NUMBER 9

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
Kingston, Rhode Island
Faculty Senate

MINUTES

Faculty Senate Meeting – May 11, 2006

A.  Announcements:

1)  Chairperson Rice announced that the meeting was the organizational meeting of the 2006-07 Senate. He welcomed all of the Senators who were taking their seats at the meeting.  Before introducing the new Senators, Chairperson Rice noted that some Senators were elected after they made plans for this afternoon, including final examinations which explained the larger than usual absence rate.
            

ARTS AND SCIENCES	HUMAN SCIENCE
Carolyn Betensky	AND SERVICES
Stephen Grubman-Black	Stewart Cohen
Louis Kirschenbaum	Dana Kovarsky
Andrew Kook
Ronald Lee	PHARMACY
John Leo	John Babson
Bill Rosen
Barbara Meagher Smith	THE ENVIRONMENT AND
	LIFE SCIENCES
BUSINESS	David Fastovsky
ADMINISTRATION	Graham Forrester
Alejandro Hazera	Leonard Gerber
	Frank Heppner
ENGINEERING
Godi Fischer	UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
Manbir Sodhi	Andree Rathemacher
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
OCEANOGRAPHY
Lewis Rothstein

2)  Chairperson Rice requested a moment of personal privilege to express his deepest thanks and admiration of the hard work and dedication of the members 2005-06 Faculty Senate Executive Committee. He said that it was one of those rare occasions in life in which the experience has built some life-long friendships. He thanked outgoing Vice Chairperson Martin for her ably handling a number of the chair’s duties in his absence and for her excellent work on drafting and editing many of the items of business coming out of the FSEC this past academic year.  He also thanked outgoing Senator Karen Ramsay for her work to survey and collate faculty and staff responses that were used to formulate the 2005-06 FSEC annual agenda.  He said that he wanted to salute her tenacious work in advocating faculty issues.

Chairperson Rice also expressed his appreciation to the Faculty Senate Staff, Sheila Black Grubman, the Senate Coordinator and her colleague, Diane DeFosse. He then presented Ms. Grubman with a gift certificate on behalf of the members of the Executive Committee. Ms. DeFosse received a gift certificate as well.

3)  Chairperson Rice reminded the Senate that the Faculty Senate Executive Committee’s survey, which had been designed to reflect faculty concerns, was now available on the web.  He said that the survey takes about 5 minutes and is still available on the web at http://www.uri.edu/artsci/soc/2006_survey.htm.

Chairperson Rice also expressed the Executive Committee’s appreciation to Dr. Barbara Costello, Associate Professor of Sociology, who continues to provide the FSEC with help and guidance throughout the survey process.

4)  Chairperson Rice announced that the Faculty Senate was invited to a reception in honor of Professor Scott Molloy named United States Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  He said that Provost Swan was sponsoring the reception and has invited everyone to celebrate with Scott Molloy at the University Club immediately following the meeting.

B.  Vice Chairperson Martin said that the Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings #28 through #31 appeared on pages 5-14 of the Agenda and asked if there were any questions.

Discussion ensued during which Provost Swan, Chairperson Rice, Vice Chairperson Martin and Senator Kowalski responded to questions about the Executive Committee minutes.

C. Professor Karen Ramsay presented the Report of the Nominating Committee, which appeared on page 15 of the Agenda. She asked for and received the Senate’s permission to place in nomination the entire slate of candidates:

Chairperson:  Michael Rice
Vice Chairperson: Barbara Luebke
Executive Committee:
James Miller (2 year term)
Marilyn Barbour (1 year term)
Jim Kinnie (1 year term)

Professor Ramsay asked if there were any nominations from the floor.    There were none.

Nominations were closed.

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, Senator Kowalski moved that the Faculty Senate direct the Chair of the Nominating Committee to cast one ballot for the Officers of the 2006-07 Faculty Senate. The motion carried.

D.  1)  On behalf of the Executive Committee, Vice Chairperson Martin moved approval of the following resolution:

Whereas:  Michael Rice has chaired the Faculty Senate with bonhomie and wit during the 2005-2006 academic year, and

Whereas:  He has provided us with the history of, and served us with commitment to, the mission of a Land-Sea-Urban Grant University, and

Whereas:  He has been willing to ask the hard questions that must be asked to maintain true shared governance and

Whereas:  He has created an environment of collegiality and cooperation which facilitates the accomplishment of the task at hand while making it enjoyable for all and

Whereas:  He believes in this University and what it contributes to the state and tirelessly offers his time, effort, and wisdom to convert the nonbelievers at every possible opportunity, political and otherwise, and

Whereas:  He does all this with a smile on his face

Therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate expresses its appreciation for his hard work in the current academic year and its gratitude for his willingness to do it all again, and more, next year.

The resolution was adopted unanimously.

2) Vice Chairperson Martin moved that the Faculty Senate approve the revised section 2.14.10 on Administrative Searches, which appeared on page 16 of the Agenda.  The motion carried.

E.  Chairperson Rice said that the report of the President and Chair of the Faculty Senate on the Joint Strategic Planning Committee appeared on pages 17-18 of the Agenda.  He asked if there were any questions.

