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Scenes from Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting

Minute

Meeting #23

February 15, 2006

1. The meeting was called to order at 12:35 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 in the third floor conference room in Green Hall, Chairperson Rice presiding. All members were present.

2. Announcements/Correspondence

a. Chairperson Rice announced that President Carothers' brother had passed away recently and the President is going to Pittsburgh to be with his family.

b. The Agenda for the February 17 meeting of the Board of Governors Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting was circulated. Chairperson Rice noted that the proposal for a Ph.D. in Computer Science was on the Agenda. He said that he planned to attend the meeting.

c. The Executive Committee discussed a request from Vice Provost Swift that they might want to appoint an additional member to the Student Learning Improvement Assessment Advisory Committee (SLIAAC) given that former Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels and former Vice Chairperson Rosen, while remaining on the committee, no longer represented the Executive Committee.

Senator Kowalski said that he would consider joining Senator Barbour as the FSEC's representatives to SLIAAC. (The list of members of SLIACC is available on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/CommitAppointments05-06.html)

c. The Executive Committee discussed recent e-mail correspondence from Senator Rollo-Koster on the publication of class notes. Senator Ramsay reported that she had followed up on the matter and had learned that class notes are taken by a student hired by disabilities services, as in the past. The only difference is the manner in which the notes are distributed to the disability students. Instead of a paper copy the notes are posted to a WebCT course where only the students enrolled have access to the notes posted. The Executive Committee agreed that note-taker's class notes do not violate the instructor's intellectual property. Chairperson Rice was asked to contact Senator Rollo-Koster and suggest that she discuss this issue further with Disability Services.

d. The Executive Committee discussed a note that was sent to Chairperson Rice by Professor Emeritus Vangermeersch about support for international students. It was agreed to suggest that Dr. Vangermeersch might want to contact URI's Office of International Education and the Director of the English Language Studies Program about his concerns.

e. Ms. Grubman announced that President Carothers had cancelled his February 22 meeting with the Executive Committee because he was obligated to be off campus at that time. Ms. Grubman said that she had asked Ms. Morrissey to provide the FSEC with an update on progress towards streamlining administrative functions at the February 22 FSEC meeting. Ms. Grubman reported that Ms. Morrissey indicated that Vice President Weygand and Ms. Murray from PSPD would be able to provide more information on the efforts than she could. Ms. Morrissey had suggested that time might be set aside for this purpose on March 1 when the Executive Committee and the Vice President are scheduled to meet.

When Dr. Kenneth McCollum and members of the AAUP Executive Committee arrived at 1:00 p.m. the Executive Committee moved to item 5.

5. The Executive Committee and members of the AAUP Executive Committee interviewed Dr. McCollum for the position of Vice Provost for Information and Instructional Technology from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

When Provost Swan joined the Executive Committee at 2:00 p.m. the FSEC moved to item 6.

6. The Executive Committee and Provost Swan met from 2:00-2:50 p.m. The following matters were considered:

a. Legislation before the RI General Assembly: Provost Swan and the Executive Committee discussed the text of proposed House Bill 2006 H 7092 which calls for the State to provide matching funds for all federal funds received by the University and potential implications of the legislation.

Provost Swan reported that another bill had been introduced at the RI Senate [2006 S 2566], which recommends that the State provide matching funds for federal grants under the Sea Grant Acts as well as the Land Grant Acts.

b. Administrator Evaluation: The Executive Committee's discussed their proposal that the Senate consider revising the Administrator Evaluation process to coordinate with the Provost's reviews of academic administrators Provost Swan suggested that the faculty administrator evaluations might be conducted before she starts her reviews in order to inform her of possible faculty issues before she begins.

The Executive Committee discussed the possibility of establishing an ad hoc committee (including members appointed by the Provost) to recommend changes to process and the UNIVERSITY MANUAL. Provost Swan said that the next step would be to coordinate evaluations that have already been scheduled.

The Executive Committee and Provost Swan agreed that the possibility of using an on line instrument might prevent the process for individual administrators from being delayed at key stages as is currently the case.

c. Academic Program Review Committee: Provost Swan and the FSEC discussed their most recent draft proposal on changes to the UNIVERSITY MANUAL on Program Review as well as the establishment of a joint Academic Program Review Committee. The role of the Provost's Office in supporting the committee was discussed. Provost Swan said that she would recommend that two representatives, rather than one, from her office, as well as a representative of the President, serve on the committee. It was agreed to pursue the matter of providing administrative support for the committee and the process. Discussion ensued whether a commitment of administrative support should be included in the UNIVERSITY MANUAL.

d. Searches: Provost Swan reported on the status of searches for administrative and faculty positions. She said that the Searches for Vice Provosts and the Dean of University Libraries would continue as planned. She noted that the Search Committee for Vice Provost for Information and Instructional Technology was underway. She said that in addition to Dr. McCollum, two other candidates would be on campus for interviews. Provost Swan said that in the interim between Mr. Wessells departure and the arrival of the new Vice Provost and the new Dean of University Libraries, David Porter will be responsible for the Information area and David Maslyn would serve as Interim Director the Library.

Provost Swan said that the Search Committee to replace Interim Vice Provost Pasquerella had agreed to a job description and was about to advertise the position. She noted that the title has been changed to Vice Provost for Research, Graduate Studies and Outreach and Dean of the Graduate School.

The Provost reminded the Executive Committee that the College of Business Administration Advisory Committee was funding an outside consultant to assist with the search for a new Dean of the College of Business Administration. She noted that the consultant has been on campus interviewing faculty and administrators.

Provost Swan said that despite the potential budget problems, the University is continuing with authorized faculty searches for fall 2007. She noted that offers have been made to candidates to fill two faculty vacancies.

When Provost Swan left the meeting the FSEC resumed its regular order of business at item 3.

3. Following discussion, a revised Agenda for Faculty Senate Meeting #6, February 23, 2006 was approved in final form.

Senator Kowalski noted that he would not be able to attend the Senate Meeting but would ask Dean Beckman or Provost Swan to give the first regular report to the Faculty Senate on the NEASC Accreditation Self-Study.

4. The Executive Committee briefly reviewed matters of continuing concern and agreed that the items would be considered in more depth at their next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila Black Grubman