Minutes of the Faculty Senate | Faculty Senate | SIU

Meeting convened at 1:01 p.m. by Sanjeev Kumar, President.

ROLL CALL

Members present: Om P. Agrawal, James S. Allen, Ira J. Altman, Mark A. Amos, Ken B. Anderson, Gary Apgar, Kimberly Asner-Self, Connie J. Baker, Lisa B. Brooten, Joan M. Davis, Lisabeth A. DiLalla, Samuel Goldman (ex officio), Stephanie Graves, Jyotsna Kapur, Allan L. Karnes, Michelle Kibby-Faglier, Sanjeev Kumar, Mary E. Lamb, Michael J. Lydy, Cathy C. Mogharreban, Nancy Mundschenk (ex officio), Diane Muzio, William Recktenwald, Don Rice (ex officio), Benjamin F. Rodriguez, Jose R. Ruiz, Gerald R. Spittler, Thomas H. Tarter, Brooke H. H. Thibeault, James Wall.

Members absent without proxy: Ronald A. Caffey, Sandra K. Collins, Stephen D. Ebbs, James S. Ferraro, James E. Garvey, James A. MacLean, Marla H. Mallette, Jonathan S. Wiesen.

Visitors and guests: Codell Rodriguez (Southern Illinoisan).

S. Kumar welcomed N. Mundschenk, who will be attending Senate meetings this year as a representative from the Graduate Council.

MINUTES

The minutes from the meeting on April 13, 2010, were corrected under Minutes to reflect that the number of non-tenure track seats on the Senate went from 2 to 6. The minutes were also corrected under the Undergraduate Education Policy Committee report to show that it was J. Davis who expressed appreciation to L. DiLalla. Minutes were approved as corrected. The minutes from the 2009-2010 Senate meeting on April 27, 2010, were approved as presented. The minutes from the 2010-2011 Senate meeting on April 27, 2010, were approved as presented.

REPORTS

1. S. Kumar reported: a) it is his understanding that the search for a provost has begun, and the Senate has been asked to nominate three individuals who would be willing to serve if selected. This issue will be addressed later in the meeting by the Committee on Committees; b) at the last Executive Council meeting, there was discussion as to what issues the Senate should focus on this year. Those issues included developing an overload policy; credit hours generated through Continuing Education; and shared governance, especially as it relates to budget decisions.

On behalf of the Senate, S. Kumar thanked Chancellor Goldman for his leadership during the difficult and challenging times of the past two years.

2. Chancellor Goldman reported that the budget remains an unknown. Several months back, [the legislature requested that] the University plan for a possible 10% reduction. This gave the administration an opportunity to find the elasticity within every budget which they did. However, nothing has occurred as yet. The only substantive action was the hiring freeze, which will continue into [the next fiscal year or] until they have an idea as to what the budget will be for next year. This is not to say that hiring is not occurring, as the business of the University must continue. It is uncertain at this time whether there will be layoffs; he believes, however, that there are enough open lines in the budget based upon the freeze that it may prevent having to lay off actual persons. If layoffs should occur, then the problem would shift to who would do the teaching, research, etc. It will take much discussion with many individuals to make sure there is a proper balance. Chancellor Goldman believes the integrity of the University must never be compromised, and its mission must remain primary. Any cuts should be based on the mission--determine who is essential and core to that mission [and make cuts] from there. He noted that cash flow is still a problem. The borrowing bill is on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature. The University will borrow if necessary, but the window of opportunity for doing so, as well as paying it back, is a short one.

Chancellor Goldman reported that enrollment is up a few percentage points, with the border state numbers coming in strong. International student enrollment is up, though applications are down slightly. He is still expecting some kind of burst in the international numbers and believes that international student enrollment will be very advantageous to SIUC over the long haul. B. Thibeault commented that last year, Chancellor Goldman had mentioned there was a bottleneck problem [this time last year] with respect to getting students admitted. She questioned whether the increase in enrollment might be because there is no longer a bottleneck. Chancellor Goldman responded that the problem last year had to do with the implementation of Banner, which is less of a concern now. What the major problem is currently, from what he is told, is in receiving transcripts from the high schools.

