BRIEF

1. William Shapton disclosed that there might be an appearance of a conflict of interest with respect to his nomination to the Academic Community Committee for the President Search. He has applied for Vice President for Government Relations (withdrawn) and has applied for the Department Head position in General Engineering. The Senate reaffirmed his nomination to the committee without opposition.
   
   
2. Mangalam Gopal was elected to the University Committee on Academic Tenure for the term ending August, 1993.
   
   
3. Prof. Suryanarayana was elected to represent the Senate on the University Administration Evaluation Commission. Selection of other members was postponed and will be selected by the Senate via a mailed ballot. Several departments, research institutes and academic services units did not respond to the request for nominees quickly enough for a list of all nominees to be circulated to Senate members prior to this meeting. The closing date for nominees will be Monday October 29. Results will be counted on November 9.
   
   
4. Larry Lankton made a presentation to the Senate about the faculty poll administered by an ad hoc committee of concerned faculty in September.
   
   
5. The Senate Executive Committee was directed to draft a letter to the Board of Control requesting a working session as a means for improving communications with the academic community. Several concerns of the academic community deserve attention by the Board. High on the list of concerns are procedures for the president and vice president searches, faculty input into selection of deans and department heads, faculty communications with the Board of Control, etc. Regular joint meetings of the Board and Senate was suggested.
   
   
6. The Senate Secretary was directed to send letters to the chairs of the vice president search committee. Senators expressed concern about selecting a provost without input from the new president. Concern was also expressed about the vigor of recruiting efforts. There is a perception that the pool of applicants (31 for Provost and 38 for VP Government Relations) are not as extensive as they could be and should be.
   
   
7. A Senate committee is being formed to examine the constitution and bylaws. Of particular concern is the presence of upper level administration as voting members and the desirability of converting the Senate to represent only faculty with academic rank.