Call to Order
The NGCSU Faculty Senate met on Thursday, November 9, 2000.  The meeting was called to order at 12:30 PM by CEO Woods.  Present were President Hansford and VPAA Buckhiester.  Guests included Associate VPAA  Roberts-Betsch and Dr. Harriette W. Richard.  Senators present were Barnett, Bielec, Chastain, Friedman, Gannaway, Herbert, Jones, Kokkala, Link, McCard, B. Morris, O'Neal, Sisk, Spraker, Temples, Weinberg, Westerfield, Wiedmann, Woods, and Yeoman.  Senators Biddy and Larkin were excused.  Senators Anthony, Cronic, Campbell, Delargy, Margeson, and Williams were absent.

Minutes of the October 12, 2000 Meeting
CEO Woods submitted the minutes of the October 12, 2000 meeting of the Faculty Senate for approval.  He called for any corrections or additions.  There were none.  Senator Morris moved to accept the minutes, Senator O'Neal seconded.  The minutes were approved and accepted as submitted.

The President's Report
President Hansford reported on a number of items.  Regarding the new health insurance options, he reported that, as of November 7th, 173 past and present employees had declared their coverage choices.  Of these, 43% selected to remain with the current indemnity plan, 34% opted for the new PPO, and 22% selected participation in the HMO.  President Hansford suggested that these figures were slightly skewed in favor of the current indemnity plan since most of those persons who have already made their selections are retirees.  Of the 425 people qualified for coverage about 200 are faculty members, 225 are staff members, and 150 are retirees.  President Hansford reminded the Senate that November 16, 2000, is the deadline for stipulating a choice regarding health care coverage.  Anyone not specifying a choice, will automatically be enrolled in the PPO.  President Hansford announced that he, personally, had opted for the PPO.  He acknowledged, however, that the decision is a personal one, and each person must make their selection in light of what is best for their particular circumstances.

The President reminded the Senators that November 16, 2000, is also the deadline for establishing/continuing Med-Flex accounts.  There apparently had been some confusion regarding the deadline.  Human Resources has, therefore, sent out an e-mail message clarifying the deadline.

President Hansford announced that the university will be switching over to a new e-mail program in January 2001.  The Director of IIT has informed the President that the new system, Groupwise, is much better than the current program.  A number of informational demonstration sessions have already been held and more will be held in future.  While on the subject of e-mails, President Hansford referred to an "unfortunate incident" involving Professor Fuller.  President Hansford congratulated Fuller on handling the matter in "a most gentlemanly manner."  Approximately 300 responses have been received, and all have received a personal response.  The President went on to explain that, while most initial responses were those of outrage, after receiving an explanation of the facts of the matter, most came back assuaged and willing to help.  IIT has identified the IPS used to send out the original e-mail, and the IPS has canceled the individual's  membership.  It appears, however, that no criminal laws were violated.  While there is a potential for civil action, such action would be the choice and responsibility of Professor Fuller.  Senator Friedman pointed out that NGCSU was also hurt by the incident.  The Senator inquired whether or not the university might not join Professor Fuller in a civil action.  President Hansford explained that, for the university to successfully undertake such action, the university would have to prove monetary damage to NGCSU.  This would, at best, be difficult.  President Hansford did say, however, that should such an incident occur a second time, the university might have grounds to pursue civil action against the responsible party.

Moving on to the subject of the Office of Institutional Advancement, President Hansford informed the Senate that Dr. Martin, having come onboard in July, has been busy auditing and updating the records.  The Office is not better utilizing the computerized system to its best advantage.  This has required the help of a consultant.  Now that the records are updated, audited, and fully computerized, President Hansford expects the office to begin moving forward.  The Office has begun a search for the position of Director of Public Information.  The President informed the Senate that a number of individuals have been identified as potential candidates and have been contacted.  A second position, Director of Development, will also need to be filled.  This position is of particular importance as the Director of Development is responsible for identifying and contacting prospective donors.  President Hansford pointed out that a key to successful fund-raising is the matching of prospective donors in terms of interests with the needs of the university.  A search for this position was begun a few weeks ago, and several candidates have applied.  Three applicants are particularly promising.  President Hansford informed the Senate that the Foundation currently has an endowment of $13.8M.  To provide some perspective, the President reported that Columbus has an endowment of about $50M, Georgia Southwestern $28M, Augusta $15M, and Kennesaw State $13-14M.

