Approved UFS#1 August 31, Minutes Approved September 21, 2000 Indiana State University Faculty Senate Time: 3:15 p.m. Place: HMSU, Dede III Present: Chairperson F. Bell, Vice Chair P. Hightower, Secretary C. Hoffman, Parliamentarian E. Warner Senators: A. Anderson, R. Baker, E. Bermudez, A. Blackshire-Belay, M. Brennan, P. Carino, J. Cerny, G. Christianson, B. Clouse, R. Clouse, A. Cockerham, J. Conant, N. Corey, P. Dutta, B. Frank, D. Gilman, R. Goidel, M. Harmon, J. Huber, S. Lamb, N. Lawrence, K. Liu, C. MacDonald, L. Maule, J. McNabb, D. Memory, F. Muyumba, D. Prentice, A. Rider, R. Schneirov, S. Sharp, W. Warren Absent: D. Burger, H. Cox Ex-Officio: President Benjamin, Associate Vice-President Hopkins, Vice-President Schafer Visitors: S. Laughlin I. Administrative Report President Benjamin extended greetings to all present and thanked all participants of the opening reception in his honor. He noted that the processes had begun to fill the interim positions of Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and thanked the Senate leadership for their consultation on these interim searches. He further noted that the selection of an interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs would commence soon and meetings with governance committees had already been scheduled for consultation relevant to this search. He reported that committees had been formulated for two national searches for the positions of dean, School of Business and School of Education. He conveyed that student enrollment for this fall appeared to be up and highlighted challenges for enrollment maintenance and growth that would need to be addressed. The President noted the Board of Trustees' mandated revisions on travel procedures and policy. He said that all members of the University community would adhere to the new procedures for University sponsored travel. He said the new procedures and policy would provide better records, a higher level of consistency and greater equity, but added that this was an ongoing refinement process toward this goal. He commented that feedback from the ongoing travel seminars was welcome. President Benjamin apprised the Senate of his activities during the past few weeks that included numerous off-campus events. The President had visited various areas in the state that included interaction with many state legislators and ISU alumni; he had attended the Board of Trustees retreat, and met with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. He had also attended a seminar at Harvard for new presidents that he had found very beneficial. President Benjamin commented that open and public seminars for the Board of Trustees would be held at different times during the year with a different school or the College as host to provide greater Board interaction with the campus community. II. Chair Report Chair Bell noted his comments to the University Board of Trustees forwarded to the Senators. He extended thanks to past Senate Chair, P. Carino, for his work of the last two years. He commented on the New Senator Orientation held on Monday of this week and noted the favorable comments from those attending. He informed the Senators that a memorandum from Academic Affairs had been sent to all Catalog Coordinators requesting information on any curricular or informational errors that may have occurred in the printed Undergraduate Catalog 2000-20002 for printing an Errata. The Errata is planned to be available for the October advising. UFS #1, 8/31/00 Page 2 The Chair relayed that the Fall Faculty Meeting is scheduled for September 25, 2000, in Dede II at 3:00 p.m. and that President Benjamin would be addressing the faculty. He encouraged all to attend. Chair Bell noted that two governance units, the School of Business and the Library, are each in the process of holding special elections to fill a vacant Faculty Senate voting seat. In closing his report, Chair Bell extended his welcome to the University's new President, L. Benjamin III. III. SGA Report SGA President, K. Garing, reported that the SGA had held its first meeting for this academic year last evening. She invited the Senate to provide a Senator for attendance at future SGA meetings. Other SGA officers present introduced themselves to the Senate. IV. Fifteen Minute Open Discussion R. Clouse asked that night classes on Labor Day be aligned with day classes and not be scheduled to meet. N. Lawrence noted that classes taught by IHETS that meet at off-campus sites had experienced difficulty with site closures on Labor Day. C. Hoffman said that the 2002-03 academic calendar does not schedule night or day classes for Labor Day. He noted however, that this adjustment required that night classes meet for a longer time on scheduled evenings. M. Brennan made the following statement: I want to make a couple of observations about the University's continuing move from reliance on tenure-track faculty to adjuncts and teacher assistants. I am disturbed by our passing a document calling for higher standards for tenuring and promoting tenure-track faculty on one hand, and then on the other hiring adjuncts who sometimes are at best marginally qualified to teach the same courses we do. More troubling, it is clear that heads of many departments and programs are already scraping the bottom of adjunct pools in efforts to put bodies behind desks in our classrooms. Here are three anecdotal examples: Continuing Education has hired at least one person as an adjunct for adjunct pay to teach multiple English courses at the prisons, even though the person has yet to earn a master's degree. Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics for the second successive term is using an undergraduate music major as a teaching assistant. Granted she is a native speaker of Spanish, but she has not even been admitted by the Graduate School, much less completed a bachelor's degree. Two years ago CIMT employed one of its doctoral students--obviously not a member of the graduate faculty--to teach a 600-level course. With the huge ebbing of faculty into retirement in the next couple years, these desperate compromises in staffing can only multiply unless the administration becomes vigilant, clear-eyed, and forward-looking in dealing urgently with this critical problem. P. Carino made the following statement: I want to commend President Benjamin for his quick response to the travel issue, and I recognize that the new procedures constitute a necessary and immediate step in addressing the concerns of the Board of Trustees and the State Board of Audits. I am also happy to hear the President refer to the new procedures and their accompanying authorization form as "a work in progress" because my constituents have raised many concerns. For example, will those who already purchased airline tickets for conference travel occurring later this semester be reimbursed? What if International Tours, the sole provider, UFS #1, 8/31/00 Page 3 cannot offer the lowest fare available when faculty are, as has generally been the case, paying for a large proportion of a trip out of their own pockets. I also would add that there has been fear that the categories for requesting travel lead some faculty to believe that the one designated "strategic" would signify administrative travel is fully reimbursed, and the one designated "professional development" would signify faculty travel reimbursed in small proportion. While this last concern may be unfounded, I think this is one area where faculty and administration need to work together both on the procedures and authorization form to create more descriptive categories to account for the presentation of faculty research and to eliminate vestiges of language that evoke the often suspect and inequitable procedures of the past. Finally, I want to express my regrets that during my two years as Senate Chair I was unable to resolve the travel issue with the previous administration, resulting in ISU travel becoming a matter of public concern. I am confident that in the future we can work together to refine the travel procedures so that while allowing for necessary travel, they are equitable for faculty and administration, and responsible to students and taxpayers. Chair Bell concurred with P. Carino's statement. K. Liu asked that the Schedule of Classes better reflect accurate course offerings. She relayed examples of inaccuracies with the fall 2000 edition and difficulties encountered by advisers and students that resulted. S. Sharp made the following statement: Prior to the institution of the current "Performance Base Pay" system, the University addressed and, purportedly, eliminated gender salary inequity. As early as December of 1997 (FEBC Minutes #9, December 2, 1997), the FEBC, using reasoned arguments and graphic presentations, pointed out that the "Performance Based Pay" system then in place would not only inevitably re-create gender inequity, but would re-create it at an accelerating rate with each passing year. This point was raised repeatedly in the Senate and its various committees - most recently in the FEBC this past year. This concern was either ignored or refuted by members of the University administration repeatedly. It is now clear and irrefutable (given the Duby-Feinhauer Study and subsequent internal studies which resulted in gender inequity salary adjustments this year) that gender inequity was, indeed, re-created by the "Performance Based Pay" system in place. A second point also needs to be made. While women undoubtedly have appreciated the episodic gender inequity salary adjustments, these adjustments in no way compensate for the interim years of lost earning power and lost contributions to retirement savings. V. Election of Parliamentarian R. Clouse nominated E. Warner, seconded by S. Lamb. E. Warner was elected Parliamentarian by acclamation. VI. Confirmation of Standing Committees Chair Bell noted modifications made by the Executive Committee to the slates previously forwarded to Senators. R. Clouse moved approval as amended, seconded by J. Huber; approved, 35-0-0. VII. All University Committee Recommendations Chair Bell noted modifications made by the Executive Committee to the slates previously forwarded to Senators. A. Anderson moved approval as amended, seconded by S. Lamb; approved 35-0-0. UFS #1, 8/31/00 Page 4 VIII. CAAC Recommendation: Liberal Studies Art 389/Afri 331 R. Clouse moved approval, seconded by J. Huber. A. Blackshire-Belay and A. Anderson summarized the revisions. After short discussion, the question was called. The motion passed, 35-0-0. P. Carino commented on the quality of the materials submitted for the Art389/Afri 331. He noted the large amount of materials submitted and the lengthy time demanded for preparation. He requested that the process be refined to diminish demands on time and paper. IX. New Business E. Bermudez asked if Senate liaisons would serve on respective college/school governance bodies. Chair Bell said implementation had begun and the Senate would be updated at a future meeting. P. Carino moved adjournment, seconded by A. Anderson; passed by acclamation. The meeting adjourned at 4:16 p.m.