Approved Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting
March 4, 2009
http://www.scsu.ctstateu.edu/organizations/facultysenate
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The tenth meeting of the 2008-2009 year was called to order at 12:10 PM.
Members Present: Lavin (Art); Pang (Chemistry); Jirsa (Com Disorders/MFT); DaPonte (Computer Science); Fopiano (Couns/Sch Psych); Fleming (Earth Science); Mills (Econ/Finance); Diamantis (Education); Goldberg (Education); Madonia (Ed Leadership); Larocco (English); Shea (English); Johnson (English); Petrie (English); Swartz (Exercise Science); Calahan (Exercise Science); Schmitt (Foreign Language); Heidkamp (Geography); Paddock (History); Metaxas (History); Dunklee (Journalism); Bielefield (Library Science); Hedreen (Library Services); Toce (Library Services); Prince (Marketing); Scheuermann (Mathematics); Gubitose (Mathematics); O’Brien (Media Studies); Nelson (Nursing); Rebeschi (Nursing); Goldblatt (Patrt-Time Faculty); Pettigrew (Philosophy); Horch (Physics); Buterbaugh (Political Science); Sherman (Psychology); Faraclas (Public Health); Jones (Recreation/Leisure); Cusato (Science Ed/Env Stud); Cameron (Social Work); Rofuth (Social Work); Bloch (Sociology); Brucker (Special Ed/Reading); Nye (Theatre); Weiss (UCF)
Members Absent: Emenyonu (Accounting); Selvaggio (Anthropology); Vu (Art); Maloney (Athletics); Feng (Biology); Madlock (Communication); Lawler (Counseling); Olson (Foreign Language); Page (Management); _______ (Music); Carrano (Part-time Faculty); Anderson (Part-time Faculty); Ciarlone (Part-time Faculty); Colwell (Psychology).
The minutes of February 18, 2009 were approved.
Announcements:
ü AAUP will sponsor a leaders’ retreat conference for May 8th at the Jewish Community Center, Woodbridge. Various leaders of the university will be invited to participate.
President’s Report ~~ President Johnson distributed the report and opened discussions on the following:
v Senators were asked to participate and fill out the AAUP flyer for the Lobby Day for next Wednesday.
v The proposed General Education Program will be presented soon to the Senate for a vote and a referendum. The projected budget is possible but it might be delayed a bit. Questions still exist on how the implementation will unfold for the financial aspect of the program and the administrative support.
Standing Committee Updates:
v Finance ~ ~ Senator Brucker announced that if a faculty member has received approval for travel, has traveled but has not submitted for payment, the faculty member will be receiving an email to do so asap, or the money will be recalled. Faculty need to submit for payment on time.
v Personnel ~ ~ Senator Cusato reported that the committee is meeting next week at noon with P and T members for discussions.
v Rules ~ ~ Senator O’Brien had no report.
v Student Policy ~ ~ Senator Madonia had no report.
v Technology ~ ~ Senator DaPonte reported that the committee is reviewing policies that Wendy Chang has submitted for feedback from them. He recommended that if anyone is experiencing problems with IT to call the Help Desk and get a Work order Number so that the problem can be followed for resolution. There was report that the librarians are not receiving faculty announcements through the list serve for faculty. The distribution list must be updated to include all faculty, including the librarians. In addition, some faculty complained of the method of distribution of announcements, too many of them are received multiple times and they fill up the mail quotas across campus. Better method of announcements should be explored to avoid further congestion of emails.
v Academic Polilcy ~ ~ Senator Bloch announced that the committee is presenting resolutions under Old Business and New Business.
v Elections ~ ~ Senator Swartz announced that nominations for All University Committees will be forthcoming in the next couple weeks and urged all senators to announce to their departments and ask their colleagues to consider self nominations.
Ad-hoc committees:
§ P & T Departmental Guidelines ~ ~ (Madonia, Fopiano, Calahan, Hedreen, Lavin, Shea). Senator Madonia reported that the committee met with the Deans Council and had a positive exchange. The committee will be meeting with the P and T committee soon and wish to bring a document to the Senate floor by early April for discussions. The Provost wishes to have one set of guidelines from faculty and it seemed that all Deans were receptive and collaborative on this concept.
§ PR / Naming Committee ~ ~ (O’Brien, Dunklee, Pettigrew, Heidkamp, Vu). Senator O’Brien reported that the committee met with Megan Rock and Stephen Joyner on Monday the 23rd. They shared ideas and received good information on their goals of advertisement. Some concepts for Southern’s future advertisement include nanotechnology, the nursing program, and our graduate programs. They suggested that we don’t have a narrow direction and the committee suggested that such advertisement should include faculty research and creative activities.
UCF Update:
§ The revised Liberal Education will be presented to the Senate for action in the near future.
Old Business:
ü Outstanding Teaching Award Committee (OTAC): the document was reviewed and with a friendly amendment the third paragraph now reads as:
And whereas the revised procedures for the J. Philip Smith Outstanding Teaching Award Committee include measures to re-affirm Faculty Senate oversight of the committee election process;
The resolution was accepted by majority voice vote.
At this time (1:15 pm) President Norton arrived to address the Senate. She updated the senate on the budget and economy issues. She reviewed the historical events leading to further budget cuts as of July 1st mounting to a minimum of 10%. Having said that, she urged that we concentrate our efforts and provide opportunities to attract students since in past experiences the state has depended on higher education. We will need to think creatively, keeping the academic mission of the university alive. Hard decisions will have to be made, yet excellent education should be preserved. Discussions across the community should be made early and they are very necessary that all areas are collaborative. Some cuts in various areas have already offered some relief in the budget but further cuts are expected. The current 26 faculty searches need to be prioritized carefully by the Provost’s office. Budget Town Hall meetings are scheduled and will continue to be offered so that all parties are informed of the latest budget issues as they unfold.
Motion to adjourn at 2:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Diamantis
Secretary of the Senate