May 17, 2000

Faculty Senate Minutes

May 17, 2000

Present: Paul Bauschatz, Darlene Bay, Phyl Brazee, Richard Brucher, Hsiang-Tai Cheng, Ted Coladarci, Richard Cook, Chris Cronan, Shirley Lee Davis, Rebecca Eilers, James Moreirn for Bill Farthing, Michael Grillo, Theresa Grove, Diane Haslett, Knud Hermansen, Peter Hoff, Jim Horan, Harvey Kail, Roger King, Jan Kristo, Judy Kuhns-Hastings, John Maddaus, Chuck Maguire, Kathleen March, Jim McClymer, Jim McConnon, Bruce Nicholson, Harlan Onsrud, Howard Patterson, Eric Peterson, Robert Rice, Donijo Robbins, Thomas Sandford, Jane Smith, Owen Smith, Gloria Vollmers, Don Zillman,

Absent: Bruce Barber, Tom Byther, Steve Cohn, Daniel Dwyer, George Elliott, Ed Ferguson, Ray Fort, Marc Girard, Michael Greenwood, Timothy Griffin, Dana Humphrey, Keith Hutchison, Richard Jagels, Melvin Johnson, Richard Judd, Leonard Kass, Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, Irv Kornfield, Cynthia Mahmood, Ivan Manev, Kyriacos Markides, Chris Moody, Paula Petrik, Alan Rosenwasser, Steve Sader, Ione Hunt von herbing, Judy Walker, Lynn West, Anatole Wieck, James Wilson

I. Welcome and sign in

The meeting was called to order at 3:15. Jim Horan requested a moment of silence to honor former faculty member, Professor Kenneth P. Hayes, who passed away recently. Professor Hayes was active in the faculty senate. The honor was observed. Don Zillman suggested that appropriate notification and condolences be forwarded to Professor Hayes’ loved ones. This will be done. Also, at the first meeting in the Fall a formal remembrance will be read and then sent to the family.

II. Approval of Minutes

Bob Rice moved and Roger King seconded that the minutes from the last meeting be approved. The motion passed.

III. Election of Secretary

Michael Grillo nominated Jane Smith to serve as secretary of the faculty senate for the coming academic year. Professor Smith was elected.

IV. Announcements

New Provost Robert Kennedy is seeking faculty input into the Strategic Plan. Any interested faculty can email President Vollmers, who will forward their names to Provost Kennedy.
Campus Heritage Map: See http:/www/umaine.edu/ This map is being developed for use in tours of the campus. Visitors to the web site can vote on which locations should be included.
Fill out survey forms and return to Senate Office – 255 Aubert Hall
Special congratulations to Owen Smith (Presidential Teaching Award), Jan Kristo (Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award) and Bob Rice (NSFA Public Service Award).
Thanks to departing members and thanks to the Senate as a whole. Knud Hermansen presented a resolution thanking departing members of the faculty senate. Full text of the resolution follows:
Resolution of the University of Maine Faculty Senate.

We, members of the Faculty Senate, acting on behalf of University of Maine faculty, wish to thank the following faculty senators for their commitment to this organization and for the services they have performed conscientiously and well during the term of office to which they had been elected by their peers:

MEMBERS OF THE SENATE 1999-2000

Name End of Term Title College

Richard Brucher ’00 Assoc. Prof. English LAS

Ted Coladarci ’00 Assoc. Prof. Education EHD

Ed Ferguson ’00 Assoc.Prof. Computer Science LAS

Michael Greenwood ’00 Prof. Forest Resources NSFA

Timothy Griffin ’00 Assoc. Ext. Prof. Sus. Agr. CE

Roger King ’00 Asst. Prof. Philosophy LAS

Irv Kornfield ’00 Prof. Zoology NSFA

Donijo Robbins ’00 Assist. Prof., Public Admin. BPPH

Alan Rosenwasser ’00 Assoc. Prof. Psychology LAS

Steve Sader ’00 Prof. Forest Resources NSFA

****

To honor them, the record will reflect that serving on the Faculty Senate requires a great deal of time and effort. Service is not only without financial incentive but is unlikely to provide that extra edge needed to earn a promotion or gain tenure. Indeed, some have said that serving on the Senate may be a detriment to promotion because of the time commitment. For many, there are numerous, sometimes difficult, tasks to be performed. Work is done by committee service, taking a toll on members by requiring additional meetings and time expended gathering and analyzing information and arriving at recommendations. Reports and correspondence have to be prepared or read and acted upon in a timely manner. Faculty come to the Senate with individual personalities, vastly different backgrounds and interests, and strong beliefs that do not make service in a governing body easy. Meetings can be tumultuous at times – and tedious at others. Under these conditions, these senators have labored and, for this they have earned our respect, admiration and friendship.

