THE
university SENATE OF
TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Minutes of Meeting 408
1 September 2004
Synopsis:
(1) Martha Sloan updated the Senate on the activities of the Budget Reduction Planning Committee.
(2) The Senate defeated a Proposal from the officers to amend the constitution to allow members of the AAUP to be Senate constituents.
(3) The Senate voted to invite an AAUP member from another university who could compare the perspectives of Senate vs. AAUP representation.
1. CALL TO
ORDER AND ROLL CALL
President Monson called University Senate Meeting 408 to order at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, 1 September 2004, in Room B45 EERC.
Secretary Glime called
roll. Absent were Senators Kyle Rambo
(Army/Air Force ROTC), John Sandell (Chemical Engineering), Carolyn Weissbach
(Finance and Advancement), and Scott Bradley (
2. RECOGNITION
OF VISITORS
Guests included Glen Mroz (Interim President), Kent Wray (Provost), Marcia Goodrich (Tech Topics), and Andrew Storer (Forest Resources and Environmental Science).
3. APPROVAL
OF AGENDA
C. Selfe MOVED and Borysow seconded the motion to amend the agenda to add item D, to invite an AAUP officer (and former senate president) from another university to speak at the next Senate meeting. Bruch MOVED and Williams seconded the motion to approve the agenda as amended. The motion to approve PASSED on voice vote with no dissent. [APPENDIX A. NOTE: Only official senate and library archival copies of the minutes will contain a full complement of appendices.]
4. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES 405-407
C. Selfe MOVED and Pollins seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 405. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.
Pollins MOVED and D. Selfe seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 406. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.
D. Selfe MOVED and C. Selfe seconded the motion to approve the minutes of Meeting 407. The motion PASSED on voice vote with no dissent.
5. President's report
President Monson's report included:
1. A welcome to new and returning senators with thanks for continued efforts during a time of turmoil.
2. Report that the transition in Senate leadership has been smooth and that Bob Keen has offered his advice and counsel, which the President welcomes.
3. Update on the Wireless policy – President Monson met with Jim Cross and Brenda Helminen over the summer, at which time they indicated that IT would develop an interim wireless policy in order to facilitate wireless operations in the new CS building. IT will work with the Senate Computer Committee this fall to develop proposals for Senate consideration. There is a question about legality of a university wireless policy since Jim Pickens forwarded material to the Senate over the summer indicating that only the FCC can make wireless policy.
4. Presidential Search – Board of Control member Norman Rautiola, who is charged with developing a search procedure, contacted Bob Keen, who informed Rautiola of the procedure described in Senate Proposal 17-01, as well as search procedures at other universities, which, for the most part, are similar to those of 17-01.
5. Senate Assistant – Jeanne Meyers has accepted a position in the office of student affairs. The search for a replacement is on-going. The position has been posted; applications have been received; and interviewing will begin shortly. Plans are to have a person in place as soon as possible.
6. Senate Committees – Senate officers will determine membership of Senate committees prior to the next meeting. Senators who have not indicated their committee preferences should do so as soon as possible.
7. Briefing on budget – Either Dan Greenlee or Glenn Mroz will brief the Senate on the budget situation later this fall.
8. Mary Durfee, special assistant to the Provost, has asked the Senate to develop a proposal on foreign degree arrangements. This request will be forwarded to the relevant Senate committee.
9. President Monson has become aware that there is no university policy on requirements for certificates. He will ask the curricular policy committee to consider this issue.
10. The Senate Executive Committee will be considering changes in the constituencies for professional staff following the administrative reorganization this past summer.
11. The Senate Executive Committee will be considering changes in the constituencies for professional staff following the administrative reorganization this past summer.
12. The Senate was approached over the summer to sponsor a forum bringing union proponents and opponents together. Unfortunately travel logistics make it impossible to organize such a forum. Proponents and opponents will organize separate events.
13. Senators who have not indicated their committee preferences should do so immediately.
14. Proposals 43-04, 44-04, 45-04, and 46-04
concerning Master of Science Degrees in SFRES have been forwarded to the
Administration for approval. Proposals
47-04, 48-04, 49-04, and 50-04 concerning concentrations within BA degrees in
Communication and Culture Studies have been forwarded to the administration for
approval. [Appendices B-F] The
Senate has received memos from the administration approving Proposals 39-04
(Review and Reappointment of Deans of Colleges), 42-04 (Evaluation Procedure
for the President), 43-04 (Master of Forestry), 44-04 (M.S. in Forest Ecol.
