Call to Order

The Faculty Senate of North Georgia College and State University met on Thursday, August 31, 2000.  The session was called to order at 12:30 PM by CEO Woods.  President Hansford and VPAA Buckhiester were in attendance.  Senators attending were as follows:  M. Anthony, K. Biddy, N. Campbell, D. Cronic, L. Delargy, B. Herbert, I. Kokkala, R. Larkin, E. Link, V. McCard, H. Margeson, B. Morris, J. O'Neal, K. Sisk, M. Spraker, T. Temples, C. Weinberg, M. Westerfield, S. Wiedmann, J. Woods, and J. Yeoman.  Dr. Dee Stegelin attended in place of Senator Gannaway.  Senators Gannaway and Friedman were excused.  Ms. Inman, Staff Council Representative, and Senators Barnett, W. Morris, and S. Williams were absent.  Associate VPAA Roberts-Betsch was a guest.

Minutes of the June 22, 2000, Meeting

CEO Woods submitted the minutes of the June 22, 2000, meeting for approval.  He called for any corrections or additions.  There being none, Senator Spraker moved that the minutes be approved as submitted.  Senator Sisk seconded the motion.  The minutes were approved as submitted.

President's Report

President Hansford reported that, as of the end of the drop/add period, overall enrollment was up approximately 4% over last year at the same time.  Total credit hours were up
4 1/2%, and EFT's up 4 1/2%.  Total student enrollment stands at 3,368 students.  This figure includes undergraduate, graduate, full-time, and part-time students.  He went on to say that he believed many USG schools were not experiencing this kind of growth.

Senator Sisk inquired about earlier reports which indicated that applications for the current academic year were down from previous years.  President Hansford confirmed that applications for admission had been down from previous years, but, due to NGCSU's excellent acceptance rate (approximately 80% of applications granted admission accept and attend compared to the national average of approximately 40%) NGCSU was still able to increase overall enrollment.

Senator Spraker asked if this increase in enrollment and credit hours balanced out the earlier drop experienced during the transition from quarter hours to semester hours.  President Hansford did not think the increase was sufficient to balance out the drop.  He stated that he thought the Chancellor would have to produce a plan to keep us at level funding.  He further indicated that there is the possibility that discussions will take place at the state level to consider changing the present funding formula.

Senator Campbell asked what the present formula is, and whether or not it is easy to track and compute.  President Hansford explained that the formula is not easy to track.  The formula involves a significant number of weighted factors.  It is, however, publicly available.

President Hansford next reported on the ICAP grant awarded to NGCSU.  The grant is for approximately $1,000,000 over a two year period.  These monies have been awarded for the training and education of employees of the ISP Alliance.  This semester, about twenty-five (25) such students will enroll with an eventual total enrollment of two hundred fifty (250) students.  This semester, classes will begin off-campus, but classes will eventually move on campus once the necessary equipment is in place (additional phone lines, etc.).  President Hansford noted that over $100,000 of the grant monies were awarded to cover the cost of equipment which will become part of NGCSU's permanent property.  In addition, the college will receive tuition monies from the ISP Alliance employees/students.  He stated that "this is a very positive thing" for NGCSU to be involved in.

President Hansford reported on the state's program for benchmarking.  This is part of Gov. Barnes's education initiative.  The Chancellor volunteered USG to go first.  Peer institutions have been selected for each type of school within USG.  President Hansford went on to report that the selection of criteria for comparing USG institutions with their peer institutions has almost been completed.  He explained to the Senate that the Chancellor is not in favor of comparing USG institutions with each other.  Although such comparison have been made in recent articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this practice is not supported by the Chancellor nor part of the benchmarking process.  For the purpose of benchmarking, the factors which will be compared will include, in part, SAT scores of entering freshmen, the percentage of students in developmental studies, the percentage of students enrolled part-time, the percentage of tenured faculty, graduation rates, and the number/percentage of accredited programs.  President Hansford stated that he feels NGCSU comes out well in all these areas.