A. Karnes noted that the Board of Trustees will meet on May 13 to adopt the tuition and fee policy. He believes SIU should be poised to hit the market with the fact that there will be no increase in tuition and fees. Chancellor Goldman responded that there are billboards that will advertise the issue of affordability. Last week, an email was sent to all of SIUC's prospective students declaring the freeze on tuition. A large ad has also been placed in one of the Nashville newspapers. Provost Rice added that there will be follow-ups to the news conference that ends every Board meeting. W. Recktenwald believes what A. Karnes means is that [University Communications] should be pushing in a news release, concurrently with the Board meeting at which the tuition policy will be approved, that SIU is the only one in the state that will remain flat and not increase fees; then, every weekly newspaper looking for copy in the summer will have that information. He believes the ads are good, but more people might be reached if the University can turn it into a news item. Chancellor Goldman responded that there was an article on the front page of the Southern Illinoisan, and there will be ads coming in [various newspapers]; the University is pushing this issue as hard as it can. He pointed out that the 0% tuition and fees have not yet been approved by the Board, though he believes it will happen.

3. Provost Rice reported that the School of Law has been accredited by the American Bar Association without finding; the School of Journalism has also been accredited without finding. Provost Rice recalled that when the University bargained the last faculty contract, there was considerable concern about salary compression and parity with peers. As a result, over the past four years there has been an increased amount of money put into equity each year (the first year, it was $250,000; last year, it was $1.5 million). Between FY06 and FY10, this investment has resulted in a 30% increase in the average salaries of full professors; a 28% increase for associates; and 19% for tenure track assistant professors. A comparison of the Fall 2004 census data and the Fall 2009 census data (between the mean salaries of Carnegie institution peers which, at that time was Research II) is as follows:

[These data are based on the salaries of faculty represented by the Faculty Association.]

M. Lamb commended Provost Rice for providing the data and thanked him for his cooperation with the Faculty Association on this issue.

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

5. N. Mundschenk reported that on May 6, she was elected as chair of the Graduate Council. She commented that she looks forward to working with the Senate in the coming year.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

G. Apgar reported the Council discussed at length its goals for the year. As mentioned by S. Kumar, three of those goals are: 1) examine the development of an overload policy. G. Apgar explained that there are overload policies in place at SIUE, as well as at some of SIUC's peer institutions. The Council would like to at least be on par with them and evaluate the University's overload opportunities and what impact those might have on future earnings of the faculty; 2) examine the quality concerns with respect to online classes as they are being utilized at the University. There are also concerns about the pulling of credit hours for these online classes that do not appear to have an appropriate place in the [originating college]; and 3) [input into the budget process]. The Council is very hopeful to be working with Chancellor Cheng regarding further discussions on budgetary issues.

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES --

1. O. Agrawal presented for approval the Faculty Senate standing committee assignments (included as Attachment B to the Agenda).

Standing Committee Assignments approved on a voice vote.

2. O. Agrawal reported the committee received a request to appoint an individual to the Search Committee for Director of Human Resources. The committee approved R. Caffey for that assignment. The committee was also asked to forward three names for the Search Committee for Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor (only one of which will be selected). They will meet immediately following the Senate meeting to determine the three names to send forward.

3. O. Agrawal reported that the solicitation for volunteers to serve on University committees has been sent to faculty and is due back on May 17. K. Asner-Self asked if non-tenure faculty are eligible to volunteer for committee service (yes).

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE --

L. DiLalla reported the committee will meet at the end of the month to review the RMEs she has received.

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE --

G. Spittler reported the committee has not yet met formally; however, they are in email conversations to determine what issues they would like to discuss and perhaps recommend for action. His hope is to have something more concrete by the next Senate meeting. One issue that has been suggested is to investigate why certain members of the faculty are excluded from voting [in Faculty Senate elections simply because] they are not affiliated with a tenure-granting unit within a college.

FACULTY STATUS AND WELFARE COMMITTEE --

L. Brooten reported that she and J. Kapur will co-chair the committee for the year.

BUDGET COMMITTEE --

A. Karnes reported the committee has not met, but has corresponded by email. One item that needs attention is a replacement for S. Kumar on the Chancellor's Planning and Budget Advisory Committee. He recommends that the replacement be a member of the Budget Committee. S. Kumar charged the Committee on Committees with filling the vacancy.

OLD BUSINESS -- None.

NEW BUSINESS -- None.

ANNOUNCEMENTS -- None.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:41 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, 
Mary Ellen Lamb, Secretary

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