Minutes of the Faculty Senate | Faculty Senate | SIU

Meeting convened at 1:00 p.m. by Peggy Stockdale, President.

ROLL CALL

Members present: Edward J. Alfrey, Gary Apgar, Thomas Britton (ex officio), Joseph Brown, Howard Carter (for Philip C. Howze), Terry Clark, Jon D. Davey, Joan M. Davis, Stephen D. Ebbs, James S. Ferraro, Carl R. Flowers, H. Randy Hughes, Kathryn A. Hytten, Allan Karnes (ex officio), Sanjeev Kumar, Douglas W. Lind, Michael J. Lydy, Lori Merrill-Fink, Cathy C. Mogharreban, Daniel Overturf (for R. William Rowley), Mohammad R. Sayeh, Pamela A. Smoot, Gerald R. Spittler, Peggy Stockdale, Brooke H. H. Thibeault, Rebecca J. Weston, Matt Whiles, Kay M. Zivkovich.

Members absent: Samuel Goldman (ex officio), Don Rice (ex officio), Russ Trimble (ex officio).

Members absent without proxy: Mark A. Amos, Mary E. Lamb, David A. Lightfoot, Thomas A. Shaw, Thomas H. Tarter.

Visitors and Guests: Jeff Engelhardt (Daily Egyptian), Carol Fisher (Labor and Employee Relations), Tammy Morris (University Communications), Stile Smith (Daily Egyptian), Adam Testa (Southern Illinoisan).

MINUTES

The minutes from the regular meeting on December 9, 2008, were approved as presented.

REPORTS

1. P. Stockdale reported: a) the joint Faculty Senate/Graduate Council committee on interim titles is moving forward. S. Kumar reported the committee is meeting regularly and is making good progress. They are examining whether there is a policy on existing titles, but have found none. He believes after its deliberations, the committee will have a good document; b) the Provost has asked the Senate to form an ad hoc committee to look into textbook reporting requirements under the new higher education act. Senator Durbin is very interested in this issue and has asked universities in the state to respond with regard to textbook prices and issues of that nature. The Committee on Committees was charged with naming the committee. She noted she was a member of an ad hoc committee that was formed about four years ago. They came up with a list of recommendations, hardly any of which were implemented. Provost Rice requested the Senate revisit that report, and so she has asked that two members of the former committee serve on the new committee. She would like two current Senators to serve as well. Collective input from all Senators on issues related to textbook costs and availability would be greatly appreciated and should be sent to the ad hoc committee; c) she remarked on a couple of articles, and the series of commentaries that followed, that appeared in the press the Southern Illinoisan and the Daily Egyptian, in particular. The first article dealt with the allegations of plagiarizing the plagiarism report. The article did not examine the facts, which are that the report was only a draft. It is--by definition of what plagiarism is and is not--in an institutional context of which boilerplate is expected and therefore not needing attribution. She asked [faculty] to be careful when they respond or are asked to respond to those kinds of allegations and to do their homework and find out what are the issues. Her concern is that there are faculty from both Carbondale and Edwardsville serving on that committee. When [their efforts] are disparaged in the press, it discourages [any] faculty from serving on these kinds of committees. She expressed the hope that the press will take this issue seriously and that Senators will communicate that back to their colleagues. The second article relates to the allegations made by FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) about the administration's response to their policy on public speech. FIRE's vicious [verbal] attacks on the Chancellor and Provost were appalling, and she again pointed out the need to be mindful and thoughtful in responding to [these kinds of issues]. P. Stockdale noted she did not respond to the letter from FIRE addressed to her as Faculty Senate President, as she was satisfied with the administration's response. She wanted to let the Senate know what actions she takes and does not take on behalf of the Senate, and this was one she did not take; d) the Senate should be aware that the Judicial Review Board (JRB) has suspended its activities until they meet with the Chancellor on February 20 to hear his response to their concerns regarding recent JRB recommendations. The JRB has a number of concerns, including that their decisions are not being taken seriously. One concern relates to a unanimous JRB decision to overturn an administrator's decision, which the Chancellor overruled, agreeing with the administrator decision. The grievant in that case is appealing to the Board of Trustees, which is the final level of appeal within the University. P. Stockdale explained she wrote a letter to the Board (with a copy to the President) on behalf of the Senate--after first checking with the Executive Council and getting their approval--as a kind of party of interest. She believes the Senate has an interest in this particular decision because it has the effect of instituting a de facto post-tenure review system, and this is an issue of interest to the faculty. She believes if there is going to be a post-tenure review system, then that is something the Senate needs to have a conversation about before it is decided by fiat in response to a grievance. She believes the Board will be taking up the faculty member's appeal at its April meeting. D. Lind asked if the Senate will have an opportunity to discuss [the letter to the Board]. P. Stockdale responded that the letter was sent under her signature after she received Executive Council approval. It was something that needed to be in under a certain amount of time. Depending on how the Board acts on the matter, she believes the Senate should have a conversation about its implications and what its response to that would be; e) Linda McCabe-Smith was unable to attend the meeting, but will be rescheduled.

