais Lyons, Kathy Greenberg, Sam Jordan, Otis Stephens, Glenn Graber, Misty Anderson, Jon Coddington, Paul Phillips, Olga Welch, Loren Crabtree, John Shumaker, Douglas Birdwell, Barbara Dewey, Salvatore DiMaria, Ann Fairhurst, Jim Gehlhar, Louis Gross, Carolyn Hodges, Laura Jolly, Wesley Morgan, Bonnie Ownley, David Patterson, 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 thanked K. Sowers, C. White, T. Miller and others who assisted with the Fall 20002, issue of the Faculty Senate Newsletter, which is in the mail. He then noted that a storage cabinet has been ordered for the Faculty Senate meeting room in the UC; keys will be available from him. He noted next that the past presidents of the Faculty Senate will meet with him tomorrow; he hopes to get useful advice from them. Combs then asked how people feel about how Faculty Senate meetings are going. M. Anderson said she feels a little strange being waited on by the student helpers. Others seemed satisfied with the current arrangements.

Combs then announced that D. Noblet, President of the UT National Alumni Association, will attend and speak at the November 18, 2003, meeting of the Faculty Senate. Combs also wants to schedule an open meeting of the Development and Alumni Committee at 3:00 that day for an open conversation with Noblet. Combs also announced that G. Reed will speak at the Faculty Senate meeting on future plans for parking on campus (and maybe provide an update on the University Club). B. Boyd, Marketing Director for Knox Area Transit, will be available to answer questions about the new campus bus system that will begin in January, 2003.

Combs expressed concern about the number of Faculty Senators who did not attend either the
September or October meeting. After some discussion there was a consensus to suggest to Faculty Senators that anyone who cannot attend the next meeting should send a non-voting substitute who will report back to the Faculty Senator's constituency. K. Greenberg suggested that allowing a written vote from the absent senator should be considered. It finally was decided to have a discussion of the matter at a Faculty Senate meeting.

Finally, Combs announced that Provost Crabtree and he have almost finalized the membership of three task forces, which are to consider the concept of the department chairs versus heads, the creation of an acceptable policy for instructional technology, and guidelines for summer and mini terms. Crabtree has assured Combs that the Faculty Senate will be directly involved with the review of the curriculum review process. The Faculty Affairs Committee has agreed to do the preliminary work on the evaluation of administrators as well as to review the current cumulative review process. Combs then asked for volunteers to attend meetings with the Educational Marketing Group, Inc. and to bring three faculty with them. He also invited committee members to volunteer to attend a meeting November 11 of the Enrollment Management Committee with T.-W. Wang and himself.
Proposed New Research Foundation (T. D. McCay)
McCay said that this effort began during the summer to improve the entrepreneurial effort of the university and its faculty. Similar operations at other institutions were reviewed and information was obtained on what should have been done differently. Having a foundation should increase business flexibility, allow capitalizing on intellectual property, decrease bureaucracy, and stimulate research growth. Draft versions of a charter, bylaws and a business plan have been created with the help of outside consultants. Launching of the foundation is expected to occur spring term.

Shumaker thanked McCay for doing so much in so little time and cautioned that plans are still in the draft stage. He also noted that a foundation would be the fiscal agent for all research both for protection and flexibility. He added that the upper administration is aware of concerns that a foundation will impede research and is working hard to see that the foundation helps. L. Gross commented that faculty will need to see details soon if faculty approval is to be obtained by April 1, 2003. McCay responded that the first drafts for review should be available in about two weeks, but he understands that faculty might not be able to consider the drafts until January. He reiterated that everything will be subject to change. Shumaker added that it is better to do things correctly, rather than quickly, so target dates are not really fixed.

In response to a question from J. Coddington, McCay said that the foundation would help the ORNL connection in the area of creative partnerships. Also, in response to a question from D. Patterson, McCay said that it is realized that colleges depend on indirect cost funds. Shumaker agreed and expressed a desire to see that dependence decreased over time. He also said he would expect researchers on the Knoxville campus to be responsible to the top administrators on the Knoxville campus, rather than to a bureaucrat in the foundation.

D. Birdwell said that he sees three concerns in establishing a foundation: accountability (at several levels), sources of funding (to implement ideas), and F & A reallocation (a foundation is another feeder at the trough"). He also spoke strongly in support of opportunities for faculty to review the documents. Shumaker said again that the deadlines will be pushed back if necessary to allow full discussion. P. Phillips then warned that there maybe considerable resistance from researchers who have lost funds through earlier efforts to improve the research situation.

