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1. Immediately following a meeting of the General Faculty – Graduate Faculty, the regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:05 p.m. in Room 105 of the Richard E. Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences, Chairperson Sullivan presiding.
All members were present except Senators Chadha, Cooper, Harris, Kincaid, Licht, Lloyd, Mandel, Meghani, Moore, Nassersharif, Pearson-Merkowitz, Post, and Rosenbaum; ex officio members President Dooley, Vice Presidents Collins and Sonnenfeld, Vice Provost Beauvais; Deans Bonn, Ebrahimpour, Liguori, Wolfe, and Wright. Associate Dean Eaton represented Dean Brownell, Associate Dean Seitsinger represented Dean Ciccomascolo, Associate Dean Smith represented Dean Corliss, and Associate Dean Veeger represented Dean Kirby.
2. Chairperson Sullivan announced that the minutes of Faculty Senate meeting #3, November 17, 2016 had been posted with the agenda. He asked if there were any additions, corrections to or questions about the minutes. There were none. Chairperson Sullivan ruled that, in the absence of any changes or corrections, the minutes were approved.
3. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
A. Announcements
1. Chairperson Sullivan encouraged deans to attend Faculty Senate meetings noting that their participation was important to the process.
2. Chairperson Sullivan said that the Executive Committee planned to present recommendations for changes to the University Manual Chapter 8 (sections 8.51.11 – 8.51.13) at the next meeting. It had been reported at the September 22, 2016 Faculty Senate meeting that changes to section 8.51.11 approved by the Faculty Senate on March 31, 2016 had not been approved by the President. On September 22, 2016, the Faculty Senate had approved the motion for reconsideration and revision.
3. Chairperson Sullivan announced that Commissioner Purcell had responded to the Provost’s and Senate Chair’s request to meet to discuss the Commissioner’s proposed changes to the Policy for Articulation and Transfer Between Public Institutions of Higher Education. A meeting was scheduled for December 20. The Chairperson encouraged Senators to review the proposal and send comments to him.
4. Chairperson Sullivan said that the Executive Committee had explored the issues surrounding the motion made at the November 17 Faculty Senate meeting directing the Executive Committee to review and make recommendations regarding the eligibility of full-time non-tenure track faculty for Senate membership. He said that he would present a report on the matter at today’s meeting under Unfinished Business.
B. Activities of the Executive Committee
Vice Chairperson Conley announced that the Minutes of Executive Committee meetings #15, #16, and #18 were available on the Faculty Senate website. He asked if there were any questions. There were none.
4. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
The Provost said that the President was traveling and had sent his regrets at missing the meeting. The Provost announced that the 9th Annual Academic Summit was scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2017 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The theme this year was Academic Challenges for Higher Education in the 21st Century. He encouraged those assembled attend. The Provost commented on the Fall 2016 issue of Momentum: Research & Innovation, the magazine published by the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. He noted that the latest edition was a thorough, thoughtful, and compelling snapshot of the University across many disciplines. The Provost reported that the search committee for the dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies was finalizing the position description and that he expected that interviews would take place in early spring. He also reported that the search committee for the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences was drafting the position description after having met with A&S department chairs. The Provost said that the President had received the report from the search committee for the Vice President for Administration and Finance and that he was working through the choices. He added that there was a strong pool of candidates for Vice President and that the finalists had very deep and important, but different, backgrounds and experiences.
5. REPORTS OF STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES
A. Associate Dean Rusnock presented Curricular Report No. 2016-17-2 from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate. She summarized the Informational section of the report, changes to 400-level courses for graduate credit and changes to 500/600 level courses. She moved approval of four new 500-level courses. The motion passed. The Associate Dean presented and moved approval of several program changes: change to the requirements for the MA in Political Science, changes to the Masters of Environmental Science and Management degree, a change to the admissions prerequisites for the MS in Communicative Disorders, and a change in the PhD Program in Chemical Engineering. All were approved. Dean Zawia presented Curricular Report No. 2016-17-2A from the Graduate Council, a proposal from the College of Engineering to create a Graduate Certificate in Embedded Systems. He moved approval. The motion passed.
B. Chairperson Sullivan presented the 536th Report of the Curricular Affairs Committee. He said that Section I was Informational and asked if there were any questions. There were none. He reported that Section II required Senate approval. Two new courses and 3 course changes were presented and approved. Chairperson Sullivan presented and moved approval of a proposal to suspend the Bachelor of Science in Applied Sociology (effective June 2022) and suspend immediately admissions to the Bachelor of Science in Applied Sociology. The motion passed.
C. Chairperson Sullivan presented General Education Committee Report 2016-17-4. He said that the General Education Committee had met on December 1 and had approved 14 courses in the new general education program. Five courses were existing courses and were presented as informational. Nine courses required Senate approval because they were new. The Chair moved approval and the motion passed.
