University of Louisville
Faculty Senate Meeting
June 6, 2012
The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was held on June 6, 2012 at 3:00 P.M. in Room 131 in the School of Dentistry, on HSC, Robert Staat presiding.
Senators Registering Attendance
A&S – David Brown, Dennis Hall, Mary Makris, John McLeod, Joseph Steffen, Elaine Wise CoB – Robert Myers DENTISTRY – Ricardo Caicedo, Donald Demuth, Robert Staat, Dave Willis EDUCATION – Roger Buskill LAW –Enid Trucios-Haynes LIBRARIES – Terri Holtze MEDICINE – Richard Downs, Lawrence Hunt, Saeed Jortani, Sham Kakar, Nobuyuki Kuwabara, Jeannie Roberts MUSIC –Ansyn Banks, Krista Wallace-Boaz NURSING – Diane Chlebowy PART-TIME – Susan Peacock PUBLIC HEALTH –Ray Austin
Also Attending -
Ex Officio: James Ramsey, Shirley Willihnganz
Others: Tracy Eells, Sam Connally, Melissa Laning Gretchen Henry, recording secretary
Press: Janene Zaccone (U of L Today)
Senators Not Registering Attendance -
A&S – Annette Allen, Beth Bradley, Jasmine Farrier, Elizabeth Grossi CoB – Rob Barker, Ben Foster, Bruce Kemelgor EDUCATION –Marion Hambrick, Daya Sandhu, Tom Simmons KENT – Sharon Bowland, Seana Golder, Wanda Lott Collins LAW – Kurt Metzmeier, Luke Milligan LIBRARIES – Gail Gilbert, Margo Smith MEDICINE – Forest Arnold, Moataz El-Ghamry, Pamela Feldhoff, Brad Keller, Steven Myers, Steven Nakajima MUSIC –Daniel Weeks NURSING – Celeste Shawler PART-TIME – Charlie Baker, Brian Barnes, Joe Gutmann, Rose Mills, Michael Wade PUBLIC HEALTH – Ruth Carrico SPEED –Suraj Alexander, Bruce Alphenaar, Nageshwar Bhaskar, Roger Bradshaw
ACTION: Consideration of the Minutes
The minutes of the May 2, 2012 meeting were unanimously approved as distributed.
REPORT: Student Government Association – Carrie Mattingly
No report was made.
REPORT: Staff Senate – Brent Fryrear
The Staff Senate elections were held on Monday. Dhiane Bradley was elected Staff Senate Chair, Christian Gamm, Vice Chair, and Will Armstrong is the new Secretary/Treasurer.
ACTION ITEM: Second Reading of Library Personnel Documents – Willis
Senator Willis said that the changes to the personnel document were made to eliminate duplicate language. The REDBOOK Committee approved the changes. The motion to approve the changes to the Libraries personnel document passed unanimously.
ACTION ITEM: -Demuth
- First Reading: Certificate In Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis – Senator Demuth gave a brief background on the need and course requirements for this certificate. The proposal was approved by the Academic Programs Committee. After a very brief discussion the program was approved unanimously.
- Proposal for BA in Latin American and Latino Studies –With a growing local Latino community, the proposal comes as A&S increases its efforts to combine existing courses into a meaningful program. There is no other program in the state with this focus. After a discussion of the job opportunities the program could generate, it unanimously passed.
- Impact of Gainful Employment Act on School of Dentistry’s Post-Graduate Certificate Programs - Due to recent changes in federal student financial aid guidelines, the School of Dentistry is requesting to award the students who complete graduate residency training programs with the Masters in Dentistry degree concurrent with the professional certificate for advanced specialty training. None of the courses will change, as this is mostly an administrative change. The core courses will remain the same and, upon completion, students will take electives for their chosen specialty and will have taken between 70-110 credit hours. All courses and certificates have been previously approved by the Board of Trustees. The CPE, Academic Programs and Planning & Budget Committees have all approved the change. The timing is crucial as students are set to begin their programs in July. The impact of the changes was just realized, forcing the quick, yet necessary, action. Many senators agreed that not approving the change would be harmful to students. The changes were approved unanimously.