President's Report (J. Shumaker)
Shumaker said he asked a small group to look into UT Fiscal Policy 135 on information technology resources (copies distributed at the meeting). Educating the university community will be a primary focus of this effort. He then turned to "UT 2010," a booklet (distributed at the meeting) describing performance goals and presenting a scorecard completed for 2001). Retention and graduation rates rather than simple growth will be emphasized. Goals in many categories for 2010 are being developed. It is understood that the university does many things that cannot be quantified. In response to a question from Gross, Shumaker said that some of the categories are Lombardy measures, others come from other sources, and some were created locally. Gross suggested including the fraction of applicants with ACT scores above some number who enroll here. Crabtree noted that the "Salary Deficiency-Faculty" entry reflects salaries at all campuses and uses the THEC peer group.

Shumaker concluded by noting that a position paper on shared governance had been distributed at the meeting as a matter of information. He said he would welcome a similar statement to take to the Board of Trustees.

Provost's Report (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree said that the recent blackface incident has had an enormous nasty impact on the community. It is seen as one of a series of incidents. The News-Sentinel has received many letters and an inaccurate Fox News report has led to hundreds of emails from around the world. Many emails accuse the university of violating the students' first amendment rights; some express wonderment that African Americans are objecting to what happened. Crabtree hopes to awaken among students a long-term perspective on our history.

In response to a question from Gross about an organizational chart (distributed with agenda) for the UTK Office of the Vice President and Provost, Crabtree said he sees budget, research, and equity and diversity as missing areas.

Educational Policy Committee (F. Weber)
Weber said the committee approved Undergraduate Council minutes from the meeting of September 17, 2002. The committee also approved a policy requiring instructor approval of undergraduate students taking graduate courses for graduate credit. He also noted that faculty will receive a list of constraints on the academic calendar.

Faculty Senate Information Technology Advisory Committee Proposal (B. Dewey)
Dewey noted the proposal (distributed with the agenda) calls for and describes a new standing committee on IT. Her motion was seconded. A friendly amendment to make the committee a task force for this academic year and to include it in the restructuring of the Faculty Senate was accepted, as was the new name Faculty Senate Information Technology Task Force. The amended motion was approved.

Committee on Senate Structure and Effectiveness (P. Phillips)
Phillips noted that the report (distributed with the agenda) needs extensive study and discussion at another time. Combs agreed. Phillips then briefly summarized the report. Coddington suggested that the committee should consider a budget for the Faculty Senate.

The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.



MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive Committee
January 13, 2003

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.



MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive Committee
February 17, 2003

Members present: F. Michael Combs, Beauvais Lyons, Sam Jordan, Glenn Graber, Jon Coddington, Olga Welch, Loren Crabtree, Sylvia Davis, Douglas Birdwell, Salvatore DiMaria, Jim Gehlhar, Louis Gross, Laura Jolly, David Patterson, Peggy Pierce, Richard Strange, Fred Weber, Candace White, Sara Williams

Guests: Anne Mayhew, Alan Chesney, Kay Reed, Don Scroggins, Jo Lynch

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

President’s Report (M. Combs)
Combs introduced T.-W. Wang who is acting parliamentarian. He then reviewed the documents in a package he distributed at the meeting; these include the Statement of Vision for the 2002-2003 Faculty Senate, minutes of the February 3, 2003, Faculty Senate meeting, results of the election of the members to the Committee on Committees, the budget hearing schedule, projected adjustments to the UT budget based on proposed reductions in state appropriations, a letter about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholars Program, proposed changes in bylaws to be voted on at the next Faculty Senate meeting, a list of members of the Executive Committee, UT Fiscal Policy 135, principles for emerging systems of scholarly publishing, and a senate resolution on review of administrators.

Combs then reminded everyone of the open meeting with the president tomorrow at 3:30, the Faculty Senate Advisory Council meeting with the president to discuss the transition to the chancellor position, and the lunch with the provost. The latter two events occur Wednesday and Friday of this week, respectively. He also noted that the first candidate for Dean of Arts and Sciences will be on campus February 20 and 21.