A. Provost Swan congratulated the new Faculty Senate officers. She said
that she wanted to encourage everyone to participate in the Commencement weekend programs, which were scheduled for Friday May 19 through Sunday, May 21.  

The Provost announced that the legislature had approved the appointment or reappointment of several members of the Board of Governors. She said that all of the terms, except the student member’s, were for three years until 2009. Provost Swan also announced the candidates for the CCRI Presidency who were to be interviewed during the week of May 15.

Provost Swan asked if there were any questions for her or that she should bring back to the President.

Discussion ensued during which Provost Swan and Vice President Weygand responded to questions from the floor.

B. Provost Swan presented the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Award for the United States Professor of the Year to Dr. Scott Molloy, Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.

A. Senator Luebke introduced the Four Hundred Forty-Third Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee, which appeared on pages 19-24 of the Agenda.
    
She said that Section I was informational and asked if there were any questions about Section I.  There were none.
        
Senator Luebke said that Section II required confirmation and moved approval of Section II.  The motion carried.

Senator Luebke said that Section III was a joint report of the Curricular Affairs Committee and Graduate Council on 400-level courses.  She said that part A was informational and asked if there were any questions.  There were none.

Senator Luebke announced that Section III part B required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval.  The motion carried.

B. Vice Provost Pasquerella introduced the Curricular Report No. 2005-06-8 from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate, which appeared on pages 25-27 of the Agenda.   She said that Section I was informational and asked if there were any questions.  There were none.       

Vice Provost Pasquerella said that Section II required confirmation by the Faculty Senate and moved approval of Section II.  The motion carried

C. Senator Wenisch introduced the Constitution, By-Laws and University Manual Committee Report #05-06-3, which appeared on page 28 of the Agenda.  He said that the report was informational and asked if there were any questions.  There were none.
 
D.  Professor Onorato introduced the Report of the Library Committee, which appeared on pages 29-32 of the Agenda.  He asked Senator Rathemacher from the URI Library to elaborate on the materials on Journals that she had forwarded to the Faculty Senate in response to the Library Report (See http://www.uri.edu/facsen/Journal_costs_actions.pdf)

Discussion ensued.

Following discussion, Senator Kowalski moved that the materials on Serials, which had been forwarded by Senator Rathemacher, be referred to the 2006-07 Library Committee.  The motion carried.

E. Professor Martin reported to the Faculty Senate on the Providence Campus Undergraduate Initiative Committee, using a series of transparencies (See http://www.uri.edu/facsen/PCUIC_05-06.pdf).

Discussion ensued.

F. Professor Honhart moved approval of the following recommendation of the University College and General Education Committee:

That the Honors Colloquium (HPR 201) for Fall 2006 be approved for general education credit in the Fine Arts and Literature (A) and Social Sciences (S) core areas as follows:

HPR 201 Honors Colloquium for fall 2006 - "Songs of Social Justice: The Rhetoric of Music”  (examining human differences, writing effectively, using artistic activity) Diversity

The motion carried.

Whereas, the University of Rhode Island is the State’s public research university, and

Whereas, vibrant public research universities throughout the United States are demonstrably major economic engines within their states, and

Whereas, the University of Rhode Island is committed to enriching the lives of Rhode Islanders through its Land, Sea, and Urban Grant traditions of research and outreach to the public, and

Whereas, the University of Rhode Island has a long and distinguished history of research accomplishments in such fields as potato disease control, poultry disease control, turf grass breeding, aeronautical engineering, industrial engineering, underwater acoustics, fisheries science, textiles science, electronic engineering, pharmaceutical science and environmental science that have catalyzed economic growth in Rhode Island, the nation and the world, and

Whereas, the University of Rhode Island has a long and distinguished history of cooperative extension or outreach programs such as farm demonstrations, environmental protection, transportation and community planning, industrial pilot projects, teacher education, social science outreach, community health programs and artistic programs that have enriched the lives of all Rhode Islanders, and  

Whereas, the University of Rhode Island is well positioned to continue boosting Rhode Island’s economy in the areas of marine science and engineering, biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, forensic sciences, transportation systems and information sciences, and

Whereas, the 2003 Partnership for Prosperity Report commissioned by the University of Rhode Island Research Office concluded that the University of Rhode Island generates nearly five dollars in economic activity in the State for every dollar of State support, and

Whereas, the professors and professional researchers at the University of Rhode Island are extremely successful in the pursuit of federal funding for research, outreach and training projects that carries a requirement of non-federal matching funds,

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Faculty Senate of the University of Rhode Island pledges its full support of An Act by The Rhode Island House of Representatives 2006 H-7092 by Representatives Naughton, Shanley, and Crowley that authorizes the appropriation of state funds as cash matching funds for federal research, extension and training grants, and

FURTHERMORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Faculty Senate of the University of Rhode Island respectfully requests the support of President, and the Board of Governors for Higher Education for 2006 H-7092 and respectfully urges passage by the Rhode Island House of Representatives, and the Rhode Island Senate and signing into law by Governor Donald L. Carcieri.