North Georgia College & State University

Faculty Senate Meeting: February 10, 2005

Senators present: S. Ayres, S. Batchelder, T. Bellon, K. Biddy, C. Chastain, E. Combier, F. Corotto, E. Dickens, B. Friedman, R. Fuller, W. Gordon, S. Irwin, E. Lewis, M. Minambres, P. Oppenheimer, G. Olsen, J. O’Neal, B. Reiselt, L. Roberts-Betsch, A. Schaffer, S. Smith, M. Stone, A. Sumners, D. Suranie, J. Woods.

Senators absent:

Senators excused: A. Ghafarian, M. Gilbert, E. Hummel, C. Jespersen, K. Mace, D. Potter

Visitors: T. McLeod, K. Sisk

CEO Fuller called the meeting to order at 12:35.

Minutes for January 12, 2005. A motion was made by J. O’Neal to accept the minutes for January 12, 2005. B. Reiselt seconded it and the motion carried.

President’s Report

The report was made by Dr. Linda Roberts-Betsch.

Branding. The president has appointed a committee to identify who we are and to look in depth at our mission. We are a military and leadership institution; but what is our brand name in this competitive market? The committee welcomes suggestions.
Budget. Sixty-two cadets have been deployed and this tuition lost affects our budget. Given this loss, we were able to get $95,000 added to our budget for compensation.
The library building plans are progressing such that groundbreaking will likely occur this time next year. The new building will house ITT, the current library and the center for learning and excellence. It may also include an art gallery.

Education Building. As a minor project, it was taken off the governor’s list. Since then coffers of the state have increased, so we will have a chance to get money for the building renovation.
President Potter did talk to Chancellor Meredith about several topics: impact of deployment and revenue we will receive, funding for scholarships, capital projects, a doctoral program for physical therapy. Negotiations are underway for the potential acquisition of the BB&T building across from the college as either rent or purchase at a later date. They discussed a capital campaign, strategic issues and the plans for a primary care center in the HNS building as a health clinic to serve the underserved public, also to serve as model clinic site for our nursing students where faculty could practice as well. The President discussed the VPAA search, the system initiative to get IT more centralized and the regional budget presentation is being prepared with a huge list of needs to be prioritized before sending it to the BOR by March 22.

Ad Hoc Committee for Grievance Procedures. The report was delivered by T. McLeod. This was clarified as not pertaining to grade appeals or academic integrity; it was charged by President Hansford to look at harassment, sexual misconduct and those issues. There are currently two sets of procedures: one for students and one for everyone else. Also, there are two committees for these procedures. Ron Graham and Laura Whitaker-Lea also served on this committee and besides finding parallel procedures and committees, also noted a dearth of ways to identify persons to whom you go for advice if you are being harassed. They suggested establishing an ombudsman to be trained and confidential in this issue, to advertise who they are and to have many around the campus. President Hansford retired before this was resolved. President Potter agrees to proceed, but we will include one student on the committee and talk across the campus. The committee asked that we look at the policy manual and student handbook for lack of clarity or need and report these to T. McLeod so that the committee may unify the policy as per regulations; they will then ask for the approval process to begin.

Ad Hoc Bylaws Review Committee: Greta Olsen presented four separate motions and 5 topics for discussion.

Report attached to outline.

· Excused absences of senators us left to discretion of the CEO of the Faculty Senate, but the Senate reserves the right to question excuses and to vote on this in the Senate.

J. Wood pointed out three options currently: the absent Senator informs the CEO ahead of time and is excused, does not let the CEO know, but is excused or is not excused. R. Fuller clarifies reasoning is that this will serve as a check if the CEO allows an excuse that is not valid. B. Friedman made a friendly amendment: to change the order of second and third sentences to put in correct chronological order, and to drop the last sentence.

This was accepted by G. Olsen and the motion carried.

· Currently the Faculty Senate is required to have a meeting in the summer; committee motioned to strike the sentence referring to a required summer meeting.

Discussion was held. J. Woods noted that the meeting serves to introduce new CEO and secretary. B. Friedman pointed out that an excused absence is available for busy Senators and he does not want to shut down for the summer. B. Reiselt commented being off as a ten-month employee is not an excused absence. The Senate was divided on issue, but the motion carried.

· Speaking privileges for non-senators is allowed with permission from the CEO. The committee recommended no changes to this. There are no prohibitions to non-senators speaking. New issues allow for a mandatory ten-day warning. No change was made.

F. Corotto clarified that the intent is to add something to the Senate agenda, but it does not have anything to do with a faculty member speaking as a guest speaker.

· The Committee requested that the Graduate Council include the Registrar as a non-voting member. Both the VPAA and the Registrar would serve as non-voting members to Graduate Council. The motion carried.

· Student grievance and review board: there is no mechanism for staffing it. Request to add this to the Committee on Committees in the Faculty Senate bylaws and to staff it.

McCleod pointed out that this will go away as redundant and suggested that we wait till August and reconsider it. The VPAA suggests at least 15 faculty could call a meeting to pass this. A motion was made to table it by J.Wood; it was second by B. Reiselt. The motion was withdrawn by the committee, so J. Wood withdrew his as well.

J. Wood asked why mediation was capitalized and suggested that the word ‘shall’ be changed to ‘will.’

CEO Fuller thanked the committee for their hard work and commended them for a job well done.

New item: CEO Fuller presented a new item with a motion on behalf of an anonymous faculty member. He moved that the fitness center remain open during break so that faculty be able to use it (with a letter of waiver) and get a key. J. Wood seconded it. C. Chastain asked if it is closed for insurance reasons. It was pointed out that it is staffed by students while Green and his assistant are on 10-12 month contracts. When the students are gone, he is not able to staff the fitness center. K. Sisk asked about funding. Student fees and student affairs handle that issue. Despite the idea of a waiver, B. Reiselt indicated additional risk with keys since other people might enter. M. Stone asked about the cost of hiring one person for the job. B. Reiselt reiterated that that is an issue for J. Bryant to deal with; these problems are not appropriate for the Faculty Senate. The motion was not passed.

Note from the CEO.

CEO Fuller was questioned about his limiting the speech of a senator last fall. He explained that Robert’s Rules of Order dictate that no individual is allowed to make more than two speeches about the same issue in one meeting. Historically, the Faculty Senate has been more informal, but it is important to keep a handle on debates so that business moves forward in a timely fashion. His intention was to enforce these rules and keep speeches to ten minutes, not to offend.

Elections are on going for at-large senators. Senators are reminded that they will be electing new officers in April. R. Fuller will run for CEO again, but encourages others to consider it as well. He noted that J. Woods graciously encouraged him and helped him; he will be happy to do the same for others.

CEO Fuller adjourned the meeting at 1:25pm.

Respectfully submitted by E. Combier