University of Louisville
Faculty Senate Meeting
October 2, 2013
The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was held on October 2, 2013 at 3:00 P.M. in the Dental School, Room 125, HSC Campus, Joseph Steffen presiding.
Senators Registering Attendance:
A&S: David Brown, Jasmine Farrier, Joseph Steffen, Beth Willey, Tamara Yohannes BUSINESS: Robert MyersDENTISTRY: Ricardo Caicedo, Don Demuth, Robert Staat EDUCATION: Roger Buskill, Patrick Hardesty, Tom Simmons KENT: Martin Hall LAW: Kurt Metzmeier, Luke Milligan, Enid Trucios-Haynes LIBRARIES: Terri Holtze, Margo Smith MEDICINE: Forest Arnold, Richard Downs, Pamela Feldhoff, Saeed Jortani, Nobuyuki Kuwabara, David Stirling MUSIC: Krista Wallace-Boaz NURSING:Diane Chlebowy, Valerie McCarthy, Karen Singleton PART-TIME FACULTY: Joseph Gutmann PUBLIC HEALTH: Ray Austin SPEED SCHOOL: Kevin Walsh
Also Attending:
Ex Officio: President James Ramsey, Grant Ford
Others: Tracy Eells, Bob Stenger, Sam Connally, Bob Stenger, Gretchen Henry
Press: None
Senators Not Registering Attendance:
A&S: Carrie Donald, John McLeod, Ron Sahoo, David Simpson, Elaine Wise BUSINESS: Rob Barker, Ben Foster, Bruce Kemelgor DENTISTRY: Dave Willis EDUCATION: Daya Sandhu KENT: Seana Golder, Wanda Lott CollinsLIBRARIES: Gail Gilbert MEDICINE: Yousef Abu-Kwaik, Sham Kakar, Brad Keller, Steven Myers, Steven Nakajima MUSIC: Ansyn Banks, Dror Biran PART-TIME FACULTY: Dawn Gaus, Rose Mills, Susan Peacock, John Ritz, Michael Wade PUBLIC HEALTH: Scott LaJoie SPEED SCHOOL: Bruce Alphenaar, J.P. Mohsen
CALL TO ORDER: – Steffen
IN MEMEORIAM: Dr. Arthur “Van” Stewart - Staat
See below.
ACTION ITEM: Consideration of the Minutes
The minutes of the September 4, 2013 meeting were unanimously approved with suggested revisions.
WELCOME: Dean Blakely – School of Public Health and Information Sciences – Blakely
Dean Blakely joined UofL this past March, coming from Texas A&M University. He said this is an exciting time for Public Health and that policy change will be a focus for SPHIS under his leadership. He is learning about Kentucky politics and is also very interested in partnering with the Law School to begin working on decriminalizing HIV.
REPORT: Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality (CODRE)- Jones
CODRE Chair, Dr. Faye Jones, gave a brief background on the history of the commission from its inception in 1998 by then-President John Shumaker, to its current diversity climate survey that will differentiate the diversity climate by units and departments. This survey is coming out in spring 2014. She reported that there are 5 subcommittees for CODRE: faculty concerns; staff concerns; student issues; communications and marketing; and, diversity programs. These subcommittees were formed to expand the commission’s reach into the campus community.
REPORT: Student Government Association – Grant Ford
Grant reported that the SGA’s top goals for this academic year are: the renovation of the SAC and Strickler Hall; a nighttime taxi program; the development of an on-going student lobbying program; and, extending the after-midnight study spaces on campus. His goals this year as Academic Vice President are to develop an online syllabus bank for students; create an online advising chat room; extend drop/add deadlines; and develop a study abroad resource.
REPORT: Staff Senate – Ginger Brown
This report was circulated online.
REPORT: University President – Dr. James Ramsey
President Ramsey missed last month’s meeting because he stayed in Frankfort to discuss the state budget with the CPE. The CPE will present its budget for higher education to the governor in late December to early January. It will then go to the General Assembly in January and most likely be approved in April. The budget that will be sent to the governor has an Operating Side and a Capital Side. The Operating Side consists of 3 areas: College Readiness, which will disburse $15M between KCTCS and other state institutions producing teachers and working with schools; Research will receive $15M on a recurring basis and shared between UK (2/3) and UofL (1/3); Performance Funding is a new idea and is based on the number of degrees produced and each degree is weighted. The Capital Side includes about $60M for Bucks for Brains, which will be divided between UofL and UK , as above, with the comprehensives and community colleges getting a share. The CPE is further recommending that UofL receive funding for one building on each campus; the renovation of existing buildings; and, an information technology upgrade. Dr. Ramsey spent a few moments briefly discussing the make-up of the Board of Directors; the $1B goal of the Capital Campaign; and, he reported that discussions with Norton’s are moving along in a constructive way. Asked about the success of KY One, he said that not everything is working perfectly and, while Jewish has not had a good year, UofL Hospital is making money.
REPORT: University Provost – Eells
Provost Willihnganz was sick today and unable to attend this meeting. Associate Provost Eells gave her report. Updates on administrative searches: the Education dean search committee has placed an advertisement and is actively recruiting; Arts & Sciences search committee met yesterday and revised its ad and profile to be placed at the end of this week and active recruitment to commence next week. In other personnel information, Susan Howarth is the Interim Vice President of Finance for UofL and Jason Tomlinson will oversee the UofL Foundation’s finances, since Mike Curtin retired with the VSIP. Likewise, in Business Affairs, Larry Owsley has also taken the VSIP and Mitchell Payne has taken the position on an interim basis. Bob Goldstein has been promoted to Vice President for Institutional Holiness. Updating on the 21st Century Initiatives, Dr. Eells reported that Provost Willihnganz is scheduled to meet with constituency groups later this week and begin discussions of the direction we want to take the University. She has met with the deans and asked them to prepare a plan on how to get their units through this. She will meet with each dean to discuss their individual plans. For the past 4 years, HR has held a series of workshops for new chair/department leaders. These workshops are an attempt to move from a culture of “no” to a culture of “yes”. Participants meet with the Provost after each workshop.
