University of Louisville
Faculty Senate Meeting
March 6, 2013
The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was held on March 6, 2013 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, Jasmine Farrier, Dawn Heinecken, John McLeod, Ron Sahoo, David Simpson, Joseph Steffen, Elaine Wise, CoB – Robert Barker, Ben Foster,Bruce Kemelgor, Robert Myers DENTISTRY –Ricardo Caicedo, Don Demuth, Robert Staat, Dave Willis EDUCATION – Roger Buskill, Marion Hambrick,Tom Simmons KENT-Wanda Lott Collins LAW – Kurt Metzmeier LIBRARIES – Gail Gilbert, Terri Holtze,Margo Smith MEDICINE – Richard Downs, Pamela Feldhoff, Lawrence Hunt, MUSIC – Ansyn Banks, Dror Biran, Krista Wallace-Boaz NURSING – Diane Chlebowy,Valerie McCarthy, Karen Singleton PART-TIME – Joe Gutmann, Rose Mills, Susan Peacock, John Ritz PUBLIC HEALTH – Ray Austin , Scott LaJoie SPEED - Bruce Alphenaar, Roger Bradshaw
Also Attending -
Ex Officio: James Ramsey, Shirley Willihnganz, Virginia Brown, Carrie Mattingly
Others: EVPRI Bill Pierce,Tracy Eells, Sam Connally, Melissa Shuter, Bob Stenger, Gretchen Henry, recording secretary
Press: Janene Zaccone (U of L Today)
Senators Not Registering Attendance -
A&S –Mary Makris, Wendy YoderEDUCATION – Daya Sandhu KENT - Sharon Bowland, Martin Hall LAW – David Ensign, Enid Trucios-Haynes MEDICINE – Forest Arnold, Saeed Jortani, Sham Kakar, Brad Keller, Nobuyuki Kuwabara, Steven Myers, Steven Nakajima PART-TIME – Laneshia McCord, Michael Wade SPEED – Suraj Alexander, Nageshwar Bhaskar,
ACTION: Consideration of the Minutes
The minutes of the February 6, 2013 meeting were unanimously approved as amended (Karen Singleton, not Sullivan).
REPORT: Staff Senate – Ginger Brown
President Ramsey came to the Staff Senate’s February meeting and spoke about the budget. The Staff Senate Executive Committee also had an in-depth budget presentation from Susan Howarth. There are 13 staff senators serving on various committees of the 21st Century Initiative. The Voluntary Separation Program has generated a lot of interest and discussion in the Senate. The next meeting is March 11th in the Dental School.
REPORT: Executive Vice President for research and Innovation – Dr. Bill Pierce
Dr. Pierce came to the Faculty Senate today to give an overview of what his office has been working on over the past two years, since he has been there. Dr. Pierce noted that things have changed dramatically in federally funded research, since 1997 when it doubled its awards. At that time, UofL committed to growing its research mission, and as it grew, quite dramatically, some growing pains were experienced long the way. Things are very different now with political earmarks now gone, and the National Institutes for Health losing 7-10% of its funding. The future of this funding source is unknown, at this point. In restructuring the research office here, the committee charged with studying best practices for this undertaking, recommended having one person to oversee both the research and technology components. A search was conducted and Dr. Pierce was selected to fill that role. In order to have the office working at top efficiency, ExelCor was brought in to assess all aspects of the University’s research and innovations. Then, committees were formed with faculty, staff and combinations thereof, to discuss how the department could become even better. Out of those committees, recommendations came forward that hiring people to organize the structure was a primary consideration. Dr. Kevin Merton has been hired as the Associate Vice President for Grants Administration and Dr. Eugene Crensill as the Associate Vice President for Technology and Commercialization. A discussion took place addressing the NIH funding; earmarks; and, changes in the University Scholar research requirements.
