FSEC_11m06-07

a. It was noted that the Agenda for the November 8, 2006 Meeting of the Council of Deans had been forwarded by e-mail.

b. The Executive Committee reviewed the list of possible members of Dean Letendre’s Administrator Evaluation Committee (AEC), which had been forwarded to them by Senator Rosen. The Executive Committee selected the following faculty members from the list of volunteers: Professor Norma Owens, PHP, Senator Keykavous Parang, and Professor Nasser Zawia, BPS.

Ms. Grubman said that Dean Letendre and Provost Swan would each have the opportunity to appoint a faculty member to Dean Letendre’s AEC.

c. Chairperson Rice announced that President Carothers had agreed to resume the practice of delivering a State of the University Address at the first General Faculty Meeting preceding the first Faculty Senate Meeting in the fall of 2007.

Ms. Grubman suggested that the FSEC consider whether the General Faculty Meeting should begin a half-hour to an hour earlier than the 3:00 p.m. time currently scheduled for the brief meetings of the General Faculty.

The Executive Committee reviewed the Agenda for Faculty Senate Meeting #3, November 16, 2006 in preparation for the meeting.

Ms. Grubman reported that there was an error in the UCGE Committee Report #06-07-1 on page 20 of the Agenda. She said that she would send an e-mail message to all Senators and subscribers to FacSen-Bus explaining the error and correcting the report.

d. The Executive Committee discussed a memorandum that they had received from Professor Stephen Wood, Senator Kat Quina, Senator Kathleen Torrens and Professors Lynn Derbyshire, Kevin McClure and Vince Petronio objecting to the CAC’s decision to review online courses beginning with those scheduled for summer 2007. The memorandum suggested that the CAC did not have the authority to review approved courses and that the method of presentation was the responsibility of individual instructors.

Following discussion, the Executive Committee agreed that the review of changes in instructional method was within the purview of the CAC and that the process should continue. They decided to ask the Constitution, By-Laws and University Manual Committee to consider the issue and report their interpretation of both the Manual section and 4.75 of the Faculty Senate By-Laws to the FSEC.

a. Bond Issue: The Executive Committee congratulated Vice President Weygand for his work on the successful campaign for question #4 on the November 7 ballot. President Weygand expressed his appreciation for Ms. Hopkins, Dean Letendre, the AAUP, and outside groups, as well as all of the faculty and students who worked in support of the Bond Issue

b. Budget Presentation: The Executive Committee, Vice President Weygand and Ms. Barrett discussed the information that had been provided by the Budget Office for Vice President Weygand’s presentation of the FY 07 Budget at the October 26 Faculty Senate Meeting.

c. Providence Campus: In response to questions raised by the FSEC, Committee Vice President Weygand and Ms. Barrett provided general information about the costs associated with operating the Providence Campus. Among the areas identified were whether the Providence Campus receives adequate financial support from the RI Department of Administration, limitations on the use of the Shepard Building because of other uses assigned to the building, the necessity for programs at the Providence Campus to be self-supporting, etc.

d. Partnering with Vice Provost Bozylinsky: The Executive Committee suggested that there is a natural affinity between Information Technology and the Department of Administration. They urged that Vice President Weygand take full advantage of Vice Provost Bozylinsky’s efforts to re-engineer business practices to ensure that processes become more efficient. Vice President Weygand said that he expected that the upgrade from PeopleSoft 8.4 to 8.9 would go a long way towards improving the time required for various departments to process “paperwork” in areas such as budgeting and personnel.

e. University Policy #80-1: The Executive Committee and Vice President Weygand discussed the need to revise the Policy on Establishing Policy (Appendix G of the UNIVERSITY MANUAL) as a result of the changes at the University since the policy was originally proposed by the Vice President for Business and Finance. Among the changes identified were the increase in size and complexity of the University; the use of the world-wide web; policies that are mandated by the state or federal law (e.g. purchasing, travel, accounting procedures, catering, privacy, etc.); the lack of a centralized location to access all administrative policies; the need for greater clarity as to what constitutes a university policy; and the reluctance over recent years for the administration to bring new policies to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for their review.

It was agreed that Ms. Costa and Ms. Grubman would work on possible revisions to Appendix G and the Policy on Establishing Policy. Ms. Grubman said that she would also consult with the Constitution, By-Laws and University Manual Committee (CBUM) about appropriate changes.

a. JSPC: The Executive Committee briefly discussed the JSPC meeting which had been held on November 2 and agreed that they should continue to introduce issues of concern to the faculty at subsequent meetings.

b. Admissions Advisory Committee: The Executive Committee agreed that while their motion to postpone the report of the Admissions Advisory Committee would delay any implementation for another year, it would provide the time necessary for more careful deliberation.

c. Faculty Governance: The Executive Committee reviewed sections 8.87.10-11 on the abolition of programs and considered possible modifications to the sections that would account for program suspensions.