UNIVERSITY
OF RHODE ISLAND
Kingston, Rhode Island
FACULTY SENATE
MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive
Committee Meeting #23 – March 10, 2008
1. The meeting was called to
order at 9:05 a.m. on Monday, March 10, 2008 in the third floor
conference room in Green Hall, Chairperson Miller presiding. All
members were present except Vice Chairperson Martin who arrived later
in the meeting.
2. The Minutes of Faculty Senate
Executive Committee Meeting #22, March 3, 2008, were approved as
corrected pending review by Assistant Vice President Wyman of sections
that pertained to him.
3. Announcements/Correspondence
a.
Ms. Grubman reported on the results of the e-mail poll of Senators on
proposed legislation to arm campus police. She said that thirty
Senators had responded, 5 in favor and 25 opposed.
The Executive Committee asked
Ms. Grubman to forward the results to President Carothers and to
members of the Senate.
b. Ms. Grubman reported that the
following meetings of the Board of Governors had been scheduled but she
had not been able to obtain the Agenda to-date. She said that she
would share them with the FSEC when they became available:
1)
Academic and Student Affairs Subcommittee on March 14 at 8:30 a.m.
2) Board of Governors Meeting on
March 24 at 5:00 p.m. in URI Foundation Building.
4. The Executive Committee met
with Dr. DeHayes from 9:30 to 10:40. Dr. DeHayes said that the
budget should be the main topic for discussion because it was central
to any of the issues that the Executive Committee had identified for
their conversation.
Dr. DeHayes expressed concern
about the predicted shortfall in the budget as URI enters into
FY’09. He said that he continued to become as familiar as
possible with the University’s budget as he prepares to assume the
Office of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in April.
Dr. DeHayes said that the
University would be facing a few lean years and
that everyone must focus on how
to ensure that URI comes out of this period in a stronger
position. He said that URI was not at a point that it could stay
the same and expressed concern that, as URI tries to reduce expenses
and increase revenue, the goal should be to create a bright future for
the institution.
Dr. DeHayes said that the
Strategic Plan did not have as much emphasis on an Academic Plan as it
should and reported that he has already asked the Deans to work with
him to develop a strategic plan that includes a sustainable budget that
allows for investment.
Dr. DeHayes and the Executive
Committee discussed the need to increase student retention. He
noted that many of the students who come to the university might not
have clear expectations of what URI is. He also talked about the
necessity for finding a mechanism to fund some out-of-state tuition
fellowships for graduate research assistants as a means of attracting
outstanding students and adding more flexibility for faculty pursuing
grants.
Dr. DeHayes asked the Executive
Committee for suggestions as to how he could meet and talk with more
faculty members as he becomes more familiar with the campus. The
Executive Committee suggested that he bypass large college meetings and
go directly to academic department chairs.
Dr. DeHayes thanked the FSEC for
their support and thanked the Executive Committee for their willingness
to work with him.
Chairperson Miller suggested
that Dr. DeHayes might want to speak briefly to the Senate at the April
24 meeting.
When Dr. DeHayes left the
meeting, the FSEC resumed their regular order of business.
5. The Executive Committee
discussed the following matters of continuing interest:
a.
Administrator Evaluation:
Ms. Grubman reported that she hadn’t received notification from Dean
McKinney’s AEC that they had completed their charge, but expected it
shortly. She said that invitations to participate in the
evaluations of Vice Provost McCray and Dean Richmond had been mailed to
the members of their respective constituency groups.
b. Branding Initiative:
Chairperson Miller reported that Professor Dholakia and Ms. Acciardo
had volunteered to survey faculty and staff about the branding
proposals. He said that they expected to be completed before the
March 27 Faculty Senate meeting.
c. URI 101: Senator Costello and
Ms. Grubman reported on the UCGE Committee’s discussion of the
subcommittee report. They said that the committee planned to
discuss the report further at their April meeting and hoped to be able
to report to the Senate on April 24.
d. Activities of Committees: Ms.
Grubman reported that the Teaching Effectiveness Committee had been
working with student focus groups on issues related to academic
advising. She said that she expected the committee to report to the
Senate in March.
e. Matching Funds Legislation:
Chairperson Miller said that he planned to meet with Dean Seemann and
Dr. Costa-Pierce to discuss the possibility of proposing coordinated
matching funds legislation this spring.
6. The Executive Committee
discussed plans for reviewing and approving the Agenda for Faculty
Senate Meeting #7, March 27, 2008. Ms. Grubman reported that the
deadline for submitting reports was March 12 and noted that the FSEC
didn’t plan to meet on March 17 during spring break. She then outlined
what she expected to be included in the March 27 Agenda.
Following discussion, the
Executive Committee agreed to review the Agenda and reports by e-mail.
7. It was noted that the FSEC
was scheduled to meet with Provost Swan on March 24, but the committee
agreed that since they had met with the Provost in Late February that
the meeting should only be scheduled if Provost Swan requested it.
8. Chairperson Miller reported
that Professor Kowalski, who was a member of the committee reworking
the SETs, had asked to meet with the Executive Committee. It was
agreed that Ms. Grubman would schedule him for a future meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at
11:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Black Grubman