Combs next reported that the Council of Past Presidents is active and will meet next in early March. He also reported that he had contacted each senator who missed the last meeting; almost everyone of them responded with a good explanation for his or her absence. He also noted that he had brought a few compact disks produced by the Student Activities Office and to be distributed to students during summer orientation. He then asked for and received approval to appoint G. Whitney as chair of the Special Advisory IT Task Force.

Combs then said that The Color of Water is the book to be read by new students next summer. He encouraged committee members to volunteer to conduct discussion sessions. He said he is volunteering.

Combs next expressed interest in having more direct faculty involvement with the first-year studies program. He also encouraged members to respond promptly to his e-mail asking about proposed dates for a special called meeting of the Executive Committee. He then called attention to a resolution of the Faculty Senate not to suspend the evaluation of administrators. He wants to push on this matter, but needs help. Combs concluded by asking for special support during the last three Faculty Senate meetings and by describing the kinds of help he needs.

Provost’s Report (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree reported he is busy with budget planning and hearings, searches for deans and a director of athletics, signing offer letters, and many other things. He then said that he anticipated budget reduction ($14.7 million) for next year which is a permanent reduction in the base. He believes it can be covered without damaging the academic programs. A tuition increase of about 3% will be needed to avoid draconian cuts and a further increase will be needed to deal with inflation and other matters.

Crabtree also reported that applications are about 2% below last year’s level at this time, but the number of applicants with higher ACT scores is up. He then encouraged everyone to attend tomorrow’s discussion of the Research Foundation; he said he believes faculty comments have been heard and that faculty should be pleased with what they hear tomorrow. He then said there will be a massive effort to revamp the UT web page.

L. Gross asked about the sources of the $11 million of the $14.7 million not coming from tuition increases. Crabtree said that $5 million will come from funds he reserved this year, cuts in S. Davis’s unit, fee increases, deferring some expenses, fewer classroom renovations, etc. In response to a question from D. Birdwell, Crabtree said that Vice President Leonard is in charge of IT at the systems level and that it is not clear what will happen at the campus level. In response to a question from J. Coddington about what will happen year after next when the $5 million held in reserve this year is not available, Crabtree said that with the unsettled economy it is difficult to predict anything.

Report from the Committee on Non-Tenure-Track Faculty (A. Chesney)
Chesney distributed a report and asked for feedback when committee members have an opportunity to read it.

Educational Policy Committee (F. Weber)
Weber reported that the minutes of the Undergraduate Council meeting of January 28, 2003, have been approved. He then moved that the Executive Committee approve the minutes of the Graduate Council meeting of January 30, 2003, on behalf of the Educational Policy Committee. A. Mayhew reported that the proposed changes have been reviewed twice and that much of the material is associated with the merging of two colleges and with reorganizations in the College of Agriculture; there was nothing of great controversy, according to Mayhew. After a short discussion the Executive Committee approved the minutes with one abstention and one negative vote.

Weber then distributed copies of proposed changes in the bylaws. They call for removing the Educational Policy Committee from the curriculum-approval chain and for changes necessary to reflect that removal. R. Strange expressed concern about loss of faculty involvement in curricular changes. Gross agreed. C. White then noted that approving minutes in the Faculty Senate meetings is not the same as approving policy changes that might be referenced in those minutes. L. Jolly then described the review process through the council level. She believes that there is a more open and effective process than that used in the past when the Faculty Senate discussed the material approved by the councils. J. Coddington said he does not see the proposed changes reducing faculty oversight, since the councils are faculty organizations. B. Lyons suggested some changes in the proposal in order to make the review process more transparent. G. Graber also made suggestions. It then was decided that Weber should make wording changes, inform the members of the Executive Committee and, if they are in agreement, present the proposals at the next Faculty Senate meeting. If they do not agree, then he should report again at this committee’s next meeting.

Weber next distributed a draft of changes proposed by the Instruction with Technology subcommittee; these changes would add material to the Manual for Faculty Evaluation. There were several comments about the wording “Special consideration for faculty teaching through innovative instructional technologies…” and about the appearance that using such technologies will be mandatory for good ratings.

Weber then distributed recommendations for changes in the policy on Information Technology Resources at the University of Tennessee (Policy 135). B. Lyons moved that Weber make this report as a first reading at the next Faculty Senate meeting and that the Faculty Affairs Committee report on its concerns, also as a first reading. Coddington suggested presenting the report, but noting that there are reservations. Birdwell suggested presenting the report only as a working draft. Weber agreed.

