Minutes of the Faculty Senate

(2010-2011)

[as amended]

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

ROLL CALL

Members present: Om P. Agrawal, James S. Allen, Ira J. Altman, Ken B. Anderson, Gary Apgar, Kimberly Asner-Self, Sara Baer (for Nancy Mundschenk, ex officio), Connie J. Baker, Lisa B. Brooten, Ronald A. Caffey, Rita Cheng (ex officio), Sandra K. Collins, Lisabeth A. DiLalla, Stephen D. Ebbs, James S. Ferraro, Stephanie Graves, Jyotsna Kapur, Allan L. Karnes, Michelle Kibby-Faglier, Sanjeev Kumar, Mary E. Lamb, Douglas W. Lind, Michael J. Lydy, James A. MacLean, Diane Muzio, William Recktenwald, Benjamin F. Rodriguez, Jose R. Ruiz, Gerald R. Spittler, Brooke H. H. Thibeault, Stacy Thompson (for Marla H. Mallette), Cathy C. Mogharreban, James Wall, Jonathan S. Wiesen.

Members absent: Ruth Bauner (ex officio).

Members absent without proxy: Mark A. Amos, Joan M. Davis, James E. Garvey, Thomas H. Tarter.

Visitors and guests: Blaine Bartholomew (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Tsuchin Chu (Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes), David Carlson (Library Affairs), Qingfeng Ge (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Meera Komarraju (Psychology).

REPORTS

1. S. Kumar reported that the minutes from the April 12, 2011, meeting will be approved at the May meeting. He also presented his final President's report (included as an appendix to these minutes), expressing his thanks to the members of the Executive Council, as well as to the Senators themselves. He stated that it has been a privilege to serve as president and as a Senator from the College of Engineering.

2. S. Baer (for N. Mundschenk) reported on the April 7 Graduate Council meeting: Three resolutions were approved the RME for a name change for Women's Studies; an RME for the concurrent MD Medical Doctorate/Masters of Public Health Degree; and an RME in support of a certificate of training in Histotechnology. Several resolutions were read that will be voted on at the next meeting. One of those is coming from the Research Committee, which has for the past year and a half been exploring means to reward faculty for pursuing academic activities over and above the expectations of their department, unit and college. It is not an award for receiving a single grant; rather, it is an award that would provide an additional option for faculty who are bringing in external dollars beyond which they would use to support three months of summer salary. The other part of this resolution would create an incentive pool from which the entire University can benefit. There are a number of departments where faculty do not have opportunities to bring in major grant dollars. Part of the money that comes in would create a University- wide pool so that faculty from across campus who are perceived by their chairs, deans or unit heads to be going over and above the call of duty can then also apply for this kind of incentive award. It would reward people who are exceptionally active but who do not need to pursue those extra grants that they are pursuing; the whole University benefits from this kind of activity. S. Kumar asked if the Graduate Council's input on the overload policy for the University was consistent with the discussion and recommendations developed by the Senate. S. Baer responded that the Council is trying to keep that separate, noting they both can have an immense amount of overload.