These departing senators should leave with the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed. We hope they have enjoyed working with this organization and that they will leave with a greater appreciation for colleagues previously unknown, and have forged new friendships across the University. With the admiration of their constancy and a grateful remembrance of their kind and generous service, we bid these departing Senators an affectionate farewell.

The Resolution was accepted by acclamation.

President Vollmers stated that attendance this year was particularly good with an average of 10 absentees per meeting. (In prior years, this average had been much higher.)
President Vollmers also thanked Rosaline Weller, Administrative Assistant to the faculty senate; Darlene Bay, secretary of the faculty senate; Ed Ferguson, for his efforts in dealing with the issue of advertising on campus; Jane Smith, for finding volunteers to serve on committees; Michael Grillo, for all his help and support; Harlan Onsrud, for his word on the graduate student workman’s comp and indirect cost issues; Bob Rice, for his work on the Hudson Museum issue; Dana Humphrey, for his ability to see source of possible trouble before they arrive; Owen Smith, who has taken on a great deal of work; and Knud Hermansen, for his service as parliamentarian. President Vollmers believes it is important to make the work of the faculty senate both important and visible in order to combat the negative image of the body held by some. One good step along that path is that Bob Duringer has invited the faculty senate to provide input into the budget process for next year. Full text of her closing remark follow:

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

To begin with, you have all worked hard and, judging from the many phone calls and emails during the year, you were interested and committed to the issues we tackled beyond simply coming to the meetings. And speaking of the meetings, I’ve been continually delighted at our attendance records: We averaged only about ten absences per meeting versus about 24 last year. Many of those absences, by the way, were “excused.” Thank you for that. I was also blessed with wonderful help and lucky to find committee chairs who were so willing, able and enthusiastic.

Rose Weller, the Senate President’s Secretary and Assistant, has been consistently helpful and independent. She runs the Senate’s business behind the scenes virtually by herself. She has made sure that she has received the training needed to maintain our website and our First class site. She works with catering to be sure we all get our coffee and cookies. She prepares our correspondence and reminds me of things that need to be done. She has set up reminder files so that we don’t forget next year what we did this year. She will be reminding Michael next year of the evaluation of administrators and the mid-year student evaluations. This organization could not run without her. I thank her for that.

My colleague and friend, Darlene Bay, has been a terrific secretary for us. She took the position at my request and did a wonderful job. I hope she enjoyed being part of the Senate.

I thank Ed Ferguson and his committee for their efforts on the University’s policies regarding advertising and other corporate associations, even though they were not able to bring the work to completion. This is a national issue, not unique to the University of Maine. The implications of corporate influence through various kinds of advertising and research support makes many people uncomfortable, both in and out of academia, as evidenced by newspaper and magazine coverage all over the country. It is not a surprise that we could not find a consensus opinion – this issue will continue.

Thank you, Jane Smith, not only for your unending work to find volunteers but also for your insight and thoughtfulness and help so often expressed at our executive committee meetings and privately. We do perhaps need to rethink what the Committee on Committees should do and how it works. This may be a constitutional issue for next year. In fact, our Constitution does need some serious tweaking in many places – John Maddaus take note.

I thank Michael Grillo for his support and advice throughout the year – I hope that John Maddaus will be as helpful to him as Michael as been to me. Best of luck to you, Michael. Remember that I and Mary Ellen and Kathleen and Dana (past presidents if anyone doesn’t know it) will always be ready to help if you need any.

Thanks to Harlan Onsrud and the research committee for their excellent work on the graduate student workman’s compensation issue. President Hoff has written to say that although the problem could not be addressed in the way we presented it, that they have found a way to solve it. The indirect cost recovery motion represents a lot of work on another contentious topic.

Bob Rice and his committee did an extraordinary job researching, interviewing, reporting, and finding solutions for the problems of the Hudson Museum. The entire community became aware of the importance of this public space and its precious collection. We should see the exhibits back in public view next year because of their efforts. We all thank you for that. Thanks also to President Hoff for his support on this.

