Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes February 17, 2016
Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes February 17, 2016
The meeting was preceded by a rap session with University President Dr. Joseph Savoie
Senate Meeting called to order at 4:30 PM
Approval of Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the January 20, 2016 meeting of the faculty senate. The motion passed.
Executive Officer report:
Senator Deaton did not present a report other than to state that before Provost Henderson left he approved the policy on extending the tenure clock which had been approved by the faculty senate.
Reports of Senate Committees:
Committee on Committees: no report
Ways and Means: no report
Academic Planning and Development: no report
Governmental Concerns: Robert Slater reported that the Governmental Concerns committee met and discussed the possibility of giving a letter to the Acadiana delegation with information on TOPS including information on the number of students involved. The Governmental Concerns committee made a motion that the Faculty Senate draft such a letter. The motion passed.
Faculty Advisory Council Representative: no report
Ad Hoc Committee on Underrepresented Faculty Groups: no report
Ad Hoc Committee on the Status of women: no report
Reports from University committees:
Curriculum: Kay Riedel reported that the curriculum committee has approved 376 course changes, department requests, and new courses for the 2016 catalog.
Faculty Grievance: no report
Faculty Benefits and Welfare: no report
Library: no report
Academic Affairs and Standards: no report
Parking and Planning: no report
Student Evaluation of Instruction: no report
Distance Learning Leadership Council: no report
Strategic Program Review: Donna Gautier stated that the committee will meet on Friday and will be presenting a motion to increase the size of the committee. She reported that departments undergoing review have been spending considerable time compiling data required for the review process because even though the necessary data has already been collected by the University it is not readily retrievable in the form required for the review.
Unfinished Business:
George Wooddell asked the President of the Faculty Senate to appoint a budget committee.
Senator Wooddell also reported that he has worked on compiling policies that have been approved by the senate, putting the policies in the required policy format. He stated that the senate president needs to see that a policy gets routed to the proper officials.
Senator McDonald presented a resolution asking the senate to urge the legislature and governor not to cut higher education. Senator Wooddell seconded the motion for the resolution and added that the resolution should be sent to print and television news media, etc. The motion passed unanimously.
Chad Parker stated that he has heard concerns from faculty about not having a provost. He said that there needs to be a way to communicate among faculty to provide information to avoid rumors and provide updates on changes, progress, and such. Jim McDonald suggested that the executive committee consider how to address this matter.
Regarding the issue of sabbatical pay, Chad Parker stated that a common sabbatical policy is to have 100% pay for 1 semester or 50% pay for a 1 year sabbatical. G.H. Massiha stated that he was told by administrators that a dean must initiate requests for sabbatical positions and also requests for pay adjustments, for example increasing the pay for adjuncts. Senator McDonald commented that the new procedure for faculty handbook changes provides an opportunity for the faculty senate to make changes in policy. For example, the senate could put forward a new sabbatical policy as a handbook policy and the administration would have to respond.
New Business: No new business was introduced.
Meeting adjourned at 5:06 pm.
Kathleen Knierim
Secretary