D. Professor Wenisch presented Constitution, By-Laws, and University Manual (CBUM) Committee Report 2016-17-1, an informational report documenting changes to University Manual Chapters 4 and 7 necessary to maintain consistency with changes to the 2014-18 Agreement between the RI Council of Postsecondary Education and the URI Chapter of the AAUP (collective bargaining agreement). The agreement had changed the descriptions of some non tenure-track faculty positions at the University. Professor Wenisch explained that the CBUM Committee had used the language from the agreement to update descriptions of research professors, lecturers, and clinical professors. The proposed changes would be submitted to the President for his approval before being incorporated into the University Manual. Professor Wenisch also reviewed the former process of updating the Manual prior to use of the electronic (web) version. He noted that, in recent years, administrative sections of the Manual have become out of date. He read aloud University Manual section 11.10.14 bringing attention to the statement that University administrators shall make themselves aware of University Manual passages concerning the units for which they are responsible. Professor Wenisch made the following motion, that the Faculty Senate ask its Executive Committee to do the following: at a future Executive Committee meeting attended by the President, the President is to be urged to see to it that University Manual passage 11.10.14 be complied with. Senator Rice seconded the motion. Senator Kirschenbaum suggested that the motion be amended, replacing “at a future” with “at its next”. The suggestion was accepted as a friendly amendment. The motion passed. Senator Rice added that sections of the Manual that do not have a constituency become out of date easily and some sections change with great regularity. He suggested that Chapter 8 be reviewed for updating. Professor Wenisch said that the CBUM Committee planned next to review the parts of the Manual that fall under the jurisdiction of the Graduate Faculty.
6. PRESENTATION
Chairperson Sullivan introduced Dean Boughida of the University Libraries and Chief Information Officer Kubica who presented an update on the Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan. Dean Boughida identified himself as the chair of the IT Strategic Governance Committee (ITgov). He summarized the activities of ITgov, since its inception in 2015, to develop a 5-year strategic plan. The University hired a consultant, BerryDunn, to conduct an assessment of IT opportunities and challenges at URI that was completed in March 2016. Subsequent to the assessment, work sessions involving faculty were conducted in March and April 2016. A draft of the plan was developed over the summer and released to the campus for review in October 2016. Feedback from the campus was solicited in November and December. Dean Boughida said that the final version should be complete in January 2017. The Dean and CIO Kubica answered questions about eCampus, support for faculty, resources, the HelpDesk, and storage space in SAKAI (for videos).
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Chairperson Sullivan presented changes to sections 4.56 and 4.57 of the By-Laws of the Faculty Senate that had been presented, moved, and discussed at the November 17, 2016 Faculty Senate meeting. Per 12.1 of the By-Laws, a proposed amendment to the By-Laws may not be voted upon at the meeting at which it is first moved and therefore, the sections were returned to the agenda of today’s meeting for a vote. He explained that the Council for Research was proposing to change the timing of the election of its chair from the fall to the previous spring. He called the vote. The motion passed.
B. Chairperson Sullivan summarized the motion made by Senator Hume at the November 17, 2016 Faculty Senate meeting requesting that the Executive Committee review and make recommendations regarding the eligibility of full-time non-tenure track faculty for Faculty Senate and Senate committee membership. He presented power point slides, which illustrated the issues that had been discussed by the Executive Committee. The Committee had reviewed faculty contract language and the differing roles, responsibilities, and expectations of different faculty positions. The discussion within the Executive Committee to expand Senate membership gave consideration to Senior Lecturers, Teaching Professors, and Clinical professors, not Lecturers, nor Research professors. Chairperson Sullivan noted that the new promotional path for Lecturers (per the 2014-2018 collective bargaining agreement) included a service expectation for Senior Lecturers and Teaching Professors but that a similar expectation was not part of the description of the duties of Clinical professors. He projected a slide indicating the distribution of Lecturers (all ranks) and Clinical professors at the University. Clinical faculty occur in greater numbers in the College of Nursing and College of Pharmacy and Lecturers are most numerous in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chairperson Sullivan said that, if the Faculty Senate were to expand eligibility to these groups of non tenure-track faculty, the Senate would have to decide whether or not to adjust the ratio of faculty to senators to maintain the current number of members or to allow the body to become larger. He pointed out that changing the Senate membership would require changing both the By-Laws and the Constitution of the Faculty Senate. A referendum of the General Faculty (tenure-track faculty) would be required to change the Constitution. Chairperson Sullivan encouraged Senators to return to their colleges and discuss the issues with their constituents. Senator Leonard asked how many additional Lecturers were due to be promoted [to Senior Lecturer or Teaching Professor] in the next few years. Chairperson Sullivan indicated that he would ask Vice Provost Katz to develop those projections. Senator Schwegler commented the Senate should take the time to come to a common understanding regarding the concerns of the different faculty groups. Senator Harlow expressed concern that the proportion of non tenure-track faculty in the Faculty Senate should not exceed their proportion at the institution. Senator Mahler pointed out that job descriptions vary greatly between tenure-track faculty, clinical faculty, and lecturers. She was concerned about faculty who are not responsible for conducting research representing faculty who are required to perform research and vice versa. Provost DeHayes said that he appreciated the care and thoughtfulness with which the Executive Committee had addressed the issues. He added that the Faculty Senate is the representative body of the faculty and that roughly 150 faculty were not eligible to participate in the official mechanism of shared governance. Senator Rice moved that the Executive Committee provide suggested amendments [to the By-Laws and the Constitution] at the next meeting to allow for deliberations. The motion was seconded and approved.
8. NEW BUSINESS
Chairperson Sullivan asked if there were any New Business. There was none.
9. Chairperson Sullivan moved to adjourn. The motion was approved. The meeting was adjourned at 4:58 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Neff
