Faculty Senate meeting, April 8, 2004.
Senators present: K. Benton, K. Biddy, P. Buckheister,
E. Combier, C. Chastain, B. Friedman, R. Fuller, A. Gaillard, M. Gilbert,
N. Hansford, K. Hislope, S. Irwin, E. Lweis, A. Lu, K. Mace, G. Mann, D.
Morris, G. Olsen, M. Stone, B. Reiselt, C. Powell, A. Sampson, a. Schaffer,
S. Smith, A. Stucke, A. Sumners, S. Wiedmann, J. Woods
Senators absent: C. Dare
Senators excused: A. Ghafarian, L. Reeves
CEO Woods opens the meeting at 12:30pm.
A call for nominations for CEO was made. Jimmy
Woods and Robert Fuller were nominated. A motion to close nominations
was made and seconded. The motion carried. Robert Fuller asked
for permission to address the Senate. He stated his agenda for running
include serious future issues in the university. CEO Woods also addressed
the Senate about his desire to continue to bring forth issues that the
faculty requests. Ballots were distributed and counted by B. Friedman
and another senator. R. Fuller was elected as new CEO.
A call for nominations for Secretary was made.
E. Combier was the sole nominee and, thus, was voted in as secretary again.
The CEO informed the Senate that, as instructed by
the Senate at the MArch meeting, he had appointed an ad hoc committee charged
with investigating the difference in guidelines and in practice for promotion
and tenure. The committee members are Ann Stuckey (chair), Thomas
Austenfeld, Ed Green, Frank Fearon, and Barry Friedman.
Approval of minutes of March 11, 2004:
Reiselt moved to approve. The motion was seconded. The motion carried.
President’s report: President Hansford
thanked Jimmy Woods for his service as CEO of the Faculty Senate.
He also looks forward to working with R. Fuller. He also reported
that his decision to retire was not easy, that he prefers to step down
when things are going well, and that he could not make the needed five
year committment to the university. He also outlined some long term
challenges are facing the University:
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SACS review accreditation is coming up and is a 3-4 year process.
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Capital campaign and major fundraising are needed. He has seen an
increase in alumni participation by 50%, but not a capital campaign and
that is essential. It has not able to do so for reasons such as record
keeping and leadership positions.
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The change from NIA to NCIAA is an important strategic decision for NGCSU.
It is difficult to coordinate and has not been completed. Athletics
is a part of the leadership program and it is important to make decisions
to benefit that area. President Hansford is not able to commit to
making that change and to stay through the adjustment period. Thus
the decision has been postponed.
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Presidential search: BOR plans for the committee appointed with a
time-line. The makeup of the committee is determined by the BOR:
3 faculty, 1 staff, 1 student and 2 representatives of the community (including
alumni association, etc.) The Chancellor will appoint a chair of
the committee in addition to this group, so it is likely to have four faculty
members total. A job description will be prepared. It will
be a standard job description with the ad tailored to the University.
As for the schedule, the BOR will appoint the committee by mid-May and
the first meeting of the committee will be by the end of May. A search
firm will be hired to assist. By late August all nominations will
be reviewed and the committee will make the first cut with a number of
candidates to be interviewed by phone. Next the committee will bring
half of those on campus for on site interviews. The committee will
orchestrate the visits so that all constituents can meet the candidates.
The committee will then provide 5 unranked names to the chancellor’s office.
The committee of Regents will interview those 5 and decide whether to visit
their home campus. First interview off campus will be in September,
the second interview will be in October and the selection of president
will be in November. The new president will take office January 1,
2005.
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VPAA Buckheister is retiring. It is important that new President
be involved in the selection of a new VPAA. Thus, President
Hansford will appoint an acting VPAA for the period July 04 through July
05. The committee to select a new VPAA will be set up and as early
as November; as soon as a new President is selected.
CEO
Woods thanked President Hansford for his report.
P. Buckheister added a clarification to the committee’s
assignments: many committees are not assigned by the Senate, so many faculty
have assignments outside of this list. There are at least as many
outside of the Senate committees going on as those inside.
Academic Integrity Council report:
Linda Roberts-Betsch.
The AIC recommends that two changes be made to the for for Incident
Report.
1. A line is added to request a copy of the report
be given to the student. Friedman moved to accept the request and
Fuller seconded it. Gilbert moved to alter the wording to the following:
"Please supply a copy of the report to the student." This was
seconded by Wiedmann and accepted as a friendly ammendment. The motion
carried.
2. Sometimes, when requesting a hearing, a student
will admit guilt but argue for a lesser penalty. This is not a function
of the AIC; it will not change the penalty. Thus, the hearing wastes
everyone’s time. It is noted that the AIC, the faculty member, or
the student may request a hearing. Also, a faculty member can not
issue a penalty beyond the classroom; a faculty member can give an F for
a course grade but can not suspend a student. Wiedmann suggests that
the wording in the syllabus with stated consequences should remain. Friedman
moved that the form, as well as syllabii, be changed to "A hearing will
not be held for the purpose of reducing the penalty imposed by the faculty
member if a student admits to guilt in the incident." Morris seconded it.
No discussion was held. The motion carried.
Visitor: Donna Gessell visited as a guest
speaker to discuss a change in the bylaws.
The Graduate Council should be the approving body
for courses, course changes, programs, and program changes that affect
for graduate programs only. Similarly, the Academic Activities Committee
should approve those that affect the undergraduate programs. The
Graduate Council proposed changes to the bylaws that would yield this result
(
http://www.ngcsu.edu/academic/senate/Ay03-04/Proposals/proposal2.htm).
There was no need for a second (the proposal originated in a committee).
The motion carried.
Domestic partnership vote:
An absentee ballot from the Math department was
rejected since the Senator was not present.
Woods opened the floor for discussion and noted
that there are two parts to the original motion. Thus, unless there
is a vote to separate, the discussion will be on both parts.
A motion was made to amend the motion to include
all faculty and staff since 'domestic partner' should not be limited to
homosexual couples. Woods stated that it is not our place to make
domestic partnership definition. This vote has only the effect of
clarifying our position if the state chooses to consider university opinions.
There wes no second to the motion to ammend.
Schaffer moved that diversity in the statement should
simply state “all people” without the list of sexual orientation, etc.
The motion was seconded. Friedman spoke against the motion to ammend,
noting that this was stated also back in 1776 by Jefferson, but we know
what has transpired despite that statement. It is for that reason
that public policy now lists groups of people to whom we extend civil rights.
The motion to amend failed.
The original motion ( ) carried.
CEO Woods suggested that the Faculty Senate thank
Vice President P. Buckheister officially in some way before he retires.
Procedures of the Academic Integrity Council: Speaking
privileges granted to Carl Weinberg (visitor).
Friedman stated that faculty have problems with
the procedures of the Academic Integrity Council (AIC). Appeals of
AIC decisions by faculty members are not allowed, but students may appeal
those decisions. A faculty member cannot have any effect on a decision
after an appeal by a student. The NGCSU chapter of AAUP, through
Friedman, proposed to add an appeal process for faculty. Weinberg
reported that he had filed an incident report on a student who appealed
his penalty and, indeed, had his penalty reversed by AIC although the student
did not even show up in his own defense. Weinberg tried to appeal
this decision and found that there is no process of doing so.
Due to time, Reiselt moved to postpone the motion
and Shaffer seconded it. The motion to postpone passed and the meeting
adjourned at 1:50pm.
Respectfully submitted by E. Combier