UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Kingston, Rhode Island
FACULTY SENATE
MINUTES

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting #10 – October 30, 2007

1. The meeting was called to order at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 in the third floor conference room in Green Hall, Chairperson Miller presiding. All members were present except Senator Fastovsky.
                    
2. The Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #8, October 16, 2007 and #9, October 23, 2007 were approved.

3. Announcements/Correspondence

a. Ms. Grubman reported that the FSEC’s lunch meeting with Vice Provost Bozylinsky was scheduled for November 8 at 12:45 in the Alumni Association Conference Room.
    
b. The Executive Committee reviewed correspondence from Professor von Reinhart requesting that sections of the catalog and UNIVERSIRTY MANUAL regulations be updated.  

Following discussion, it was agreed to forward the memorandums from Professor von Reinhart to the Academic Standards and Calendar Committee for consideration.

c. The Executive Committee agreed to meet at 9:00 a.m. on Mondays during the spring 2008 semester.

4. The Executive Committee discussed the following matters with regard to issues raised at Faculty Senate Meeting #2, October 25, 2007

a. The Executive Committee noted that they had received information from Professor Logan with regard to the two position papers that Senator Leo mentioned at the end of the meeting. It was agreed to review “Learning for a New Culture”    and “Waking Up in the Century of Limits” for discussion at a subsequent meeting.

b. The Executive Committee acknowledged receipt of information from Senator Leo with regard to colleges/universities that had SAT optional policies.  Ms. Grubman said that she had forwarded the material to the Admissions Advisory Committee as well as to the Executive Committee.  Chairperson Miller and Ms. Grubman reported that much of the information that was provided by Senator Leo had been sent to the Admissions Advisory Committee initially. They noted that they were not aware that a proposal for a pilot to make SATs optional had been forthcoming from any department or college that expressed interest in pursuing the matter.  

5. The Executive Committee was brought up to date on the following matters of continuing concern:
        
a. Provost Search:  Ms. Grubman reminded the FSEC that the fourth and final candidate, Dr. Donald De Hayes, Dean of the Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont, was scheduled to meet with them on Friday, November 2 at 9:00 a.m.  The Executive Committee agreed to schedule a meeting on the afternoon of November 2 to discuss all of the candidates and draft a letter to the President outlining the Executive Committee’s thoughts about each of the candidates.  It was also agreed to try to schedule a meeting with President Carothers to discuss the candidates as soon as possible after the November 2 meeting.
    
b. Administrator Evaluation Committees:  Ms. Grubman reported that the deadline for evaluation letters for Dean Seemann were due in the Faculty Senate Office by November 1.

6. The Executive Committee met with Vice President Weygand from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.  In response to the Executive Committee's request Vice President Weygand reported on efforts to supplement the ever-shrinking state contribution to the University's budget. He acknowledged that the University was becoming increasingly dependent on tuition and fees but noted that other funding sources, such as building the endowment, developing a research park, and leasing land for various enterprises, such as alumni housing, golf learning center and college inn were also being explored.

The Vice President and the Executive Committee discussed the difficulty in financial planning when the institution wasn't able to predict future state funding since URI was so dependent on outside factors.

As for the JSPC meetings, they agreed that time would be better served if only one or two major/strategic issues related to planning were discussed at JSPC meetings.  The Executive Committee said that they felt that reading reports in advance and asking questions at meetings would be more expeditious than having reports delivered orally.

Both Vice President Weygand and Chairperson Miller agreed that they would each raise the proposed change in the focus of JSPC meetings with Ms. Morrissey in advance of the November 2 meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

                                        Respectfully submitted,
 
                                        Sheila Black Grubman