11-2-99 minutes

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
FOR NOVEMBER 2, 1999
(Vol. xxix, No. 11)

The Faculty Senate agenda is posted weekly on the Web, at 2504 Buzzard, and at 315K Coleman.

A special election for Faculty Senate will be held on Wednesday, November 10, and Thursday, November 11. All eligible faculty are encouraged to vote in the Union across from the bookstore. Faculty requiring absentee ballots should contact John Best (Psychology).

The Faculty Senate Forum is scheduled for Tuesday, November 9, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the Charleston-Mattoon Room in the University Union.

I. Call to order by Bonnie Irwin at 2:03 p.m. (2504 Buzzard Building)

Present: J. Allison, R. Benedict, J. Best, J. Coons, C. Eberly, P. Fewell, B. Fischer, G. Foster, B. Irwin, G. Lockart, N. Marlow, J. Tidwell, B. Young, K. Bielenberg, G. Kelly, B. Mazurski. Excused: M. Toosi. Guests: T. Abebe, J. Maholy, S. Skala, S. Winterhalter.

II. Approval of the minutes of October 26, 1999

Motion (Fewell/Fischer) to approve the minutes of October 26, 1999.

Yes: Allison, Benedict, Best, Coons, Eberly, Fewell, Fischer, Foster, Irwin, Lockart, Marlow, Tidwell, Young.

III. Communications

Intercollegiate Athletic Board minutes, October 21, 1999. Highlights: Student-Athlete Award policy is under revision. Final athlete attendance data will be distributed to IAB in December. Life Skills Advisory Committee is considering inviting a speaker on attitude and responsibility. O’Brien renovations are 99% complete. An Open House/Rededication is scheduled for November 12 or 13.

Council on Academic Affairs minutes, October 21, 1999. Chemistry and Political Science new and revised courses added to agenda for later voting. A number of votes were taken on the General Education mission statement: Motion to remove "mindful" failed (7-4). Motion to remove "global" failed (7-4). Constitution requirement passed (8-3). Cultural diversity requirement passed (10-1). Motion to change scientific awareness credits to 7-8 hours failed (7-4). Motion to change scientific awareness credits to 8 failed (10-1). Motion to reinstate FCS 2472C, HST 2000C, and PED 2850C failed (6-5). Motion to reinstate EDF 2171C failed (9-2). A number of executive actions are also listed.

E-mail from Barbara Lawrence, Chemistry, asking if the Senate Executive Committee knows why Grants and Research is being reviewed, what aspects are under review, and why this particular reviewer was chosen. VPAA Abebe explained that the grant writing process is riddled with red tape on this campus. The purpose of this review is to see if there is any way to simplify the process. The consultant is a former president at two different institutions. She had the assignment to review the grant writing process on another campus and has considerable experience in obtaining grants. The observations will be shared with the campus, and faculty will be involved in revising the procedures. This is a preliminary step; the next step is to see what can be done here. A senator pointed out that several faculty at the meeting called for more staff to assist with the grant process.

E-mail from Deana Poole, Daily Eastern News. In response to an e-mail from the Senate Chair, Ms. Poole apologized for identifying Chair Irwin as Senate Chair when she was obviously working and speaking in her capacity as a Union officer.

E-mail from John Henderson, ITS, regarding list serve, suggesting the Senate contact Gerry Wagner for assistance.

Copy of thank-you letter to President Surles for her October 12 visit.

President Surles submitted the following clarifications of the October 12 minutes of her Senate visit:

Page 2, bullet 1: We do not want the Colleges and Schools to compete with one another. We must coordinate fund raising.

Page 2, bullet 3: We have not developed our fund raising program yet, but we do receive some gifts.

Page 3, bullet 3: We will continue to increase diversity at all levels of the University to the extent possible.

Old Business

Committee Reports

Elections. Thoughtful statements were received from all three candidates for Faculty Senate. These statements are attached to the minutes.
Faculty-Student Relations. The External Relations Committee has been established officially by Student Senate. It will be made up of 5 members from the city, 5 students, 1 faculty, and 1 administrator. Reed Benedict will take the position as the faculty representative. One of the first agenda items will be searching for a 24-hour dinner to bring into Charleston. Benedict will use the Faculty-Student Relations Committee as a sounding board.
Search Committee for Assistant Director of Financial Aid. They are checking references for three candidates and should be setting dates for them to be on campus. All are off-campus candidates.
Search Committee for Director of Recreation. They will meet for the first time this week to get evaluation sheets ready. They hope to have somebody in place next semester.
Search Committee for University Counsel. The Chronicle ran an incorrect ad and will be rerunning it. They currently have ten applications and expect more to come from the Chronicle ad. In a general comment to search processes past and present, it was noted that it would be interesting to know what EIU offered and what the prospective candidates actually received from competing institutions.

