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Scenes from Faculty Senate

Joint Strategic Planning Committee

Thursday, December 15, 2005

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

President's Conference Room, Green Hall

Attendance: Robert Carothers, M. Beverly Swan, Robert Beagle, Tom Dougan, Bob Weygand, Michael Rice, Celest Martin, Marilyn Barbour, Barbara Luebke, Jim Kowalski, Karen Ramsay, Vince Petronio, Abu Bakr, Ann Morrissey. Guests: Linda Acciardo, Carolyn Callahan. David Porter, Chris Wessells and Alan White.

Announcements: Vice President Beagle reported that the University was working with RDW Group, Inc. to update URI's website and make it more inviting and user-friendly. He said that officers of the RDW Group, Inc. were URI alumni and referred everyone to the MIT Sloan School of Management website at http://mitsloan.mit.edu/for an example of their work.

President Carothers announced that he and Senate Chair Rice have been discussing the possibility of conducting a futures project for URI. He said that they were in the process of developing a list of topics and possible members for a blue ribbon committee to look at developing trends and potential opportunities for URI. He said that he expected the group to spend about six months on their work and report back to the JSPC. President Carothers said that the last time URI undertook such an effort was in 1992-93.

Faculty Senate Chairperson Rice congratulated President Carothers on his recent reappointment as President of URI.

Mid-year Budget Update: Vice President Weygand explained that the mid year review would be available in January. He then reported on requests from the state that the RI Board of Higher Education provide a scenario for the current fiscal year (FY'06) if the budget was reduced by more than $6,000,000.

Vice President Weygand then distributed copies of a December 7, 2005 letter from Commissioner Warner to Ms. Rosemary Booth Gallogly, the State Budget Officer, responding to the request. The Commissioner reported on the efforts already underway within the Higher Education system to reduce expenses and explained that the only way to reduce the impact of such a large reduction would be to increase revenues through increased costs to students.

President Carothers said that the University had been asked to develop a response to such cuts in the past and that he hoped it would only be an exercise.

Cyber Security in Higher Education and FERPA Issues: Mr. Wessells showed the JSPC a brief video from George Mason University on issues related to cyber security.

Mr. Wessells then introduced Mr. Porter, Director of Networking and Telecommunication, and Mr. White, URI's Information Security Architect, who are responsible for web security at URI. Mr. White then identified some of the potential problems caused by hackers and brought the JSPC up-to date on efforts at URI to prevent difficulties at other institutions. He also responded to specific questions about web security at URI.

The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.