Dana Humphrey was a rock for me all year. We appreciate of course his updates on what the Board of Trustees was doing, but most of all for his ability to see around corners, to anticipate problems that might arise from seemingly benign beginnings. Dana, Jane and I and others attended the Sunday River conference recently where the Life, Work and Citizenship initiative of the Board of Trustees was continued. It clearly was dominated by Southern Maine. We need to keep our ears to the ground if we want to maintain our position as Maine’s preeminent university. We need to grab such initiatives.

Thanks to Owen Smith whose capacity for taking on work is apparently bottomless. The Academic Affairs Committee was so busy it underwent cell division – two more committees had to be created to handle everything. One of them, our new General Education Committee, has now split off to operate on its own. Owen managed them all with grace and style. I wish I were as articulate as he.

Finally, I wish to thank Knud Hermansen, our parliamentarian, who never ever really wanted to leave the Senate. Some of you bristle at Knud, but I can tell you now that there is no harder worker here. He has helped me immeasurably behind the scenes. There is nothing that he is asked to do that isn’t done yesterday and done well. Don’t let those loud, extreme, politically incorrect opinions fool you. He has a heart of gold.

The Faculty Senate is our institution. We set academic policy and advise the president on many issues outside of academics. It demands much of our time in and out of meetings.

Unfortunately, the Senate has a poor reputation among many of our colleagues. While some of you actually ran for your position against others who also wanted to serve, others of you had to be told to take your turn. I want people to want to serve, but our image needs polishing. Some see the Senate as ineffective. I’ve heard some say that it can actually hamper those going up for tenure because of the time commitment – especially if one becomes a member of a particularly busy committee, such as this year’s Academic Affairs, Finance and Institutional Planning, and Research Committees were.

We can improve our image only if the work we do is visible and is seen as important. My small effort in this area has been to try to keep business moving along smoothly and to ensure that everyone received motions well ahead of our meetings so that they could read and circulate them among interested colleagues. We also began to post all upcoming motions on our website and on First class. More needs to be done to keep the faculty apprised of our work, but this was a start. I also greatly reduced the number of speakers, believing that only issues of immediate concern to the Senate, or of academic concern, should take our time.

Many of our responsibilities are rather silent and dull – such as looking at the 30-hour residency requirement, defining double majors. These are nevertheless academic policies for which we are primarily responsible, and we should not forget that they are very important to students. We have been criticized for being reactive, and most of the time we react to these academic issues because they are brought to our attention by those for whom they have proved troublesome (provost, vice provost, associate deans), but we can have a proactive, strong, influential voice when we find an issue outside of our first line of responsibility that is important and we work together on it. I believe we did this with the Hudson Museum, and we are trying to do this with the Indirect Cost Recovery issue. This latter will undoubtedly carry on into next year, and it is the Senate’s continuing responsibility to carry through on that one. Our recommendations should be seriously considered, and if they are not understood, the Committee responsibility should be asked to explain and clarify its position.

We thank President Hoff for listening carefully and responding to our recommendations throughout the year. In addition, President Hoff and VP of Finance Duringer invited us this year to begin to participate in the budget process, and I am grateful for that. Although it will not be often that the Faculty Senate will have budgetary requests to make, nevertheless, our Constitution does state that we can make recommendations to the President about the allocation of the University’s financial resources. Our unique ACROSS college academic perspective may enable us to identify issues that might otherwise have remained unseen. If and when they arise, we can make budgetary recommendation on them. We hope to be similarly included in the medium and long-term Capital Planning work. Again, thank you to President Hoff and VP Duringer for opening this door.

Finally, I am strangely reticent about giving up this office – I’ve enjoyed it more than I should admit – it’s the closest thing I’ve had to power in my life – all imaginary but fun nevertheless. I wish you all well and hope everyone has a productive and enjoyable summer. Thank for allowing me this experience.

Michael Grillo thanked President Vollmers for her contribution as President of Faculty Senate.
Motion to Thank Gloria Vollmers for her Exemplar

Leadership of the Faculty Senate of 1999-2000

Whereas Gloria Vollmers has lead the Senate in innumerable investigations, ranging from the smallest fungi and bugs in museum rugs to the largest issues of intellectual property rights and the university’s environmental responsibilities. On her watch the Senate has passed motions addressing issues vital to the University community, such as Indirect Cost Recovery to the Revenue Stream to Encourage Increased External Funding, Annual Evaluations of Administrators, Clarification on the Faculty Handbook, an endorsement for Cultural Diversity, Supporting an Increase in Graduate Student Stipends, and the Creation of an Historic Preservation Board for Campus Planning, among others. She has kept us well focussed on the central questions, especially gracefully in potentially charged, hot-button issues such as a Recommendation on How to Spend the Coca-Cola Monies, the future of the General Education Requirements, and Recommendations for Campus Parking and Transportation. Her leadership has been inspirational, her humor has been refreshing, and her demeanor calming. Gloria departs her office with the knowledge that the University of Maine is a better place because of her service. She will also leave with the warm and heartfelt wishes of the many colleagues who now call her a friend.

