Minutes of the Faculty Senate

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

ROLL CALL

Members present: Mark A. Amos, Gary Apgar, Loretta Battaglia (for Stephen D. Ebbs), Terry Clark, Jon D. Davey, Lisabeth DiLalla (for Thomas H. Tarter), James S. Ferraro, Carl R. Flowers, Samuel Goldman (ex officio), Philip C. Howze, H. Randy Hughes, Kathryn A. Hytten, Allan Karnes (ex officio), Sanjeev Kumar, Mary E. Lamb, Douglas W. Lind, Michael J. Lydy, Lori Merrill-Fink, Cathy C. Mogharreban, Daniel Overturf (for R. William Rowley), Pamela A. Smoot, Gerald R. Spittler, Peggy Stockdale, Brooke H. H. Thibeault, Rebecca J. Weston, John Winings (for Joan M. Davis), Kay M. Zivkovich.

Members absent: Thomas Britton (ex officio), Don Rice (ex officio), Russ Trimble (ex officio).

Members absent without proxy: Edward J. Alfrey, Joseph Brown, David A. Lightfoot, Mohammad R. Sayeh, Thomas A. Shaw, Matt Whiles.

Visitors and guests: Om Agrawal (Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes), James Allen (History), Lisa Brooten (Radio and Television), James Garvey (Fisheries and Aquaculture Center), Marla Mallette (Curriculum and Instruction), Stile Smith (Daily Egyptian), Adam Testa (Southern Illinoisan).

MINUTES

The minutes from the regular meeting on April 14, 2009, were approved as presented.

REPORTS

1. P. Stockdale read into the record her final report (included as Attachment A to the Agenda).

2. Chancellor Goldman reported: a) there is still no movement on the budget. If the legislature has not made any progress by a certain deadline in May, then the [approval] vote goes up to 60%. Chancellor Goldman noted that he erred when he reported having met with the Senate Appropriations Committee; it was actually the House Appropriations Committee with whom SIUC met. It was a good discussion, and they seemed satisfied with what the University is doing with respect to issues of efficiency, budget controls, etc.; b) at the present time, there are approximately 9,100 [new] students enrolled. Out of state numbers are slightly better than this time last year. Somewhere around 13,000 financial aid packages were mailed out, and his hope is that those will be sent back in a timely manner; c) recruitment is ongoing, and SOAR is getting big numbers. He is also hearing positive feedback on Banner with respect to undergraduate self-enrollment; c) his meeting with the ad hoc committee on interim titles went well. The committee made some revisions and sent it back to him. He will share [those guidelines] broadly with the constituency groups so they are all aware of the interim issues.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

T. Clark commented that the balance on the enrollment spreadsheet appears to be very large in the negative, but that is because the dates do not entirely correspond to last year's; the schedule is somewhat different. Chancellor Goldman explained that the other issue is that there are still a large number of applications yet be processed. He is told the reason for this is the delay in receiving transcripts.

REPORTS (cont.)

Chancellor Goldman reported that SIU was the first to propose tuition increases. At the Appropriations Committee meeting, the university that followed SIU was Northeastern, and they are coming in at 15%; Edwardsville is proposing 6%, but their tuition is fairly low. Carbondale went in at 4.5%. The implications of 4.5% are that funds will be tight; in effect, the revenue from the increase will just about equal all the pay raises. Consequently, the University will have to find other places to [make cuts]. There is $300,000 in the budget for the library for periodicals and journals to make up for the cuts the library has taken over the years on those. There is also $400,000 built in to support first year experience activities.

Chancellor Goldman reported that the nursing program planning is going well. The compatibility of the science programs both here and in Edwardsville is very good, though there is a concern that it will put a lot of pressure on the University's current labs. Deferred maintenance dollars will be examined to see if some of those funds can be used for other things. Additional labs will be needed in time for the first year nursing students that will be coming in a year from now. It is his hope this can be done because at that point, the second year pre-nursing students will be here, so the numbers will really begin to grow. He has been told that this campus can accommodate around 120 pre-nurses, and the waiting list is very high. He noted that no one will be asked to go to Edwardsville to complete the program. Chancellor Goldman believes nursing will be a major contributor to the University's enrollment and revenue base. Additionally, he has been having discussions with Northwestern's president about the possibility of a physical therapy program on this campus. Northwestern is the only university that has a good accredited program in Illinois. His hope is SIU can join with Northwestern while working toward getting its own accredited program.

