The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was held on April 1, 2015 at 3:00 P.M. in the Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, Belknap Campus, Pamela Feldhoff presiding.
Senators Registering Attendance:
A&S: David Brown, Jennie Burnet, Jasmine Farrier, Karen Hadley, Greg Hutcheson, Ron Sahoo, David Simpson, Joseph Steffen, Beth Willey, Elaine Wise CoB: Ben Foster, Bruce Kemelgor, Robert Myers DENTISTRY: Ricardo Caicedo, Don Demuth, Robert Staat EDUCATION: Monica Delano, Patrick Hardesty, Caroline Sheffield, Tom Simmons KENT: Seana Golder, Martin Hall LAW: Kurt Metzmeier, Enid Trucios-Haynes LIBRARIES: Carrie Daniels, Terri Holtze MEDICINE: Yousef Abu-Kwaik, Forest Arnold, Eric Burton, Pamela Feldhoff, Luz Fernandez, Sham Kakar, Jeffery King, Kenneth Palmer, David Stirling, Michael Tseng MUSIC: Randi Boling NURSING: Karen Singleton PART-TIME FACULTY: Donna Gaus, Joseph Gutmann, Rose Mills, Susan Peacock, John Ritz, Michael Wade PUBLIC HEALTH: Ray Austin, Scott LaJoie
Also Attending:
Ex Officio: James Ramsey, Shirley Willihnganz, Ginger Brown, Allie Funk
Others: Tracy Eells, Bob Stenger (ULARP), Gretchen Henry, recording secretary
Guests: Steven Lippmann, Peter Hasselbacher
Press: Janet Cappiello
Senators Not Registering Attendance:
A&S: Carrie Donald CoB: Robert Barker DENTISTRY: Dave Willis KENT: Wanda Lott Collins LAW: Luke Milligan LIBRARIES: Margo Smith MEDICINE: Arun Gadre, Guomin Jiang, Saeed Jortani, Brad Keller, Rainer Lenhardt, Chin Ng MUSIC: Dror Biran, Krista Wallace-Boaz NURSING: Heather Owens, Valerie McCarthy SPEED: Roger Bradshaw, Kyung Kang, J.P. Mohsen, Kevin Walsh
CALL TO ORDER: – Feldhoff
ACTION ITEM: Consideration of the Minutes - Feldhoff
The minutes of the March 4, 2015 meetings were unanimously approved as distributed.
REPORT: Student Government Association – Funk
The new SGA representative to the Faculty Senate, Alex Stewart, will attend the May meeting; work begins next month on the L Trail; the SAC renovation discussions continue.
REPORT: Staff Senate – Ginger Brown
The Staff Senate made the recommendation that a salary increase for 2% be considered a strategic initiative; is organizing a Day of Service; and, is concerned about the closing of the Kentucky Telco University branch.
REPORT: University President: Dr. James Ramsey
President Ramsey began by reporting that the legislative session has ended and apologized for missing the last 2 Faculty Senate meetings. Some worthwhile bills were passed, but our current focus is the 2016 (budget) session. UofL and UK are working with the CPE on a performance-based budget model, based on 3-5 measures. The comprehensives’ measures will be on student demographics. The Board of Trustees meets tomorrow to discuss partnerships and tour Atkinson Elementary School, Simmons College, Shawnee Academy and our West End health clinics. He thanked the Senate for its budget recommendations to be made at the June Board of Trustees meeting. He offered to answer any questions on deferred compensation that was recently in the news. He hopes the Foundation is not seen as the bad guy, as it does the bidding of the Board of Trustees. It is not a secret organization. It exists to support the academic mission of the University and is giving UofL $143M this year for academics. Asked if the Board of Trustees meeting minutes reflect the request for the deferred compensation, President Ramsey said it should as it is all subject to open records statutes. Asked who initiated the deferred compensation package, he replied that he is reviewed by the Board of Trustees and they did this as an incentive to get him to stay at UofL longer. The Board of Trustees asked the Foundation to fund the 2007 deferred compensation over 10 years. It is spread out until 2020, and he has to be here to receive it. When questioned about the tuition increase, the President said, the Tuition Advisory Committee recommended the out-of-state increase should be the same dollar amount as the 3% increase for in-state students. This recommendation was not accepted. The out-of-state tuition increase will be 3%. The Board of Trustees will host a dinner in appreciation for Provost Willihnganz.
