University of Louisville
Faculty Senate Meeting
November 7, 2012
The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was held on November 7, 2012 at 3:00 P.M. in Chao Auditorium in the Ekstrom Library, on Belknap Campus, Joseph Steffen presiding.
Senators Registering Attendance
A&S – Annette Allen, David Brown, Dawn Heinecken, Mary Makris, John McLeod, Ron Sahoo, David Simpson, Joseph Steffen, Elaine Wise, Wendy Yoder CoB – Robert Barker, Ben Foster, Bruce Kemelgor, Robert Myers DENTISTRY – Ricardo Caicedo, Donald Demuth, Robert Staat EDUCATION – Roger Buskill, Marion Hambrick, Tom Simmons KENT –Sharon Bowland, Martin Hall, Wanda Lott Collins LAW – David Ensign, Kurt Metzmeier, Enid Trucios-Haynes LIBRARIES – Gail Gilbert, Terri Holtze, Margo Smith MEDICINE – Forest Arnold, Richard Downs, Pamela Feldhoff, Lawrence Hunt, Saeed Jortani, Sham Kakar, Nobuyuki Kuwabara, Jeannie Roberts MUSIC – Ansyn Banks, Dror Biran, Krista Wallace-Boaz NURSING – Diane Chlebowy, Valerie McCarthy, Karen Singleton PART-TIME – Laneshia McCord, John Ritz, Joe Gutmann, Rose Mills, Susan Peacock PUBLIC HEALTH – Ray Austin SPEED – Suraj Alexander, Bruce Alphenaar, Nageshwar Bhaskar
Also Attending -
Ex Officio: James Ramsey, Shirley Willihnganz, Ginger Brown, Carrie Mattingly
Others: Tracy Eells, Melissa Laning, Bob Stenger, and, Gretchen Henry, recording secretary
Press: Janene Zaccone (U of L Today)
Senators Not Registering Attendance -
A&S – Jasmine Farrier DENTISTRY –Dave Willis EDUCATION – Daya Sandhu MEDICINE – Brad Keller, Steven Myers, Steven Nakajima PART-TIME – Michael Wade PUBLIC HEALTH – Guy Brock SPEED – Roger Bradshaw
ACTION: Consideration of the Minutes - Steffen
The minutes of the October 3, 2012 meeting were approved unanimously as distributed.
REPORT: Student Government Association – Carrie Mattingly
Ms. Mattingly reported that an event called ELECT HER, that trains college women to run for student government positions, will take place this Saturday from 10-4 in the Shumaker Research Building. In an effort to increase student participation in course evaluations, computers will be set up across campus and workers available to assist in the process. She is also working on a phone application that students can use to vote on issues.
REPORT: Staff Senate – Ginger Brown
Ms. Brown reported that the Staff Senate met last month; the Executive Committee was updated on the latest version of the budget; and, there is an ad hoc committee working on the Staff Senate’s Strategic Plan.
REPORT: University Provost – Dr. Shirley Willihnganz
Provost Willihnganz updated the Senate on the current state of administrative searches: the recommendations for the dean of Public Health have been submitted; the list of candidates for the College of Business has been honed to 7-8 for airport interviews; and, the search committee for the School of Medicine is under development. Reviews for the deans of Nursing, Kent, Music and Dentistry are on schedule for next semester. The ideas and suggestions that came out of the two Town Hall meetings are being compiled and should be available for comment in about two weeks. Asked about the Balanced Trimester document, the Provost said she had started thinking about improving the summer school session with A&S Dean Hudson. In gathering information, she wanted to take a look at Purdue’s program to see what they did and how they did it. It was only meant for information. She then discussed the impetus for the 21st Century paper: how many external changes have occurred since the 2020 Plan was written in 2008; and, how much UofL has accomplished and changed since then, as well. She said ExelCor Consultants will facilitate forums with many different groups across campus to get a feel of where we all think we are and where we all would like us to go. Based on the information garnered this semester, next semester will be very busy collating and coordinating all the information to be able to present it to the Board of Trustees at their 2013 summer retreat.
