Approved Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting
September 26, 2007
http://www.scsu.ctstateu.edu/organizations/facultysenate
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The second meeting of the 2007-2008 year was called to order at 12:10 PM.
Members Present: Selvaggio (Anthropology), Vu (Art), Lavin (Art), Feng (Biology), Pang (Chemistry), Petroski (Communication), Jirsa (Com Disorders/MFT), DaPonte (Computer Science), Lawler (Counseling), Smith (Couns/Sch Psych), Fullmer (Earth Science), Mills (Econ/Finance), Diamantis (Education), Madonia (Ed Leadership), Larocco (English), Shea (English), Johnson (English), Petrie (English), Swartz (Exercise Science), Pelayo (Foreign Language), Olson (Foreign Language), Sakalowsky (Geography), Paddock (History), Metaxas (History), Dunklee (Journalism), McGinn (Library Science), Clerc (Library Services), Toce (Library Services), Page (Management), Prince (Marketing), Brin (Mathematics), Dennis (Mathematics), O’Brien (Media Studies), Strawn (Nursing), Westrick (Nursing), Roman (Part-Time Faculty), Goldblatt (Part-Time Faculty), Gilliland (Philosophy), Horch (Physics), Buterbaugh (Political Science), Sherman (Psychology), Colwell (Psychology), Faraclas (Public Health), Cusato (Science Ed/Env Stud), Cameron (Social Work), Keenan (Social Work), Bloch (Sociology), Brucker (Special Ed/Reading), Tamura (Special Ed/Reading), Nye (Theatre), Weiss (UCF).
Members Absent: Emenyonu (Accounting), Maloney (Athletics), Davie (Exercise Science), Kuss (Music), Carrano (Part-Time Faculty), Capone (Part-Time Faculty), Smith (Recreation/Leisure).
The minutes of September 12, 2007, were approved.
Announcements:
§ Senator Larocco suggested that all senators announce events that might not get publicized through normal channels, such as the BOT meeting on campus this morning.
§ Senator Page expressed his appreciation for Dr. Deborah Savage’s assistance in the celebration of Rosh Hashanah on campus.
President’s Report
President Johnson distributed his report and highlighted the following:
v The next Presidential dialogue is changed to Monday, October 29 at 1:00 pm due to scheduling conflicts.
v President Johnson met with Provost Williams and discussed shared governance and faculty workload. The focus was on the need for meaningful, early-stage faculty involvement in the crafting of academic policies. President Johnson urged the Provost to come up with some concrete initiatives to address the morale-sapping problem of workloads. There was also a mutual agreement to co-sponsor an open forum on assessment which should take place in the next two months.
v President Johnson met with President Norton and emphasized the importance of shared governance and reducing faculty workloads. It was pointed that administration is perceived by many faculty as law-and-order, and sometimes draconian in its actions. President Johnson recommended that President Norton communicates more directly with faculty on issues that concern the faculty, and along with Provost Williams she develops an overall message and series of initiatives that are clearly pro-faculty.
v President Johnson was appointed by Interim Chancellor Roy Stewart to a committee made up of the other three CSU Senator Presidents and the four CSU Provost/Academic VP’s. The committee’s charge is to address Senate Bill No. 1318 and report to the Legislature by the end of 2007 its response to the call for common course numbering and other articulation measures. Dr. Stewart is chairing the committee and they are meeting on October 9. At the same time other representatives from the curricular bodies at the CSU campuses will be addressing this issue.
At this time, President Johnson addressed the results of the Senate Survey (which was not received by few senators, Maria will resubmit the results at the next email). The top three items of concern were: a) Shared Governance; b) Faculty Workload; c) Research Support/Lab Space/Classroom Facilities.
Lively discussion followed on P and T expectations with research vs. teaching responsibilities. University level discussions might be necessary to make these expectations more transparent and highlight the peer/department expectations.
Standing Committees and Election of Chairs
Academic Policy
¨ Senator Bloch reported that the committee met, reviewed issues on the table and prioritized them. One such item of discussion is the faculty reassigned time.
Elections
¨ Senator Swartz reported that the committee will be discussing the fall elections process and the Strategic Plan Referendum.
Finance
¨ Senator Brucker reported that there are 109 Full Time Travel Authorization Requests and 10 Part Time submitted for approval. She also attends the budget meetings and will provide a copy of the budget to all senators for review. She will also check on the amount of travel funds in the budget and report back to the senate.
Personnel Policy
¨ Senator Cusato reported that the committee is working on the revisions of the P and T document after she met with President Norton and Maria Houser from HR.
Rules
¨ Senator O’Brien reported that they are working on the resolution on the Graduate Council rules of order.
Student Policy
¨ Senator Madonia reported that the committee will be discussing the Student Policy on Academic Honesty.
Technology
¨ Senator DaPonte reported that the committee received and discussed the IT consultants’ report. The E-Learning committee is being formed and Senator David Petroski will serve as the Senate representative. Senator DaPonte requested senators to communicate with him any problems with the high tech classrooms for immediate attention. Senator Paddock named one such classroom problem: EN B 216. Senator DaPonte reported also from the Space Committee that we are having data storage problems and electric shortages which are being addressed by IT at the present time.
Old Business
Senator Shea made the following motion on the Graduate Council Rules of Order:
The Senate will:
Motion was seconded and after lengthy discussion it was approved by majority with one opposed and one abstention.
The Senate’s observers at the Graduate Council will be Pamela Brucker and Troy Paddock will be the alternate.
At this time, President Norton arrived and addressed the Senate. She responded to the concerns on the student information security and lap tops. This is a direct communication from Governor Rell and we are trying to initiate discussions, thoughts, and to find solutions on such security issues.
Another topic of discussion was the revisions of the P and T document and the reasons of her rejection of the resolution. President Norton mentioned that she had three areas of concern:
1. its compliance with the CBA
2. there were some internal conflicts within the document
3. could the document be understood by a new faculty?
Having reviewed the document carefully above concerns were not answered, thus the need to revisit the document and have discussions with the Personnel Policy committee and the P and T committee representatives.
Another topic of discussion was the faculty workload and the CBA connection; as well as how do the USP initiatives address the issue of workload. Discussion included the need for flexibility for scheduling and the CCSU’s proposal on 3/3 course load with 3 credits towards student advisement.
President Norton also reviewed some steps that have been taken to reflect improvements across campus for student, faculty, and staff:
o the FYE program is an improvement for all students
o flexible food services at the student center, cafeteria and Davis Hall
o New NSO was successful to introduce students to Southern as well as parents to the campus; and to highlight ways that they can engage them to their students’ success at Southern.
o Wintergreen issues were reviewed and some immediate actions are taken to improve student services at that level.
o Students are involved in discussions with facilities and Student Affairs offices to create more recreational areas for students on campus.
o The plans for the new Student Garage are moving forward.
The Senate meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Maria Diamantis
Secretary of the Senate