NUMBER 7
Faculty Senate
MINUTES
Faculty Senate Meeting - March 20,
2003
1. The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate
was called to order at 3:05 p.m. in the Cherry Auditorium, Chester
Kirk Building, Chairperson Arakelian presiding.
All members were present except Senators
Babson, Bide, Dewhurst, Dholakia, Fastovsky, Felner, Hollinshead, Hu,
Jouaneh, Lee, Loy, Newman, Oviatt, Paton, Ramstad, Riebe and Wills;
Vice Presidents Beagle, Dougan and Stark; Vice Provosts McCray and
Trubatch; Deans Farmer, Letendre, Mazze, Shukla and Taggart (Deans
Joseph and Seemann were represented by their designees); Ms. DiBiasio
and Mr. Murgo.
2. Chairperson Arakelian asked if there were
any additions or corrections to or questions about the Minutes of Faculty Senate
Meeting #6, February 20, 2003. There
were none.
Chairperson Arakelian ruled that in the
absence of additions or corrections, the Minutes were approved as
distributed.
3. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
A. Announcements:
1) Chairperson Arakelian announced
that Senator Dana Kester from the Graduate School of Oceanography had
died on March 16, 2003. He introduced Senator Brian Heikes, who moved
adoption of the following resolution:
WHEREAS: Dana R. Kester,
Professor of Oceanography and a member of the University faculty for
34 years, died on March 16, 2003.
WHEREAS: Professor Kester was foremost an
analytical chemist whose scholarship focused on ocean waters, marine
environmental quality, and ocean processes in global change.
Recently, he worked on the integration of in situ measurements with
remote sensing observations. In the course of his research, he
authored and co-authored over 125 peer reviewed journal articles,
books, and book chapters. Professor Kester enjoyed going to sea and
participated in 24 cruises totaling 435 days on the water. Before his
death, he was working with State, National, and International
agencies and non-governmental organizations to study hypoxia in
Narragansett Bay and coastal China.
WHEREAS: Professor Kester served his
profession and his University with distinction. He had twice served
as acting Dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography and once as
acting Dean of the Graduate School. He had served on numerous
University committees and was a member of the Faculty Senate,
coordinator of the Vetlesen Lecture Series on Climate, and chair of
an ad hoc committee for the Faculty Senate on research and graduate
education. Professor Kester had been a member of the National Academy
of Sciences Marine Board, Intergovernmental Ocean Commission US
delegate, and WMO and UNESCO committees. He served a 2-year special
assignment to NOAA. He was a noted editor, reviewer and contributor
to professional society journals and citizen publications.
WHEREAS: Professor Kester was major
professor for 10 M.S. and 15 Ph.D. students, served on the thesis
committees of 15 others, and supervised 14 undergraduate students in
research. He was supervising 3 graduate and 2 undergraduate students.
The course he developed and taught on Ocean Chemical Distributions
integrated all oceanography sub-disciplines. It was considered a
"must take" by GSO students and perhaps more importantly by their
advisors. Sabbatical leaves took him to universities in England, Hong
Kong and China.
WHEREAS: Professor Kester was an
international leader in Oceanography and a significant contributor to
the University. His research, service, teaching, and mentorship are
missed but will live on in the memory of his students and
colleagues.
BE IT RESOLVED: the faculty of the
University of Rhode Island acknowledges Professor Dana R. Kester's
contributions to the University community and mourns his passing,
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: this resolution be
approved by the University of Rhode Island Faculty Senate and
presented to his family as an expression of our sincerest
sympathy.
The resolution was adopted by unanimous vote
of the Senate.
Chairperson Arakelian asked the Senate to
observe a moment of silence in Senator Kester's memory.
2) Chairperson Arakelian invited members of
the Senate to attend a reception at the University Club after the
Faculty Senate meeting. He announced that the reception would be
sponsored jointly by Dean Joseph of the College of Nursing and Dean
Letendre of the College of Pharmacy and thanked them both for their
generous support.
3) Chairperson Arakelian announced that the
Senate Office has moved to beautiful new quarters on the third floor
of Green Hall and invited members of the Senate to visit when they
have the opportunity.
B. Senator Beckman said that the minutes of
Executive Committee Meetings #17 and #18 appeared on pages 3-8 of the
Agenda. She asked if there were any questions.
