Faculty Senate

Information for the Faculty of the University of Louisville.

MIN120512

University of Louisville

Faculty Senate Meeting

December 5, 2012

 

The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was held on December 5, 2012 at 3:00 P.M. in the Chao Auditorium in the Ekstrom Library, on Belknap Campus, Joseph Steffen presiding.

 

Senators Registering Attendance

A&S –Annette Allen, David Brown, Jasmine Farrier, Dawn Heinecken, David Simpson, Joseph Steffen CoB – Robert Barker, Ben Foster, Bruce Kemelgor, Robert Myers  DENTISTRY – Ricardo Caicedo, Donald Demuth, Robert Staat, Dave Willis EDUCATION –Roger Buskill, Marion Hambrick, Daya Sandhu, Tom Simmons  KENT –Martin Hall, Wanda Lott Collins  LAW – David Ensign, Kurt Metzmeier, Enid Trucios-Haynes LIBRARIES –Gail Gilbert, Terri Holtze, Margo Smith  MEDICINE –Forest Arnold, Pamela Feldhoff, Lawrence Hunt, Nobuyuki Kuwabara                      MUSIC – Ansyn Banks, Dror Biran, Krista Wallace-Boaz NURSING – Diane Chlebowy, Valerie McCarthy, Karen Singleton  PART-TIME – John Ritz, Joe Gutmann, Rose Mills, Susan Peacock PUBLIC HEALTH – Ray Austin, Scott LaJoie SPEED – Suraj Alexander, Roger Bradshaw

 

 

Also Attending -

Ex Officio:            James Ramsey, Shirley Willihnganz

Others:                 Tracy Eells,  Gretchen Henry, recording secretary

Press:                    Janene Zaccone (U of L Today)

 

Senators Not Registering Attendance -

A&S – Mary Makris, John McLeod, Ron Sahoo, Elaine Wise, WendyYoder KENT –Sharon Bowland MEDICINE – Richard Downs, Saeed Jortani, Sham Kakar, Brad Keller, Steven Myers, Jeannie Roberts PART-TIME – Laneshia McCord SPEED – Bruce Alphenaar, Nageshwar Bhaskar

 

ACTION: Consideration of the Minutes

The minutes of the November 7, 2012 meeting were approved as distributed.

 

REPORT: Staff Senate – Ginger Brown

No report was made.

 

INFORMATION ITEM: University Hospital/Kentucky One Affiliation – Dunn

Dr. Dunn gave a brief overview of the final agreement that was signed by all parties, including Governor Beshsear.  He explained that the Request for Proposals (RFP) bidding is very formal and that Mr. Curtis Monroe in Procurement did an excellent job of facilitating the process. Dr. Dunn has experience in this area from his previous position in New York. He said the biggest hurdle was the public’s view. The perception was that the hospital is doing well, when, in truth, there was no budget for updating equipment, buildings or faculty. Consultants reported that if the hospital did not receive a financial boost, the doors would close in 5-7 years. UMC elected to follow all of the state’s requests, though it was not mandatory.  Two proposals were returned and the Board of Trustees was briefed throughout the process. One group withdrew from consideration. KY1 was the best fit for the University. Major concerns for women’s healthcare and service to indigent care surfaced during the process.  Both bidders were told that women’s healthcare and indigent care were to stay as is. So, the Center for Women stays under UofL’s control. As KY1 has a statewide network, as well as many existing programs with UofL, it is not structured as a merger but as a joint operation. If the arrangement becomes something other than what was agreed upon, there is an “unwind” clause that would repeal the arrangement. The influx of $180M over the next three years will be an investment in medical and academic programs. The funds needed to run the clinics and to make necessary IT upgrades, will give the University about $2B over the next twenty years. UofL will have 3 board seats, the UMC board remains intact, and the University has authority over the Center for Women and Infants.  This will increase faculty resources; in order to practice at ULH, you must be on the faculty; UofL/ULP has first right of recruiting; UMC hospital-based services will be provided by ULP; and, all clinical department chairs are to remain.

REPORT: University President – Dr. James Ramsey

As the upcoming legislative session is a short one, no budget discussions or decisions are made, 2013 will be a rather quiet year in Frankfort. But, 2014 will be busier. The legislature may consider increasing the cigarette tax to generate revenue; gaming may come up again; and, public pensions will have to be fixed in 2014. Robert Stivers is the new Senate Leader and he is a UofL Law School graduate, which may help us in the budget discussions in 2014. President Ramsey called for questions.  The hot topic was the switch to the ACC athletic conference. The big draw to the ACC was the increase in revenue the TV contract would bring and the automatic lock for the Orange Bowl. Our academic trajectory is the primary goal of the University and associations made within the better conference is part of it. Dr. Willihnganz will address those issues in her report.

REPORT: University Provost – Dr. Shirley Willihnganz

The information coming out of the SWOT analyses will give us an idea of where are now, which will help us decide where we want to go.  The work being done on the 21st Century University will be our definition of ourselves as we are. In mid-January, the second phase of the work begins. And this is the time to decide what we want the future to look like – what we would keep and what would be let go. She invited as many faculty members as want to join one of the committees. There will be a large steering committee over all the others: Government; Academic and Research Priorities; Efficiencies; and, Academic Delivery Models. After a brief discussion of the graduation ceremony and the Miller Hall clean-up, Provost Willihnganz concluded her report.

 

REPORT: Student Government Association – Carrie Mattingly

Ms. Mattingly prepared a Power Point presentation to discuss the changes to the grading system that the Student Government is proposing. She gave a brief history of the system and how the proposed changes would only serve to balance out the use of the A- and not inflate grades or GPAs. She gave examples of other schools use the same system. Data from the past 2 years was given as an example of how few students would actually be affected by the use of the A+.

REPORT: Standing Committees

Academic Programs Committee (APC)/ Demuth- This committee did not meet.

Committee on Committees and Credentials (CCC)/Sahoo-This committee did not meet.

Libraries Committee (FSCOL)/Wise- This report was online.

Part-time Faculty Committee (PTFC)/Peacock-This report was online.

Planning & Budget Committee (P&B)/Bradshaw- This committee did not meet.

Redbook & Bylaws Committee (RB)/Makris- This committee had no report.

Executive Committee (XC)/Feldhoff- This report was online.

 

 

REPORT: University-Wide Committees – Available Online

  • HRAC - Vice Chair Feldhoff suggested anyone experiencing problems with their prescriptions to contact her.
  • GPTW – Senator Staat reported that this committee is looking for ways to recognize staff for superior job performance.

 

REPORT: Faculty Senate Chair – Joseph Steffen

Chair Steffen reported that he reconfigured the SWOT questionnaire to focus on the possibility of a new and improved summer session. He will send the new form to the committee, in hopes of generating ideas in the spring semester.

 

Old Business

None

New Business

None

 

Announcements

The Faculty Senate will meet again on January 9, 2013 at 3 p.m. in the Chao Auditorium.

 

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 P.M.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Gretchen Stein Henry

Faculty Senate Secretary