Gross moved that the Executive Committee recommend to the Faculty Senate that a resolution be approved to send a letter to the president requesting removal of “personal gain or” in item 3 under “General Policies” in UT Fiscal Policy 135. Patterson suggested telling the president that the policy needs a thorough review. Birdwell seconded the motion by Gross and the motion was approved unanimously. Coddington then moved that the Executive Committee recommend that the Faculty Senate approve a resolution proposing that the Faculty Senate and the administration work in concert to review and revise Policy 135 to the mutual satisfaction of both the faculty and the administration. Birdwell seconded the motion which was approved unanimously.

Report from the Teaching Council (R. Strange)
Strange reported that various concerns about moving the student evaluation of instruction surveys entirely to the web will be addressed next year. Patterson asked whether grades might be withheld until one does the student evaluations. White noted that the present system elicits comments only from the very positive and the very negative students. Graber noted that students who owe fines are blocked from seeing their grades on-line. Gross commented that the lack of consistency in the evaluation program makes it useless and it should be dropped. In response to a question from S. DiMaria, D. Scroggins said that the move to on-line is motivated by a desire to save money and to save class time.

OTHER REPORTS

Lyons asked for suggestions of topics to be covered in the “Faculty Senate Newsletter.” He also asked for comments on future Faculty Senate leadership.

The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.



MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive Committee
March 24, 2003

Members present: F. Michael Combs, Beauvais Lyons, Sam Jordan, Otis Stephens, Glenn Graber, Peggy Pierce, Louis Gross, Ann Fairhurst, Fred Weber, Salvatore DiMaria, Jim Gehlhar, Wesley Morgan, Carolyn Hodges, Sara Williams, Doug Birdwell, Candace White, Loren Crabtree, Jon Coddington, Olga Welch, Barbara Dewey, Katherine Greenberg

Combs called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m.

President’s Report (M. Combs)
Combs noted that the meeting with the chancellor transition committee has been postponed from today. He then reminded everyone that there is a lunch meeting with Provost Crabtree tomorrow and reported that the minutes of the last meeting now are officially approved and are on file.

Combs then reported that there seems to be general approval of his increased use of electronic communication and that there is support among Executive Committee members for an electronic Faculty Senate Newsletter. He expressed his hope that faculty participation and involvement with the Faculty Senate and its activities will continue in an effective way. He next asked for and received approval to have the last two Faculty Senate meetings web cast.

Recommendations concerning Faculty Senate structure and effectiveness will be presented to the full Senate along with the necessary bylaws changes. Combs also announced that F. Weber will work directly with the people developing the student information system.

Combs turned next to the policy on information technology. L. Gross and D. Birdwell raised questions about the encryption aspect of the policy. That matter is being returned to the committee. Birdwell also asked about having control of wireless activities in the Office of Information Technology. He is concerned that, since wireless technology is still evolving, we may be tying our hands. This topic, too, will be pursued outside the Executive Committee.

Combs next asked whether the announced modification of Fiscal Policy 135 was satisfactory. No one objected. Weber said the change is the first example of genuine shared governance he has witnessed.

Combs then asked F. Weber to report for the Educational Policy Committee. Weber said the committee has approved Undergraduate Council minutes of March 11, 2003, and Graduate Council minutes of March 6, 2003.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Information Technology Advisory Committee (M. Combs for G. Whitney)
Combs read a statement from Whitney that indicates the committee is being constituted carefully and a report should be available by the end of April.

Teaching Council (M. Combs for R. Strange)
Combs said that the Council has some concerns about the plan to halt the paper version of student evaluations by fall term 2004. Several speakers expressed concern about getting balanced student responses. P. Pierce expressed concern about special team-taught courses.

Nominating Committee (C. Hodges)
Hodges reported that the two candidates for president-elect or vice president are C. White and F. Weber, both of whom will be available at the next Faculty Senate meeting.

Parking and Campus Security (L. Gross)
Gross reported on a meeting of P. Scheurer, J. Maples, M. Combs, Gross and S. Jordan. There will be parking on the hill only for handicapped individuals and for temporary loading and unloading. Dealing with congestion around the new parking garage is still a work in progress.

Departmental Leadership Task Force (M. Combs)
Combs briefly described the recent special meeting on departmental leadership. The task force’s report raises some matters, which need to be considered by the Faculty Handbook Committee. B. Lyons suggested that the Executive Committee needs to study documents from both groups and then discuss them. The report will be presented to the Faculty Senate with an explanation of how it will be used by other groups.