Senator Beckman, Chairperson Arakelian and
Provost Swan responded to questions about the Executive Committee's
meetings.
C. Senator Beckman presented the
recommendations of the Executive Committee:
1) Senator Beckman moved approval
of the following committee appointments:
a) Professor Barbara Luebke, JOR,
and Mr. Michael Tammaro, PHY, to the Social Regulations
Committee;
b) Professor Bingfang Yan, BMS, to the Council
for Research replacing Professor Hossein Zia, APS, for the spring
2003 semester.
Following discussion, the motion
carried.
2) Senator Beckman reminded the Senate that at
the February meeting President Carothers reported on plans for
reorganizing strategic planning and institutional research, including
the establishment of a senior-level committee. She said that at that
time the Executive Committee had agreed to bring a response to the
Senate at the March meeting.
Senator Beckman reported that the Executive
Committee has considered the president's proposal to form an advisory
committee comprised of the President, Faculty Senate Executive
Committee, University Vice Presidents, Student Senate President, and
two representatives of the university's non-faculty employees whose
responsibility it will be to discuss and facilitate strategic
planning. The Executive Committee has agreed to participate in the
new "senior" planning group.
Senator Beckman said that the Executive
Committee sees no overlap in jurisdiction with current Faculty Senate
committees since any initiative, which may originate in this new
committee, would have to journey through the existing university
review and approval process.
She also stated that the Executive Committee
believes that this new committee could replace the JEPC (Joint
Educational Policy Committee) and will ask the Constitution, By-laws
and University Manual Committee (CBUM) to work with us and the
President to draft appropriate manual language, which will be brought
back to the Faculty Senate for consideration.
Discussion ensued.
4. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
A. President Carothers announced
that, as indicated on the Agenda, all of the legislation that had
been forwarded to him after the January and February Faculty Senate
meetings had been approved.
He reported that he had also supported Faculty
Senate Resolution #01-02--1 "Endorsement of Recommendation to Increase the Limit on
LVPO's for Grants and Contracts." He announced that the Board of
Governors intended to vote at their next meeting on raising the LVPO
limit to $2,500.
B. President Carothers reported that the
College of Pharmacy had given the first Award for Ethics and
Excellence in Health Care earlier that day to URI alumnus Doug
Durand. He said that the award had been appropriately named for
Professor Emeritus Norman A. Campbell.
President Carothers said that he continued to
work on the final draft of his strategic plan and hoped to have it
completed for presentation to the Board of Governors at their April
meeting. He encouraged members of the Senate to forward their
suggestions and comments to him by e-mail as soon as possible because
he would have to complete his draft in time to meet the Board's
Agenda deadlines. President Carothers said that, although he had been
encouraged to include maintenance items in his plan, he did not
intend to do so. He did indicate his intent to add several items
relating to support of the liberal arts core.
Discussion ensued.
Following discussion, President Carothers
reported on prospects for the Governor's Budget, concerns about the
cap on state positions, and the Governor's proposal that members of
the state retirement system contribute a larger percentage of their
income to the ERS. He then responded to questions from members of the
Senate.
5. REPORTS OF STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES
A. Senator Kaufman presented the
Four Hundred Twelfth Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee,
which appeared on pages 9-14 of the Agenda. He said that that Section I was
informational and asked if there were any questions.
Discussion ensued.
Following discussion, Senator Kaufman said
that Section II required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved
approval. The motion carried.
Senator Kaufman announced that Section III was
a joint report of the Curricular Affairs Committee and Graduate
Council on 400-level courses.
He said that part A was informational and
asked if there were any questions.
Discussion ensued.
Following discussion, Senator Kaufman said
that part B required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved
approval. The motion carried.
B. Professor Euler presented the Annual Report
for the Council for Research, which appeared on pages 15-16 of the Agenda.
Discussion ensued.
C. Professor Carroll presented the Final
Report of the President's Ad Hoc Task Force on Campus Security, which
appeared, on pages 17-20 of the Agenda. He noted that all of the Appendices to
the Task Force's Report were available on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/Security_Task_Force_Final.html
Discussion ensued.
6. NEW BUSINESS
Chairperson Arakelian asked if
there was any new business. There was none.
A motion was made to adjourn. The motion
carried.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Black Grubman