& Mgmt), 45-04 (M.S. in Appl. Ecol.), 46-04 (M.S. in Forest Molec. Genetics
& Biotechnology), 47-04, 48-04, 49-04, & 50-04 (concentrations within
the BA in Communication and Culture Studies). [Appendices G-M]
6. Committee reports
Senator Sloan, chair of the Budget Reduction Planning Committee, reported on that committee, which is one of 4-5 committees on the budget. The committee was elected by the faculty with one person per school or college. A full report can be found on the web by searching for budget. This faculty committee concentrated on the philosophy of budget reductions and not on the details, partly because they lacked the detailed information they would need. They did recommend cuts in the IT budget and in financial aid, especially by reducing the out-of-state discount and in expecting more external support for graduate students. Other budget considerations they recommended were a moratorium on building, an increase of 1000 more students, streamlining processes to increase productivity, viewing the budget crisis as an opportunity, finding proper investment of R & I funds, and getting cross cuts from the Tech Fund.
President Mroz gave an update on action taken on these items. There have been 8-9 cuts in IT; the administration is looking at blue ribbon financial aid to optimize bringing the best students to Tech and getting the most for the available money. The Board of Control has approved priorities for building if capital outlay becomes available, but that does not mean that we will decide to do the building when the time comes. We are working on marketing and recruitment strategies with a new team of people from campus who have successful experience in recruiting. We are working on ways to streamline processes, which has resulted in layoffs, mostly in middle management. By next semester we hope to have in place a system whereby tuition can be paid online by credit card. The Board of Control has approved putting up to 80% of R & I funds in equities. The fees from the Tech Fund have been cut from 4% to 2%; training, one-on-one sessions with chairs, and an online toolkit are helping more people join the efforts to obtain donations. We will have a new Vice President for Advancement in October.
Senator Sloan continued her report with three final recommendations: 1) Act now to achieve a balanced budget regardless of the pain to accomplish it; 2) Plan programs, not just buildings; 3) Eliminate duplication of services. The latter has already been done in consolidating distance education and there is an effort to integrate the summer program into the regular course process.
7. OLD BUSINESS
Proposal 51-04, Criteria for Financial Evaluation of New academic Programs, was introduced for consideration at the next meeting. [Appendix N]
8. NEW BUSINESS
A. Proposed 2004-05 meeting dates.
Waddell MOVED and C. Selfe seconded the motion to accept the meeting dates as distributed. The motion passed with no opposition.
B.
Proposal 1-05, 2005-2006 Academic Calendar
The proposal was introduced for consideration at the next meeting. [Appendix O]
C. Proposal 2-05, Amendment of Senate
Constitution
President Monson explained that Article II, A, 6 of the Constitution states that "members of collective bargaining units recognized by the university shall not be constituents" (of the Senate). Thus we need a contingency plan in the event that the faculty vote to be represented by the AAUP in the election. Proposal 2-05 would replace the quoted part of the Constitution with "members of collective bargaining units recognized by the University, other than the AAUP, shall not be constituents."
A motion to change the Constitution requires a 2/3 majority vote at two meetings of the Senate and a 2/3 majority vote of the constituency.
Bruch MOVED and Sloan seconded the motion to consider Proposal 2-05 an emergency proposal. After considerable discussion on whether it was a real emergency and when would the new membership take effect if the AAUP is elected to represent the faculty, the motion to make this an emergency proposal PASSED by secret ballot of the full Senate with 22 yes and 7 no votes.
President Monson pointed out that the AAUP would be involved mostly in economic aspects of the University. The Senate would still have academic responsibility. Senator Rogers pointed out that precluding membership based on union affiliation may be unlawful.
Bruch MOVED and C. Selfe seconded the motion to approve Proposal 2-05 as presented.
Senator D. Selfe suggested changing "AAUP" to "faculty collective bargaining units." Vice President Christianson pointed out that the topics of wages, hours, working conditions, and fringe benefits cannot be discussed outside union negotiations. Senator Sloan pointed out that the Senate merely recommends on the B group in the Constitution, which includes matters related to finances.
Senator Beck pointed out that this is a short-term problem and that there is a long-term problem in which we need to define the constituents in other terms.
Secretary Glime stated that the Constitution has that wording because a person cannot be represented by more than one unit. The Senate had been asked to include that wording in the existing Constitution.
Senator D. Selfe said that the new constitution must separate Senate responsibilities from those of the AAUP.
Williams MOVED and Waddell seconded the motion to amend Proposal 2-05 by adding "In the event that the faculty unionizes the Senate will reopen the question of membership and function."
Senator Bruch called for closing the discussion. That was PASSED with dissent.
President Monson said that he would find out the legal issues before the next meeting.
Senator C. Selfe suggested that we revisit the constituency definition in the Constitution whether we have a union or not.
Senator Flaspohler stated that we need to know the legal issues of membership and timing. Senator Bruch called the question on the amendment. The amendment to the proposal PASSED on voice vote with dissent.
Senator Beck called for a secret ballot on the amended proposal.
Proposal 2-05 FAILED in a secret ballot of the full Senate, 19 yes to 10 no.
Senator Barna stated that his understanding was that the
faculty would be represented by the AAUP when the election was certified. [Appendix P]
D.
Proposal to invite an AAUP representative from another faculty to talk
to the Senate.
Williams MOVED and
9. Adjournment
Bruch MOVED and
Respectfully Submitted by Janice M. Glime
Secretary of the University Senate