President reported that the search for a Director of Public Information is nearly completed.  A recommendation will be forwarded to Dr. Martin soon.  Additionally, as soon as Dr. Martin is ready, the search for a Director of Development will begin.  President Hansford acknowledged that NGCSU has, for a long time, enjoyed excellent alumni relations.  There is a strong, active alumni association of considerable size.  NGCSU, however, does not presently fair as well in the area of fundraising outside the alumni population.  Building our endowment up will help serve as a buffer during lean times.

In closing, President Hansford reported on the status of on-going physical improvement projects.  The flags outside the Dining Hall mark out the new basketball and volleyball courts.  Eventually, the area outside the gym will be landscaped in a park-like manner to improve, visually, a visitor's first impression of the campus.  In the same vein, Georgia Power plans to remove the power station, and that area will also undergo landscaping to improve the appearance of the campus's main entrance.  Plans are also in the works for renovating Hoag Auditorium in the Student Center.  This renovation involves, primarily, new carpet and seats.  Because of the time required to accomplish the work, and in an effort to disrupt the campus as little as possible, the work has been scheduled to begin in early December with completion in early January.  President Hansford acknowledged this will mean moving some events, such as musical performances, out of Hoag Auditorium and asked for everyone's understanding and cooperation.  He reminded the Senators that Hoag Auditorium is frequently the first interior area that new students and their parents see during visitations.

When President Hansford called for questions, Senator McCard asked if there hadn't been an earlier mention of repairs or improvements to the walkways outside the gym as well.  President Hansford replied that he had no recollection of any such plans and no such plans currently exist.  Senator Weinberg then inquired about the work on the planned walking and running trails.  President Hansford replied that those trails are going in.  When a question was raised concerning safety features such as lighting, President Hansford assured the Senate that safety features and concerns had been taken into account.  President Hansford then excused himself to attend another speaking engagement.

CEO's Report

CEO Woods informed the Senate of the schedule of meetings for the coming year.  The NGCSU Faculty Senate will meet on the following dates during the official meeting hour:

September 14, 2000
October 12, 2000
November 9, 2000
January 11, 2001
February 8, 2001
March 8, 2001
April 12, 2001
June 14, 2001

CEO Woods went on to announce that the Faculty Senate webpage was no up and running.  He explained that there is no current link to the Senate webpage from the University's homepage.  CEO Woods will send out an e-mail to all faculty containing the URL for the Senate webpage.  Faculty members will need to bookmark the URL for future use.  The Senate webpage contains the minutes of the last meeting, e-mail links to all Senators, along with other Senate information.  He asked the Senators to visit the site and offer suggestions.

CEO Woods next welcomed new Senators Judy O'Neal (taking the place of Senator Eggers) and Noel Campbell (taking the place of Dean Gerald Skelly).  He explained that he had not yet been informed by the Military Department who would be the new Senator taking the place of Senator Yonts.  Finally, he informed the Senate that ballots had been mailed out for the election of a Senator-at-Large to take the place of Senator Tennis.  These ballots will be counted prior to the meeting of the Senate on September 14th.  In future, CEO Woods assured the Senate, such ballots will clearly bear a deadline for submission.  Senator Weinberg suggested that an e-mail be sent out to all faculty informing them of the deadline for submitting the current ballots.  CEO Woods agreed to do so.

CEO Woods acknowledged that many changes had been required regarding Standing Committee memberships.  He thanked S. Ross, M. Lary, and K. Sisk for handling this task so well and quickly.

Old Business

CEO Woods brought to the Senate's attention a question concerning a recommendation made previously by the Faculty Performance Evaluation Tool Revision Committee.  The recommendation made by the committee and approved by the Senate called for the committee's suggestions to be reviewed and considered by "the Faculty Senate or the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs."  The question which has been raised is whether the "or" is intended to be inclusive or exclusive.  CEO Woods further explained that the Ad Hoc Committee dealing with the Faculty Performance Evaluation Tool revision had still been working on their report at the time that the recommendations of the other committee were approved.  VPAA Buckhiester reminded the Senators that, although brought to the Senate and approved in August, 1999, the recommendations did not go to President Hansford until February, 2000.  VPAA Buckhiester delayed forwarding the recommendations to President Hansford to give the Ad Hoc Committee the opportunity to act on them.  The Ad Hoc Committee, however, did not act on the recommendations.  Once brought to President Hansford, the recommendations were accepted, but it was late spring by that time.  Rather than bringing the matter up during the summer, when many faculty are not on campus, VPAA Buckhiester waited until now to return to the Senate for a clarification of the "or."

