UAH FACULTY SENATE

UAH FACULTY SENATE

DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING #413

11 NOVEMBER, 1999

PRESENT:

ADSC: Sherman

LA: Enger, Schenker, Meister, Waring, Whatley, Hanks, Wilkerson, Williams, Bliss

ENG: Hayes, Shen, Boykin, Swain, Karr

LIB: Warren

NUR: Brookman, Cash

SCI: Christopher, Lawton, George, Richards, Zhang, Miller, Comfort, Hillman

ABSENT WITH PROXY:

ADSC: Floyd

LBAR: Neff, Bollinger

ENGR: Hawk, Leonard

NUR: Warren, Hays

SCI: Garstka, Baird, Kunin

ABSENT WITHOUT PROXY:

ADSC: Schnell

LBAR: Dasher, Sitaraman

ENGR: Jarem, Abushagur, Landrum

SCI: Li

0. President Hanks called the meeting to order at 12:38 p.m.

1. Draft Minutes of Meeting #412 were unanimously approved. Motion by J. Miller, seconded by H. Comfort.

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee Reports were accepted with one correction—remove Hanks from the attendance list. Motion by Brookman, seconded by Cash.

3. A. Senate Committee Reports:

1. Executive: The Senate Executive Committee met November 4 received Committee reports, passed Senate Bill 279 at first reading and set the agenda for the November 11 meeting.

2. Faculty and Student Development: Dr. Swain reported the Committee had met with Dr. Fisher and learned a fair amount about the history of the athletic center project and various issues related to the cost to the faculty. The electable benefit is still the current thinking of the administration. The cost is a function of the tax code combined with the particular feature that the operation of the upgraded facility is being financed by selling memberships to the general public. This facility will help in the recruiting and retention aspect. This facility will also bring the public into UAH which allows them to see it as a value and make it a destination. Dr. Swain reported that the push for a new recreation center actually came from the students originally. Students expect this kind of facility and look for it when they come to visit.

3. Finance and Resources: No Report.

4. Governance and Operations: No Report—Bill on the agenda, nominations for President-Elect Ballot later in this meeting.

5. Personnel: Dr. Hanks announced that the Personnel Committee needs a new Chair since Dr. Garstka has a scheduling conflict. Dr. Schenker has agreed to call a meeting to elect a new Chair.

Undergraduate Curriculum: Dr. Richards reported the Committee met on October 28. The Committee approved a change to A,B,C,D, NC grading for ECN 142, 143. Name changes were approved for HPE 102, 103, 112, 220. We approved the change of MUA 110 from private to regular class lessons and the inclusion of the topic of "staffing" in MGT 460.

The Committee also discussed the viability issue. The enclosed table gives the viability status of UAH programs which are nonviable or borderline nonviable. For an undergraduate program to be viable, it must average 7.5 graduates per year over a 5 year period. Dr. Johnson, Associate Provost, informed the Committee that Computer Engineering, Physics, Psychology, and Political Science are currently in good condition. No action has been taken by the Committee on viability.

7. Undergraduate Scholastic Affairs: Dr. Bliss reported the Committee is getting ready to propose a policy on the question of the A,B,C,D,NC grading system.

The Committee is also looking into the question of administrative withdrawal, possibly along the lines of UAB where if a student does not attend the first class, they are withdrawn.

B. University Committees: Dr. Bliss reported from the Information Services Users Advisory Committee there is a new web system for faculty to use for student information that is more user friendly—it has a better user interface.

Officer Reports:

Ombudsperson: No Report.

President-Elect: No Report.

President: Dr. Hanks talked about the viability issue.

4. President Franz Report:

Dr. Franz reported the aim for the budget is to reserve 1/3 of the growth in the Education Trust fund for higher education. The UAH policy would be to put our share into salaries. UAH would be best served by an across the board allocation between the campuses. We would like a salary deficit index for the allocation to bring our salaries closer to the national average. Using the ACHE equity index may be bad for UAH because our recent decline in student numbers pegs UAH as being less needy. An allocation based on defined maintenance would also be bad because UAH has kept up with maintenance.

Dr. Waring asked whether it is true that the Huntsville Times Newspaper was doing less publicizing of UAH events than in the past. If so, is this a result of editorial policy or a lack of communication from UAH?

The President replied that UAH has a very good relationship with the Huntsville Times but it is true that we give them a great deal of information that they do not use. There are two possible causes: 1)There is no longer a beat reporter who previously gave us a great deal of publicity and 2) The need to balance the coverage of UAH and A&M provides a competition for available space.

5. Provost McManus Report:

No Report.

Senate Bill 279 "Amendment to Faculty Senate By-Laws: University Standing Committees and the Faculty Handbook Section 6.6. Dr. Wilkerson introduced the bill pertaining to the need for regular meetings by University Committees. The bill is designed to encourage Committees to meet at least once per semester.

Amendments were made as follows: 1) Line 29-32 changed to read "any member of the Committee may call a meeting". 2) Line 34 changed to read "the details of procedures will be determined by each Committee". 3) Line 44-45 changed to read "Any member of the Committee may call a meeting". Dr. Comfort asked "what is the remedy if the Committee do not meet or give a report?" Dr. Hanks stated that the Senate President should exert pressure. Bill was moved by Dr. Wilkerson, seconded by Dr. Waring, carried unanimously (no vote count), no abstentions. The bill passed at second reading and was automatically declared passed at third reading by President Hanks since there were no abstentions and the vote was unanimous. This is in accordance with the Faculty Senate Bylaws.

President-Elect Ballot: Two nominations were received: Tommy Williams and James Miller. The Governance and Operations Committee will run the election. The Committee needs a temporary Chair of Governance and Operations Committee until the election is completed.

Dr. Peter Meister asked if it might be a good idea to increase the term of the Senate President to two or three years because one year is barely enough time to learn the job. The question was referred to the Governance and Operations Committee.

President Hanks adjourned the meeting at 1:21 p.m. moved by Dr. Wilkerson and seconded by Dr. Swain.