Call to Order
The March 8, 2001, meeting of the NGCSU Faculty Senate was called to
order by CEO Woods at 12:30 PM. The following members of the Senate
were in attendance: President Hansford, VPAA Buckhiester, Barnett,
Gannaway, Herbert, Larkin, Link, McCard, Morris, O'Neal, Temples, Weinberg,
Wiedmann, Williams, Woods, and Yeoman. Senators Anthony, Bielec,
Campbell, Cronic, Friedman, Kokkala, and Sisk were excused. Senators
Biddy, Chastain, Delargy, Jones, Margeson, Spraker, and Westerfield were
absent. No guests were present.
February 6, 2001, Minutes
CEO Woods submitted the minutes of the February 6, 2001, for approval
and called for any additions or corrections. There being none, Senator
Barnett moved that the minutes be approved as submitted. Senator
Morris seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as submitted.
President's Report
President Hansford reported to the Senate that the budget and supplemental
budget had gone to the Governor last week. The budget request included
$5M for the new Plant Operations building and the renovation of the current
Plant Operations building for use by the Military program. He went
on to inform the Senate that the budget request for USG was reduced by
$24M compared to the previous year. It is expected, however, that
the $24M reduction will be made up in the Supplemental Budget. The
President then reported on the budget for 2002, which was still in the
House. The 2002 budget contains a request by the Chancellor for $18M
for USG. This request, if unchanged, will mean level funding for
USG for a third year in a row. When asked if there had been any requests
or instructions from the state to "redirect" a portion of the budget, President
Hansford stated that no such request or instructions had been received.
Senator Yeoman then asked whether the figures were in terms of "absolute
dollars or per-student." President Hansford explained that the figures
were largely in terms of absolute dollars. The only increase possible
in terms of per-student funding would be that received from tuition for
each 1% increase in enrollment.
Regarding the GBI Laboratory issue, President Hansford informed the Senate that the initial plan called for the laboratory to be constucted as an addition or portion of the new sciences building. Because of security issues, that plan had to be abandoned. The GBI then requested 2 acres of land on campus for a separate, secure laboratory. The university offered 2 acres across the street from the new sciences building. The GBI felt that site was unacceptable due to parking and traffic concerns. The GBI then increased their request to 6 acres of land. The university explained to the GBI that NGCSU could not offer 6 acres on the main campus but did offer 6 acres at Pine Valley. Since this last offer was made by the university, no further communication has been received from the GBI. President Hansford stated that he had seen the recent newspaper story stating that the GBI Lab would be constructed in White County, but that he had no information beyond that contained in the newspaper account. President Hansford stated that NGCSU was still quite willing to collaborate with the GBI Lab. Such collaboration could take the form of providing some adjunct faculty.
CEO's Report
CEO Woods reported that the Bandwidth proposal handed out to the Senators
at the previous meeting had been reviewed by the Informational Technology
Committee and was in the process of being revised.
The CEO then announced that there had been a tie for second place regarding Senate members to serve on the Committee on Committees for the next term. The tie occurred between Senator Gannaway and Senator Weinberg. To break the tie, the Senators voted by secret ballot. CEO Woods stated that he would inform the Senate of the outcome once the votes were counted following the meeting.
CEO Woods next presented two proposals to amend the By Laws. He stated that the proposals were being brought to the Senate with the backing of CEO Woods and Professors Patton, Simmons, Green, and Poitevint. The first proposal called for amending the By Laws by changing the phrase "Executive Committee" to "Executive Board" wherever the phrase appears, as well as changing "Executive Officers" to "Executive Board" wherever the phrase appears. The second proposal calls for amending the By Laws to allow nominations for At-Large Senators, Senate Representatives to the Committee on Committees, Faculty Representatives to the Committee on Committees, Elected Members of Standing and Statutory Committees, CEO, and Secretary be submitted by e-mail. CEO Woods pointed out that the proposal would not affect the elections to the positions; elections would still continue to be "by survey ballot." Because these proposals concern changes to the By Laws, they were only presented for consideration. Voting on the proposals was expected to occur at the next meeting of the Senate.
New Business
VPAA Buckhiester addressed the Senate on the issue of length of service
in rank for promotion consideration. He explained that he wished
to bring a proposal from the Deans' Council for consideration by the Senate.
He informed the Senate that, at the present time, NGCSU's stated policy
is different from that of the Board of Regents. He explained that
the current NGCSU policy allows for no exceptions. The current NGCSU
policy states (Faculty Handbook, Section 4.5, Paragraph II): In order to
be considered for promotion, the faculty member must have been under contract
at North Georgia College & State University for a specific number of
years at the time that the promotion is to take place. The minimum
service requirements vary with the level of the promotion requested and
are as follows:
1. Instructor to Assistant Professor - 3 years
2. Assistant Professor to Associate Professor - 4 years
3. Associate Professor to Full Professor - 5 years The current
Board of Regents Policy (Academic Affairs Handbook, Section 4.03.01) states:
Strong justification should be provided in support of any recommendation
for "early" promotion; a promotion is considered "early" if the individual
has served less than the number of years in rank at the current institution
as listed below:
Promotion to
Assistant Professor - 3 years as Instructor
Associate Professor - 4 years as Assistant Professor
Professor - 5 years as Associate Professor VPAA Buckhiester explained
that the current NGCSU policy has caused some problems for searches and
new hires. He pointed out that a person one year from promotion at
their current institution, if hired by NGCSU at the same rank, would then
have to serve a considerably longer period of time before qualifying for
promotion at NGCSU than they would have had to serve had they remained
at the other institution. He then submitted the proposal to the Senate
for consideration. The proposal was seconded by Senator Morris.
In the ensuing discussion, CEO Woods pointed out that, under the current policy, we sometimes promote a member of the faculty prior to granting tenure to the faculty member. He inquired whether the policy change would make such practice more prevalent. VPAA Buckhiester responded that the university does sometimes grant new hires up to 3 years of credit for prior service. Such credit is stated in writing at the time of hire. This is done, however, to try and ease the discrepancy in terms of NGCSU service requirements for promotion and tenure. Senator Barnett inquired as to what problem might be caused by such practice. CEO Woods explained that when a faculty member is granted promotion but, then, not granted tenure, it does create a problem. VPAA Buckhiester pointed out that such promotions-without-tenure can make it more difficult for the faculty member to secure another position as the faculty member may be seen as over-qualified. Senator Barnett pointed out that NGCSU policy should be compatible with BOR policy. Senator Gannaway related her own experience in this area. Hired at the rank of Associate Professor after 5 years of service at her previous institution, she had to serve another 5 years at NGCSU at the same rank before she qualified for consideration for promotion. Senator Barnett pointed out that our current policy could make it difficult to recruit and hire quality faculty. Senator Weinberg asked if the NGCSU policy meant simply years in service at NGCSU or whether it is interpreted to mean years in rank. VPAA Buckhiester responded that it is intended to be years in rank, although the wording of the NGCSU policy is less than clear. The question was called, and the proposal carried.
Announcements and Adjournment
CEO Woods called for any announcements. There being none, the
meeting was adjourned at 1PM.
Respectfully submitted,
S.N. Wiedmann, Secretary
NGCSU Faculty Senate