Therefore, we propose the following motion, that:

The Faculty Senate thanks Gloria Vollmers for her diligent attention to detail, her efficient handling of Senate meetings, and her sagacious and effective leadership in all matters brought before us during the 1999-2000 academic year.

V. Questions of Administrators

Harlan Onsrud noted that he had received an informal email regarding the resolution of the workman’s comp issue. He requested formal notification from President Hoff.

Harlan Onsrud asked if the faculty senate had been deliberately left out of the list of groups that would continue to work on the indirect cost issue. Hoff replied that was not his intention.

Jim McClymer stated that no response had been received to a memo about the parking issue. He wished to know if that committee wants continued input. Hoff replied that a response to the memo will be requested.

Owen Smith asked why all the trees had been removed from the small triangle of land near Physical Facilities. President Hoff, while he has not noticed, believes it may be the location of the new police station.

Jane Smith noted that the water bottled under the private label of the University of Maine comes from a spring in New Hampshire. Hoff replied that this may be one of the results of the Coke contract, and that, hopefully, a Maine source will have been identified by next year.

VI. Committee Reports

a. Ed Ferguson: University Environment

Ed Ferguson was unable to attend but sent thanks to his committee

b. Michael Grillo: Constitution and Bylaws

Michael Grillo thanked his committee

c. Jane Smith: Committee on committees

Jane Smith thanked her committee

d. Bob Rice: Finance and Institutional Planning

Bob Smith stated that he had been very lucky to have a good committee who put in many hours of service. He thanked them all.

e. Harlan Onsrud: Research

Harlan Smith stated that it had been a hectic year and thanked his committee

f. Owen Smith: Academic Affairs

The class books for the next two years have been chosen. The 9th class book, for the 2000-2001 academic year is The Color of Water by James McBride. The 10th class book, for the 2001-2002 academic year is Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King. That will be the last year of the class book program. Owen Smith recommends that it be evaluated and continuation considered.

The Gen-Ed Review Committee will have a retreat on Friday. There is still room for a few more participants. If anyone is interested they should contact Owen Smith.

Owen Smith thanked his committee and noted the many meetings they had attended.

g. Dana Humphrey: Faculty Rep to the Board of Trustees

No report

VII. Old Business

No old business

VIII. New Business

Formal Senate approval requested for elimination of Forest Engineering by Alan Kezis, Associate Dean of NSFA. (The program is being replaced by Forest Operations Science).
Bob Rice reported that the old program needs to be eliminated since there are very few jobs available for the graduates. The change will have no impact on current students or on faculty

The elimination was approved.

Resolution in Support of Clerical & Professional Employees– Richard Brucher (seconded by Knud Hermansen)
The University of Maine’s clerical and professional employees contribute significantly to the University’s missions in teaching, research, and public service. Nonetheless, these valuable employees have worked for nearly a year now without a contract. For the first time in the history of their negotiations, they have been offered a wage and benefits package that is substantially less than faculty and other represented state workers have received.

The Faculty Senate of the University of Maine wishes to go on record as supporting clerical and professional employees in their efforts to achieve comparable treatment. We therefore urge University of Maine administrators to convey to University of Maine System administrators the need to settle quickly and equitably with clerical and professional employees, especially now that the state supplemental budget, which includes the needed money, has been passed.

Discussion:

After the demonstration by faculty in support of the staff on Maine Day, it was clear that many faculty members wish to make a gesture of support for the staff, some of whom are becoming disenfranchised as a result of the situation.

The motion passed

Motion to Include all University Employees in Graduation Processional– Knud Hermansen (seconded by John Maddaus)
The education of students involves the combined resources and help of the University community. Professional staff, including, but not limited to, coaches, librarians, and departmental, program and college support personnel and college and University administrators, help with the education of students by working to provide a superior academic environment for education and a positive and supportive extracurricular experience. Their responsibilities often include direct and frequent contact with students. Graduation is the culmination of the education process. The graduation ceremonies are an opportunity for both parents and the University community to witness and recognize the achievement of the graduates and to welcome them as alumni to the University of Maine. The University of Maine begins the ceremony with a procession of faculty and students. Sadly, only a quarter to a third of the faculty participate and they represent only a part of the University community that would like to honor our graduates.