Chancellor Goldman reported that the numbers for international students are looking good, in particular students in Bejing. His hope is to get a substantial number of those students to come here, though other areas are being looked at as well. There is continued effort being made on [recruiting] transfer students. He is aware of the difficulty the University has had in that area, but he believes most of those [problems] can be overcome.

P. Stockdale asked if all the SOAR programs will be held on campus this year. L. Merrill-Fink responded that there are three programs scheduled for upstate. Chancellor Goldman indicated he will be having discussions about SOAR. He believes it is an excellent program but stretches out way too long.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

S. Kumar expressed his pleasure at having worked with all the members of the Executive Council: Senate President Peggy Stockdale; Mary Lamb; Terry Clark, Pam Smoot, Phil Howze, Mark Amos and Rebecca Weston. He then presented the list of resolutions presented by the Executive Council over the last year (included as Attachment B to the Agenda).

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE -- P. Smoot, Chair

1. L. Merrill-Fink moved to waive the five day rule to consider the resolution tabled from the previous meeting; seconded by Mary Ellen Lamb.

Motion to waive the five day rule was approved on a voice vote.

L. Merrill-Fink (for P. Smoot) presented for approval the Resolution to Recommend Approval of the RME of a Pre-Law Specialization Within the Philosophy Major (included as appendix 1 to these minutes). She reported that at the last Senate meeting, the resolution was tabled until more information was obtained on the specialization. She indicated she was in contact with Philosophy Chair George Schedler, noting one of the concerns was that the specialization would only be one course; however, that is not the case. The pre-law specialization is a 33-credit hour specialization, with the addition of two new classes--one being Advanced Critical Thinking, and the other Philosophy of Law, which is a 400 level course. In addition, there will be a thesis required of all pre-law specializations. Currently, Philosophy 499 is offered to all Philosophy majors, but it is not required.

Resolution was approved on a voice vote.

2. P. Smoot presented the committee's final report (included as appendix 2 to these minutes). She thanked committee members for their service and patience with her over the past year.

BUDGET COMMITTEE -- T. Clark, Chair

T. Clark presented and reviewed the committee's final report. He also gave a brief presentation on the impact Barking Dawg Productions has made [over the last couple of years]. He stressed the need for direct involvement by the leadership of the University in media planning and production.

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES -- R. Weston, Chair

R. Weston presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment D to the Agenda). She reported the committee nominated 25 individuals for ad hoc committees, search committee, etc., not including the regular slate of University assignments made each year. She thanked committee members for their service over the past year.

FACULTY STATUS AND WELFARE COMMITTEE -- P. Howze, Chair

P. Howze presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment E to the Agenda), noting it was a rigorous year, having dealt with the plagiarism issue and the elimination of the Faculty/Staff Ombudsman position (to be revisited).

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE -- M.Amos, Chair

M. Amos presented and reviewed the committee's final report (included as Attachment F to the Agenda).

OLD BUSINESS

1. P. Stockdale reported that the Council of Illinois University Senates met on this campus on April 24. These are the Faculty Senate presidents and vice presidents or their appointees who meet about twice a year to discuss shared concerns around the state. One topic of discussion was how faculty can have more of a voice and be taken more seriously. One institution represented at the meeting indicated its Senate approved with its board of trustees a memorandum of understanding stating that although the chief executive officers have final say on university business, those decisions will be made with full accounting from the faculty. Also, the reasons behind any decisions contrary to the faculty's input would be communicated back to the faculty. P. Stockdale believes that is what this Senate has attempted to do with some of the specific issues it has handled. That kind of omnibus understanding might be something the next Senate could consider.

2. P. Stockdale, on behalf of the Faculty Senate, presented certificates of appreciation to those Senators whose terms end this year: Mark Amos, Terry Clark, Jon Davey, Carl Flowers, William Rowley, Mohammad Sayeh, Thomas Shaw, Pamela Smoot and Matt Whiles.

NEW BUSINESS

P. Howze reminded Senators that the Illinois Higher Education Lobby Days will be held on May 6 in Springfield.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

On behalf of the Senate, S. Kumar thanked P. Stockdale for her leadership over the past year and a half.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:46 p.m.