Minutes of the Faculty Senate | Faculty Senate | SIU

Meeting convened at 1:02 p.m. by Peggy Stockdale, President.

ROLL CALL

Members present: James S. Allen, Mark A. Amos, Joseph Brown, Terry Clark, Paula K. Davis, Lisabeth DiLalla, Stephen D. Ebbs, Timothy Fink (for Lori Merrill-Fink), Philip C. Howze, H. Randy Hughes, Kathryn A. Hytten, Allan Karnes (ex officio), Sanjeev Kumar, Mary E. Lamb, David A. Lightfoot, Douglas W. Lind, Karen Lips (for Matt R. Whiles), Aldo D. Migone, Don Rice (ex officio), R. William Rowley, Mohammad R. Sayeh, Thomas A. Shaw, Pamela A. Smoot, Gerald R. Spittler, Spyros Tragoudas (ex officio), Peggy Stockdale, Rebecca J. Weston, John R. Winings, Kay M. Zivkovich.

Members absent: Fernando Trevino (ex officio), Russ Trimble (ex officio).

Members absent without proxy: Edward J. Alfrey, Gary Apgar, Peter Borgia, Jon D. Davey, Carl R. Flowers, Maureen D. Francis, John D. McIntyre.

Visitors and guests: Jerry Blakemore (General Counsel), David Carlson (Library Affairs), Brad Colwell (Educational Administration and Higher Education), John Haller (President's Office), John Koropchak (VC for Research and Graduate Dean), Glenn Poshard (President's Office), various media representatives.

MINUTES

Minutes from the meeting of February 19, 2008, were approved as presented.

REPORTS

1. L. DiLalla read P. Stockdale's written statement addressing the recent salary increases approved for the President's staff. P. Stockdale also extended an invitation to President Poshard to attend the Senate meeting to discuss his decision to put Chancellor Trevino on administrative leave (see appendix 1).

2. S. Kumar introduced and welcomed newly-elected Faculty Senators T. Shaw (Applied Sciences and Arts), R. Weston (Liberal Arts) and M. Sayeh (Engineering).

3. President Poshard expressed appreciation for being asked to attend, noting he is aware that there is much concern across campus regarding the Chancellor. He gave an overview of the chancellor search process and cited his reasons for hiring Chancellor Trevino. He then discussed his reasons for placing the Chancellor on administrative leave. He introduced J. Blakemore, who outlined how the process would move forward, noting the first step is that the President provides notice and places the Chancellor on administrative leave; the second step is that the President provides specifics and allows the Chancellor an opportunity address the concerns. Should the responses be insufficient from the perspective of both the President and Board of Trustees, then the third step would be an appeal by the Chancellor through a three-member arbitration panel, whose decision would be final and binding. If the President decides to proceed with a "just cause" termination, then the Chancellor would have tenure rights, which would allow him to return to the faculty ranks.

M. Lamb asked if the notice of charges against the Chancellor are a matter of public record. J. Blakemore responded that his advice to the Board of Trustees would be that the document not be public. What is public are the obligations the Chancellor has under his contract. J. Allen commented that he has been at SIUC for almost 17 years, and in the course of that time, he has been through 8 chancellors (1 every 2 years). This is the first time a change has been made so very public. He pointed out that the University has a site visit coming up next year for re-accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. His concern is that the University may be re-accredited conditionally as a consequence of its leadership instability. This situation also does not contribute to enrollment management or to the recruitment of outstanding research faculty. It is bad timing, at the least. President Poshard responded that he deeply regrets what this is doing to the University, but he waited as long as he could [to take action].

4. Provost Rice commented that the one thing to keep in mind is that the Chancellor is still Chancellor and will hold that title while the process plays out. Although he (Provost Rice) has been asked to step in and help with the work of the Chancellor's office, it means no change in title for him. He is still the Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor, as well as the Associate Provost for Academic Administration. He indicated that it will be "business as usual."

