Minutes for Faculty Senate Meetings

October 30, 2003

Number 2

1. The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:04 p.m. in the Cherry Auditorium, Chester Kirk Building, Chairperson Beckman presiding.

All members were present except Senators Cobb, Dewhurst, Glasow, Jouaneh and Morin; Vice Presidents Beagle and Dougan; Deans Farmer, Gandel, Letendre, Mazze, and Taggart (Vice Provosts McCray and Trubatch and Dean Seemann were represented by their designees); Mr. Lopes and Mr. Sutherland.

2. Chairperson Beckman asked if there were any additions or corrections to or questions about the Minutes of Faculty Senate Meeting #1, September 25, 2003. There were none.

Chairperson Beckman ruled that in the absence of additions or corrections, the Minutes were approved as distributed.

3. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

A. Announcements:

Chairperson Beckman announced that the Ad Hoc Committee on Graduate Education and Research has been reconstituted under the chairpersonship of Senator Rodgers. The members of the committee are:

Senator Faye Boudreaux-Bartels, College of Engineering

Professor Shaw Chen, College of Business

Professor Bongsup Cho, College of Pharmacy

Professor Nancy Cook, English, Arts & Sciences

Professor Robin Devin, University Libraries

Professor Arthur Gold, College of the Environment and Life Sciences

Senator Michael Havener, Library and Information Studies, Arts & Sciences representing the Graduate Council

Senator Robert Rodgers, College of Pharmacy, Chairperson

Professor Joseph Rossi, Psychology, Arts and Sciences representing the Council for Research

She reported that the ad hoc committee hoped to begin its work next week and indicated that Senators would be able to learn more about the ad hoc committee by visiting the committee's website through the Faculty Senate's Home Page.
Chairperson Beckman announced that everyone was invited to join us for a reception at the University Club after the Faculty Senate meeting. She said that the reception would be sponsored by Dean McKinney of the College of Human Science and Services and Dean Nassersharif of the College of Engineering.
Chairperson Beckman said that the Board of Governors was scheduled to meet later that afternoon in Providence. She explained that President Carothers and Vice President Barrett would have to leave the Senate meeting early because of their commitments and asked for and received permission to change the order of business to consider item 4, the President's report before item 3, B.

4. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

A. President Carothers announced, as indicated on the Agenda, that he had approved Senate Bills #03-04--1 and #03-04--2 which had been forwarded to him after the September 25, 2003 Faculty Senate Meeting.

B. President Carothers reported on the receipt of a major advance grant of $3.5 million for Women in Science. He said that Vice Provost Trubatch had been the principal investigator on the grant, but had worked with a number of faculty members throughout the University on the proposal.

The President also announced that the accreditation teams for the College of Pharmacy and the College of Business Administration had been extremely positive in their exit interviews. In addition, he reported that the University had been notified officially by NCATE that URI's teacher education programs continued to be accredited. He expressed his appreciation to all of the faculty members in Business Administration, Pharmacy and the School of Education for their excellent work.

C. Interim Vice President Barrett presented the State of the Budget address for the 2003-04 academic year using a series of slides prepared by the Budget Office. These slides were supplemented by paper copies, which had been distributed to all members of the Senate prior to the report. Interim Vice President Barrett responded to questions during and immediately following the presentation.

After Chairperson Beckman thanked Interim Vice President Barrett, the Senate resumed its regular order of business with item 3, B.

3. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

B. Vice Chairperson Hollinshead said that before she asked for questions about the minutes of Executive Committee meetings, she wanted to remind everyone that the minutes are the way that the Executive Committee keeps the Senate and the community informed about what is happening with regard to academic matters. Thanks to Ms. DeFosse in the Faculty Senate Office it is now possible to read Executive Committee Meeting Minutes on the web at the Faculty Senate Home Page http://www.uri.edu/facsen/. She said that the Executive Committee strongly urges Senators to read the Executive Committee's minutes before each meeting and she promised that they would try to answer questions or find answers if they were unable to answer them at that time.

Vice Chairperson Hollinshead said that the Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #3 through #7 appeared on pages 3-17 of the Agenda and asked if there were any questions.

Vice Chairperson Hollinshead, Chairperson Beckman and Provost Swan responded to questions about the Executive Committee's Minutes.

C. Vice Chairperson Hollinshead stated that as part of the Executive Committee's effort to improve communication, the Minutes of JSPC meetings are also included in the Agenda. She explained that they could also be accessed through the Faculty Senate home page. She said that the Minutes of the September 4 meeting of the JSPC appeared on pages 18 and 19 and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

D. Vice Chairperson Hollinshead reported that she had two recommendations of the Executive Committee to introduce at that time.

Vice Chairperson Hollinshead then moved approval of the following recommendation:

That the Faculty Senate approve the Small Research Vessel Policy for the University of Rhode Island that appears on pages 20-21 of the agenda.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, Senator Rice moved that the Small Research Vessel Policy be returned to the Executive Committee for consultation and clarification. The motion carried.
Vice Chairperson Hollinshead moved that the Faculty Senate approve the replacement of the title "Vice President for Business and Finance" with "Vice President for Administration" in accordance with Article VII, paragraph 3 of the Faculty Senate Constitution. She explained that the full motion and the background information could be found on pages 22 and 23.

Vice Chairperson Hollinshead noted that that the Senate could not vote on this motion at the meeting it was introduced and must hold it for unfinished business at the November meeting.

5. REPORTS OF STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES

A. Professor Kaufman presented the Four Hundred Sixteenth Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee, which appeared on pages 24-27 of the Agenda. He said that Section I was informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

Professor Kaufman said that Section II required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval. The motion carried.

Professor Kaufman announced that Section III was a report on 400-level courses that were not for graduate credit and therefore, no action by the graduate Council was required. He said that part A was informational and asked if there were any questions.

Senator Hufnagel asked that item A, 2, a be corrected editorially to read "MTC" 405.

Professor Kaufman said that part B required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval. The motion carried.

B. Dean Kulberg presented the Curricular Report No. 2003-04-2 from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate, which appeared on page 28 of the Agenda. She made several editorial corrections to the report and then moved approval. The motion carried.

C. Professor Jackson presented the University College and General Education Committee Report #2003-04-1, which appeared on pages 29-30 of the Agenda.

Professor Jackson said that Section I required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, it was agreed that the report would be amended editorially to include course titles and that all subsequent reports would include titles for approved courses as well.

After discussion, Section I as revised was approved.

Professor Jackson announced that Section II was an informational report on guidelines for the Mathematical and Quantitative Reasoning (MQ) core area and the Natural Sciences (N) core area and asked if there were any questions.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, Interim Vice Provost Swift announced that she was in the process of setting up workshops for incorporating the integrated skills for courses in the (MQ) core area and (N) core area in November.

6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairperson Beckman asked if there was any unfinished business. There was none.

7. NEW BUSINESS

Chairperson Beckman asked if there was any new business. There was none.

Chairperson Beckman reminded everyone that a reception at the University Club immediately followed the meeting and encouraged everyone to attend.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Black Grubman