MINUTES

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting 24 – January 14, 2011

1. The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 14, 2011 in the President's Conference Room in Green Hall, Chairperson Eaton presiding. All members were present except Senator Larsen.

2. The Minutes from Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meetings #16, #17, and #21 were approved. Minutes from Meetings #14, and #23 were approved pending review by the President of sections that referred to his meeting with the FSEC.

3.   Announcements/Correspondence:

a.   Ms. Grubman said that she had contacted Ms. Pinch about scheduling a meeting with AAUP Executive Committee on matters of shared interest. She said that the best time appeared to be on non-Senate Thursdays at 3:30 p.m.

b.   Ms. Grubman distributed a tentative schedule of FSEC meetings for the spring semester.

c.   The Executive Committee discussed a request from Vice Provost Beauvais for two members of the FSEC to work on a charge and membership for an Online Advisory Committee. Senator Ciccomascolo agreed to work with the Provost’s Office. It was agreed that Senator Larsen was the appropriate choice for the second member of the committee. Ms. Grubman suggested that the new committee should be a joint (Provost-Faculty Senate) committee analogous to the Learning Outcomes Oversight Committee.

d. Members of the FSEC discussed the Provost’s Academic Summit, which was scheduled for January 18. Most of the members of the committee said that they planned to attend. Senators Barbour and Ciccomascolo explained they each had college-based commitments at that time.

e. Ms. Grubman distributed copies of President Dooley’s Management Letter for 2009-10, which had been forwarded by the President’s Office in response to the FSEC’s request.

The Executive Committee agreed to review the letter and discuss it at a subsequent meeting.

4. The Executive Committee discussed the December 16, 2010 Faculty Senate Meeting. They noted that Senator Larsen’s “straw votes” had been somewhat helpful in narrowing the issues. The FSEC agreed they would try to have a proposal on the timing of the election of the Chair and Vice Chair for the February meeting.

5. Ms Grubman gave a brief outline on the matters she expected to be on the January 27, 2011 Agenda. She said that in addition to Vice President Weygand’s Budget report, she expected reports from the CAC, Graduate Council, UCGE Committee and possibly, the Academic Standards and Calendar Committee.

The Executive Committee asked Ms. Grubman to request that Vice President Weygand provide an update and timeline for the Chafee Parking Lot.

6. The Executive Committee reviewed the dates of their next meetings with the President and Provost:

a. Provost DeHayes was scheduled for Friday, January 28 at 11:30 a.m.

b. President Dooley was scheduled for Friday, February 11 at 11:00 a.m.

They considered possible issues for discussion with the Provost and President and agreed to ask Provost DeHayes about his goals for the Academic Summit and his plans for following up.

7. Members of the Executive Committee brought each other up to date on committees:

a. Library Committee: The Executive considered possible faculty members to replace Professor Pegueros as chair of the Library Committee because she had been on sick leave during the fall semester and had indicated that she wouldn’t be able to resume the chair before the middle of the fall 2011 semester.

b. Joint Committee on Academic Planning (JCAP): Chairperson Eaton reported that she had chaired the last meeting of JCAP. She explained that the subcommittees had been responsible for the majority of the committee’s work. She said that JCAP had reviewed four of the Task Force Reports and agreed to the next steps for the Task Forces’ recommendations. She said that they would be available on the web early in the spring.

Chairperson Eaton said that Vice Chairperson Larsen would assume JCAP’s Vice Chair role in the spring but that she expected to continue her work on her subcommittee. Since the work of the subcommittee had become very time-consuming for Chairperson Eaton, the Executive Committee suggested that she ask Provost DeHayes to provide the subcommittee with additional staff support.

c. Strategic Budget and Planning Council (SBPC): Chairperson Eaton said that she had attended the last meeting, replacing former Chairperson Swallow’s Faculty Senate Chair position. She said that Mr. Kerkian, who had recently announced that he would be leaving ad Executive Director, had reported to the Council about the URI Foundation’s contributions to the University. The Executive Committee questioned who might replace Mr. Kerkian.

d. Council for Research:  The FSEC agreed that they would allow time for the Council to bring a clear Intellectual Property policy to the Senate Executive Committee to review.  They said they would encourage the Council to continue to look at IP Policy at other research universities.  Those that have been investigated so far use language such as "net revenue".  Without knowing how those institutions define "net revenue" a true comparison cannot be made.

e. Constitution, By-Laws and University Manual Committee (CBUM): It was agreed to ask the committee to recommend UNIVERSITY MANUAL language to clarify the new program process, the review of non-research centers, and incorporation of the policies on assessment recommended by LOOC and approved by the Senate in spring of 2010

f. Teaching Effectiveness Committee: Senator Ciccomascolo reported that the committee had developed ten questions about the IDEA and would like the FSEC to review them and provide advice and suggestions.

8. The Executive Committee considered the possibility of developing a draft statement proposing the idea of putting more weight on faculty service and outreach in promotion and tenure decisions. They agreed that in light of the emphasis being placed on updating teaching and working with freshmen, decisions should reflect support of these activities. The FSEC decided that this could be a major topic of discussion when they meet jointly with the AAUP Executive Committee.

Members of the Executive Committee thanked Chairperson Eaton for her job chairing her first official meeting,

The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila Black Grubman