Provost Rice reported: a) the SIUC Debate Team won the National Collegiate Debate Championship. Also, alt.news, the tv news program produced by students in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, has won another national Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; b) the University has a memorandum of understanding with Royal and Company, a firm that assists institutions of higher education in searching for students of a particular profile. The first search is about to be launched under Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Victoria Valle. Currently, approximately 125,000 students have been targeted for contact by Royal. In addition, Royal will contact those who applied to the University in the past but did not come to find out why and encourage them to reconsider SIUC. They will also contact those students who came and left to find out why and if they would consider returning; c) as a result of the events over the past month, the letters for those candidates for promotion and/or tenure have not yet been sent; however, they should be going out this week.

J. Allen commended Provost Rice for being a voice of calm reason during these circumstances and expressed the hope that he will consider the position of interim chancellor should that position come open. Provost Rice responded that it is premature at this time to consider this possibility. Even so, he has stated to the President that he would decline to be considered for acting or interim chancellor and would also decline to be a candidate for chancellor.

5. J. Koropchak reminded Senators of the fifth annual research town meeting to be held on April 1. Last year, approximately 450 people attended the event. New this year is an extended period for the poster sessions. Congressman Jerry Costello has agreed to attend and make some remarks, contingent upon whether or not Congress is in session.

6. A. Karnes reported on the March 14 meeting of the Faculty Advisory Council to the IBHE (see appendix 2). In response to A. Karnes' suggestion to write Representative Miller, P. Stockdale asked if A. Karnes could create a template of a letter that could be distributed through the listserv. Faculty could then personalize the letter as needed and send it to Representative Miller. A. Karnes agreed to do this.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

1. S. Kumar reported that because of some resignations, the elections for three colleges Engineering, Liberal Arts and Applied Sciences and Arts were moved up. Those elections have been completed, and along with those mentioned earlier, new Senators include himself (re-elected from Engineering) and Joan Davis (Applied Sciences and Arts). The final ballots for the elections in Education and Human Services, Medicine, Science and the Term Faculty Voting Unit will be mailed at the end of the week.

2. S. Kumar reported that, at the request of the Chancellor, the Executive Council convened a committee to review a draft of the revised Student Conduct Code. D. Lind, one of the committee members, indicated there was nothing in the document the committee objected to, but rather it was more clarification that members wanted, such as the jurisdiction of the University (does it extend into cyberspace), procedural issues and rights of people who are accusing others of social misconduct. P. Stockdale reported that the committee reviewed and discussed the documents. She then met with the chair of the Student Conduct Code Revision Committee, Dean Paul Sarvela, to convey the Senate Review Committee's comments. She believes the meeting was productive, and Dean Sarvela clarified the questions they had about the Code and agreed to consider some of the changes they suggested.

J. Allen asked whether the Senate as a whole would have the opportunity to consider the changes to the Code. In light of the initiative, Writing Across the Curriculum, specialist Dr. Donald McCabe from Rutgers University [was invited to conduct a survey], which indicated that there is fairly widespread concern on the part of faculty about academic integrity at this institution. J. Allen does not believe the University conversation is done with the Code as it pertains to academic misconduct. Provost Rice responded that part of the reason the group did not move in the direction of academic misconduct is that there is a committee that has been put together of members from the Edwardsville, Carbondale, and Springfield campuses that is attempting to finalize a policy and procedures regarding academic misconduct on all the campuses. He believes the feeling was that the committee reviewing the Code should confine itself to the subject matter of the Code and leave the academic misconduct issues until such time as the other committee has completed its work.

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES --& S. Kumar, Chair

S. Kumar reported there were two requests for representatives. The first was for the Signage Committee, and the nomination forwarded was Ning Weng, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering. The second request was for representatives to the Student Conduct Code Review Committee. Since the Chancellor was looking for Faculty Senate review, the Committee on Committees decided to appoint only Senators to the committee. Those appointed were: P. Stockdale, Mark Amos and D. Lind.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE --& P. Smoot, Chair

1. P. Smoot reported the committee has two resolutions for the Senate to consider. She asked for a waiver of the five-day rule to consider the resolutions. G. Spittler so moved; seconded by M. Lamb.

Motion to waive the five-day rule carried on a voice vote.

