Faculty Senate Meeting, 14 April 2005

Senators present: S. Batchelder, K. Biddy, E. Combier, F. Corotto, E. Dickens, B. Friedman, R. Fuller, A. Ghafarian, M. Gilbert, W. Gordon, E. Hummel, S. Irwin, E. Lewis, K. mace, M. Minambres, G. Olsen, J. O’Neal, P. Oppenheimer, L. Roberts-Betsch, A. Schaffer, S. Smith, A. Sumners, D. Suranie, J. Woods

Senators absent: M. Stone

Senators excused: S. Ayres, T. Bellon, C. Chastain, C. Jespersen, B. Reiselt

CEO Report:

CEO Fuller called the meeting to order at 12:30pm.

R. Fuller pointed out an agenda change: M. Gilbert will present first.
A new senator from business administration was appointed, so P. Oppenheimer was formally recognized. A motion to add Oppenheimer was made and seconded by E. Dickens to amend minutes of March 10, 2005.
F. Corotto noted E. Combier’s absence for March 10, 2005 was excused. A. Schaffer moved to accept correction, D. Suranie seconded it and it was approved.
Election of officers for next year’s senate was introduced. R. Fuller appointed S. Batchelder to collect the ballots. R. Fuller noted that only those serving next year may nominate and vote. R. Fuller was the only nomination for CEO. A. Schaffer moved to close the nomination; it was seconded by S. Smith and approved. S. Irwin nominated F. Corotto for Secretary and E. Dickens seconded it. The motion to close the slate by was made by S. Irwin and seconded by B. Mann. CEO Fuller and Secretary Corotto were congratulated.

President’s report:

Given by Linda Roberts-Betsch on behalf of absent President Potter.

She thanked M. Gilbert for bringing the Vietnam Memorial Wall to campus and B. Friedman for a successful Honors Societies Banquet. She also thanked C. Cavalli for the Honors Day Programs as well as those who worked on that committee.
Potter requested a search for an executive director of institutional effectiveness. Those wishing to serve on that search committee are requested to contact L. Roberts-Betsch.
Tom Fox is retiring but NGCSU has received lots of applicants (20 or so) for the dean’s position. Interviews will be held soon. Dean Bob Lyman has resigned. Steve Smith chairs the internal search committee for the interim dean. In January a search will begin for the new Dean of Arts and Letters.
More than 10 new faculty positions this year will be announced very soon. All schools will get positions.
The Chancellor approved a merit raise of 2% effective Jan. 1, 2006.
The new physical therapy program with the Medical College of Georgia to give DPT in a consortium agreement; this will occur with concessions. The MOU will be outlined soon and sent to the BOR by early summer for approval. By the class of 2006, the DPT will be available with MCG’s degree in collaboration with NGCSU.

Faculty Affairs Committee Report:

Gilbert presented a proposal for endorsement from the Faculty Senate to reform faculty workload. Work average in the university system is 55-64 hours per week. By this workload measurement, NGCSU was said to be less than the state average. Immediate proposal is to allow two release times per department. Department heads and deans will decide what merits release time.

The University of West Georgia proposed a 3/3 workload and this should be considered while we are implementing this current proposal for release time. He noted that this committee work will actually change something for the better--with administrative support. F. Corotto inquired about how team teaching would be handled. M. Gilbert indicated that be addressed by individual schools and departments; but, he suggested that team teaching be added in separate section.

J. Woods asked about the 3/3 load and pointed out that depending on the teaching load, time could actually be 6/6 or 12/12. M. Gilbert noted that detailed description of assigned hours is available on the West Georgia website.

A motion was made to direct the deans and department heads to be provided with the committee’s proposals with a proviso to add team teaching to instrument for evaluation. No second required. The motion was approved.

Committee on Committees report:

Chair Bob Orwig, chair, acknowledged Senator O’Neal and presented the appointments for approval.

J. Woods noted that only those appointed by the Faculty Senate are to be approved; others are out of our charge. Corrections were noted for the committee.

B. Orwig thanked the members of committee for a very pleasant experience. The motion to accept the appointments was approved.

Listserv policy:

B. Friedman addressed the proposed listserv policy. He noted the problems with posting comments and creating emotional reactions. Given a specific incident the VPs and deans had written an institutional policy proposing to allow ITT to take away a person’s ability to send emails until a number of hearings be held. Some faculty were alarmed by the thought of this and posted comments to the discussion listserv. Jay Steed was considerate in sitting down to discuss alternatives. The result is the attached document that defaults with no policy. If there is a problem with postings, the individual’s immediate supervisor will address the issue without immediate due process or loss of email. B. Friedman proposed that the Senate endorse this document as per B. Friedman and B. Mann. Mann seconded it. Clarification was made that only the ability to send email would be affected; all employees would continue to receive all email. The motion was accepted unanimously.

CEO Fuller noted a clarification of Robert’s rules of order. He was concerned that if we eliminate the June meeting of the Faculty Senate, we would be changing the bylaws since meetings are specified in our bylaws. Given this and despite having no agenda, he intends to hold a meeting on June 9^th unless there is no quorum. The Senators will address changes in the bylaws in the future.

He noted that reports of all committees are in and due today as well as all items of business. He requested that the committees send the minutes of all meetings to him.

He thanked all senators rotating off.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:20pm.

Respectfully submitted by E. Combier