ACTION ITEM: Approval of Excused Absence Policy – Wise
Senator Wise presented the revised Excused Absence Policy. The changes that were made were to make the policy more transparent and were minimal. The changes include ‘should’ becomes ‘will’ and ‘and’ becomes ‘or’. There is an additional footnote, #2, that addresses ‘unexpected absences’ and asks faculty to be responsive to these requests. A discussion took place regarding the burden the revisions will have on faculty, in general, and, in particular, the History Department. One of the required courses for undergraduates is The History of Civilization. This is taught by faculty as the department has only 2 graduate assistants. Senator McLeod moved that all amendments be struck from the policy, except the added footnote, and revert back to the 2006 policy. Chair Staat called for a second to the motion. None was given. He then called for the vote and the revised Excused Absence Policy, as presented, passed with one dissension.
REPORT: University President – Dr. James Ramsey
President Ramsey opened the floor up for any issues the Senate was interested in discussing. Asked how Athletics was able to give $2M to the endowment fund, Dr. Ramsey said that the sale of the land where the Humana Gym sits was the source of those funds. The sale was for $2M, with about $0.5M going for renovations. The other $1.5M will go towards the salary increase. Asked about the dorm fire, President Ramsey said that 36 students needed to move, about 12 students had bad damage to personal items and 2-3 lost everything. One student was covered under his family’s homeowner’s insurance. The new name for the Shelbyville Road facility is now UofL@Shelby Campus@ShelbyHurst. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place there on June 28 and the Board of Trustees will hold its annual retreat there this year. A press conference will be held tomorrow morning to announce UofL’s 8 Fulbright Scholars and other student awards. The Administration team will be reviewed at the upcoming retreat. Asked about the hospital merger, President Ramsey said RFPs were sent out and negotiations are going on now with potential partners. A resolution will, hopefully, be reached by the end of June.
REPORT: University Provost – Dr. Shirley Willihnganz
Provost Willihnganz reported that the state’s cut to higher education means cuts to units will be made, some taking more than others. The cuts will include some staff RIFs. In an effort to soften the blow, these employees will be considered first for job openings. This is temporary and not to be taken as a permanent policy change. Regarding searches, the Provost reported that the Law School will have an interim dean. Names for her consideration have been sent from the Law School faculty. Charlie Moyer has one more year as Dean of the College of Business. The internal search for the dean for SIGS closes on Friday. A search firm has been hired and the committee has been charged for Public Health. Reviews are ongoing for Larry Owsley and Tom Jackson. The Graduate School is looking at ways to mentor the local African American community in addressing issues that may influence the shortage of African American males that graduate from college and, specifically, UofL. There was a discussion on the idea that a college degree guarantees a job because the CPE is asking that job information be included in new program proposals.
INFORMATION ITEM: Faculty Equity Study – Connally
Provost Willihnganz appointed an ad hoc committee to conduct a faculty salary equity study. Vice President for Human Resources, Sam Connally, reported on the study methods used for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative assessments will be done to determine where UofL stands nationally. The Power Point will be available on the Senate’s web site.
Committee Reports
Academic Programs Committee (APC)- This report was available online.
Committee on Committees and Credentials (CCC)- This committee did not meet.
Libraries Committee (FSCOL)- This committee did not meet.
Part-time Faculty Committee (PTFC)-This committee will conduct a part-time faculty salary survey in the fall.
Planning & Budget Committee (P&B)- This report was available online.
Redbook & Bylaws Committee (RB)- As reported above.
Executive Committee (XC)- This report was available online.
Other Reports
Academic Technology Committee (ATC) – No report was made this month.
Alternate Transportation – No report was made this month.
Bookstore Advisory Committee – This committee met earlier this semester.
Commission on the Status of Women (COSW) – No report was made this month.
Dining Services Committee – No report was made this month.
Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) – The end of year report was available online.
Human Resources Advisory Committee (HRAC) – This report was available online.
Parking Advisory Committee (PAC) – No report was made this month.
Student Care Team - No report was made this month.
Chair’s Report – Robert Staat
This report was available online.
Old Business
None
New Business
None
Announcements
The Faculty Senate will meet again on July 11, 2012 at 3 p.m. in the Chao Auditorium.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 P.M.
Gretchen Stein Henry
Faculty Senate Secretary