Minutes of the Faculty Senate

Main Content

(2011-2012)

[as corrected]

Meeting convened at 1:00 p.m. by William Recktenwald, 2011-2012 President.

ROLL CALL

Members present: Ira J. Altman, Ken B. Anderson, Gary A. Apgar, Kimberly Asner-Self, Connie J. Baker, Blaine Bartholomew, George E. Boulukos, Lisa B. Brooten, Tsuchin Chu, Stephen D. Ebbs, Qingfeng Ge, Stephanie Graves, Scott Ishman (ex officio), David M. Johnson, Jyotsna Kapur, Allan L. Karnes, Usha Lakshmanan (for Meera Komarraju), Mary E. Lamb, John T. Legier, Douglas W. Lind, Diane Muzio, John W. Nicklow (ex officio), William Recktenwald, Nicole K. Roberts, Jose R. Ruiz, Gerald R. Spittler, Brooke H. H. Thibeault, Stacy D. Thompson, James A. Wall, Yu-Wei Wang (for Michelle Kibby-Faglier).

Members absent: Rita Cheng (ex officio).

Members absent without proxy: Om P. Agrawal, Sandra K. Collins, Lisabeth A. DiLalla, James E. Garvey, James A. MacLean, Marla H. Mallette, Benjamin F. Rodriguez, S. Jonathan Wiesen.

Visitors and guests: Terry Clark, Bruce A. DeVantier, Mark J. Dolan, Anthony T. Fleege, Edward J. Heist, Eric J. Holzmueller, Holly S. Hurlburt, Carolyn G. Kingcade, Codell Rodriguez (Southern Illinoisan), Rachel B. Whaley, Terri S. Wilson, Belle S. Woodward, Mingqing Xiao.

REPORTS

1. W. Recktenwald presented his final report as Senate President (included as appendix 1 to the minutes).

2. Provost Nicklow reported: a) freshman admissions are currently still over 7.2%, and registered freshmen numbers for fall are up 12.5%; so, admissions are trending in a positive direction. Transfers are down slightly, but freshmen are the focus right now; b) interviews for the position of Applied Sciences and Arts dean are complete. There were three candidates, but one withdrew. The interim Science and Agricultural Sciences dean searches are complete and are in the decision phase at this time. There was one interviewee for both the library and Education and Human Services dean positions. The Mass Communication and Media Arts interim dean will begin within a week or two; c) the Chancellor wanted him to send her thanks to the Senate for its input on the strategic plan. The website is now up, so those who have individual input on the plan can submit it through the website; d) there were over 200 undergraduates interviewed over the weekend for peer mentor positions; 175 were hired. They will mentor for five or six hours a week and will be paid in part by the undergraduate assistant funding. These students are doing this because they are leaders and can have an impact others and the institution; e) he was just notified that a number of undergraduate Engineering students were awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "P3" Phase 2 award. There were 165 proposals submitted last year, and a team from SIU was one of 45 applicants to win that award. This year, even more prestigious was that they were awarded a Phase 2. There are only 15 of those in the entire country, and SIU is the only award winner from Illinois. Other competitors are from top tier universities such as Princeton and Vanderbulit. The grant is for $90,000 over 18 months; f) the legislative report on pensions was not released on April 17 as was indicated; however, the Governor has released his proposal. The University is evaluating scenarios and budget impacts; essentially, every percent the institution has to pick up will cost $3 million. The other concern is employees; if they have to pick up an additional 3%, what does that do to the effective 2% raise that is on the table this year? Also, what will that do to fees and tuiton in the future? There is a lot of uncerrtainty.

3. S. Ishman thanked W. Recktenwald for his hard work and efforts on behalf of the Faculty Senate.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL -- No report.

G. Apgar thanked W. Recktenwald and expressed his pleasure to have served as his vice president. He also thanked the Executive Council members and expressed his appreciation for having served with them.

BUDGET COMMITTEE -- J. Wall, Chair

J. Wall presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment A to the Agenda).

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES -- K. Asner-Self, Chair

K. Asner-Self presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment B to the Agenda) and thanked W. Recktenwald for giving the committee time when there was quick turnaround on some of the committee requests. She also thanked committee members and those who served as proxies during the term for their efforts on the committee.

FACULTY STATUS AND WELFARE COMMITTEE -- L. Brooten/S. Collins, Co-Chairs

L. Brooten presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment C to the Agenda) and thanked W. Recktenwald and G. Apgar for their leadership this year. She also provided an update on the survey, reporting that as of the close of the survey on April 20, there were 164 responses; 85% were from tenured or tenure track faculty, which is actually a fairly significant segment of the tenure/tenure track faculty. Once the report is completed, it will be made available to everyone by the end of May.

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE -- G. Spittler, Chair

G. Spittler distributed a copy of the committee's final report (included as Attachment D to the Agenda). He reported that there was only one major issue for the committee, which was to identify who among the faculty does or does not have the right to serve on the Faculty Senate and/or vote in the various elections. The issue turned out to be quite complex, as the committee discovered a number of critical contradictions in the definition of "voting faculty." After much discussion, they decided that additional data is needed. This issue will need to be carried over to the next Senate.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE -- S. Ebbs/S. Graves, Co-Chairs

1. S. Ebbs presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment E to the minutes).

2. S. Ebbs moved to waive the five-day rule in order to consider the Resolution to Recommend Approval of the RME for the Addition of the Specialization in Organizational Development to the Technical Resource management Degree in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts (included as appendix 2 to the minutes); seconded by S. Graves. K. Anderson asked why the resolution had to be considered at this time. S. Graves responded that the committee has a backlog of RMEs and is dealing with five or six at a time. The resolution could wait until the next meeting for approval; however, with the changeover of the Senate, there will be few continuing members. They simply wanted to get as much of the work done as possible. S. Ebbs added that this RME was the least contentious of those that will be carried over.

Motion to waive the five-day rule carried, with one abstention, on a voice vote.

S. Ebbs presented the resolution for approval. A. Karnes asked what the difference is between this degree and a management degree. J. Legier responded that the Technical Resource Management degree [is for those juniors, seniors and non-traditional students only] who are already working in a technical field and have come back to complete a bachelors degree for advancement and mobility. K. Anderson asked whether there is any financial impact. S. Ebbs responded that there is not.

Resolution was approved, with two abstentions, on a voice vote.

OLD BUSINESS -- None.

NEW BUSINESS

W. Recktenwald recognized outgoing Senators Gary Apgar, Gerald Spittler, James Garvey, Stephen Ebbs, Lisabeth DiLalla, Lisa Brooten, Benjamin Rodriguez, Mary Lamb, Allan Karnes, Marla Mallette, Jose Ruiz and Sandra Collins with certificates of appreciation. G. Apgar recognized W. Recktenwald's two years of service on the Senate and presented him with a certificate of appreciation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

W. Recktenwald announced that the first meeting of the 2012-13 Senate will convene shortly in order to elect officers.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:31 p.m.

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