Senator Weinberg asked what the Ad Hoc Committee's position was regarding the recommendations.  VPAA Buckhiester could only report "that committee has chosen not to act on them."  Rather, the Ad Hoc Committee has decided to look at other evaluation methods, tools, and areas.

CEO Woods reminded the Senate that the Ad Hoc Committee did not submit a report of their activities at the end-of-year Senate meeting in April.  The committee, however, has now sent their report to CEO Woods, but that report will not be presented to the Senate until the next meeting.  Senator Weinberg then moved that the issue of whether the "or" is to be interpreted as inclusive or exclusive be dealt with later.  Senator McCard seconded.  The question was, thus, delayed.

New Business

VPAA Buckhiester reported that, following two recent faculty-wide e-mails, he had been asked if NGCSU is now communicating new policy electronically.  The two e-mail messages concerned roll verification and syllabi entries concerning students with learning disabilities.  VPAA Buckhiester explained that the message concerning roll verification was not a case of instituting new policy but, rather, of communicating existing policy as a reminder to the faculty.  The second message was part of NGCSU's ongoing effort to meet ADA regulations.  Regarding the latter requirement for syllabi entries, VPAA Buckhiester acknowledged that the Faculty Handbook does not yet reflect the requirement.  He also acknowledged that, ideally, the requirement should have been added to the Faculty Handbook before going out as a faculty-wide message.  He reiterated that the message, however, was not an attempt to establish policy but merely communicate it.  He went on to state that it is "never our intent" to establish policy or procedure electronically.

Senator Wiedmann then raised a question concerning the new student-initiated withdrawal forms.  The form now calls for the instructor to note the date the student last attended class.  Senator Wiedmann explained that this requirement seemed to contradict the agreement made earlier that instructors be required to take and keep roll records for only the first three weeks of the semester.  Associate VPAA Roberts-Betsch explained that the date of last attendance requested by the new form is, primarily, for purposes of financial aid.  Instructors are still required to take and keep attendance records only for the first three weeks of the semester (until two weeks after the end of the drop/add period).  In the case of a student initiating a withdrawal after this period, if the instructor has not maintained attendance records, the instructor is asked to approximate the date to the best of his/her ability.  Senator Larkin stated that it was his understanding that instructors were required to maintain attendance records for the entire duration of a semester.  VPAA Buckhiester recommended this practice, although it is not actually required.

VPAA Buckhiester next reminded the Senate that, at the August 16, 1999, meeting, the Senate had approved a recommendation that "long-term value to the institution and collegiality" be rated on a pass/fail basis as a separate, discrete item on the annual faculty performance evaluation.  President Hansford accepted this recommendation.  The Ad Hoc Committee chose not to clarify the issues or define the terms.  VPAA Buckhiester explained that he was not bringing this item back to the Senate to inform the Senators that these changes are about to be implemented.  He reminded the Senate that, in the past, such changes have usually been implemented after the end of the evaluation period in which the changes were recommended.  In other words, evaluation procedures and factors have not, generally, been changed during an evaluation period.  Senator Sisk reported that she had been approached by a faculty member from another department who felt he was penalized in all areas of evaluation due to a perceived collegiality problem.  The current practice and evaluation form, thus, lowered his scores overall.  VPAA Buckhiester explained that he was not suggesting that the Senate reconsider the decision.  He merely wished to remind the Senators of the change so that there would be no surprises at end-of-year evaluations.  Senator Sisk suggested that setting a new precedent could be dangerous and recommended that the changes be implemented after the current evaluation period.  The Senate concured with following established procedure.  Thus, these changes in the evaluation tool will be implemented to evaluate faculty performance over the year 2001-2002.

Announcements and Adjournment

CEO Woods called for announcements.  There being none, the meeting was adjourned at 1:35PM.

Respectfully submitted,
 
 
 
 

Sally Wiedmann, Secretary
NGCSU Faculty Senate