3. Chancellor Cheng reported: a) enrollment for fall is being challenged; the numbers are not where they were last year for both new and transfer students. When those students who expressed an interest in attending, but who had not yet registered were queried, most indicated that they were waiting for their financial aid offer. The institution is making a big push to get the financial aid packages out to students and also to inquire about gap funding if there is a need to put any institutional funds towards students [in need]; b) the administration is looking at a 6.9% tuition increase to go before the Board. U of I is putting the same percentage forward and Eastern has put forth 5.9%; she believes somewhere in the 6-7% range is reasonable. She had earlier suggested that to meet the total budget gap, the campus would need 9%. That is not going to happen; c) she has been working with the Chancellor's Planning and Budget Advisory Committee on different budgeting models. A [marginal] tuition revenue model for reducing budgets was used last fall, and she will be going back to the group to discuss how to distribute in a very transparent way any new monies that might come in as a result of enrollment; d) Representatives Brady and Cullerton were both on campus in the last two weeks, and both used the opportunity to tell her to expect cuts for 2012. She will be as open and transparent as she can be [when something does occur]. She expects that the Chancellor's Planning and Budget Committee will meet through the summer and there will be opportunities for them to convene if and when they know more; e) other challenges besides the budget include marketing and recruitment strategies and branding. The University needs to consolidate its efforts on campus to really go after negative perceptions by high school counselors, students and families. There was some marketing research that shows the University has an uphill battle. The strength of the University's academics is not being perceived by potential students and their families. The campus will be overcoming negative perceptions and also poor approaches to recruiting students by looking at all of the University's procedures and policies, of which some will be brought to the Senate. One issue that will be brought forth through UEPC is a proposal to reduce the 60 credit upper division to 42 to be consistent with other institutions in Illinois. Another issue is that there is no limit on a repeat policy, which suggests there are not as many consequences to registering for courses and then dropping or getting an F. There is also the issue of the University's messaging and what is its follow process. Additionally, classrooms have not been upgraded for quite some time. She has asked Physical Plant and the Provost's office to prioritize classrooms and needed upgrades. All sources of funding (tech fees, facilities maintenance fees) are being reviewed. There was a consultant who came in to look at the University's distance education, process and infrastructure; his report was quite critical of the classroom, technology behind the scenes and University's ability to compete. Instructional labs are also on the list of things that need to be addressed. They are looking for ways to use FEMA money and leverage it with other internal support staff. She indicated that any suggestions or recommendations anyone has on how they might prioritize would be very helpful. It is getting to the point where, in some places, they will not be able to tackle everything over the next few years; however, they should be able to make a dent in some of those items, particularly the facilities maintenance fee. Chancellor Cheng commented that when she reflects on her last year, she would like to finish with a call for respect and civility on campus. She was quite discouraged by the public discourse on the weekend in which letters to the editor questioned the academic credentials of University administrators. It was suggested that the campus was not following its procedures and that there was no structure in place for shared governance. She does not believe that helps the University in any way. She indicated she is [in attendance at Senate meetings] because she respects that this is one of the key bodies of the University. She would like to work with the Senate and looks forward to working with this body on an institution that must change, must move ahead in a quick manner. She can understand the frustration, but she is a big proponent of getting it on the table and having a dialog. Chancellor Cheng thanked the Senate for doing that in this forum this year and expressed the hope they can continue to do that.

M. Lamb commented that when she drives down Route 13, she sees the billboard for Rend Lake College that says, "be a chef, go to Rend Lake," and she thinks how nice it would be to drive down Route 13 and see "be a doctor or a CEO or a musician...go to SIU." She has been mentioning this kind of billboard for a long time. She noted that there is much talk about how to brand and it gets into a lot of detail; she believes something that connects SIU to higher career goals would be a very good thing to have. She expressed her heartfelt desire that maybe one day she will see a sign that connects SIU to an actual vocation someone could get by coming here. Chancellor Cheng thanked M. Lamb for her comment, adding that she believes M. Lamb will see some big changes with the marketing/branding effort being made and the outside help that the University is receiving.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

G. Apgar presented the Council's final report (included as Attachment A to the Agenda).

BUDGET COMMITTEE -- A. Karnes, Chair

A. Karnes presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment B to the Agenda).

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES -- O. Agrawal, Chair

O. Agrawal presented the committee's final report and thanked committee members for their hard work (included as Attachment C to the Agenda).

FACULTY STATUS AND WELFARE COMMITTEE -- L. Brooten/J. Kapur, Co-Chairs

L. Brooten presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment D to the Agenda). She noted the committee has a followup meeting with Associate Provost Logue to make sure the concerns on the distance education policy are being incorporated.

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE -- G. Spittler, Chair

G. Spittler presented and reviewed the committee's final report (included as Attachment E to the Agenda). He thanked the members of his committee for their service.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION POLICY COMMITTEE -- L. DiLalla Chair

L. DiLalla presented the committee's final report (included as Attachment F to the minutes). She noted there are three or four items left over that the new committee will need to take up. She then thanked her committee for their outstanding service over the past year. J. Allen pointed out that L. DiLalla handled the business of the committee with [rare aplomb] and grace. He believes she has been the most effective chair of the committee during his 15 years on the Senate. The Senate showed their appreciation to L. DiLalla with a round of applause.

OLD BUSINESS -- None.

NEW BUSINESS

S. Kumar recognized outgoing Senators Joan Davis, Cathy Mogharreban, Mark Amos, James Ferarro, Thomas Tarter and Michael Lydy with certificates of appreciation. G. Apgar recognized S. Kumar's six years of service and presented him with a certificate of appreciation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chancellor Cheng announced that there are provost candidate presentations that are ending today. A call will be put out to the campus for input. Also, both the Liberal Arts and Engineering dean searches are ongoing. She encouraged faculty to participate and provide input as appropriate as those go forward. She believes it is important for the Senate to have an interest in and input in the academic leadership.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:42 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, 
Mary Ellen Lamb, 2010-2011 Secretary

MEL:ba