REPORT: Health Plan update and Cardinal Kudos - Connally
Vice President of Human Resources Connally reported how the contract for our healthcare administration was negotiated this year. He used the competitive negotiation model that allows for open discussions with a number of vendors which gets the best price for the stated needs. Three vendors came to the top. HR spent 6 weeks studying each proposal to ensure what we requested matched the quote. Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield was selected and will take effect on January 14, 2014. Open enrollment is October 21 through November 5th. There will be no premium increases in the first year of the 2 year plan. The only major change is the phase out of Cardinal Care over the next three years, ending in January 2017. Because of this, no new subscribers will be taken. Also, current Cardinal care subscribers will see a $40 increase in each of the next 3 years. The dental/vision plans will not increase for Cardinal Care subscribers. A program of the Great Places to Work’s Rewards & Recognition Committee, Cardinal Kudos will recognize staff that goes the extra mile in their jobs. There is a web site linked on the HR site that provides comment space and emails the recognition to the staff member and, possibly, their supervisor. It can also be printed out and sent through campus mail.
REPORT: Standing Committee Reports
Academic Programs Committee (APC) – This committee has no proposals in the pipeline. The committee membership is out of synch with its bylaws and an election must be held to correct it. CCC will conduct the election at the November meeting.
Committee on Committees and Credentials (CCC) – This committee’s report was online.
Libraries Committee (FSCOL) - This committee has no report.
Part-time Faculty Committee (PTFC)-This report was available online.
Planning & Budget Committee (P&B)- This committee met and was charged by Chair Steffen. Senator Terri Holtze was elected committee chair.
Redbook & Bylaws Committee (RB) –This committee report was online.
Executive Committee (XC)- This report was online. The committee welcomed Susan Howarth for a budget presentation and Julianne Waldron for an update on the sponsorship/branding policy.
OTHER REPORTS
Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) – Elaine Wise was attending an ACC meeting.
REPORT: Faculty Senate Chair – Joseph Steffen
Chair Steffen and Vice Chair Feldhoff met with both the President and Provost last month.
New Business
- Faculty Senate Committee on Libraries: Chair Steffen said that the time had come to discuss the standing committee structure and remove the Committee on Libraries. The work of the committee has become redundant – reviewing new programs’ proposals for library resources, which is done by the APC and P&B. With the Senate’s consent, he will give the REDBOOK Committee the go ahead to remove the committee from the Senate’s bylaws. University Libraries Dean Bob Fox is developing his own Library Advisory Committee, with Faculty Senate representation. This will give us more of a voice in what we want and need for our Library. The current members of our Libraries Committee could serve. Chair Steffen made a motion to have the REDBOOK Committee remove the Committee on Libraries from the Faculty Senate bylaws. The motion passed unanimously.
- 21st Century University: Chair Steffen would like the Faculty Senate to weigh in on any faculty-related issues within this initiative. He has asked P&B chair Terri Holtze to conduct discussions on the Senate floor over the next 2 meetings. The reports are available online. The discussions will focus on 2 sections of the report. The first discussion, in November, will cover the Technology/Demographics and Academic/Research reports. P&B will develop questions to be sent out in advance. Chair Steffen encouraged a lively discussion and agreed to rearrange the agenda for more discussion time.
Old Business
None
Announcements
Eastern Kentucky University will host an even on Engagement. Chair Steffen is unable to attend and offered the opportunity to anyone interested.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gretchen Stein Henry
Faculty Senate Secretary
IN MEMROIUM: ARTHUR “VAN” STEWART
October 2, 2013
Van Stewart was one of the first people I met when I joined the faculty here at UofL in 1976. Van had joined the dental school the year before. He was very energetic and was always willing and able to serve the university. He was Provost Dorrells’s administrative liaison, equivalent to today’s associate provost. He was Chairman of the President’s Commission on Academic Excellence and headed the university’s SACS accreditation effort in the 1980's. He represented the dental school as a faculty senator for three terms. He helped found the University Club and was the club’s president from 1990 to 1995.
Van was not only an administrator, but was fully aware that the objective of the university was to deliver an outstanding education to those who attended. Van was always intellectually active, not just in the fields that he was trained. He anticipated the need for further development of the geriatrics curriculum and became an innovator in the field. He was a charter fellow of the American College of Gerontology Education.
Looking back on Van’s career, the most memorable part to me was his ability to bring work of others into focus and help them get papers and presentations ready. If anybody could take a sow’s ear and turn it into a silk purse, Van could. I was the beneficiary of one of Van’s pushes when he sponsored me for a table clinic at the American Dental Association’s annual meeting. We came away with that year’s outstanding table clinician award. Van’s name appears as a co-author in the list of publications for many faculty who have been promoted here.
Outside the university, he was very active, along with his boys, in the Boy Scouts and Camp Piamoingo. He loved music and was a self-taught trumpet player; I can’t imagine doing that myself. But what we did have in common was an appreciation of model trains, Van loved to look for hidden Lionel treasures that would enhance his collection. When he retired from the university in 2004 because of his health, he and his son Mark began the train layout to end all in his basement. But the relentless nature of Parkinson’s disease slowed progress to the point he could run his trains on only a portion of the planned layout. The disease, with additional complications, finally took its toll this past summer. I, for one, greatly miss this friend and colleague who did so much for the university.