THE

UNIVERSITY

OF RHODE ISLAND

FACULTY SENATE

NUMBER 3

MINUTES

Faculty Senate Meeting - November 20, 2008

1. The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:15 p.m. in the Cherry Auditorium, Chester Kirk Building, Chairperson Martin presiding.

All members were present except Senators S. Adams, Baudet, Blanthorne, Boudreaux-Bartels, Dholakia, Forrester, Gordon, Hedderich, Kook, Kovarsky, R. Lee, Y. Lee, Loy, Nassersharif, Ruemmele, Sodhi, Watts and Wilson;  Vice President Beagle, 

(Vice Provost McCray was represented by his designee); Deans Farmer, Jordan, Joseph, Maslyn and Richmond; (Mr. Ahrens was represented by his designee), Mr. Freeman.

2. Chairperson Martin asked if there were any additions or corrections to or questions about the Minutes of Faculty Senate Meeting #2, October 23, 2008. There were none.

Chairperson Martin ruled that in the absence of additions or corrections, the Minutes were approved as distributed.

3. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

A. Chairperson thanked Dean McKinney of the College of Human Science and Services and Dean Joseph from the College of Nursing for agreeing to sponsor the reception that afternoon. She invited everyone to the University Club after the Faculty Senate meeting.

B. Vice Chairperson Costello said that the Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #7, #8 and #9 had been distributed by e-mail and noted that they were accessible on the web. She asked if there were any questions.

Discussion ensued during which Chairperson Martin, Vice Chairperson Costello and Provost DeHayes responded to questions from Senators.

C. Chairperson Martin gave a brief update on the Presidential Search. She reported that the Search met for the first time on Monday, November 3 in Kingston. Subsequent to that meeting, the firm of Isaacson, Miller of Boston, which had conducted searches for UVM, UCONN, UMASS Amherst, and UNH, was hired. She said that the Search Committee expected to meet with representatives of the search firm on January 27. Chairperson Martin noted that the position description for the URI President was available on the web and that the official description had been revised based on faculty comments that were forwarded to Commissioner Warner.

4. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

A. President Carothers began by congratulating Professor Michael Rice on his election to the General Assembly. He said that his actions with regard to legislation from the previous meeting were listed on the cover of the Agenda.

B. President Carothers presented a series of slides on alternative funding models and responded to questions from the Senate. The presentation is available on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/FS_presentation_Alt_Funding.pdf.

C. Vice President Weygand presented the State of the Budget address for the 2008-09 academic year using a series of slides prepared by the Budget Office and Academic Affairs. These slides are available on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/FY09_Faculty_Senate_Present.pdf

Vice President Weygand responded to questions during and immediately following the presentation.

5. REPORTS OF STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES

A. Professor Mundorf presented the Four Hundred Sixty-Fourth Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee, which appeared on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/464_CAC.pdf. He noted that Section I was informational and asked if there were any questions.

There were none

Professor Mundorf said that Section II required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval. The motion carried.

Professor Mundorf announced that Section III was a joint report of the CAC and Graduate Council on 400-level courses.  He said that part A was informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

Professor Mundorf moved approval of part B of Section III. The motion carried.

B. Dean Bibb presented the Curricular Report No. 2008-2009-3 from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate, which appeared on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/GC_CURRICULAR_REPORT_08-09-3.pdf. He explained that the first section of the report was informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

Dean Bibb said that the second section required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval. The motion carried.

C. Dean Bibb presented the Curricular Report No. 2007-2008-7A from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate, which appeared on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/GC_CURRICULAR_REPORT_07-08-7A.pdf He explained that the report was a proposal for a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree.

He then moved approval of the proposal for a DNP under the conditions of a program that requested no additional resources. The motion carried.

D. Senator Hicks presented the University College and General Education Committee Report #2008-09-2, which appeared on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/UCGE_08-09-2.pdf. She explained that the recommendation to add MAF 220 to the Social Sciences (S) area of the General Education program required confirmation of the Faculty Senate. Senator Hicks then moved approval of the report. The motion carried.

6. SPECIAL FORUM

Professor Michael Rice presented an informational report to the Faculty Senate on the background on and intent of 2007-H5230 (http://www.uri.edu/facsen/h5230.pdf) and responded to questions from members of the Senate.

Following discussion, Vice Chairperson Costello moved approval of the following resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED: That the Faculty Senate of the University of Rhode Island expresses its continued support for 2007-H5230 and its reintroduction during the 2009 legislative session.

The motion carried.

Chairperson Martin announced that there was not enough time remaining in the meeting to consider unfinished business and asked for a motion to adjourn

A motion was made to adjourn. The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila Black Grubman