REPORT: University Provost – Dr. Shirley Willihnganz
Provost Willihnganz updated the Senate on various building projects. The SAC renovation is using the student fee to convert 2 gyms into meeting space for large events. Harlan Sands is working with students to get the best use for everyone. The renovations in Strickler, Davidson and Bingham buildings will be completed for fall classes to begin. The new instructional building will have 155K square feet of space that must include a mini power plant, as there is not enough power on campus to support another large building. This building must address the teaching and learning needs of the future, which include: team teaching; engaged teaching; new technology; small and large groups; and, other flexible options. In addition, there is a huge need for laboratories and theater space. The theater space is needed for accreditation. We are looking at spaces around town that could potentially draw larger audiences and offer more community involvement. Asked how green the new building will be, the Provost answered that it will be able to qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Asked about the need for a power plant in light of the national trend of new buildings being self-sustaining, the Provost replied that the $80M from the state does not provide for any M&O, which must be considered in the plans. Asked what the difference in the cost of a LEED versus non-LEED building is, Dr. Willihnganz said that, though not a perfect match, the savings in energy costs are almost always guaranteed. Though those payments may stretch out over years, ours are guaranteed to come in at 20 years. Harlan Sands is now here and is looking at all of our systems and how they can be improved. Mr. Sands spoke about his initial efforts to streamline our business practices. He has hired an Interim Human Resources Director in Jeanell Hughes and has each unit naming a Lead Financial Officer. This will be the person who is financially responsible for the unit. This will create greater consistency in the financial reporting process. Each unit will also appoint a LEAD IT OFFICER. This person will report to a TAG (Technology Advisory Group) Group, which reports to the STEC Committee. This is an attempt to eliminate any gaps in preventing IT breaches. Provost Willihnganz reported that the Day of Service will be Friday, April 17th, with over 100 people volunteering in the West End with some of our Signature Partners. Questions on various topics included: funds to address making elevators accessible (to be discussed with CFO/COO Harlan Sands); the need for numerous signatures on a Proposed Clearance Form; encryption mandates must be sensitive to the needs of the faculty (the Provost suggested forming an ad hoc committee on encryption to work with Dean Hancock, Mr. Sands and IT to discuss everyone’s needs, IT has to work for everyone); and, results of the Faculty Salary Equity Study show that the faculty are at 91% of benchmarks and it would take about $11M to get to 100%. We will start discussions on this after the budget goes to the Board of Trustees in June.
REPORT: Standing Committee Reports
Academic Programs Committee (APC) – This committee will meet next week to review documents.
Committee on Committees and Credentials (CCC) – This committee is working on the election. A list of committee vacancies is posted on the web site.
Part-time Faculty Committee (PTFC) – This report was available online.
Planning & Budget Committee (P&B) - This committee did not meet in March. It will review 3 proposals at its next meeting.
Redbook & Bylaws Committee (RB) – This report was available online.
Executive Committee (XC) - This report was available online.
OTHER REPORTS: University-Wide Committees
- Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) – This report was available online. A brief discussion took place regarding the issue of high school athletes going directly to professional sports. Senator Wise volunteered to conduct a workshop to explain the rules for student-athletes. Chair Feldhoff offered to send an email to measure interest in a workshop.
- Human Resources Advisory Committee (HRAC) – This committee did not meet in April. Mr. Sands announced that Ms. Jeanell Hughes has been hired as Interim HR Director.
REPORT: Faculty Senate Chair – Feldhoff
- The Executive Committee will form its own ad hoc committee to study the deferred compensation plan here, and at other institutions. It will report monthly to the Executive Committee and the Chair will report monthly to the full Senate. Asked if the Board of Trustees consider the morale of the students, faculty and staff, the Chair replied that morale is the biggest issue. A full report will be made in September.
- The Chair will send information on the HSC Shared Services town hall meeting. It is a huge undertaking and implementation just began. Darrell Griffith and Gary Southard are leading the effort.
- The Chair will also send information on the UofL students selected to attend the ACC Undergraduate Research Conference in Raleigh.
- The Chair asked for any input regarding the University Ombudsman. She and the Staff Senate chair and the Dean of SIGS are in the process of reviewing the Mr. Belak.
New Business
None
Old Business
None
Announcements
None
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gretchen Stein Henry
Faculty Senate Secretary