REPORT: University President – Dr. James Ramsey
President Ramsey began his report by saying the Board of Trustees will meet tomorrow to consider the approval of the Voluntary Separation Program. A discussion took place on some of the points of the program. Dr. Ramsey then gave an update on Frankfort. He said the legislature is in its 25th day and is considering putting the funding of the public pension into next year’s budget. Until this is resolved, there will be a great imbalance in the budget. He reported that the state revenue is growing at 3.8%, but expenditures are higher. Asked if the governor had signed the authorization for UofL to fund its own capital projects, Dr. Ramsey responded that though it was true, it is not a blanket authorization. He spoke about asking for money to be restored based on the 2012 budget, though no money is available, it still must be requested. He went on to report on 2 cost saving measures: the Voluntary Separation Program and procurement. He reported that the TIF (Tax Increment Funding) on HSC has started to pay off. On December 31st, the University received a check for $5M that will be used, in part, to fund the salary increase. He explained how the Voluntary Separation Program will work to save on spending: some offices will replace 2 open positions with 1 at a lower salary level, or not at all. The number of employees interested in taking this option has given him a picture of what is possible. All the savings will be held by the Provost and units will have to request money to fill open positions. Every position will be reevaluated on a one-to-one basis. After a brief discussion of some of the program’s details, the President said the Board of Trustees meets tomorrow to vote on this. Regarding the budget, Dr. Ramsey said that Mike Curtin and Susan Howarth are willing to make a presentation to any interested group on campus. There will be 2 tuition forums (as soon as the CPE announces tuition regulations), and a campus-wide budget forum later this semester. He ended his report with a discussion of the ACC Conference.
REPORT: University Provost – Dr. Tracy Eells
Dr. Eells was reporting for Provost Willihnganz on academic searches: Dr. Craig Blakely is the newly hired dean for the School of Public Health and will begin on April 1st; the search committee for the College of Business has completed its work and a candidate, Carolyn Callahan, has been forwarded to the Board of Trustees for approval; the search for the A&S dean will begin this fall after the search committee convenes this semester; and, the Medical School dean search is underway and a group of candidates has been identified and will be consolidated to 8-10 for airport interviews. As for as administrative reviews: VPIT Hancock’s in getting underway; Dean Marcia Hern of Nursing was approved by the Board of Trustees; School of Music Dean Chris Doane’s is underway; and, both Dean Sauk of Dentistry and Dean Singer from Kent will go before the Board of Trustees tomorrow for approval. He also reported that there will be an Academic Leadership Workshop for chairs this Friday titled, “Mistakes I’ve Made and Lessons I’ve Learned”. It’s a panel format and open to discussing any subject. Dr. Eells reported that the 5 years SACS review preparations are in their final stages and the issues brought to our attention at the SACS review have been addressed. And, in conclusion, all the 21st Century Initiative committees are meeting. All that information is available on the web site.
REPORT: Student Government Association – Carrie Mattingly
Ms. Mattingly reported that she was elected as President of the SGA and briefly mentioned the library renovation project. She said she will make a more detailed report next month.
REPORT: Pathways Women’s Leadership Conference – Shuter
Ms. Shuter spoke about the first pathways Conference to be held here on May 17th. Rear Admiral Marty Evans will be the keynote speaker addressing the subject of Ethics. Ms. Shuter attended a conference several years ago and shared her experience with VPBA Larry Owsley. He encouraged her to work on having UofL host it. It costs $99 for the all-day conference and scholarships are available.
REPORT: Standing Committee Reports
Academic Programs Committee (APC)- This committee met yesterday to review the proposal for the Certificate in Diversity Literacy.
Committee on Committees and Credentials (CCC)- This committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the elections to be held in May.
Libraries Committee (FSCOL)- This committee did not meet.
Part-time Faculty Committee (PTFC)-This report was available online.
Planning & Budget Committee (P&B)- This report was available online.
Redbook & Bylaws Committee (RB)- This committee did not meet.
Executive Committee (XC)- This report was available online.
University-Wide Committee Reports – Available Online
Chair’s Report – Joseph Steffen
- From the Compliance Oversight Council: The Conflict of Interest form is now available online.
- Chair Steffen and Vice Chair Feldhoff attended a COSFL meeting in Frankfort where a draft resolution seeking an increase in funding for higher education from Western Kentucky University was distributed and discussed. Chair Steffen said the Executive Committee had discussed what action to take and decided to work closely with President Ramsey and UofL’s legislative office on what steps to take and when to take them. He will advise COSFL of this decision.
- Reporting on developments on the summer session, Chair Steffen said that another SWOT will go out to the student body to measure interest. The fact that there is no financial aid awarded in summer will call for some creative course planning to get students to attend this session. A brief discussion took place on the summer session and its funding source.
New Business
Senator Holtze made a motion to move both New and Old Business up on the agenda to allow discussion.
Old Business
None
Announcements
The faculty Senate will meet next on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 3 p.m. in the Chao Auditorium in the Ekstrom Library, Belknap Campus.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gretchen Stein Henry
Faculty Senate Secretary