NUMBER 5

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Kingston, Rhode Island
Faculty Senate

MINUTES
Faculty Senate Meeting – January 26, 2006

A. Announcements:

1) Chairperson Rice introduced two new Senators who were taking their seats at that time:

o Senator Arthur Gold, from the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, replacing Senator Yeqiao Wang; and
o Senator Paul Krajeski, from the College of Arts and Sciences, who is replacing Senator Nancy Eaton.

2) Chairperson Rice announced that Dr. Tom Dougan, Vice President for Student Affairs, had graciously agreed to sponsor the reception that afternoon. He thanked Vice President Dougan on behalf of the Senate and encouraged everyone to meet him and representatives of his division at the University Club immediately following the Faculty Senate meeting.”

3) Chairperson Rice announced that Fran Cohen, Dean of Students, has extended an invitation to all faculty to an open discussion on academic dishonesty and noted that “high tech cheating” was an issue that many faculty members want to address.  He said that the discussion was scheduled for Wednesday, February 22, 9 –10:30 a.m. in Memorial Union Atrium 1.

4) Chairperson Rice said that Health Services had informed him that they have already seen documented cases of influenza this week and anticipate a marked increase in cases during the next 2-4 weeks. He said that he had been asked to alert the faculty that the flu is on campus and to suggest to the Faculty that they be tolerant of absences for the next few weeks.

B. Vice Chairperson Martin said that the Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #15, #16 and #17 appeared on pages 4-10 of the Agenda and asked if there were any questions.  There were none.
    
C. Vice Chairperson Martin moved approval of the establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee on Early Course Registration Policy, which appeared on page 11 of the Agenda, as well as the following membership:

Deborah Brown, Nursing
David Byrd, Education, Human Science and Services
Ronald Lee, Music, Arts and Sciences
Barbara Luebke, Journalism, Arts and Sciences, Chair
Yngve Ramstad,  Economics, Arts and Sciences

The motion carried.    

A. President Carothers reported that, as noted on the Agenda, he had approved all of the legislation forwarded to him after the last Faculty Senate meeting.

B. President Carothers reported that there was significant impact for the University in the Governor's State of the State address, which included support for a $140M bond issue for URI science facilities.  His budget may also include another $26M in support of the University's utility infrastructure.

President Carothers noted that the bad news was that the State predicted a $77 million dollar deficit in Fiscal '06 and the University will likely be told to cut $2,000,000 from the current operating budget.  President Carothers noted that this was an additional challenge to the University, which had already been forced to adjust expenditures related to the fact that the increase in enrollment this fall had not been adequate to cover budget projections.

President Carothers also reported that the University had received an excellent report from its auditors and he thanked Ms. Bell and her staff at the Controller's Office for their fine work.

President Carothers also reported that University officials had attended a number of meetings on the avian flu and were working on disaster preparedness plans in the event of an epidemic.

President Carothers then responded to a question about the fall’s enrollment.

A. Senator Luebke introduced the Four Hundred Thirty-Eighth Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee, which appeared on pages 12-14 of the Agenda. She said that Section I was informational and corrected item A to read as follows:

CHANGE: Prerequisite for HIS 366 (or AAF 366) and HIS 367 (or AAF 367) to “Pre:  sophomore standing.”

She asked if there were any questions. There were none.

Senator Luebke announced that Section II required confirmation and moved approval of Section II.  The motion carried

Senator Luebke said that Section III was a joint report of the Curricular Affairs Committee and Graduate Council on 400-level courses.  She said that Section III was informational.  There were no questions.

B. In Vice Provost Pasquerella’s absence, Senator Kowalski moved approval of Curricular Report No. 2005-06-3A from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate: Proposal for a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Information Literacy Instruction, which appeared on pages 15-19 of the Agenda. The motion carried.

C. In Vice Provost Pasquerella’s absence, Senator Kowalski said that the Curricular Report No. 2005-06-4 from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate appeared on pages 20-23 of the Agenda.   He said that Section I was informational. There were no questions.

Senator Kowalski said that Section II required confirmation by the Faculty Senate.  He moved approval of Section II, A. 1.  The motion carried

Senator Kowalski moved approval of Section II, item A. 2.  The motion carried.

Senator Kowalski moved approval of Section II, item A. 3.  The motion carried.
        
D. Professor Honhart moved approval of the University College and General Education Committee Report #2005-06-1, which appeared on page 24 of the Agenda.  The motion carried.

A. Chairperson Rice reminded the Faculty Senate that Vice Chairperson Martin had moved approval of the proposed new section 4.69 of the Faculty Senate By-Laws at the December 8, 2005 meeting of the Faculty Senate. He noted that Changes to the Faculty Senate By-Laws may not be voted upon at the meeting they are first introduced and announced that the motion is returned to the Faculty Senate and was on the floor.

Following discussion, the motion carried.

The approved new section 4.69 of the Faculty Senate By-Laws reads as follows:

4.69 The University College and General Education Committee shall be responsible for the assessment of General Education student learning outcomes.  The UCGE Committee shall appoint a subcommittee on General Education Assessment which includes faculty members who have interest and expertise in assessment of learning outcomes and faculty who represent the General Education core areas, as well as representatives from the UCGE committee. This subcommittee shall develop a process and be responsible for assessing General Education learning outcomes on a continuing basis. The subcommittee shall report at least once each semester to the University College and General Education Committee. The UCGE Committee will forward subsequent recommendations to the Faculty Senate for approval.

B. Professor Rodgers reminded the Faculty Senate that the preliminary report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Graduate Education and Research had appeared on pages 34-35 of the Agenda for the December 8, 2005 meeting and that technical difficulties made it impossible to give the full report at that time.  

Professor Rodgers presented the preliminary report of the Ad Hoc Committee using a series of slides.  He responded to questions throughout his presentation and told the Senate that he would provide anyone who asked with copies of his preliminary report or the survey if they requested.
 
Following discussion, Professor Rodgers said that the ad hoc committee had a great deal of work remaining before they would be ready to present a final report with recommendations.

President Carothers noted that related to Professor Rodgers’ report was the announcement earlier in the week of the Governor’s Science Technology Advisory Council.  The Council had made five recommendations, one of which was to strengthen the University of Rhode Island by appointing a Blue Ribbon Commission to propose actions to strengthen URI as a nationally competitive public university as well as a vital to strengthening the state’s capacity for innovation.

Chairperson Rice stated that there was another announcement related to Professor Rodgers Report.  He announced that the Provost had appointed a Search Committee for a Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Research, and Outreach, chaired by Dean Seemann, that is in the process of developing a position description before undertaking the Search.

Chairperson Rice asked if there were any additional items of unfinished business.  There were none.

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

Chairperson Rice invited everyone across the street at the University Club for the reception sponsored by Vice President Dougan.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.