THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN HUNTSVILLE

JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY SENATE

VOLUME XXV

MINUTES OF MEETING #479, 29 MARCH 2007,

APPROVED APRIL 26, 2007

PRESENT:

ADSC: Tseng, Patnayakuni

LBAR: J. Johnson, Moore, Meister, M. Johnson, Heikes, Reeves,

ENG: Frendi, Lin, Karr, Wessling, Jovanov

LIB: Vaughan

NUR: Lawson, Anderson, George, Thompson

SCI: Boyd, Bishop, Paddison, Delugach, Ai, Elsamadicy

ABSENT WITH PROXY:

ADSC: Gramm, Schnell

LBAR: Ferris, Bollinger, Neuschatz

SCI: Ravindran, Mecikalski

ABSENT WITHOUT PROXY:

LBAR: Pritchard, Ragsdale, Sitaraman

ENGR: Banish, Anderson, Kulick, Joiner, Gholston,

NUR: Foote

SCI: Magnuson, Weimer, Paddison, Aygun, Miller

0. Senate President Melinda Lawson called the meeting to order at 12:50 p.m.

1. Draft Minutes of Meeting Number 478 were approved with taking out the phrase about the Barry Scott Position. Motion by Shari George, seconded by Andrée Reeves.

2. Senate Executive Committee Report accepted. Motion by Kader Frendi, seconded by Shari George. One abstention.

3. President Franz’s Report.

Dr. Franz reported the budget is in flux at this time. What came from the Governor was not acceptable and it is with the Legislature now. In his budget we were not treated well at all The Bond issue is horrendous. There are good people in the Legislature working on our behalf. We may not know the final outcome for the budget until July this year because of the extended session. We will continue to plan ahead.

The construction is going well. We have worked out plans for Wilson Hall space. Nursing, Liberal Arts, and Continuing Education has worked together well. There are useful changes. We will basically flip the front and back. The Applied Sciences building is projected to open in the fall. We have had problems with the current contractor.

The Intermodal Transportation Center plans are going through the Board. There are drawings for you to see. There will be about 500 spaces. The architecture is great. There will be a waiting area. The Police Station will be there. There will be 3 floors. The stairwells will be glass for safety reasons.

There was discussion regarding the preschool. There are a couple of location possibilities.

4. Dr. Radonovich’s Report.

Dr. Radonovich thanked Harry Delugach for the good work on the Search for the ITA. We have hired Bobbi Jo Rissmann. We have also hired Alan Whitten for one third time over the summer to assist with the transition and do a trial fun on the new WebCT/Blackboard software. Bobbi Jo’s office will be in the Library. If any of you can assist with finding her significant other a position here in town it would be appreciated. This is an issue we need to do some work on and that is finding suitable employment for spouses and significant others. We need to be more creative in bringing faculty and staff on board.

We also need to do some work on a policy on maternity and paternity leave. We need to work on these and put something in the newer version of the Faculty Handbook. This should not be a major project. We need to refine the policies and do a reprint of the Handbook.

There was some discussion regarding clickers in the classrooms and the Committee to look into this issue.

Dr. Radonovich talked about taking a tour of the Applied Science building and how impressive the building is and the size of the offices and the classrooms and laboratories. This is a great facility that will provide great new labs for the freshmen students to use.

5. A. Senate Committee Reports:

1. Executive: The report was distributed with the minutes. The report was approved.

2. Faculty and Student Development: Dr. Frendi reported there was one item to nominate two faculty members to the QEP Oversight Committee. The Committee has nine members and two faculty. The nominations are Jeff Neuschatz and Jennifer English.

4. Governance and Operations: No Report.

5. Personnel: No Report.

6. Undergraduate Curriculum: Shari George reported the Committee is still very busy. They have six requests for program changes.

7. Undergraduate Scholastic Affairs: No Report.

8. Finance and Resources: Dr. Delugach reported the Distinguished Speaker RFP is out. He expects to meet and turn around the results quickly.

B. University Committees: Honors Day is April 10 and Honors Research Day is April 20.

C. Officer Reports:

Parliamentarian: No Report.

Ombudsperson: No Report.

President-Elect: No Report.

President: No Report.

6. Smoking Policy Presentation (Marcia Green)

Marcia is requesting the Faculty Senate pass a resolution to update our smoking policy. ETS or second hand smoke is a known carcinogen and affects the health of nonsmokers. Our campus allows smoking everywhere except inside buildings. This means smokers are allowed to smoke at entrances and near air handlers which allow smoke to enter the buildings and nonsmokers have to pass through the smoke to enter the building. Smokers take breaks in unsafe places. Nonsmokers who are sensitive to smoke are exposed. This is intended to provide a safe environment. This promotes healthier lifestyles and a cleaner campus. The benefits are healthier employees, cleaner environment, stabilizing insurance cost, maintenance cost, and downtime from work, and increase productivity. There is no safe limit of ETS. Those exposed have a higher rate of cardiovascular problems and respiratory problems creating a greater liability for UAH.

Marcia’s preferred choice is no smoking within 25 feet of any building. Another option is to designate smoking and nonsmoking entrances. There was some discussion regarding having a non smoking campus. There was some discussion regarding enforcement of the policy.

There was some discussion regarding policies at other campuses. A number of campuses have upgraded their policy to no smoking within 25 feet of any building and some have non smoking campuses.

For so long the campuses have catered to the 17-25%--the smokers. We need to consider the health and well being of the campus.

7. Office of Sponsored Programs Update (Gloria Greene)

Gloria talked about the surveys that were done and the value mapping and flowcharts being used. She talked about the faculty involved with the Committee. They want to give these changes a year and then take another look at how they are doing. She distributed a draft of a Bulletin the Office will put out and will send to those who want to be on the listserv. Individuals can sign up for listserv. Deans and Coordinators will be the first to get the bulletins and those on the listserv. The Office will set up seminars to help groups or those working together to submit one good proposal. We are open to recommendations for making improvements. The C&G Coordinators can help with accounting. The Administrators can also assist.

8. UAH Faculty and Staff Clinic Update (Louise O’Keefe)

Louise O’Keefe reported the Faculty and Staff Clinic will open at the end of April. It will be housed in Spragins Hall. It will open in the morning from 7:30-11:30 a.m. It may open later in the future and there may be more hours in the future. Louise has hired an assistant. The Clinic will serve the faculty and staff. This should save time and money. It will either be free or a $5 co-pay. Services will include minor illnesses, minor injuries. It will not replace private physicians. The overseeing physician will be Dr. Holsenback. Each individual will have to do the usual paperwork the first time in. We will see Full time, part-time, adjunct, visiting, etc. A Nurse Practitioner may see you as well to handle blood work, blood pressure, etc. We will refer you to physicians.

It was announced Ms. Lawson received the Teaching Award from the SGA.

9. Ms. Lawson adjourned the meeting at 2:00 p.m.