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Scenes from Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting

Minute

Meeting #6

September 28, 2004

1. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 in the third floor conference room in Green Hall, Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels presiding. All members were present.

2. The Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #4, September 14, 2004 and #5, September 21, 2004 were approved as revised.

3. Announcements/Correspondence:

a. Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels reminded the Executive Committee that President Carothers and Provost Swan were scheduled to meet with them on October 5 at 1:00 p.m.

Following discussion, Ms. Grubman was asked to send an e-mail to the President and the Provost confirming that the organization of Library and Information Services would be the topic for the 1/2-hour meeting.

b. The Executive Committee reviewed the proposed Space Policy and Space Allocation Guidelines, which they had received previously. They discussed their charge in accordance with Appendix G of the UNIVERSITY MANUAL, to determine whether Faculty Senate approval would be necessary.

It was agreed to postpone their decision regarding the approval route for the Space Policy and Space Allocation Guidelines pending further information. The Executive Committee asked Senator Kowalski to ask SEDA to clarify some issues relative to the policy and allocation guidelines.

4. The Executive Committee reviewed Faculty Senate Meeting #1, which had been held on September 23, 2004 and discussed the following matters:

a. Time allocation for discussion and flow of meeting: Following discussion of ways to ensure that Senate meetings proceed efficiently, it was agreed Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels should remind the Senate on a regular basis about the fifteen minute time limit for debate. In addition, they agreed that Senators should also be reminded that questions and comments should be addressed through the chair.

b. Power Point presentations: The Executive Committee agreed that it would be helpful if presenters who use PowerPoint in their report would provide materials that could be placed on the Faculty Senate website, if not before, then soon after the meeting.

c. Survey of faculty issues: Senator Ramsay reported on the results of the survey that the Executive Committee had distributed at the meeting. Members of the Executive Committee expressed their appreciation to Senator Ramsay for her report. Classroom support, parking, maintenance, funding and compensation ranked at the top of the compiled list of concerns.

Following discussion, the Executive Committee decided that it would be useful if they could obtain a wider representation of response to the survey. Senator Kowalski and Ms. Grubman agreed to design a process that would, hopefully, reach more members of the university community.

5. Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels announced that Vice President Weygand had agreed to give the State of the Budget Address at the October 28 Faculty Senate meeting. She noted that since it was just before the election, the Vice President would also speak briefly about the bond Issues.

The Executive Committee discussed the possibility of asking Vice President Weygand to report on capital projects early in the spring semester. They also considered whether they should invite Commissioner Warner and Interim Vice Provost Swift to address the topic of student outcomes assessment.

6. The Executive Committee discussed the following matters of continuing concern:

a. Questions that the FSEC will be raising with administrators: Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels distributed a spreadsheet that she had prepared on the goals identified by the Executive Committee and related questions that the FSEC may want to ask administrators. She asked the Executive Committee to review the spreadsheet for discussion at a future meeting.

b. JSPC: Copies of draft minutes from the September 9, 2004 meeting of the JSPC were distributed. Ms. Grubman asked the Executive Committee to inform her if any additions or corrections were needed before the minutes are considered by the JSPC at their next meeting.

c. Administrator Evaluation: Senator Rosen reported that the Committee to Evaluate Dean Brownell had asked whether staff might participate in the evaluation. It was agreed that the Administrator Evaluation process had been developed by the Faculty Senate to give faculty members the opportunity to address their concerns. It was further agreed that participation by others requires a totally separate process and instrument.

Vice Chairperson Rosen agreed to propose that the chair of the Administrator Evaluation Committee consult both the Dean and the Provost about the possibility of conducting an evaluation separate from the Faculty Administrator Evaluation Process.

d. Student Learning Improvement Assessment Advisory Committee (SLIAAC): The Executive Committee received copies of a list of the members of the committee that had been appointed by the Provost to advise her office with regard to the Student Outcomes Assessment process. (The membership of SLIAAC is attached to the Minutes.)

7. The Executive Committee met with Interim Vice Provost Judith Swift and Deborah Grossman-Garber, Director of the Outcomes Assessment Initiative from 2:45-3:30. Mr. Carter Johnson, who had recently been hired with the support of the Davis Educational Foundation to serve as the professional staff person for the assessment initiative, accompanied them.