Motion

The motion is made to show Faculty Senate support for the inclusion and encouragement of all University employees to join in the graduation processional along with faculty to recognize and witness the achievements of University of Maine graduates. Those with the proper regalia are encouraged to participate in all succeeding graduation ceremonies.

Discussion:

There are many people on campus who have extensive contact with the students who would like to participate in graduation ceremonies, but have not traditionally been able to. Roger King asked about the source of and reason for the tradition. Cox stated that other institutions in the UMaine system and around the country allow non-faculty to participate. President Hoff suggested that the issue and potential solutions had not been well clarified, and recommended that the matter be considered next year. Owen Smith said that the level of participation and which staff members would qualify has yet to be determined. Roger King suggested that it would need to be decided if graduation is an academic event or a university community event. Bruce Nicholson stated that some people who are not professors are deeply involved in academic matters with the students.

Owen Smith moved and Roger King seconded that the motion be tabled and reopened in the Fall after further study of the issue. That motion to table was passed.

Motion to Clarify the Residency Requirements for the University of Maine—Owen Smith (seconded by Knud Hermansen)
Preamble

As stated in the initial charge to the Academic Affairs Committee:

The current residency requirement at the University of Maine is 30 credit hours in the senior year. There are two exceptions to this (approved by the Trustees in 1978) but they refer to people who have already taken three years of courses at the University of Maine (see Student Handbook, pg 58 or Undergraduate Bulletin, pg 497). A recent request for an exception has been received by the vice provost and rejected. This was a request to take some of the final 30 hours via distance education courses originating from other UMS institutions. In view of the increased interest in distance education, and the likelihood that more requests of this nature will occur, it may be time to review this policy.

The current statement is exactly as follows:

A minimum residence of 30 credits is required for the attainment of any bachelor’s degree. This regulation refers to the senior year. The Trustees approved two exceptions to this regulation in 1978:

1. Exceptions may be made for students who have already completed three or more years at the University of Maine who may be given permission by their academic dean, when there is sufficient and valid reason, to complete the senior year elsewhere under the general supervision of their dean’s office.

Students who have completed a minimum of three years of work at the University of Maine and who have been admitted to an accredited professional school of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or divinity may qualify for the appropriate bachelor’s degree at the University of Maine upon receipt of the professional degree, provided that their collegiate dean at the University of Maine approves. This policy is retroactive. Inquiries about degree awarded under this exception should be addressed to the Director of Student Records.
Upon review of the existing policy and discussion of the nature and intent of this requirement, the AA Committee has come to the consensus that some alteration of the working of the existing policy is needed to reflect the changes in education forms. It is the committee’s belief that, given the shifting nature of classes at the University of Maine, with increased distance-education-based offerings and alternative classroom formats, it is necessary to more clearly state the nature and intent of the residency requirement for graduation with a baccalaureate degree from the University of Maine.

Motion: The Academic Affairs Committee moves that the current policy statement concerning residency be changed in the following way:

“A minimum of 30 credits originating for the University of Maine Campus is required for the attainment of any bachelor’s degree. This regulation can be fulfilled in one of two ways: 1. by taking 30 credits in the senior year or 2. by taking 30 credits at the 300 or 400 level during any year of study. The trustees approved two exceptions to this regulation in 1978…”

Discussion:

The new wording is necessary due to the increased distance education being offered both by this institution and by others. President Hoff requested clarification of the word “year”: does it refer to calendar year, academic year, or the time during which the student is officially a senior? Jim McClymer proposed a friendly amendment to change the words “in the senior year” to “as a senior” and to delete the words “during any year of study”. President Hoff and Vice Provost Zillman both expressed concern that the word “originating” would not be specific enough to stand up in any related court action. Owen Smith replied that the intent was to indicate courses offered by the University of Maine and subject to the ordinary processes of this institution as distinct from courses offered by another institution, even those listed in the UMaine course catalog.

Jim McClymer expressed concern for those programs for which there are very few 300 – 400 level courses in the major. Eric Peterson suggested that such cases are more appropriately handled by the department in question.

The motion, along with the friendly amendment passed with 1 person opposed.

Adjournment
Knud Hermansen (as usual) moved the meeting be adjourned.