Summer School Task Force (K. Greenberg)
Greenberg reported that data has been gathered and a report will be created and provided before the end of April.

Combs next encouraged committee chairs to provide written reports for distribution with the Faculty Senate meeting agenda packet. He then received approval for the following Senate Executive Council for summer: B. Lyons, K. Greenberg, G. Graber, S. Jordan, M. Anderson, S. DiMaria, C. Hodges, P. Phillips, and the newly elected president-elect or vice president.

Provost’s Report (L. Crabtree)
Crabtree said it appears the university is on track to enroll 3,800 new freshmen next fall; the average ACT may be 24.3, up 0.1. He then discussed a recent Knoxville News-Sentinel article, which identified some programs to be eliminated as part of the 9% budget reduction for next year. The article’s claims were incorrect, as was its attribution of the information to M. Combs.

Crabtree next reported that cuts for next year will not be across-the-board; they range from 0% to 30%. Administrative cuts average 4%. Academic programs are being protected. Tuition increases have not been discussed yet, but Crabtree believes a 7% to 9% increase is needed. Salary increases are not anticipated. There may be “cosmetic” program reductions unrelated to the 9% reduction; such eliminations are made on a regular basis.

An offer for the deanship in Arts and Sciences is being worked out. The search for a new dean in the College of Engineering is progressing.

In response to a question from Gross, Crabtree said he does not know whether there will be more budget hearings. There were budget-reduction hearings during spring break, but faculty were told not to attend. Crabtree said that they were system-level hearings, but they have a significant impact on this campus. J. Coddington asked whether THEC will reconsider program redundancy across the state. Crabtree did not know, but said the funding formula is being reviewed.

Combs next asked that Gross be available at the next Faculty Senate meeting to answer questions about the recently distributed salary report. Gross agreed.

The meeting adjourned at 4:47 p.m.



MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive Committee
April 14, 2003

Members present: F. Michael Combs, Beauvais Lyons, Sam Jordan, Tse-Wei Wang for Otis Stephens, Glenn Graber, Peggy Pierce, Ann Fairhurst, Fred Weber, David Patterson, Salvatore DiMaria, Jim Gehlhar, Wesley Morgan, Carolyn Hodges, Sara Williams, Doug Birdwell, Candace White, Laura Jolly, Loren Crabtree, Misty Anderson, Barbara Dewey, Katherine Greenberg

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

President’s Report (M. Combs)
Combs thanked T.-W. Wang for serving as acting parliamentarian today. He then reminded everyone that the Provost’s State of the Campus discussion will occur this Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. in the UC Auditorium. Combs next congratulated faculty, staff and students honored at the Provost’s Honors Banquet last Wednesday. He also invited everyone to join him after the meeting to honor L. Crabtree and to recognize the committee’s very hard work this year.

Combs then noted that the Advisory Committee will meet with the Chancellor Transition Committee Wednesday, April 23, at 9:00 a.m. He reminded everyone that he and Wang serve on the Enrollment Management Committee and reported that its plans include printing far fewer timetables, relying more on on-line sources, and using students’ U.T. e-mail accounts as a way for academic and administrative units to communicate with students.

Combs next voiced some concerns about aspects of the view book that UT provides to all applicants and asked that others review the book. He also noted that the agenda packet contains information regarding the establishment of a School of Public Health.

Next, Combs reported that the minutes of the committee’s last meeting have been adjusted by the elimination of a sentence to which an objection was raised (and a slight rewording of the following sentence, so that it would be understandable without the eliminated sentence). He apologized for any lack of clarity and provided the following report which includes additional details:

Two special meetings of the senate executive committee were called at a time and location approved by the majority to review the recommendation on senate structure. Careful records of those meetings were kept, which were reviewed and edited by senators and then provided to all members of the committee. An honest and thoughtful assessment of those meetings was based on a combination of the results of those meetings in addition to e-mails and conversations from those members who were unable to attend. Records show that only 4 or 5 members of the executive committee did not attend or provide some type of input. Considering all information that was gathered, it appears that the executive committee clearly supported the 8 recommendations as presented to the senate.

