Members Present: D. Prasad, M. Dodge, C. Fontana, A. Guagliumi, G. Puerschner, B. Wein, B. Jirsa, M. Orner, T. Seyed, B. Matthews, U. Nwachuku, B. Eldridge, J. Ensign, R. Cretella, S. Larocco, D. Burow, R. Pelayo, S. Judd, J. Mullins, C. Schofield-Bodt, P. Holmer, K. Grant, J. Kavanagh, S. Bochain, D. Pettigrew, C. Rinehardt, J. Hurlbut, R. Luquis, B. Worden, M. Selvaggio, P. Major, A. Vicenzi, F. Hatcher, L. Prince
 

Vice President Pinciaro

• The funding for Graduate Students has been increased by President Adanti. There will be ten research assistantships starting in September. They will include an $8,000 per year stipend. There will be one research assistantship per school and five at-large choices selected by a graduate school faculty committee from among proposals.
• The Academic Vice President and the four Deans of Education from the four CSU campuses have formed a group to review requests for proposals, for consulting firms to study the feasibility of starting a new degree program, the EdD. Possible interdisciplinary areas of concentration include Educational Leadership with Business and/or Professional Studies and Counseling and School Psychology. The result of this attempt will tell us the likelihood of pursuing other applied doctorates.
• Letters will go out soon for the various search committees being formed. The recommendations of the Senate and Grad Council will be honored. The Vice President for Institutional Advancement committee is to be chaired by Vice President Jim Blake. The committee for the Vice President of University and Students Affairs will be Chaired by Vice President Pinciaro. -The list of faculty to receive new computers has been finalized. 95 Faculty will be receiving computers. The total value is approximately $320,000. This has included the first three and sometimes the fourth priority of each department.
• The MBA program has a differential tuition. We will look into this in other areas as well. Also at the moment there is a disparity between full and part time tuition rates.

Executive Committee Report

• The Student Policy Committee asks what to do next with the data received from the survey on the Office of Student and University Affairs. It was suggested that the committee forward the raw data and transcribed comments to the affected offices. President Adanti and Rick Riccardi, President of the Administrative Senate, should also receive copies.
• Do we have too few applicants for Sabbatical Leaves? The Personnel Policy Committee will survey the Faculty to find out.
• WCSU and NVCTC have entered into an agreement regarding course offerings and articulation. This procedure is deserving of our attention.
• The articulation agreement with Gateway was signed by the Dean of the SCSU School of Business without consultation with the faculty. Central's Dean did likewise. Some 300 level courses can now be transferred from the Community Technical Colleges. Do we need to form an ad hoc committee to look into articulation agreements?

• President Adanti said we will be given the data from the vacancy allocation request forms submitted by the departments.
• A work study student was approved for the dissemination of the minutes.
• To fill the vacancy created by Jim Newman's retirement, there will be two new positions, both will be assistants to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. One in charge of Academic affairs and Student Relations, the other will be in charge of Educational Technology and Budgeting. Where the FDAC fits into this new arrangement is not clear at the moment.
• The Academic Vice President agrees to put the University Library Committee under the auspices of the Faculty Senate beginning in the next academic year, after the new budget request procedures are implemented.
• The faculty has expressed their displeasure with the timeline for faculty searches. The Academic Vice President agrees but sometimes things confound our desired schedule. It should also be noted that the Vice President reports that some departments declined the offer of a new faculty member, based on the idea that they didn't have time to perform a thorough search.

Finance

• The travel budget is made up of $161,000 from the contractually obligated funds, $24,000 encumbered carry over from the previous year, and $25,000 from the President's funds, and a $788 carry over. The travel expenditure, as of 11/04/97: $104,828 has been expended or encumbered, leaving $123,390 unencumbered The remaining adjunct travel allotment is $17,838.
• On Nov. 11 at 2:00, the Academic and Financial Vice Presidents will meet with Senator Eldridge regarding the Travel Authorization process. To sign off on the documents requires knowledge of the availability of funds, and if the faculty member has encumbered or spent their annual allotment. It will be proposed that the Academic Vice President's be the final signature.

• Is the sabbatical leave questionnaire to be discussed here? It will be sent out after considering several comments.

• Would proposal E (in the rules committee report enclosed with the Oct. 22 minutes) be too burdensome on the Senators from small departments? Maybe smaller departments will merge voluntarily to avoid this stress.
• Proposal E would give a voice to small departments.
• Proportional voting would only be needed during a close vote. -A sense of the Senate was taken, and the Committee should continue its work on proposal E.

• A survey of the Academic Advisement is next.
• The aggregate data from the previous survey will be released to the parties involved; without the comments, because the comments were called confidential. It is felt that releasing them would break that confidentiality.

• The committee is working on the grade appeals process. A report is forthcoming.
• A motion was made and seconded to wave the two day rule in order to consider a proposal regarding the Library Committee. The motion failed. The Resolution will be considered at a later time.

• The election results are in and finalized.

• "The Language of Thought: an Interdisciplinary Interrogation" 9am to 2pm on Sat Nov 8th in the Faculty Dining Room in Conn Hall.
• Dr. James Tobin, Nobel Laureate, "Can We Grow Faster?" Friday Nov 7th, II: 15am, Wintergreen Building.
• The President and the Secretary of the Faculty Senate, will meet with the AAUP Union President Kathy Newman, to discuss the new faculty positions.
• The Director of Student Teaching Position is an AFSCME promotion so it is a management process, being headed up by Deans Smith and Lane.

• The previously tabled motion was brought forward.

New Business

Respectfully Submitted,
G. Robert Wein
Secretary