Fall Forum. Announcements were received in campus mail today. Four flip charts have been reserved; senators need to bring their own markers. This will also be publicized in the University (electronic Newsletter and/or Newsbits as well as in Campus Clips. Senators were asked to indicate the areas they will attend: Benefits of Faculty Development for Faculty–Allison, Best, Fewell, Foster, Lockart, Young; Benefits of Faculty Development for Students–Coons(?), Eberly, Fischer, Irwin(?); Community–Irwin(?), Marlow, Tidwell; Assessment–Coons(?), Benedict. Faculty senators are to facilitate the discussions so that they are solutions-oriented and to record the comments. The first 5-10 minutes of the forum will be an introduction, followed by a 30-minute break out for the four individual sessions. After that the group will come together again and 20 minutes will be spent on each of the four topics; during that time the groups will make brief presentations and time will be allotted for questions from those who did not attend that particular group.

Event for International Students. The Faculty and Student Senates will co-sponsor a tea for International Students on November 30 from 3:00 until 5:00 at Tarble. A short presentation on the display for the Old Main Centennial will be made. Information will be put in the Daily Eastern News, the Times Courier, and the Newsletter. Invitations will be issued to the President’s Council, the Admissions Directors, Lakeland International Students, officers of RSOs, and Eastern’s International Student Association. A list of those who usually come to these events will also be obtained, and invitations sent to them. The subcommittee will meet with representatives from the International Student Association to finalize details.

List Serve. The Executive Committee had raised several questions in their discussion of the List Serve:

What is the purpose of the List Serve? Will this be an open or closed list? Is it just for the Senate’s constituency? Will senators be required to be a part of the list? Who will "own" the list? The Drafting Committee was charged with preparing a proposal that will deal with the etiquette issues and other related items. Chair Irwin will consult with ITS as well.

Faculty Survey. There was a discussion of the written comments on the surveys:

Shared Governance. Does this need to be an agenda item? There has been no discussion of what the President had to say about this. Does this fit with our Constitution? We want to be certain that the faculty’s role is not diminished. Rather we should work to enhance the role of faculty. Faculty Senate should be part of the approval/review process in any future planning model. The Senate constitution makes reference to new major planning proposals. These have come through Senate. Part of the question is whether revisions are new proposals. It was noted that if faculty do not endorse this version of planning, then it is dead. It does not matter how much it is pushed. What we are doing with the survey and the forum is pro-active. It was asked if there was a new document proposing a new means of strategic planning that has not been seen. There is a flow chart that reflects an administrative academic structure. Faculty Senate is not on it. The faculty advisory role could be left out. The chart was distributed to department chairs. Some members of the Chairs Council asked where faculty were in the process, and this was not answered clearly. It was agreed to add this issue to the agenda.
Due Date for Semester Grades. The Senate has addressed this issue in the past. In 1994-95 they recommended that more time be available for grading. This is something that bears another look and perhaps another motion. The impression is that interests of those keying in the grades are driving the process. The disadvantage to students is that faculty do not have the time to exercise great care in grading exams. EIU prides itself with getting grades out in about a week. Keyboarding the grades is very labor intensive. Everybody else in the world uses another system. We are also the only institution where faculty have to personally turn in grades. Turning in grades could be done electronically. When the Senate looked at this in the past, there was an allusion to needing some kind of program that cost $300,000, but the thought was that we would be getting that program in 3-4 years. This program would allow the scanning of grades. In the past discussions two important issues were brought up. One was students graduating and the need for them to have their grades processed in a timely manner. The other was students in danger of academic probation. They need to have time to try to get out of leases. There are also insurance issues. To take advantage of the good student discounts, students need grades promptly. There is a new budgeting system with a component for student services. It was suggested that the Executive Committee look into this and the possibility of that system allowing professors longer for grading exams. It was commented that little or no change will occur unless Faculty and Student Senates pass some type of joint motion. The advantage for students is the opportunity for more careful grading of their exams. Grades need to be timely, but certainly 2 more days would not be to great a problem.
Comments Outside Senate’s Constitutional Role. How can we encourage our constituents to read the Constitution. Some comments asked us to take actions not within the purview of our Constitution. The Constitution is on the Senate’s web page. The Senate would like to encourage constituents to read the Constitution and come to us with questions.
Perceptions of Senate. In the past the Senate would discuss things but never give a resolution or recommendations. This a source of people not seeing the Senate as pro-active. There have been some improvements, but the perception still remains.
Break between Semesters Too Short. This is driven by the State Track Meets.
Adequate Funding from Legislature. It was suggested to invite Senator Rauschenberg to a meeting.
Other comments concerned release time for research and service expectations.

Other Old Business. Proposals for the money available for research and development opportunities will be determined by chairs. If this is the case, Senate wants to discuss the issue and urge chairs and departments to set up responsible committees for review. A policy has not come out in writing. This item is proposed for new business to see if Senate could have a voice in developing such a policy.

Adjourn at 4:00 (Tidwell)

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy D. Marlow, Recorder