2. A. Karnes reported that there is a meeting of the Faculty Advisory Council to the IBHE on February 20. He is unable to attend, so if anyone is willing to substitute for him, please let him know.

3. C. Fisher, the new training and development person in Labor and Employee Relations, introduced herself and provided a brief background of her experience in organizational development, project management and Human Resource development. She provided a brief overview of her approach to training, which is based on needs and input from others, and is integrated with the University's goals as well. The training website is located on the Labor and Employee Relations website ( http://laborrelations.siu.edu/ ).

4. A. Karnes reported on the February meeting of the Faculty Advisory Council to the IBHE (see appendix 1).

5. T. Britton reported the Graduate Council met on February 5. The Council decided to table its proposal on signature programs. He believes it will be resurrected, if necessary, to ensure that graduate education and research programs that are targeted for either enhancement or reduction go through some kind of process that includes questions about quality and enrollment.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

S. Kumar reported there were two proposed changes to the Operating Paper of the Faculty and the Faculty Senate that were sent to the faculty for a vote by referendum. One was to use the Huntington- Hill Method for determining the number of senators from each college. Faculty voted to approve this amendment 297 to 10. The second amendment was to allow for electronic voting. The amendment was approved by a vote of 303 to 8. The total voter response was approximately 21.5% of the ballots mailed. S. Kumar indicated the Governance Committee will be presenting a resolution to approve the use of electronic balloting for this spring. P. Stockdale noted the changes to the Operating Paper are currently on the Chancellor's desk awaiting approval.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE -- P. Smoot, Chair

1. P. Smoot reported the committee received three Reasonable and Moderate Extension (RME) proposals. She presented for approval first the Resolution to Approve the RME to Change the Specialization Names in Geography and Environmental Resources (included as Attachment A to the Agenda).

Resolution was approved on a voice vote.

P. Smoot reported the second RME was the addition of a pre-law specialization within the Philosophy major; however, there were members of the committee that had some concerns, so she invited the chair of the Philosophy Department to attend the committee's next meeting to respond to questions. P. Smoot reported the RME for name changes for the Center for Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections was sent to the committee for consideration, but she received back only three responses. She mentioned she has a resolution to present, but has not had the opportunity to speak with committee members to get their approval. P. Stockdale suggested committee members caucus briefly to see if they approve moving forward with the resolution. After doing so, R. Hughes moved to waive the five-day rule to allow consideration of the resolution; seconded by J. Brown.

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

P. Smoot presented for approval the Resolution to Approve the RME to Change the Name of the Center for Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections to the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and to Change the Name of the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts Degrees from Administration of Justice to Criminology and Criminal Justice. Copies of the resolution were distributed, and L. Merrill-Fink read it aloud to the membership.

Resolution was approved on a voice vote. [See appendix 2]

2. P. Stockdale noted that in reading through the minutes of the Senate's December meeting, there was discussion as to whether the issue of signature programs would again be raised. In light of the Graduate Council's decision to table its proposal, has a decision been made as to what action the Senate will take? T. Britton pointed out that the Graduate Council's rationale for tabling the proposal was so it could be brought forward again rather than abandoning it altogether. It was noted that the Senate was presented with a resolution on signature programs, but it was withdrawn; at this time, it will remain so.

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES -- R. Weston, Chair

R. Weston reported the committee nominated Phil Howze (Library Affairs) to serve on the Screening Committee for Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance. Also, the committee recommends for approval the following faculty to serve on the Ad Hoc Textbook Committee: Jim Allen, Professor, University Core Curriculum; Carl Flowers, Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Institute; Michael Madigan, Professor, Microbiology; and Wei Zhang, Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering.

Nominations were approved on a voice vote.

