http://www.scsu.ctstateu.edu/organizations/facultysenate

The eighth meeting of the 2001-2002 year was called to order at 12:15 PM.

Members Present:

Brownell (Art), Lavin (Art), Puerschner (Chemistry), Ullian (Communication), Jirsa (ComDisorder/MFT), DaPonte (Computer Science), Nwachuku (Couns/SchPsych), Fullmer (Earth Science), Thorson (Econ/Finance), Corbett (Education), Cairns (Ed Leadership), Petrie (English), Hood (English), Johnson (English), Mee (Exercise Science), Rinehardt (Exercise Science), Hernandez (Foreign Language), Sakalowsky (Geography), Judd (History), Petto (History), Dunklee (Journalism), Bielefield (Library Science), Schofield-Bodt (Library Services), Wu (Library Services), Prince (Marketing), Bennett (Math), Brin (Math), Wallace (Nursing), Prince (Part-time faculty), Dobbins (Part-time faculty), Young (Part-time faculty), Volkman (Philosophy), Broadbridge (Physics), Paulson (Political Science), Sherman (Psychology), Kahlbaugh (Psychology), Bulmer (Public Health), Cusato (Science Ed/Env Stud), Haymes (Social Work), Skoczen (Soc & Anthro), Brucker (Special Ed/Reading), Major (Special Ed/Reading),

Members Absent:

(Accounting), Maloney (Athletics), Martinelli (Biology), Coburn-Enquist (Communication), Lawler (Counseling), (Education), Verplaetse (Foreign Language), Nodoushani (Management), Moss (Music), Jack (Part-time faculty), Grants (Recreation/Leisure), Dripchak (Social Work), Watts (Theatre)

Visitors:

J. Tait (UCF), J. Hauselt (Grad Council)

The minutes of December 12, 2001 were approved.

J. Tait reported that a committee has been selected to review the Writing Board Proposal. The committee has not met yet. Committee members are:

Jim Dolan (physics)

Dan Soneson (foreign languages)

Bonnie Farley-Lucas (communications)

Cheryl Durwin (psychology)

Michele Thompson (history)

Frank Tavares (communications/former writing board member)

Rob Page (management)

Standing Committee Reports:

1. Rules: No report.
2. Personnel Policy: No report.
3. Student Policy: No report
4. Technology:
• February 4 is the deadline for indicating that one would like a computer upgrade in the Spring round of upgrades.
• There continue to be significant problems with the full implementation of Banner. In particular, the system still lacks complete academic histories, pre-requisite checking, and reliability. It is not known when these issues will be addressed, but the continued push to move everything to Banner may need to be evaluated in light of these shortcomings.
• New high tech rooms should be implemented shortly. IT says they are waiting for information from the Technology Committee, but that information had already been communicated.
• The VAX will be completely off the books by June 30. Anyone still using the VAX needs to transition to some other solution as soon as possible.
5. Academic Policy:
• Senate representatives have met with Vice-President for Academic Affairs, J.P. Smith, regarding the "Future Structure of the University Library Committee." The committee's composition will be as follows:
• 2 from Library Service
• 3 from the School of Arts & Sciences
• 1 from the School of Business
• 1 from the School of Communication Information & Library Science
• 1 from the School of Education
• 1 from the School of Health and Human Services
• 1 elected or appointed by the Graduate Council
• 1 elected or appointed by the Undergraduate Curriculum Forum
• 2 elected or appointed by the Faculty Senate
• 1 appointed by the Academic Vice-President
• 1 appointed by the Library Director
• the Library Director (ex-officio)
• 1 Undergraduate student elected or appointed by the Student Government
• 1 Graduate student elected or appointed by the Graduate Dean
• The terms of elected members shall be 3 years, and staggered for continuity.

The transition from the current committee will take place by attrition, as elections are held when present members of the committee resign.

6. Elections: No report.
7. Finance: There is currently about $10,000 in the full-time travel account, and there is about $5,500 in the part-time travel account.

A. Bielefield moved that the order of business be changed so New Business comes before Old Business. The motion carried by voice vote.

New Business:

1. G. Puerschner: On the Right to Determine Academic Policy



The following motion was brought to the floor by G. Puerschner and seconded by R. Jirsa:




Whereas the Board of Trustees, in its recent petition to the State Labor Board, wishes to remove by fiat several issues from the collective bargaining process, including but not limited to the cap on adjunct faculty,

Whereas the explanation for this move is that negotiating on such issues "constitutes an interference with the Trustees' managerial prerogatives, including their right to determine academic policy;"

Whereas this reasoning constitutes a serious breach of an existing ethos of collective governance over curricular matters and prioritizes "managerial prerogatives" over educational prerogatives as the driving force behind educational policy;

Whereas faculty bodies such as the Faculty Senate work under the belief that "the right to determine academic policy" is an item of shared governance;

Be it resolved that the Faculty Senate at Southern Connecticut State University strongly opposes the Board's strategy to remove issues from the collective bargaining process that significantly impact academic quality, such as the cap on adjuncts. Be it further resolved that the SCSU Faculty Senate condemns the Board's assertion that it has the sole "right to determine academic policy."