REPORT: University President – Dr. James Ramsey
President Ramsey continued speaking about the 21st Century document’s genesis. He said it began at this year’s Board of Trustees retreat. There are 18 new trustees and they are interested in dealing with more than just budgets. Tomorrow’s Board of Trustees meeting will cover research funding; voting on the recommendation of Beth Boehm as Dean of the Graduate School; discussion of the Grawemeyer Awards nominations; our fall outreach into the state; the introduction of some of our top students; a presentation on Fort Knox; and then we will go into executive session to discuss the hospital RFP. As these new member see all that we have done and continue to do, and with all the budget cuts, they may see that the 2020 Plan is no longer based on the same data with which it was written and needs revision. Dr. Ramsey then reported that the budget is still on Scenario A and shows a $10M deficit. Tuition increases will not be decided on until sometime in the spring. He feels more tough cuts are to come.
REPORTS: Standing Committees
Academic Programs Committee (APC)/Demuth- This report was available online.
Committee on Committees and Credentials (CCC)/Sahoo- An election was held to fill a vacancy on this committee. Ballots were distributed and nominations were closed. After counting the votes, Martin Hall of Kent was elected to the seat.
Libraries Committee (FSCOL)/Kuwabara- This report was available online.
Part-time Faculty Committee (PTFC)/Peacock- This report was available online.
Planning & Budget Committee (P&B)/Bradshaw- This report was available online.
Redbook & Bylaws Committee (RB)/Makris- This report was available online.
Executive Committee (XC)/Feldhoff- This report was available online.
REPORTS: University-wide Committees – Available Online
DISCUSSION: Balanced Trimester Document – Steffen
Chair Steffen opened the discussion by saying he sent out Purdue’s Balanced Trimester document so senators would have information for the discussion. He believes the cuts the university has taken will not be reinstated and that this may be a good way to generate income. The discussion brought up several other ideas that would be of interest in studying: compare several different plans; discover how and why other schools went to this model; consult with students’ needs and desires; consider wider impacts, i.e., staff challenges; and, create an ad hoc committee to consider various options. The Provost said this was way ahead of where she had thought the idea would go. She asked if this was, indeed, a university-wide issue or, just an A&S one. Chair Steffen then called for volunteers for the ad hoc committee. Senators Heinecken, Brown, Myers and Carrie Mattingly (SGA/AVP) volunteered. He will send out a note on the list serve to ask for others who may be interested.
REPORT: Chair’s Report – Steffen
This report was available online.
REPORT: Annual Report of the University Ombudsman – Belak
Mr. Belak reported that the first year in his position, he saw 180 people. That number grew to 280 in his second year. The most common complaints he hears is how people feel they are treated and the perceived lack of communication. Many employees fear reprisal if it becomes known they have seen him. A discussion took place on what happens after people leave his office. Asked where most of the complaints are coming from, Mr. Belak replied that he keeps no records of the people he has seen, so he couldn’t answer the question.
Senators expressed concern that if there was an abundance of complaints from one area, it would be difficult to pinpoint and resolve issues. Mr. Belak said he would try to develop a way to track this information while maintaining the confidentiality that he feels is the reason people use this service in the first place.
REPORT: Annual Report of the Faculty Grievance Officer – Trucios-Haynes
FGO Trucios-Haynes reported that there has been only one grievance filed under the new policy and 2 leftover from the old one. Though she meets regularly with people to discuss what qualifies as a grievance, they first must meet with the Ombudsman to begin the process. She reviews each case before it proceeds to the Faculty Grievance Committee. There were no questions or discussion.
Old Business
None
New Business
None
Announcements
The Faculty Senate will meet again on December 5, 2012 at 3 p.m. in the
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gretchen Stein Henry
Faculty Senate Secretary