Combs turned next to the meeting of campus faculty senate presidents with President Shumaker in Nashville last week. He reported that Shumaker promised to provide budget and financial reports for the UT athletic program and the UT system administration, as well as a copy of the complete report from the Educational Marketing Group. Also, Shumaker reported that S. Leonard now is in charge of IT, administration of research on this campus will be dealt with in the transition to chancellor, and the UT Research Foundation is virtually in place. Shumaker also was positive about following the AAUP “red book” guidelines concerning any reductions in faculty positions (and assured the group that there are no tenured faculty at risk), and said he is concerned about faculty salaries and salaries of lower paid staff on all campuses, sees UT smaller, more focused and more expensive in the future, expects that the chancellor transition “dominoes will drop in the next six weeks,” and is disappointed with the level of public understanding of the importance of public education in Tennessee.

ACTION ITEMS

Combs noted that the committee needs to nominate someone to serve as secretary next year. B. Lyons nominated S. Jordan who agreed to serve. There was no other nomination. The nomination will be taken to the Faculty Senate.

Combs also asked for and received approval of the proposed Senate Executive Council for summer 2003. He also asked for approval of the proposed membership of the new Advisory Task Force on IT. In response to a question from F. Weber, Combs said he thinks each person listed would have a vote. Weber then said that he believes someone from the School of Law should be on the task force. The suggestion was accepted as a friendly amendment. D. Birdwell suggested adding R. L. Ridenour as an ex-officio member.

Combs then asked Lyons to discuss the proposed Faculty Senate budget for next year. It is a bare-bones budget and has been approved by Crabtree. K. Greenberg pointed out that there was no budget until the last few years.

Combs then proceeded to the other action items for the next Faculty Senate meeting. First, Weber distributed copies of the revised Applicable Use Policy and indicated that the revisions reflected the discussion at the last Faculty Senate meeting. He noted that he expects the IT committee to take up the question of privacy at its first meeting.

The second item was the revised Cumulative Performance Review document. D. Patterson distributed a flow chart for the new process and quickly described it. The intent is to protect faculty, insure due-process, and include peer-review. Birdwell recommended deleting an option allowing a dean to ignore a faculty CPR committee’s finding that a faculty member’s performance is “Satisfies Expectation for Rank” and recommend to the Chancellor that he/she initiate proceedings to terminate the faculty member. There was considerable discussion, including the observation that the Chancellor could not terminate the faculty member, but only “trigger” a termination process described in the Faculty Handbook. Lyons then noted that the design of the flow chart could and should be improved; he also suggested rewording the document to indicate that various administrators would follow procedures specified in the Faculty Handbook. The former suggestion was agreed to and the latter one was accepted as a friendly amendment to the document. Crabtree noted that the current five-year review cycle will be completed and reminded everyone that cumulative reviews are a response to attacks on tenure. Birdwell then suggested that the Chancellor should be required to consult the Faculty Affairs Committee, not the Faculty Senate President and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that the parenthetical statement at the end of paragraph c. (iii) on page 7 of the document should be changed to read “… to the appropriate Faculty Senate committee,” such as a Faculty Affairs Committee. Weber then observed that if the CPR Committee recommends that an improvement plan be developed for a faculty member, then that person has only one year to correct the situation, but if the dean makes such a recommendation, then the person has two years to correct the situation. This arrangement did not raise broad concern. Patterson then noted that B. Levy should be thanked for his extensive assistance with the document.

Combs next reviewed the proposed bylaws changes. C. White suggested moving consideration of the changes to the beginning of the next Faculty Senate meeting. Combs said he would move all action items to the beginning and include the bylaws in the agenda packet. He then asked certain committee members to try to get reports from selected active committees. Weber suggested providing reports only electronically; there was general agreement.

Combs then noted that the agenda packet contains a copy of the Guidelines for Reduction of Force, information on “low-producing” academic program, and a copy of an e-mail from S. Riggsby on the quality of undergraduate education. Lyons then suggested that Crabtree be very clear in his discussions at Wednesday’s forum that decisions about eliminating programs will not be made during the summer and that faculty will be involved in the process next year.

Finally, Combs raised the matter of his being asked by an alumni group to inform the faculty that they can contribute to the alumni campaign. There was strong objection to his doing so, because of other campaigns. In response to a question from Birdwell, Crabtree said that the dean search in Arts and Sciences should be concluded about April 25 and he hopes the search for the new dean in the College of Engineering will be concluded by May 1.

Combs next thanked Provost Crabtree for his participating in the committee’s meetings.

The meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.