Bielefield reported that the recent PR efforts of the AAUP might finally be paying off, since the administration has finally asked to negotiate. This resolution serves as an expression of the Faculty's approval of the AAUP's position in these negotiations.

J. Tait noted that the UCF had passed a very similar resolution unanimously.

G. Puerschner emphasized that the purpose of this resolution was not about the strategy of "scoping" in the abstract, but about the particular rationale that the Board of Trustees had offered: that they have the sole "right to determine academic policy."

The motion carried by a unanimous voice vote.

2. Rules Motion on Senate Constitution change, Section VI-B

Proposed new wording:

The Elections Committee shall conduct the referendum, with a minimum of 240 faculty votes required for rescinding any Senate action, so long as that amounts to 50% plus one of those voting.

The committee's proposal was motivated by the fact that it would be almost impossible to carry out a successful referendum under the current language of the Senate Constitution, since the Constitution was changed to consider part-time faculty as equal to full-time faculty in faculty governance. This makes the total number of faculty required to vote on a given issue unattainably high. P. Major, Rules Committee Chair, explained that their proposed changes were guided by the following considerations:

• Part-time faculty are to be treated as equal to faculty in every way, including in their participation in faculty governance.
• Mechanisms for referenda and petitioning are necessary for the accountability of the Faculty Senate.
• However, it should be harder to successfully overturn the Senate's position than to petition the Senate to hear the case anew.
• There is no easy way to accurately determine how many total faculty are actually employed in a given semester.

There was some discussion of whether or not part-time faculty should be given the same weight in such votes. It may be that part-time faculty have different interests than full-time faculty in certain respects, and that there are large enough numbers of part-time faculty that they could dominate the vote on such issues. This may not be fair, since part-time faculty generally do not (and are not expected to) participate in committee work and the other labors of faculty governance.

On the other hand, several Senators suggested that such concerns did not represent a practical threat. Part-time interests are significantly similar to the interests of full-time faculty, and if the Senate did something to sufficiently upset enough part-time faculty to pass a referendum, then so be it.

L. Brin expressed concern about the clarity of the proposal, and with specifying the number of votes in the constitution; he offered the following language as an amendment to the original motion:

The Elections Committee shall conduct the referendum, with a number of votes equal to 25% of all faculty (as counted by payroll), or 50% + 1 of those voting, whichever is greater, required for rescinding any Senate action.

J. DaPonte moved that the whole matter be referred back to committee to sort out new language. The motion to refer failed on a voice vote.

G. Puerscher requested a Sense of the Senate on whether or not part-time faculty should be treated the same as full-time faculty for the purpose of referenda votes.

R. Volkman moved that the Senate recess to a forum to discuss this matter. The motion to recess failed on a voice vote.

The Sense of the Senate was taken. The Chair determined that the Sense of the Senate on whether or not part-time faculty should be treated the same as full-time faculty for the purpose of referenda votes was "very close."

The Senate voted on L. Brin's amendment. Following a very close voice vote, a show of hands defeated the amendment 19 against, 14 for.

Since any change to the Senate Constitution requires a 2/3 vote of members, the original motion was voted on by roll-call vote. The measure was defeated: 2 against, 34 for. (36 votes are required to meet the 2/3 requirement.)

3. G. Puerschner: On Business After 1:45

The following motion was brought to the floor by G. Puerschner and seconded by U. Nwachuku:

Whereas the senate has a very busy agenda and whereas meetings are scheduled until 2:00 PM,

Therefore be it resolved that the Faculty Senate may conduct business and vote on motions until the meeting is adjourned.

Several Senators argued against the measure, since many Senators have to teach at 2:00. Voting on important issues after 1:45 forces such Senators to choose between their teaching responsibilities and their Senate responsibilities.

It was suggested that the Executive Committee use its authority to set the agenda such that business that does not require voting would be conducted after 1:45, thereby freeing up an extra 15 minutes for Senate business that does require voting.

The motion failed on a voice vote.

Meeting was adjourned at 1:45 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Richard Volkman

Secretary of the Senate

 

Resolutions Passed:

S-02-01 On the Right to Determine Academic Policy