FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
FOR SEPTEMBER 28, 1999
(Vol. xxix, No. 6)

The 1999-2000 Faculty Senate minutes and other information are available on the Web at http://www.eiu.edu/~FacSen.

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

1. Call to order by Bonnie Irwin at 2:05 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, M. Toosi, L. Walker, B. Young. Guests: T. Abebe, K. Kohanzo, J. Maholy, S. Skala.

2. Approval of the minutes of September 21, 1999

Motion (Fewell/Fischer) to approve the minutes of September 21, 1999.

Corrections: In Section IV.B. the last bullet, it should read, "The numbers were fairly good, but some comments were negative."

Yes: Allison, Benedict, Best, Coons, Eberly, Fewell, Fischer, Foster, Irwin, Lockart, Marlow, Toosi, Walker.

3. Communications

1. CAA minutes from 9-16-99. CAA will discuss Humanities, Fine Arts, and Social and Behavioral Sciences sections of general education on 9/30; Mathematics, Physical and Life Sciences on 10/7; Language, Senior Seminar, transfer and implementation issues on 10/14. A draft of the General Education subcommittee report was attached.
2. E-mail from Carolyn Cooper regarding event for international Students. International Programs has identified two students to work with the Senate’s committee.
3. Flier regarding the closing of Union metered parking lot September 27-29.
4. Library Advisory Board minutes of 4-21-99. The first LAB meeting of the semester will be held 9/29 at 4 PM. Discussion items from 4-21-99 meeting include funding for journal purchases. Action items include election of officers and by-laws change. Chair is Newton Key, Vice Chair Bailey Young. Dean Lanham reported on the plans and progress of the move and renovation.
5. Copy of letter to President Surles regarding her visit to Senate on October 12.
6. Intercollegiate Athletics Board minutes of 8-26-99. Committee assignments were made. Joan Schmidt was elected vice chair. The annual report was reviewed for comments. Committees and the Athletic Director made reports.
7. Student Senate minutes of 9-22-99. The following requests for fee increases were made: TRS, $3,00; Health Insurance, $4.00; Health Services, $16.50; Union Bond Fee $2.00. VPSA Hencken requested a 3% increase in tuition. All these were tabled so students could report to RSOs. Katie Beilenberg and Brian Mazurski were appointed as student representatives to Faculty Senate.
8. E-mail from Jon Laible concerning possible visit to senate. If the Senate would like an update on Foundation activities, Dr. Laible will be glad to come and asked if the Senate would be interested in having Dick Cain, the new Foundation President, come as well. It was decided to add this to the Agenda under New Business.
9. E-mail from Frank McCormick announcing that Dr. George Saliba will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Phipps Lecture Hall on Thursday, September 30, 1999.
10. A request will be coming out soon asking faculty whether they would like to march in the Inauguration in regalia. The letter will be coming out late this week, and will require a very quick reply.
11. Signup sheets for the Inaugural Mural Project (October 7 and 8) are in the communications folder. Senators were encouraged to fill the time slots.

4. Old Business

1. Executive Committee. The Executive Committee met with the President and Provost last Thursday at 11:00 a.m. The first question was about the ranking of priorities. President Surles reiterated her need for flexibility. Groups can rank if they want. However, even though these rankings are advisory, if the President does something other than what was ranked, then this often requires explanation. She gave some concrete examples of what did happen. Sometimes what the legislature asks for is not what the University has ranked. She did say that she believes in shared governance. She has spoke to departments and other groups on campus. Most of the work of CUPB is through the advisory committees working on the vice presidential level with the vice presidents. She sees another direction for CUPB. L When we solicit private funds, for example, CUPB can assist in determining campus needs for those funds. She will also seek CUPB and faculty input when we start marketing ourselves. Concern was expressed about not having the rankings. Ranking these priorities offers an opportunity for open discussion on the part of faculty. The President also spoke about the video; this gives her a fair amount of flexibility in its use. She is also taking on the road with her the scale model of the master plan. There was a lot of discussion of how higher education is in an unprecedented mode of change. L If we hold our ground too firmly, we will lose ground. She also spoke of the faculty role in the public image of the University. She expressed an interest in having faculty go out with her as she meets these constituencies. Faculty have done this in the past, and it appeared to be very beneficial and appreciated by the alumni. It was noted that Faculty Senate needs to have more discussion before the President comes to speak to clear up some of these "fuzzy" ideas. Senators shared the types of specific things that the President had mentioned in their respective department meetings. The Provost also mentioned how inspired he was by the Senate’s discussion during last week’s meeting.
2. Nominations Committee. Julie Dietz has expressed interest in the Child Care Committee. This Committee is of a voluntary nature and is not subject to Senate approval. Fern Kory (English) and Howard Price (Journalism) expressed interest in the Union Advisory Board. There is still a vacancy (one rather than the two previously announced) for the Apportionment Board. So far no one has volunteered. Three individuals expressed interest in serving as an alternate for the IBHE Faculty Advisory Committee. Two were from Faculty Senate and the third was Les Hyder (Journalism). The Committee recommends the appointment of Les Hyder.

Motion (Allison/Fischer) to approve the recommendations of the Nominating Committee.

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

It was also noted that the first meeting of the Union Advisory Board is scheduled for October 4. There was a general discussion of how committees should be notified of the Senate’s nominees. It was agreed that the Nominating Committee Chair (or Elections Committee Chair in the case of elected representatives) to officially notify the appropriate committee chairs. There was also a discussion of the difficulty of finding committee information on Eastern’s revised homepage. It would be helpful to have a link to the boards and committees on campus.

3. Faculty-Student Relations. The committee met to develop their suggestions for the Student Conduct Code: (1) incorporate the community idea throughout; (2) penalties should be greater, i.e. fines too low, notification of parents (It was noted that this could be illegal), placement in permanent record in certain situations; (3) be certain that technology concerns are addressed; (4) near end of section 1–Jurisdiction, does the phrase "not regarded as contractual covenants" release students from responsibility; and (5) in section 3–Disciplinary Process, there needs to be a clarification of hierarchy of judicial boards and their membership composition, i.e. what other boards are there and how do they all relate to one another. There were some additional editorial changes. It was noted that there is no reference to the use of computers and policies on inappropriate use. Care must be taken that the Code does not limit academic freedom. We also need to be in synch with the Supreme Court’s ruling on harassment. The Senate will discuss the Committee’s report at the next meeting.
4. Survey Results. Senators were asked to look at the survey results, especially where there were

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy D. Marlow, Recorder