UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Kingston, Rhode Island
FACULTY SENATE
MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting #30
April 27, 2004
1. The meeting was called to order at 10:31 a.m. on Tuesday,
April 27, 2004 in the third floor conference room in Green Hall,
Chairperson Beckman presiding. All members were present.
2. The minutes of Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meetings
#28, April 13, 2004 and #29, April 20, 2004 were approved as revised.
3. Announcements/Correspondence
a. Chairperson Beckman announced that she had sent an
e-mail message to Senator Feldman, expressing the Executive
Committee's appreciation for the work of his committee and asking him
to thank the members of his committee for their efforts before and at
the Faculty Senate Meeting.
b. Chairperson Beckman reported that Vice President Dougan had
invited the Executive Committee to participate in interviews of
candidates for Director of Athletics.
Following discussion, Chairperson Beckman agreed to inform Vice
President Dougan that the FSEC would be willing to participate in the
interviews.
4. The Executive Committee reviewed the Agenda for Faculty Senate
Meeting #8a, April 29, 2004. Senator Rosen gave the Executive
Committee a brief overview of the report of the Investigative Ad Hoc
Committee on Academic Reorganization. He said that Ms. Grubman
should expect to have a written report to post on the website before
the Senate meeting.
5. The Executive Committee met with Provost Swan from 11:00 to
12:00 p.m. The following matters were considered:
a. Provost Swan reported that she had written to all
of the deans asking for copies of their college's procedures for
dealing with student appeals for exceptions to regulations. She said
that she had also asked the Deans for information on how these
procedures are publicized. In addition, Provost Swan indicated that
the matter would be discussed at the Council of Deans' meeting.
The Executive Committee asked for copies of the procedures, as
well the information on how and where they are publicized.
b. In response to the Executive Committee's request, Provost Swan
gave her perceptions about the functioning of the JSPC. She agreed
with the general observation that communication between the
administration and faculty had improved over the last year. She
expressed some disappointment with the pace of action by the Faculty
Senate on some items as well as with the sporadic attendance by the
student leaders.
Provost Swan said that while the faculty members had the
opportunity to provide feedback on matters of concern to the Vice
Presidents, she thought that the Vice Presidents had not been as well
informed about the workings of the Senate. The Provost suggested
that it would be helpful to the Vice Presidents and other JSPC
members for the Executive Committee to regularly bring the group up
to date on matters that were under consideration by the Senate.
c. Provost Swan reported that the "Mandated Background Checks"
item on the Council of Deans Agenda related to concerns raised by
Dean McKinney that students were increasingly required to submit to
background checks at their own expense before they were allowed to
student teach or to work in a medical facility. She explained that
the Deans had agreed that, at the minimum, the University should
ensure that students who are preparing to work in one of these
settings are aware of the expense associated with the outside
placements.
d. Provost Swan announced that the Presidents of the three public
institutions of higher education were scheduled to publicly sign a
Joint Admissions Agreement for students enrolling in CCRI the
following day. She explained that the agreement reflected what had
been practice at the institutions for a number of years. This
included careful advisement on requirements for RIC and URI programs.
It also provided students who complete the requirements at CCRI to
transfer into URI or RIC with the opportunity to register for courses
along with juniors who had attended the schools from the beginning.
e. The Executive Committee and the Provost discussed the
appropriate next steps in the process for admitting students directly
into the Providence Campus. It was agreed that the Ad Hoc Committee
and the interested departments should have formal proposals for the
Curricular Affairs Committee as early in the fall as possible.
Ms. Grubman said that when the Ad Hoc Committee meets again on
May 7, she would suggest that they work toward an early fall
deadline.
f. Provost Swan reported that her office was in the process of
forming a University-wide Outcomes Assessment Implementation
Committee. She said that the group would be co-chaired by Judith
Swift and Deborah Grossman-Garber and would have faculty members from
each of the colleges in addition to a representative of the IDP. She
said that faculty members who have already agreed to serve were Faye
Boudreaux-Bartels, John Boulmetis, Carolyn Hames, Nedra Reynolds and
John Stevenson.
Provost Swan noted that while the professional schools have done
quite a bit of work in the area of outcomes assessment, few programs
in the college of Arts and Sciences have been involved this far.
When Provost Swan left the meeting, the Executive Committee moved
to the next item on the Agenda.
6. Ms. Grubman presented a draft Agenda for Faculty Senate
Meeting #9, May 13, 2004 and noted that the deadline for submission
of reports was the following day.
The Executive Committee agreed to bring two recommendations to
the Senate at that meeting. The first recommendation would be to ask
the Senate to direct the CBUM Committee to consider changes to the
Faculty Senate Constitution that might ensure better continuity. The
second would be to recommend approval of the Computing and Networking
Policy, which had been revised at the Executive Committee's request
in the fall and resubmitted for Senate consideration by Vice Provost
Gandel.
7. The Executive Committee discussed the following matters of
continuing concern:
a. Budget Priorities: The Executive Committee
resumed their discussion of the materials distributed by Senator
Rosen on March 30 as part of their preparation for the JSPC's budget
discussion on May 5.
b. Pilot testing of portfolio model: Chairperson Beckman
reported that she and Provost Swan were scheduled to meet with their
small group the following day in order to continue their review of
the department they had begun to examine previously as part of the
pilot test.
8. The Executive Committee agreed to the following topics for
their May 4 meeting with President Carothers:
a. Budget priorities for FY'05 and FY'06
b. Continuance of JSPC meetings over the summer months
c. Thinking about 2007 through 2010 - developing strategic plans
for the future.
d. Consideration of issues related to access for faculty members,
staff, and students who have disabilities.
e. Discussion of a rumored delay in the plans for taking
Independence Hall off-line.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Sheila Black Grubman