UNIVERSITY
OF RHODE ISLAND
Kingston, Rhode Island
FACULTY SENATE
MINUTES
Faculty Senate Executive
Committee Meeting #26 – April 7, 2008
1. The meeting was called to
order at 9:03 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2008 in the third floor
conference room in Green Hall, Chairperson Miller presiding. All
members were present except Vice Chairperson Martin.
2. Chairperson Miller announced
that he would be out of town on April 14. The Executive Committee
agreed that there was too much business coming forward to cancel the
meeting and decided to meet without him.
3. The Executive Committee
discussed the following matters of continuing interest:
a.
Searches: Chairperson Miller
announced that the Search for the Dean of Engineering had been
postponed indefinitely and that Interim Dean Wright had agreed to
continue in his position. Chairperson Miller said that Dr.
DeHayes had agreed to meet with the College of Engineering Faculty in
the fall to review the situation with regard to the postponement of the
Search. It was noted that the Dean of Pharmacy Search was
expected to continue to be postponed as well.
The Executive Committee
discussed the upcoming Search for a new President in the fall of
2008. In response to a question, Ms. Grubman reported that the
Senate and the AAUP had each appointed two members to the President’s
Search Committee since President Newman’s search had been initiated in
the fall of 1973.
b. Administrator Evaluation: Ms
Grubman reported that Provost Swan had appointed faculty members to the
Administrator Evaluation Committees for Vice Provost McCray and Dean
Richmond. The Provost’s appointee to the McCray AEC was Professor
Gale Eaton and her appointee to the Richmond AEC was Professor George
Veyera. Ms. Grubman said that only Vice Provost McCray’s and Dean
Richmond’s appointments remained to be filled.
c. Activities of Committees: Ms.
Grubman noted that the next meeting of the JSPC is scheduled for
2:00-3:30 p.m. on April 10 in the President’s Conference Room.
The Executive Committee noted that the Agenda was very full since the
committee had not met officially since January. They agreed that Ms.
Morrissey’s and Ms. Orabone’s efforts to get materials out in advance
of the meeting were appreciated. Ms. Grubman said that the
Minutes from the January 17 meeting would be forthcoming shortly.
She noted that she would not attend the meeting.
The Executive Committee agreed
that the report from the Access to Excellence Subcommittee of the JSPC
was more reflective of the faculty’s position than they expected
initially. They thanked Senator Kovarsky for his role in guiding the
report.
Senator Costello and Ms. Grubman
reported on the April 3 meeting of the UCGE Committee. They said
that the committee had approved courses for the general education
program but had not come to a conclusion with regard to their report on
URI 101.
The Executive Committee agreed
that the proposed changes to the UNIVERSITY MANUAL submitted by the
Athletics Advisory Board should be included in the April 21 Agenda
which would also include an informational Report of the Athletics
Advisory Board.
d. Branding follow-up: Concerns were
raised about how the University might improve public awareness of the
value of URI to the state.
4. The Executive Committee met
with Dean Richmond from 9:30-10:15 on concerns related to retention of
students during their sophomore year.
Dean Richmond reported that the
sophomore year was especially difficult for students for a number of
reasons: a) they are limited to the least desirable campus
housing and often no campus housing is available to them; b) there are
fewer choices for general education because the courses are no longer
set aside for them; c) learning communities are no longer available; d)
they are “waiting” for a number of majors; and e) they are in the midst
of being transferred to their degree granting colleges, which vary in
terms of how they welcome students to the college and how they
communicate with students about advisor assignments.
She explained that universities
were now focusing on the sophomore year and taking steps to improve the
sophomore experience by focusing on advising and particularly on major
and career goals, which can be particularly stressful at a vulnerable
time for students. Dean Richmond also shared a number of possible
options for improving the sophomore experience with the Executive
Committee.
The Executive Committee
suggested that Dean Richmond report to the Senate on the sophomore
experience at a future meeting.
5. The Executive Committee
discussed the Agenda for Faculty Senate Meeting #8, April 24,
2008. Ms. Grubman explained that the deadline for reports was the
end of the day on Wednesday (April 9) and noted that she expected to
receive several reports in addition to the usual curricular ones.
Ms. Grubman said that there were
two items of business that were traditionally included on the April
Agenda: a) the calendar for meetings for the upcoming academic year and
b) the Nominating Committee for officers of the next Senate.
Following discussion, the
Executive Committee agreed to the list of dates recommended by Ms.
Grubman and decided that the following outgoing Senators should be
asked to serve as the Nominating Committee: Professors
Agostinucci, Beauvais and Honhart. It was further agreed that
Chairperson Miller would encourage Senators interested in serving on,
or in nominating someone to, the Executive Committee to contact the
Nominating Committee.
6. The Executive Committee
agreed to the following topics for their meeting with Provost DeHayes
on April 14:
a.
Potential sources of increased revenue:
1)
Increasing sophomore retention,
2) Lowering tuition for Graduate
Assistants on research grants,
3) Grant-writing assistance for
the Social Sciences, including the College of Human Science and
Services.
b.
Search for an Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
c. Graduate Education at URI.
The meeting was adjourned at
10:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Black Grubman