President Hansford next thanked all faculty members and members of the administration who had attended the Fall Faculty Review conducted by the Corps of Cadets.  He went on to inform the Senate that Mr. Nix and his family had greatly enjoyed the experience.

The President then reviewed a number of planned and on-going projects.  The renovation of Hoag Auditorium is scheduled to begin right after Thanksgiving and proceed to mid January.  This work will include improving the lighting in the Great Room as well.  Regarding the planned renovation of the Education Building, President Hansford reported that the university had requested $500,000 for the project.  The university, so far, has received $60,000 for planning and architect costs.  Planning has begun for this project.  Regarding renovation of Alumni House, funds have been received to cover renovations and additions.  Eventually, all Advancement and Development offices will be relocated to Alumni House.  In order to provide the needed space for those offices, while still maintaining some publicly usable space, additions to the building will be made that are in keeping with the general style and appearance of the building.  The university has received funding to cover planning costs for a major power and energy program.  The university wishes to be able to switch between gas and electric power in order to minimize energy costs for the campus.  Funding has also been received to improve and upgrade street lighting on campus and the sound system in Memorial Hall Auditorium.  Finally, additional funds have been made available to the university which will be used for a new cooling tower for Dunlap Hall, new support for the air conditioning in Memorial Hall, a renovation of the locker rooms, and a brick facade on the pool area of Memorial Hall and removal of the wall between the old patio and drive.

Unfinished Business
In order to allow as much time for discussion as possible, CEO Woods announced that he would make the CEO's Report at the end of the meeting.  The Senate then moved on to Unfinished Business.

Senator Weinberg, as Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Harassment, addressed the Senate.  The Ad Hoc Committee had been charged with three tasks:

• To plan campus-wide seminars on issues connected with sexual harassment
• To study issues related to sexual harassment, including gender discrimination, and how they affect NGCSU
• To recommend appropriate proposals to the Faculty Senate and/or the Staff Council for action

• 44.4% of the faculty and staff returned completed surveys
• Completed surveys were returned by 25.4% of the students
• The demographic profile of the students responding to the survey were a "reasonable reflection of the campus as a whole"

• 13.3% reported experiencing some form of discrimination
• 11.9% reported experiencing some form of harassment
• 26% of student respondents in the Crop of Cadets reported experiencing harassment and/or discrimination
• The major form of the discrimination and harassment was gender-based
• Nearly half the students reported feeling that they could talk to Faculty about such problems, however, those students who reported actually talking to someone about such problems reported that 70% of them talked with other students, 8.3% talked with Faculty, and slightly less with Staff and Administration
• Over half the students who talked about such problems reported they were not satisfied with the outcome of reporting such conduct to other students
• 4.9% of students reported that they planned to leave NGCSU because of discrimination/harassment

• 12.8% of non-student employees reported experiencing discrimination
• 24.1% (nearly one quarter) reported experiencing harassment
• 19.3% (nearly one fifth) reported they are planning to leave NGCSU because of this conduct
• 23% claimed that discrimination/harassment did not exist on campus or that they had not witnessed any

• It is clear that members of the NGCSU community are not in complete agreement about issues of harassment and discrimination.  There is lack of agreement concerning what constitutes such conduct.  Thus, there is a need to educate the campus and come to a common definition.
• It is also clear, however, that a significant minority of the campus community reported that they have experienced a range of harassing and discriminatory conduct which is not only morally and ethically wrong, but also illegal.
• Given the information gathered by the Ad Hoc Committee, NGCSU has an obligation to address these problems in an aggressive way at the highest level.  Therefore, the Committee believes that any further effort to address these concerns on merely an ad hoc basis would be inappropriate.

NGCSU should establish an ongoing, funded, staffed, institutionalized vehicle to move forward in this arena.  The main purpose of this entity would be to take proactive measures to educate the campus on issues of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.  This might include rewriting the university's sexual harassment policy, setting up regular workshops/seminars for every segment of the NGCSU community, and taking whatever steps necessary to deal with what is clearly a very sensitive topic.  The committee believes that in any such efforts, the emphasis should be on education and empowerment.

Senator Friedman moved to amend the proposal by removing the phrase "gender discrimination" and replacing it with the phrase "discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation."  Senator Morris seconded the motion to amend.

In the ensuing discussion, Senator Barnett spoke in support of keeping to the original assignment tasked to the committee.  Senator McCard pointed out that the Senate could, if it felt appropriate, task a separate committee to address other forms of discrimination.  The question on amending the proposal was called.  The motion to amend carried.

