Minutes of the Faculty Senate

Meeting convened at 1:02 p.m. by Ramanarayanan Viswanathan, President.

ROLL CALL

Members present: David J.Anthony, Gary Apgar, Robert D. Benford, Joseph Brown, Terry Clark, Brad Colwell (ex officio), Julia Colyar (for Kathryn A. Hytten), Paula K. Davis, Lisabeth DiLalla, John M. Dunn (ex officio), Carl R. Flowers, Philip C. Howze, Sanjeev Kumar, David A. Lightfoot, Aldo D. Migone, Don Rice (ex officio), Ryan Netzley (for Mark A. Amos), Gerald R. Spittler, Peggy Stockdale, Lori Vermeulen, Ramanarayanan Viswanathan, Jan Waggoner (for John D. McIntyre), Matt R. Whiles, John R. Winings, David S. Worrells, Kay M. Zivkovich.

Members absent: Allan Karnes (ex officio), Russ Trimble (ex officio).

Members absent without proxy: Edward J. Alfrey, James S. Allen, Peter Borgia, Jon D. Davey, Uday Desai, Stephen D. Ebbs, Maureen D. Francis, Patrick J. Kelley, R. William Rowley, Pamela A. Smoot.

Visitors and Guests: Davd Carlson (Library Affairs), Fred Isberner (Applied Sciences and Arts), Charla Lautar (Allied Health), Andilee Warner (Recycling Center), Ashley Wiehle (Southern Illinoisan), Kevin Wise (Curriculum and Instruction).

MINUTES

The minutes of the 2006-2007 meeting on April 24, 2007, were approved as presented. The minutes of the 2007-2008 meeting on April 24, 2007, were approved as presented.

REPORTS

1. R. Viswanathan welcomed new and returning Senators and thanked them for the opportunity to lead the Senate over the coming year. He commented that he knew little of shared governance and academic freedom until becoming a part of this body three years ago. He believes the Senate should be very vigilant in safeguarding these rights. Senators should feel free to contact him or any of the Executive Council if they have questions, concerns or suggestions.

R. Viswanathan reported: a) the Committee on Committees will need to begin thinking about how to proceed with respect to selecting Judicial Review Board members under the new procedures. He reminded Senators that under the new procedures, the number of nominees from each college is determined by the number of Faculty Senators from each college. Nominations will be vetted jointly by the Committee on Committees and the Executive Council; b) he recently attended a meeting of the Council of Illinois University Senates in Urbana-Champaign. This is an informal group that meets to discuss issues of concern around the state. Topics discussed at the meeting included campus safety, ethics training, and including term faculty within the senates (which has already occurred here). Also, there may be a resolution forthcoming from the Council regarding the pension shortfall. He will bring the resolution to the Senate once it is approved; c) he will attempt to arrange a meeting with President Poshard before a decision is reached on the chancellor candidates. He expressed the hope that everyone had a chance to meet with the candidates during their campus visits.

2. Interim Chancellor Dunn congratulated the newly-elected officers of the Senate and also expressed his appreciation to 2006-2007 officers for their service and willingness to participate in their respective roles. Interim Chancellor Dunn reported: a) graduation is coming up, and faculty are encouraged to attend; b) there was a recent incident regarding campus safety that involved one person observing another hiding a bag in one of the buildings. As it turns out, it was a student who was innocently attempting to leave a class project behind for a class later in the day. The person who observed this behavior did the right thing by contacting the instructor so the building could be evacuated; it is better to err on the side of safety. The campus is exploring various forms of communication systems such as text messaging and speaker systems in an attempt to alert the campus as a whole of potential dangers and evacuations; c) there were 31 Excellence Through Commitment award recipients who were honored at a dinner on their behalf; d) he attended the SIU Foundation Board meeting last week and spoke to that group about the SIUC campus. He believes the Foundation continues to do good work not only on the comprehensive campaign but also on building the message about the University. He noted that the Foundation has taken note of, and is pleased with, Chancellor Communique. There is much that is not being reported by either theSouthern Illinoisan or the Daily Egyptian about faculty accomplishments and the many other good things that are happening on campus. This kind of information needs to be fed to alumni and others because they will not get it otherwise. Interim Chancellor Dunn indicated that this will be his last meeting with the Faculty Senate. He expressed appreciation for the support of the Senate over the last several years and encouraged Senators to continue doing what they are doing. He has always believed that faculty senates are very special in the roles they play within universities.

On behalf of the Faculty Senate, R. Viswanathan presented to Interim Chancellor Dunn a plaque which read, "John M. Dunn, Interim Chancellor. In warm appreciation of your skilled leadership during the years 2002-2007 and for your contributions to the work of the Faculty Senate as Provost and Vice Chancellor, our sincere thanks and best wishes. Presented by the SIUC Faculty Senate, May 8, 2007."

