Skip to main content
Scenes from Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting

Minute

Meeting #31

April 27, 2005

1. The meeting was called to order at 1:35 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 in the third floor conference room in Green Hall, Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels presiding. All members were present.

2. The Executive Committee met with Provost Swan from 1:35 to 2:30 p.m. The following matters were considered:

a. The Executive Committee's recommendations for budget priorities: Provost Swan responded to questions about the budget priorities that the Executive Committee had identified, all of which were related to Academic Affairs. She explained that, while it was unlikely that the University would receive additional funds for these items, discussions were underway, especially within Information Services, on finding some solutions to the problem areas that had been identified by the Executive Committee.

b. Vacancy in the position of Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Research, and Outreach: Provost Swan said that she and the President were in the process of reviewing the position, with regard to its administrative level and charge, but it was unlikely that the combined charge of graduate studies, research and outreach would be separated into two or more separate charges. She said that the Graduate School would remain under the same administrator and she expected that the Graduate School would continue to focus on advocacy.

The Provost explained that no public announcement of the vacancy would be made until the responsibilities and level of the position are clarified. She said that the Search Committee for this position would be comprised predominantly of faculty members and that she had asked the AAUP to provide her with faculty names for the Search Committee. She agreed that she would consider the names of faculty members suggested by the Executive Committee as well.

c. A University-wide Land Grant, Sea Grant and Urban Grant initiative: Related to the previous topic, the Executive Committee suggested that the University consider returning to a model that would unite the three areas into a university-wide endeavor. They suggested that the Graduate Studies-Research-Outreach position might be the appropriate administrator to bring land, sea, and urban grants together.

The Executive Committee and the Provost discussed the possibility of jointly establishing a committee to consider the options. Provost Swan requested that the Executive Committee draft a proposal for a committee that would consider bringing these research-outreach areas together at a university-wide level rather than at the college or department level.

d. Appointment of Mission Statement Revision subcommittee: The Executive Committee asked Provost Swan about the charge and composition of the subcommittee she had mentioned at the JSPC meeting earlier in the week. She said that the subcommittee would begin to review the Mission Statement in light of the Board of Governors' mandate and the NEASC accreditation requirements. She said that the subcommittee would do the initial work and their proposal would then be considered by the JSPC. Provost Swan said that she expected the subcommittee to begin its efforts within the next week or two. Suggestions were made for possible members of the committee.

e. College Faculty Governance: The Executive Committee expressed their concern that several new deans appeared to be unfamiliar with the role of faculty in college governance and did not appear to understand URI's traditions in that regard. They said that they had asked the CBUM Committee to review sections of Chapter 4 of the UNIVERSITY MANUAL in an effort to clarify the faculty's role and responsibilities in college decision-making. The Executive Committee asked Provost Swan to write to all of the Deans at the beginning of each academic year reminding them of the University's regulations with regard to faculty prerogatives.

f. Update on efforts to improve the processing of lab fees: Provost Swan reported that she had asked Assistant Provost Katz to find a better way of distributing the lab fee funds to departments. She said that she hoped this would result in a more expeditious way to reimburse departments for the expenses that they incur in maintaining their laboratories.

3. The Minutes of Executive Committee Meeting #28, April 6, 2005, were approved. Action on the Minutes of Meeting #30 was postponed pending revisions.

4. Announcements/Correspondence:

a. Ms. Grubman distributed a revised schedule for the Executive Committee's upcoming interviews with candidates for the positions of Dean of Admissions and Vice Provost for Academic Programs.

It was noted that the May 4 meeting of the Executive Committee would be abbreviated because members of the AAUP Executive Committee would join them at 2:00 p.m. for the interview of Dr. Bradley Bond, a candidate for Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. Following the Bond interview, they would move to the University Library at 3:00 p.m. for another joint interview, this time with Ms. Cynthia Bonn, a candidate for Dean of Admissions.

b. Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels reported that she had been asked by Dr. Annunziato, Executive Director of the URI AAUP, whether the Senate Executive Committee believed that the Senate should have had a direct role in the decision to suspend admissions to the Masters in Community Planning Program as outlined in the April 13 memorandum from Provost Swan to Vice Provost Trubatch.

The Executive Committee discussed the role of the Faculty Senate and agreed that the suspension of admissions was not within the Senate's purview, but any recommendation to abolish or move the department was under the Faculty Senate's jurisdiction. They agreed that there was little the Senate could do at that time without receiving a formal request or a proposal from the affected department.

c. Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels noted that the Council of Deans Agenda for that morning had been distributed by e-mail and that a copy was available for review.

5. The Executive Committee reviewed the Agenda for the recess Faculty Senate meeting on April 28, 2005 and discussed possible motions and amendments and how they might be facilitated in accordance with Sturgis' Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure.

The Executive Committee also considered the possibility that a quorum might not be present on April 28. They agreed that if there were no quorum, the resolutions would be added to the May 12 Agenda as unfinished business.

6. Ms. Grubman distributed a preliminary draft Agenda for the May 12 Faculty Senate Meeting. She noted that, in addition to the curricular and informational reports, a substantial report from the Student Rights and Responsibilities Committee would be included in the Agenda. She encouraged everyone to review the report carefully, noting that there had been student opposition as reported in the Cigar to portions of the report. She said that she had already been asked by a few students for permission to speak at the meeting.

7. The Executive Committee briefly discussed the April 25 meeting of the JSPC and the oral presentation on the FY'06 budget. The Executive Committee agreed that they were at a disadvantage when they were not given a hard copy or visuals to see the figures as the report was presented.

Chairperson Boudreaux-Bartels said that she had discussed the same concern with Ms. Morrissey and Ms. Grubman reported that after the meeting she had requested some written materials from Ms. Barrett and hoped they would be forthcoming shortly.

8. Senator Kowalski raised a matter of unfinished business. He asked about the status of issues related to PeopleSoft implementation, especially whether some of the difficulties related to prerequisites had been resolved.

Ms. Grubman reported that the CAC had discussed a number of issues related to PeopleSoft implementation and had met with Mr. Humphrey, Senior Associate Director of Enrollment Services about possible options. She said that a number of policy statements had been issued by the CAC in reports this spring and that some of the specific prerequisite concerns had been addressed and would be included in the Four Hundred and Thirty-Third Report of the CAC.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila Black Grubman