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Scenes from Faculty Senate

Minutes for Faculty Senate Meetings

December 18, 2008

Number 4

1. Immediately following a meeting of the General Faculty-Graduate Faculty, the regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:08 p.m. in the Cherry Auditorium, Chester Kirk Building, Chairperson Martin presiding.

All members were present except Senators S. Adams, Baudet, Baxter, Betensky, Boudreaux-Bartels, Danis, Dholakia, Fastovsky, Gordon, Hazera, Irvine, King, Kook, Kovarsky, Y. Lee, Rothstein, Sodhi, Swallow, Thiem, Watts, Wilson and Wishner; Vice Presidents Beagle and Weygand; Vice Provosts Bozylinsky and McCray; Deans Bonn, Farmer, Maslyn and Wright; Mr. Ahrens and Mr. Freeman.

2. Chairperson Martin asked if there were any additions or corrections to or questions about the Minutes of Faculty Senate Meeting #3, November 20, 2008.

Senator Nassersharif said that he was present and should not have been listed as absent.

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

3. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

A. Announcements

  1. Chairperson Martin said that she had a few announcements that afternoon. First, she wished everyone a successful completion of the fall semester, a very happy holiday season, and a relaxing and productive intersession. After today, our next Faculty Senate Meeting will be on January 29, 2009.

  2. Chairperson Martin said that she wanted to alert the Senate to two special programs coming up in January.

    • a) On January 20, 2009, Advising day, the Provost's Office, the Division of Student Affairs and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee are planning a special program for Inauguration Day with televisions set up in strategic places on campus, such as the Memorial Union, the Galanti Lounge and the Great Room in Roosevelt Hall, so everyone who wishes can watch the inauguration of President Barak Obama. More information will be available as we come closer to the event.

    • b) Provost DeHayes is planning an academic summit as a first step after he presents the revised academic vision for URI. The academic summit is scheduled for Friday, January 30. All faculty members are invited. Sessions will be held all day in the Memorial Union. You can sign up for the morning session from 9-1 (including lunch), the afternoon session from 12-4 (including lunch), or the entire day. More information will be forthcoming. We decided to make the initial announcement early so faculty members could, if they wish, make alternative plans for classes scheduled for that day.


    Chairperson Martin then presented a series of transparencies on the goals for the academic summit and sample questions to be addressed.

  3. Chairperson Marin announced that on Thursday, February 12, 2009, the Commissioner and the search firm for the URI Presidential Search have scheduled an open meeting with faculty to discuss the search. The meeting will be held here in Cherry Auditorium from 3:00 to 5:00 p. m. You will hear more about this event closer to the date.

  4. Chairperson Martin thanked the Division of Student Affairs for graciously agreeing to sponsor the reception that afternoon. She invited everyone to the University Club after the Faculty Senate meeting.

  5. Chairperson Martin introduced Dean Brownell, who announced that there were two holiday gift items for purchase that would provide contributions would go to student scholarships. The first was a 2009 calendar on Rhode Island's Cultural History, which could be purchased for $10. each or two for $15. She said that if anyone was interested they could contact Dean Bullock after the meeting.The second item was a two CD set of music and commentary from the Honors Colloquium, "Songs of Social Justice." She said that the entire $25.purchase price would go to the Stephen Myles scholarship fund. She explained that Senator Dicioccio, had copies of the CD's for anyone interested in purchasing them.

B. Vice Chairperson Costello said that the Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #10, #11 and #12 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 and Vice Chairperson Costello responded to questions from Senators.

C. Vice Chairperson Costello moved approval of the following recommendation of the Executive Committee:

That the Faculty Senate Meeting originally scheduled for March 19, 2009 be rescheduled for March 26, 2009.

The motion carried.

4. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

A. President Carothers began by wishing everyone a happy holiday season, as well as a relaxing and productive intersession. He said that he had approved all of the legislation that had been forwarded to him after the last Faculty Senate meeting. He noted that Faculty Senate Bill #08-09--5 Curricular Report No. 2007-08-7A from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate: Proposal for a Doctor of Nursing Practice would require approval by the Board of Governors.

B. President Carothers announced that the January 2009 issue of SmartMoney magazine ranked the University of Rhode Island 15th in a nationwide study of public and private college graduates. The magazine assessed schools on their ability to deliver the best return on investment.

President Carothers said that he was pleased to report that the University did not expect a large decrease in students for the spring 2009 semester and noted that due to the efforts of the Office of Admissions and the College Deans, URI expected more than twice as many incoming transfer students in January. He also remarked that applications to URI were about 10% higher than they had been last year at that time.

With regard to the budget however, he said that the State of Rhode Island did not appear to have an official plan to balance the expected revenue shortfall at mid-year. The President said that the University would be able to balance its FY 09 budget if there were no additional cuts but that was unlikely to happen.

5. REPORTS OF STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES

A. Professor Mundorf presented the Four Hundred Sixty-Fifth Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee, which appeared on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/465_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. 2008-2009-4 from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate, which appeared on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/GC_CURRICULAR_REPORT_08-09-4.pdf. He explained that the first section of the report was informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none.

6. SPECIAL FORUM

Provost DeHayes presented a series of slides he had prepared on "The Current State of URI: Sharing Information and Seeking Solutions." He responded to questions about the data he provided throughout his report and to additional questions after he completed the presentation. Provost DeHayes' PowerPoint presentation is available on the web at http://www.uri.edu/provost/files/provost_pp_nov2008.html

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Vice Chairperson Costello moved that the Faculty Senate resume informal consideration various models of alternative funding for the University. The motion failed for lack of a second.

Chairperson Martin asked if anyone would be interested in forming an ad hoc committee to review alternative funding models and providing a report to the Senate. She said that if anyone was interested, they could contact herself or Ms. Grubman.

Chairperson Martin asked if there was any further unfinished business. There was none.

A motion was made to adjourn. The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:36 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Black Grubman