UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

Kingston, Rhode Island

FACULTY SENATE

MINUTES

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting #22

February 24, 2004

1. The meeting was called to order at 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday, February 24, 2004 in the third floor conference room in Green Hall, Chairperson Beckman presiding. All members were present except Senator Rice

2. The minutes of meetings #20, February 10, 2004 and #21 February 17, 2004 were approved as revised.

3. Announcements/Correspondence:

a. Responses to the PCA Accompaniment, which had been forwarded by Provost Swan, were circulated. It was noted that very few department chairs had responded to the request for feedback on the form. Among those who did respond, there appeared to be a general consensus that some of the information requested has been compiled elsewhere.

Concerned about the need for concurrent assessment of cost and quality factors in program review, the Executive Committee discussed the possibility that the portfolio model designed by Mr. Murphy might have the potential for bringing qualitative measures as well as quantitative measures into program evaluation. It was agreed that the meetings to be scheduled with Senators will provide the faculty with an opportunity to emphasize the qualitative and additional factors they believe are important.

b. The Executive Committee discussed a memorandum from Senator Wenisch that they had received along with Provost Swan, Vice President Dougan and Vice Provost Swift. In his memorandum Senator Wenisch expressed his concern about the policy of URI Health Services to refuse to provide students with documentation that they had been ill.

During discussion, the Executive Committee received copies of a memorandum from Provost Swan to Vice President Dougan asking for a meeting to discuss possible guidelines for those situations when it might be appropriate for Health Services to issue documentation for students.

c. Copies of a memorandum from Professor Rose, University Ombud, dated February 20, 2004, in which he proposes changes in the UNIVERSITY MANUAL with regard to the Student Assistant to the Ombud, were distributed. It was agreed that members of the Executive Committee would review the memorandum during the upcoming week and discuss it at their next meeting.

d. Copies of an article from the February 17 Providence Journal titled "Board looks to combine purchasing at 3 Colleges," which had been forwarded by Senator Rosen, were distributed.

Members of the Executive Committee expressed concern about the possibility of consolidating purchasing and other functions at URI, RIC and CCRI. It was noted that CCRI had been exempted from the PeopleSoft system and would have a difficult time changing from another system for the purpose of combining functions with those of the other two institutions.

4. The Executive Committee reviewed the Agenda for Faculty Senate Meeting #6, February 26, 2004 in preparation for the upcoming meeting. Members of the Executive Committee expressed concern about whether a number of Senators would have had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Murphy prior to the Senate meeting. It was suggested that it will be equally useful for Senators to meet with Mr. Murphy after his presentation.

5. The Executive Committee considered the following matters of continuing concern:

a. Graduate Teaching Assistants: Ms. Grubman shared with the Executive Committee the article on Graduate Teaching Assistants that had been discussed by the Graduate Council at their meeting of February 6, 2004. She reported that she had written a letter thanking Professor Shamoon for forwarding her student's paper and had sent the paper to the Graduate Council following up on the discussion at the Executive Committee's February 17 meeting.

b. URI Transportation Center: Ms. Grubman reported that she had not heard whether the Council for Research had begun its reconsideration of the URI Transportation Center, but would provide the Executive Committee with a progress report at their next meeting.

c. JSPC: The Executive Committee discussed the Agenda for the next meeting of the JSPC. They noted that the meeting was to be devoted to an update on the Capital Campaign. Concern was expressed that very little time had been spent on the budget process. They agreed to inquire about the JSPC's role in developing the '06 Budget.

It was noted that the President might have additional information on the FY '05 budget since the meeting would take place after the Governor's State of the Budget Address.

d. General Education: Ms. Grubman circulated copies of a rough draft comparing the existing general education program with the courses approved to-date for the revised program. She said that she would provide the Executive Committee with copies of the comparison and of materials developed by Vice Provost Swift on the number of course sections that would be needed for incoming freshmen.

Ms. Grubman also agreed to discuss with the appropriate person(s) the Executive Committee's concerns that the advisors for continuing students are able to access to the existing program as well as the revised one.

6. Ms. Grubman provided the Executive Committee with a schedule of Executive Committee Meetings for the spring semester. The following guests had been scheduled:

March 16:	Provost Swan
March 23:	President Carothers
March 30:	Vice Provost Trubatch
April 20:	President Carothers
April 27:	Provost Swan

7. Vice Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels asked that the Executive Committee discuss the possible need for some changes in the structure of the Executive Committee to accommodate the increased responsibilities in light of the additional commitments as members of the JSPC. It was agreed to place this item on the next agenda along with further discussion of the Executive Committee's observations about the JSPC, which they planned to share with the Faculty Senate in April.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila Black Grubman