3. Interim Provost Rice reported: a) the new dean for the College of Science is Dr. Jay Means from Western Michigan University. He will begin his position on July 1. Interim Provost Rice reported he will be meeting with the dean search committees for both Liberal Arts and Education and Human Services on May 11 to narrow down to the candidates that have been recommended by both the faculty and the search committees. In both cases, the successful candidates will be brought back to campus to have more intensive interactions with chairs, directors and faculty before most people leave at the end of the semester; b) every summer, Bryn Mawr College holds its Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration, a four-week workshop and training session that allows participants to become involved in issues in higher education. Last year, L. Vermeulen participated; this year, two people were selected: Yvonne Williams (Center for Academic Success) and Linda McCabe-Smith (Rehabilitation Institute); c) an alumni who owns a building near Wrigley Field in Chicago recently donated use of the building for an event at which 150 high school counselors and advisors were invited to watch a baseball game. A number of people from SIUC attended, including Carmen Suarez (Enrollment Management) and T. Clark, both of whom made numerous of contacts and spoke highly of the University. This is an event that should continue because it made an impression on those who attended and was very successful.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

R. Viswanathan noted that in one of the University committee reports submitted with Attachment A, the Classroom Upgrade Committee, it was mentioned that since spring 2007, funds for this initiative have been frozen. Interim Chancellor Dunn indicated there will be some classroom upgrades this summer. There is still half a million dollars sequestered in that fund; however, he will check on this matter and get back with R. Viswanathan.

REPORTS (cont.)

4. Reports were submitted by faculty representatives on various University committees (included as Attachment A to the Agenda).

5. B. Colwell reported on the May 3 Graduate Council meeting: a) Spyros Tragoudas was elected chair, and he was elected vice chair; b) there is a possibility the Council will meet over the summer. There has been encouragement to meet in July after the new chancellor has been seated; c) the Graduate School has been dealing with its fellowships as a result of last year's Department of Justice examination of how scholarships are awarded. One of the issues that needed further study was the application process. Recommendations made by a blue ribbon panel formed through the Educational Policies Committee included such things as what to do with department rankings and standardized test scores--things that have a real impact on how graduate scholarships and fellowships get portioned out. There was contentious discussion within the Council, so what the Policies Committee recommended, and the Council ultimately agreed to, was to allow the Graduate School for one year to adopt some new procedures and conduct a trial run to determine what the impact is, either good or bad; d) there will be a resolution coming in the fall to move the final defense date up for theses and dissertations. The deposit date will always remain the same, but the date by which they can be turned in will be a separate, earlier date. Also, the Council approved a resolution that all research projects, theses and dissertations should be submitted through Turnitin.com prior to submission to the Graduate School.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

P. Stockdale reported: a) Interim Chancellor Dunn and Interim Provost Rice met with the Executive Council and discussed fall enrollment projections and budget issues for FY08. Interim Provost Rice explained that every effort is being made to protect GA funding; b) there was discussion about the Faculty Senator who believed her term had expired but in actuality has another two years to serve. It was an occasion to re-think the Senate's Operating Papers with respect to clarifying term limits. It was determined that a term is considered three years; therefore, each senator is allowed to serve two consecutive three-year terms. There may be instances where a person begins service on the Senate by completing another person's term, possibly for one or two years. This does not qualify as a term. The Operating Paper will be clarified on this point; c) a special election will be conducted at the beginning of the fall semester to replace a senator from the College of Science who is resigning. Those in that college should consider encouraging their colleagues to be nominated.

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES -- S. Kumar, Chair

1. S. Kumar reported that the committee received a request to appoint another person to the Student Conduct Code Review Committee to replace Steve Hallock, who is leaving the University. The committee forwarded the name of Joseph Brown to serve on the committee.

2. S. Kumar presented for approval the Standing Committee Assignments (included as Attachment B to the Agenda).

Standing Committee Assignments approved on a voice vote.

R. Viswanathan reported that standing committees met informally and elected their chairs for the year: T. Clark, Budget; G. Apgar, Faculty Status and Welfare; M. Amos, Governance; and U. Desai, UEPC.

BUDGET COMMITTEE -- T. Clark, Chair

T. Clark reported the committee will continue hammering at the same issues as last year--enrollment and marketing at the University level.

FACULTY STATUS AND WELFARE COMMITTEE -- None.

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE -- None.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE -- None.

NEW BUSINESS

R. Viswanathan introduced A. Warner, who presented a video on the University's Vermicomposting Center and provided information on the services that are available through the Recycling Program. She thanked Interim Chancellor Dunn for his enthusiastic support from the inception of the Vermicomposting Center.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - None.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:59 p.m.