MINUTES

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Meeting 35 – April 1, 2011

1. The meeting was called to order at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 1, 2011 in the President’s Conference Room in Green Hall, Chairperson Eaton presiding. All members were present except Vice Chairperson Larsen.

2. The Minutes from FSEC Meeting #34, March 25, 2011 were approved as modified.

3. Announcements/Correspondence

a. The Executive Committee discussed changes to the Graduate Student Manual approved by the Graduate Council during the current academic year and agreed some issues about program requirements as they relate to 400-level courses needed further clarification. It was also suggested that when the Graduate Council approves a general policy change, all directors of graduate programs should be notified as soon as possible. Questions were raised as to which changes to the Graduate Student Manual approved by the Graduate Council require Faculty Senate approval and which do not.

Ms. Grubman said that she would look at legislation proposed by the Graduate Council within the last year to find out if anything related to graduate programs in general had been included.

b. Chairperson Eaton reminded the FSEC that the Provost’s Office had requested that the Online and Distance Learning Advisory Committee continue as an ad hoc committee pending the posting and hiring of the director to oversee the SLOAA and Online and Distance Learning Offices. The Executive Committee agreed to recommend five faculty members to serve on the committee as agreed to in the proposed permanent committee legislation. They discussed names of possible faculty members whom they might recommend for the ad hoc committee.

c. The Executive Committee discussed how they wanted to proceed with the naming of faculty members to the UCGE Committee considering that Senator Hicks, Vice Chairperson Larsen, and Professor English were not eligible for election to the committee in the fall because they all had served for 6 consecutive years. Ms. Grubman explained that she had notified the Deans of their respective colleges that faculty members must be elected as replacements for the 2011-12 academic year.

It was agreed that if they were willing to continue, the three faculty members would be asked to serve on the UCGE Committee on an ex officio basis for the period during which the proposal for a revised General Education was being developed. The Executive Committee suggested that Senator Hicks remain as chair for those issues related to the proposed new program and that another faculty member on the UCGE Committee be asked to serve as Co-Chair in accordance with the provisions of the Faculty Senate By-Laws.

4. The Executive Committee discussed Faculty Senate Meeting #6, which was held the previous afternoon. There was general agreement that asking committee chairs to provide one-page summaries of their reports and to speak about them briefly had been a good decision and had led to more discussion and questions related to the matters under consideration.

The Executive Committee agreed that Senator Hicks’ presentation on the proposed goals and timetable for General Education was a good first step in informing the Senate about the UCGE Committee’s work.

5. The Executive Committee discussed the need for stated criteria for the Faculty Senate Outstanding Service Award. The FSEC decided they should determine the parameters for selection of a recipient before deciding to go ahead with the award this year. Senator Ciccomascolo said that she would work on a draft for the next meeting.

6. President Dooley met with the Executive Committee from 11:30 a.m. to 12: 40 p.m. The following matters were considered:

a. Intellectual Property Policy:  The Executive Committee expressed their reservations about the Council for Research’s proposed IP Policy, including whether it was consistent with what the Faculty Senate had agreed to in the summer as an Interim Policy.

President Dooley explained that the main reasons for the changes were the transfer of IP management to the Research Foundation from the URI Foundation, the reduction in state support, and increases in costs as technology transfer activity increased.

The Executive Committee said that they understood the issue but that it wasn’t clear from the language and the flowchart how the funds would be distributed and how faculty members would benefit from the funds allocated to the Research Foundation. 

President Dooley agreed to discuss these issues with Vice President Alfonso and members of the Council for Research ensure that the details of the proposal were clear to everyone involved, including how the net revenues were to be calculated, how the changes would affect faculty inventors, and the reasons for which the changes are proposed.

b.    GLBTIQQ Update:  President Dooley reported on efforts to follow-up on the concerns of the GLBTIQQ students.  He noted that the administration was doing everything they said they would do.  He said that Interim Associate Vice President Kathryn Friedman had spent a great deal of time working to build a greater base of support for the students, including training for RA’s and working with more faculty.  He said that she and Vice President Bob Beagle had been able to get a GLBTIQQ alumni affinity group organized.  He also noted that one of the winners of this year’s Diversity Award was an alumnus who identified himself as part of the Gay and Lesbian community.

President Dooley said that the University continued to follow through with efforts to provide a center for GLBTIQQ students by getting estimates for updating the Ruggles’ House to meet basic codes, adding to the existing building, or replacing it entirely.  He explained that the costs for each of the options were close enough that there was no obvious choice.  He said that more work had to be done before any decision is made.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted.

Sheila Black Grubman