BUDGET COMMITTEE -- T. Clark, Chair

T. Clark gave a presentation on the updated marketing campaign developed by Barking Dawg Productions, as well as addressed point by point the criticisms they have received regarding how the campaign is being carried out. [view PowerPoint / view as pdf)

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE -- M. Amos, Chair

G. Spittler (for M. Amos) presented for approval the Resolution to Approve a Special Rule of Order for the Method of Collecting Ballots for the Spring 2009 Regular Election of Senators to the Faculty Senate, which was distributed to Senators. He reported the committee questioned why the Senate continues to use paper ballots for its elections when there are facilities within the University that can be used to collect ballots by electronic means. The resolution recommends an electronic process for collecting nomination and election ballots for Spring 2009 through the services provided by Applied Research Consultants (ARC). Upon adoption of the resolution, which requires a two-thirds majority vote, this special rule of order shall be recorded as an appendix to the Faculty Senate's Operating Paper. P. Stockdale noted she is still awaiting Chancellor approval on the changes to the Operating Paper, so the resolution is in anticipation of the changes being approved. J. Ferraro asked if [the recommendation to conduct elections electronically] is only for one year or is permanent. G. Spittler responded the intent is to conduct elections in this fashion permanently, subject to satisfactory performance the first year, though this is not stated in the resolution.

R. Hughes reported that the committee discussed other mechanisms for conducting electronic elections that may not require a separate contract--one of which is Blackboard though it is possible to select another method. One of the primary considerations is the availability of information that is necessary in order to conduct electronic balloting. It has been somewhat of a problem with respect to collecting all the names, e-mail addresses or other information needed to make electronic elections successful. At this point, the Senate has already conducted one election through ARC (JRB in the fall), and some of that information was carried over to this year. If there is a way to more easily collect faculty information, particularly the way they are contacted through e-mail or the way in which they can log into the system securely through resources available within the University, then the committee would like to pursue that avenue. R. Hughes believes there is room for further discussion as to what would be the most efficient method to conduct electronic balloting given the resources available in the Senate office to gather information. [The use of ARC] is the method of which there has been partial progress towards, and the Senate does have a contract with them for Spring 2009. The resolution purposely allows for electronic voting through ARC for this spring only because the committee believes more investigation [into other methods is needed].

S. Kumar suggested that if the Senate moves forward with the resolution, the first "whereas" should be amended to acknowledge that electronic elections will be held in anticipation of the Chancellor's approval of the changes to the Senate Operating Paper. J. Ferraro proposed a friendly amendment so that the first whereas would read, "Whereas the Faculty Senate anticipates that the Operating Paper of the Faculty and the Faculty Senate will allow the ballots in the election of senators to be collected electronically." It was noted the second whereas should be similarly worded. G. Spittler accepted these as friendly amendments.

G. Apgar questioned whether the Chancellor's acceptance of the Operating Paper changes would render the resolution moot, or is the resolution simply defining how the Senate will obtain ballots? P. Stockdale responded that the resolution allows the Senate to use ARC to conduct the spring elections. G. Apgar commented that it does not appear the Senate is sure that ARC is the best way to conduct the elections. P. Stockdale responded that ARC is the best way of doing it now, and the Senate may want to study this option further for future use. G. Spittler added that the resolution only approves the use of ARC through the Spring Semester 2009; beyond that, the Senate can recommend any other specific source or method that may be more appropriate.

P. Stockdale questioned the need to have a resolution addressing the mechanics of conducting electronic elections; is it not enough to simply approve the use of electronic voting? R. Hughes explained that Robert's Rules of Order does not allow the use of electronic elections unless there is specific language to include that option in an organization's operating papers or bylaws. The Governance Committee provided for this in one of the amendments pending Chancellor approval. A second amendment gives the Senate the power to specify whether to use electronic or written ballots, which brings it in line with Robert's Rules. Additionally, the amendment specifies that the Senate approve the method of ballot collection by a special rule of order, which is the reason for the proposed resolution. R. Hughes further explained that the special rule of order, which authorizes the collection of ballots through ARC, will be recorded as an appendix to the Operating Paper. Special rules of order can be temporary or permanent, and can even be changed, as can the appendices; they also require a two-thirds vote for approval. In this instance, what will be recorded as an appendix to the Operating Paper will be the wording of the first "resolved" clause. P. Stockdale pointed out that this will be the appendix until the Senate is able to adopt a more general procedure.

Resolution was approved as amended, with one abstention, on a voice vote. [see appendix 3]

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

P. Stockdale (for P. Howze) reported that the committee's charge has been to review the plagiarism report. What the Senate received before were snippets of policies, and what she has requested is the full report with all changes to all policies in one single document for the committee to review. She has spoken with Vice President Sarvela, who has been working with the Plagiarism Committee, and he hopes to get the requested document to the Senate by early March at the latest.

OLD BUSINESS -- None.

NEW BUSINESS -- None.

ANNOUNCEMENTS -- None.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 2:32 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, 
Mary Ellen Lamb, Secretary

MEL:ba