2. P. Smoot presented for approval the Resolution to Recommend Approval of the RME to Change the Name of the College of Business and Administration to the College of Business. Provost Rice commented that while the name change will be immediate for the college, because of the conversion to Banner and the problems with implementing that system, it will likely not be a change that will show up on student paperwork until sometime mid-winter.

Resolution was approved on a voice vote. [see appendix 3]

3. P. Smoot presented for approval the Resolution to Recommend the Approval of the RME to Establish a Specialization in Agricultural Communications. S. Kumar asked if this is a resource neutral recommendation. P. Smoot responded that it is resource neutral.

Resolution was approved on a voice vote. [see appendix 4]

BUDGET COMMITTEE --& T. Clark, Chair

S. Kumar (for T. Clark) reported that the committee is examining in-state tuition rates for students from bordering states.

FACULTY STATUS AND WELFARE COMMITTEE --& G. Apgar, Chair

P. Howze (for G. Apgar) reported: 1) the Illinois Education Association is planning to send a bus to Springfield for SIU Lobby Day; 2) he received a mailing from Mid-Continent University out of Mayfield, Kentucky, offering a four-year degree--Bachelors in Business Management--at John A. Logan College (JALC). JALC claims it is only a site for the degree. P. Howze pointed out that if legislation passes allowing community colleges to have a separate board, then universities would not even have to be notified about these types of degrees. In essence, this would break a covenant that universities have had with community colleges for a long time that community colleges would take care of the first two years, and universities would do the rest. A. Karnes agreed, also pointing out that, unfortunately, the way the higher education statutes are written in Illinois, for any out of state university, no matter what their delivery system, if they "ring the right bell" on the application, the IBHE is forced to recognize the degree; 3) the committee was given a charge by P. Stockdale to examine other than salaries (OTS) funds. He thanked Cheryl Reinhardt from the Provost's office who answered all the committee's questions with great candor. The committee's questions surrounded three main issues: a) is there a proportionality between salaries and OTS. The answer was that there really is none. It is possible the committee could do a further examination and possibly discover a trend; b) is the downward trend in OTS funding across the University within the individual colleges. That trend is certainly verified by the statistics. The trend, unfortunately, is bolstered by the University having to absorb health insurance as part of the OTS. It was appropriated but not funded, so the University has to pay that portion of the bill; and c) is there regression. The root of the problem is that OTS is something that needs to be funded by the state because there is no place else within the University from which OTS can be bolstered.

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE --& M.Amos, Chair

M. Amos reported: 1) the committee has been working on the issue of balancing the way the JRB pool is vetted. They have been looking at other models to ensure getting as unbiased a group as possible; 2) the committee had a request from outside of Faculty Senate to look into an issue. There was much discussion as to whether or not the issue was in [the committee's purview]. There are still some complications involved, so members will meet again to discuss the matter; 3) members will also meet again to collect information from Dean Cradit on the College of Business's proposal for differential tuition. P. Stockdale noted she has invited Dean Cradit to attend next month's Senate meeting. Provost Rice commented that at the last Board of Trustees meeting, both he and Edwardsville Provost Paul Ferguson were asked to look at differential tuition in a larger scope, to look at other institutions that have differential tuition, and to look at the criteria by which differential tuition is justified. The Board does not want them to set any policy for review of requests for differential tuition, only to give them the variables that other institutions keep in mind when they entertain proposals such as the one from the College of Business. He and Provost Ferguson are in the process of doing that, but likely will not be ready with anything for the Board until its June meeting. Provost Rice indicated he will share that information with M. Amos.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

J. Brown asked T. Fink to comment on the upcoming Patsy Cline Show, believing it is one example on this campus of extraordinary talent that should be nationally recognized. T. Fink responded that some of the details can be found at playhouse.siu.edu. The show opens on June 20 with a reprise of "Always Patsy Cline," which features Lori Merrill-Fink in the title role. The Theater Department is also doing the second production in the state of "The Producers" and is bringing in some terrific talent, including an equity actor from Chicago in the leading role who also happens to be an SIU alum, Malcolm [Rothman].

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 2:28 p.m.