The June 14, 2001 meeting of the NGCSU Faculty Senate was called to order by CEO Woods at 12:30 p.m. The following members of the Senate were in attendance: President Hansford, VPAA Buckhiester, Campbell, Friedman, Fuller, Gannaway, Larkin, McCard, Morris B., Morris W., Reiselt, Sisk, Williams, Woods, and Yeoman. Senators Gessell, Mann, Richard and Weinberg were excused. Senators Armstrong, Biddy, Broman, Cronic, Delargy, O'Neal, Shaw, Stucke, Sumners, Thompson, and Westerfield were absent. Linda Roberts-Betsch and Diana Martin were present as guests.

CEO Woods submitted the minutes of the April 12, 2001 minutes for approval and called for any additions or corrections. There being none, Senator Friedman moved that the minutes be approved as submitted. Senator Fuller seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as submitted.

President Hansford reported to the Senate that enrollment projections for summer school have been met. He went on to say that an enrollment increase of 1% to 2% has been projected for the fall semester. The number of housing deposits received for fall indicates that the institution is on track to meet this projection.

Regarding budgetary matters, President Hansford informed the Senate that salary letters for the upcoming year for staff should be issued on Monday (6/18), while faculty contracts for the 01-02 academic year should go out by the end of June. He went on to say that additional end of the year funds have been distributed among departments. The budget for next year is down, but the Chancellor is attempting to help system schools with creative financing. President Hansford stated that NGCSU should be O.K. as far as the budget is concerned. There should be money forthcoming from supplemental funds, although it cannot be taken into account when the budget is written.

President Hansford mentioned the upcoming (11/1/01) retirement of Chancellor Portch and said that it represents a great loss for NGCSU and the entire system. The Board of Regents, aided by an advisory committee of institutional administrators and a professional search firm, is conducting the search for a new chancellor. President Hansford also mentioned that because of Terry McLeod's upcoming retirement (11/1/01), a search committee is being formed that will hire a new Chief IT officer here at NGCSU. That committee should be in place within a week.

President Hanford responded to the February Faculty Senate resolution on commencement and grade deadlines (insert link to resolution here). He informed the senate that after reviewing the resolution and contacting other institutions, he has decided not to accept all portions. He prefaced his response by recognizing the following factors that are important to the various constituencies involved:

• Issuance of live diplomas
• Faculty attendance at commencement
• Sufficient time for faculty to grade final exams
• Ability of faculty to control how it spends the time between semesters
• Celebration of commencement on a day that allows for attendance by the most family members

Regarding issue one of the Faculty Senate resolution, President Hansford responded:

• Fall and summer commencement ceremonies will be scheduled for a Friday evening unless circumstances require otherwise. (Fall commencement must be after exams but before holidays.)
• Spring commencement ceremony will be scheduled for a weekend day. (It must be during the day to accommodate two commencements and the commissioning ceremony.)

Regarding issue two of the Faculty Senate resolution, President Hansford responded:

• All students who participate in commencement ceremonies will be certified by the Registrar as having met all requirements for their appropriate degree. (This will allow for the continuation of the important tradition of awarding "live" diplomas and will prohibit ineligible students from participating in the commencement ceremony.)
• Faculty will have at least 24 hours from the end of the final examination period to report course grades for seniors. Grades other than senior grades will be due at the same or later grade deadline.

Regarding issue three of the Faculty Senate resolution, President Hansford responded:

• Faculty attendance at commencement ceremonies is voluntary. All faculty are strongly encouraged to attend commencement ceremonies. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will ask the Deans of the School to encourage attendance of an appropriate number of faculty at all commencement ceremonies. (This policy will be implemented on a trial basis for a couple of years. Most system institutions have some policy for faculty attendance at commencement. The current NGCSU Faculty Handbook (section 5.4) states that faculty are expected to attend either fall or spring commencement and that faculty teaching in the summer are expected to attend summer commencement. Students and their families enjoy seeing faculty at commencement. The presence of faculty validates the ceremony and commencement is the only time when students as a group have the opportunity to express their gratitude to faculty.)

Regarding the question of preparing grades for graduating seniors, Senator Sisk asked how faculty will know who is graduating. President Hansford responded that grades for all seniors will be due at the same time. Senator Sisk also asked that Sundays not be allocated as the 24-hour period for grading exams (as has sometimes happened in the past) because doing so necessitates a seven-day workweek. President Hansford concurred that consideration should be given to this by the Calendar Committee.

Regarding the question of faculty attendance at commencement, Senator Friedman asked if was true that the deans would not dictate to the department heads that a certain number of faculty members attend commencement. President Hansford responded that yes, that was true. Senator Friedman then asked if it was true that no faculty member would be mandated to attend commencement. President Hansford responded that yes, that was true and that he wanted to give faculty an option to attend or not. Senator Friedman then stated that the department chairs' request that faculty attend commencement should not be too persuasive, in light of the following factors:

1. The belief of the Faculty Affairs Committee that faculty attendance at commencement would be maximized if commencement were held the day after final exams ended.
2. SGA agreement that faculty attendance at commencement should be voluntary.

The final question of this discussion period was posed by Senator Gannaway who asked about the possibility of reinstating the practice of the punch and cookie reception in the Dining Hall following graduation. It would provide a venue for interaction among graduates, their families, and faculty. Senator Sisk responded that many graduates are eager to leave at the completion of the ceremony because they have their own private parties planned.

CEO Woods reported the schedule for Faculty Senate meetings during the 2001-2002 academic year. The initial meeting will take place on 8/23 at 12:30 p.m. The room will be announced later. All remaining meetings will take place at 12:30, on the second Thursday of each month. The exact dates are the following: 9/13, 10/11, 11/8, 1/10, 2/14, 3/14, 4/11, and 6/13.

CEO Woods reported that the Committee on Committees report of assignments for the 2001-2002 academic year is posted on the Faculty Senate web page. At a date closer to the beginning of the fall semester, he will remind the senators who are responsible for calling the first meeting of each committee to do so.

CEO Woods called for any announcements. There being none, the meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Vicki McCard, Acting Secretary

NGCSU Faculty Senate