Members of the Executive Committee were provided with copies of the Student Outcomes Assessment Timeline for 2004-2008, which was based upon the Outcomes Assessment Plans submitted by each of the Colleges. The Executive Committee also received the most recent iteration (8/23/04) of the Draft Statement on Expected Student Outcomes that resulted from the Alton Jones Retreat on June 30 and will eventually be brought to the Faculty Senate for approval.

Interim Vice Provost Swift reported on the student outcomes initiative underway at URI. She noted that the student outcomes assessment process had been mandated by the Board of Governors and explained that assessment of student learning outcomes was included in the guidelines under development by the University's accrediting body, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). She said that while there were outside forces mandating outcomes assessment, there were significant reasons for the University to undertake the process.

Interim Vice Provost Swift explained that the University had begun to look at assessment of student learning outcomes about a decade earlier, but results of the undertaking had been mixed. She reported that former Vice Provost Blair Lord had asked Ms. Grossman-Garber to serve as the university's liaison for student outcomes assessment. Ms. Grossman-Garber has continued that work even though the university initiative waned and was therefore selected by the Provost as the person at the University best prepared to coordinate the initiative.

Because the faculty is the primary group responsible for developing outcomes assessment, Interim Vice Provost Swift outlined efforts to engage faculty members in the process. She reported that the University had received a grant of $300,000 over three years from the Davis Educational Foundation to get the outcomes assessment initiative underway. She explained that the SLIAAC (see attached list of members) had been formed to advise Ms. Grossman-Garber and herself about the best ways to use the funds to support faculty in their efforts to develop student outcomes for their programs.

Discussion ensued on efforts to assist departments as they begin the process. Ms. Grossman-Garber said that her role was to serve as the resource person during the process and volunteered to provide samples of the best practices at other institutions.

Interim Vice Provost Swift noted that they intended to develop a website to serve as a source for information on the outcomes assessment initiative. The Executive Committee suggested that the intended website get underway as soon as possible to provide faculty members with access to the information they will need as they begin the process. The website would also afford the faculty an opportunity to give feedback on the draft of expected student outcomes for graduates of URI. In response to a question, Interim Vice Provost Swift explained that expected studentoutcomes draft was a document to initiate discussion with each program. Vice Provost Swift and Ms. Grossman-Garber agreed and said the website was a high priority item. Vice Provost Swift and Ms. Grossman-Garber stressed that the centralization of this university initiative is to provide support and information but in no way usurps the role of each program in designing outcomes assessment that best suits a given discipline.

It was agreed that it would be useful if the Faculty Senate were given an overview of the student outcomes assessment initiative. This presentation might be very helpful as an opportunity to enlarge the group of faculty involved in the process. It was the consensus of the group to wait until the SLIAAC has an opportunity to meet to discuss implementation issues before a specific date is scheduled for the presentation.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila Black Grubman

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ATTACHMENT

Student Learning Improvement Assessment Advisory Committee

(SLIAAC)

Members as of October 1, 2004

*Marilyn Barbour, faculty member, College of Pharmacy

*G. Faye Boudreaux-Bartels, FS Chair, faculty member, Engineering

John Boulmetis, faculty member, HS&S

Deborah Grossman-Garber, Director of Outreach, CELS

Catherine English, faculty member, CELS

Bette Erickson, Assistant Director, IDP

Carolyn Hames, faculty member, Nursing

Charles Hickox, faculty member, Business Administration

Anne Hubbard, Coordinator, B.G.S., ASFCCE

Dean Libutti, Director, University College New Student Programs

Karen McCurdy, faculty member, HS&S

Orlando Merino, faculty member, A&S - Mathematics

C. B. Peters, faculty member, A&S - Sociology

Nedra Reynolds faculty member, A&S - College Writing Program

Mercedes Rivero-Hudec, Associate Dean, Engineering

William Rosen FS Vice Chair, faculty member, A&S - Chemistry

Judith Swift, Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Christine Wilson, Assistant Director, Student Leadership Development

Mark Wimbush, Associate Dean, GSO

*Senator