In discussion of the amended proposal, the point was made that any funding for such an "institutionalized vehicle" would take needed funds from other, "more important" areas such as new faculty positions.  Senator Sisk asked if it was necessary that funding be a specified characteristic.  Senator Weinberg explained that the Committee felt the strongest possible recommendation was needed to call attention to the seriousness of the problem and due to the request for an on-going effort.  Senator Friedman pointed out that the university cannot have an "institutionalized vehicle" without staff.  The question on the amended proposal was called.  The amended proposal carried.

Senator Weinberg then presented the Committee's second proposal which read:

In establishing a long-term institutional approach to dealing with sexual harassment and gender discrimination, any further committee should be representative of the NGCSU community as a whole, and include those who are committed to working in a public way to deal with these difficult issues.  To this end, we recommend that any new official campus-wide committee formed to move in this direction include several members of the current Ad Hoc Committee.

In the ensuing discussion, a question was raised concerning how to judge if someone is "committed."  Senator Weinberg suggested that there are a number of ways to make this determination.  For example, if someone indicates an interest in serving, this could be taken to indicate their commitment.  CEO Woods reminded the Senate that these proposals can only be recommended to the Administration.  It is the Administration which would have the final word and would, thus, make such a determination.  The question on the amended proposal was called.  The amended proposal carried.

Senator Friedman addressed the Senate on behalf of the Committee on Committees.  Because the By Laws had previously been amended with regard to the constitution of the Library Committee, the Committee on Committees, in order to comply with the new By Laws, recommended the following appointments to the Library Committee:

FROM THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LETTERS:
          Steven Brehe
          Kevin Mace

FROM THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT:
          Kirk Heriot
          Brent Paterline

FROM THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION:
          Bud Reiselt
          Suzie Windsor

FROM THE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES:
          Cecilia Democko
          Robert Fuller

FROM THE DIVISION OF ACADEMIC SUPPORT PROGRAMS:
          Ann Tallant

New Business
CEO Woods announced that the first item of New Business concerning Post-Tenure Review would be taken up at a later date.

Senator Sisk, on behalf of Dean T. Fox, presented the Senate with proposed changes for the Department Head evaluation tools.  She pointed out that the current evaluation tools are available on the N:/ drive.  One evaluation tool is completed by the Department Chair's Dean, and the other is completed by the faculty members in the Chair's department.  Senator Sisk explained that the proposed changes were not substantive in character but, rather, primarily concerned changes in language for purposes of clarification.

Regarding the evaluation tool completed by a Chair's Dean, the phrases "Ability to deal effectively with" and "Ability to manage" are changed to "Recruits . . . effectively," "Evaluates . . . effectively," "Develops . . . effectively," and "Effectively manages," respectively.  Additionally, in that section of the evaluation tool calling for written comments, the heading "Weak Points" is replaced by "Areas for development."
There was no discussion.  The question was called, and the proposed changes were approved.

Regarding the evaluation tool completed by faculty members within the Chair's department, the change involves the inclusion of "I do not know" to the current ranking scale.  This change was proposed in light of the fact that not all faculty members may have sufficient knowledge concerning all of a Chair's activities to make an informed assessment.  Again, the phrase "Weak Points" is replaced by "Areas for development."
There was no discussion.  The question was called, and the proposed changes were approved.

Due to the absence of Senator Campbell, the final item of New Business could not be brought forward to the Senate.

CEO's Report
CEO Woods informed the Senate that he had researched the By Laws regarding the question of when the Senate must vote on an item of business.  CEO Woods reported that he had received some complaints concerning the Senate voting on items without sufficient time to consider them.  A search of the By Laws found no stipulation regarding when the Senate must vote on something.  CEO Woods went on to report that he had been informed that the Senate had, traditionally, followed an (unofficial) rule requiring that all items of business subject to a vote be made known to the Senators 10 days prior to the vote.  He pointed out that this tradition will no longer work because the agenda is not sent out until one week (7 days) prior to a meeting.  He reminded the Senators, however, that the call for agenda items goes out 2 weeks (14 days) before a scheduled meeting.  Thus, if a Senator will send the item to CEO Woods as a Word document at the same time the Senator asks for the item to be placed on the agenda, CEO Woods will link the Word document to the e-mail agenda.  In this way, Senators will have at least one week to consider an item before voting on it.

CEO Woods then called for announcements.  There being none, the meeting was adjourned at 1:40 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
 
 
 
 

S.N. Wiedmann, Secretary
NGCSU Faculty Senate