MINUTES

 

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting 28 – February 11, 2011

 

1.     The meeting was called to order at 11:05 a.m. on Friday, February 11, 2011 in the PresidentÕs Conference Room in Green Hall, Vice Chairperson Larsen presiding.  All members were present except Chairperson Eaton and Senator Ciccomascolo

 

2.   The Minutes from Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting #26 were approved as revised pending review by Provost De Hayes.

 

3.   Vice Chairperson Larsen reported on the lunch meeting he and Chairperson Eaton had with AAUP President Roworth and AAUP Vice President Kirschenbaum. He said that they had discussed the FSECÕs deliberations on encouraging faculty participation in service while at the same time ensuring support of such through departments, colleges, and from the Provost.  They made a distinction between service and participation in new initiatives, such as Grand Challenge courses and distance learning.

It was noted that the language in the contract about service was not very strong.  Both The FS Officers and the AAUP Officers talked about what discourages faculty from service.

They agreed to discuss these ideas further when the AAUP and Faculty Senate Executive Committees meet on March 10.

       

        4.   The Executive Committee discussed plans for the Agenda for the February 24 Faculty Senate Meeting.  In addition to items of business already postponed from the January 27 Meeting, would be two CAC Reports, one was the proposal for a B.A. in Chinese. Ms Grubman said she also expected a Graduate Council Report and the reports from the Academic Standards and Calendar Committee on the drop period and possible modifications to the spring semester calendar.  It was agreed to postpone the CBUM report until March pending resolution of outstanding issues regarding JCAP and to discuss the proposed new centers language with President Dooley before deciding whether a recommendation should be included on the Agenda for the February Senate meeting.

 

5.   The FSEC considered the new items of business raised by Provost DeHayes when he met with them on January 28.  With regard for a single administrator responsible for both SLOAA and the Office of Online Instruction and Technology it was reported that during a meeting with Chairperson Eaton and Vice Chairperson Larsen, the Provost clarified a piece of information of which the Executive Committee was not aware.  Combining the director positions into one would allow for fully funding coordinator positions in each area.  The coordinators would be able to do the Òhands-onÓ work of each function.  In further communication, Vice Provost Beauvais provided the information that "comments from other faculty include providing greater legitimacy to online learning if it is linked more closely with assessment; providing a greater opportunity to reorganize all the functions that support teaching and learning; and reflecting consistency with what was
recommended in the Online Task Force report.  In fact, these faculty members were most supportive of a model that integrated faculty development, assessment, and online learning under one central ÒdirectorÓ with full-time coordinators in each area.

 

      The FSEC agreed that this model is a good one and they hope that the administration will have the funding to provide strong support to the two coordinators so that they will have the resources they need to play strong roles in their respected units.

 

      The Executive Committee discussed the ProvostÕs request that the Faculty Senate play a role in helping to improve the quality of syllabi throughout the University.  It was agreed to discuss this issue further at their next meeting.                                                                                

 

6.   Following discussion, the Executive Committee agreed to forward the following topics to President Dooley for discussion with him on February 18:

 

a.   Do the Executive CommitteeÕs proposed changes to Manual provisions on centers satisfy the concerns raised by President Dooley last spring?

b.   What is the status of the Confucius Institute?

c.   How do does President Dooley see the University implementing his vision as part of the University of Rhode IslandÕs vision statement and how do we coordinate the vision and the mission for URI?

 

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

 

a.   Library Committee:  The Executive Committee agreed that since Senator Gale Eaton had agreed to chair the committee and Professor Izenstark agreed to participate in the work of the Library Committee, that the committee could get back to where they were headed prior to Professor PeguerosÕ health problems. 

 

b.   Joint Committee on Academic Planning (JCAP):  Vice Chairperson Larsen reported that at the February 10 meeting, Provost DeHayes indicated that he was very pleased with the NEASC SubcommitteeÕs report.  In addition, JCAP discussed the recommendations on globalization resulting from the work of the Task Force and Dr. PetersonÕs visit.

 

d.   University College and General Education Committee (UCGE):  Vice Chairperson Larsen said that the committee planned to meet on February 17 to make up for the cancellation because of snow on February 3.  He said that members of t he UCGE Committee had been discussing the goals for the general education program at URI on Sakai since the end of January and he was hopeful he would have something substantial to report to the FSEC at their February 18 meeting.

 

e.   Constitution, By-Laws and University Manual Committee (CBUM): Ms. Grubman reported that the committee was scheduled to meet on February 25.  Among the items on the CBUM Agenda are recommendations to add approved continuing centers to the UNIVERSITY MANUAL and to incorporate the policies on assessment recommended by LOOC and approved by the Senate in spring of 2010. 

 

      She said that the issue of centers would not be on the Agenda because after consultation with Professor Wenisch, she had drafted language based on former chairperson SwallowÕs suggestions, which she had forwarded to the FSEC last week and was one of the items for discussion with President Dooley.

 

8.  New Business:

 

      a.   Following discussion, the FSEC agreed to pursue the request from students for an entirely web-based catalog, which had been forwarded by Senator Ciccomascolo

 

b.   The Executive Committee reviewed a draft charge to the Online Committee and made suggestions for possible revisions.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 12:42 p.m.

 

                                          Respectfully submitted,

 

                                          Sheila Black Grubman