September 20, 2006

Faculty Senate Minutes

SEPTEMBER 20, 2006

Present: Aria Amirbahman, Shari Baxter, Richard Blanke, Emmanuel Boss, Dorothy Croall, John Daigle, Robert Dana, Marcia Davidson, Raphael DiLuzio, Michael Eckardt, Sue Estler, Jacques Ferland, Jim Gilbert, Mike Greenwood, William Halteman, Duane Hanselman, Dianne Hoff, Karen Horton, Sue Hunter, Mel Johnson, Len Kass, Robert Kennedy, Adam Kirkland, Deborah Killam, Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, Irv Kornfield, David Lambert, Kathleen March, James McClymer, Jessica Miller, Henry Munson, Ngo Vinh Long, Tina Passman, Howard Patterson, Mick Peterson, Gregory Porter, Paul Rawson, Alan Rosenwasser, Dan Sandweiss, Ann Schonberger, Evelyn Silver, Denise Skonberg, Kathryn Slott, Allan Smith, Touradj Solouki, Edna Szymanski, Shihfen Tu, Janet Waldron, David Wihry

Absent: Jim Acheson, Carla Billitteri, Tony Brinkley, Rod Bushway, Hsiang-Tai Cheng, Alan Cobo-Lewis, Laura Cowan, Eugene DelVecchio, Gail Garthwait, Cary Jenson, Scott Johnson, Roger Merchant, Harlan Onsrud, Mike Scott, Stellos Tavantzis, Beth Wiemann, Vivian Wu

The meeting was called to order at 3:15 pm.

President Kass opened the meeting.

The minutes from the May 3, 2006 meeting were approved.

President Kass asked the members present to introduce themselves, state which committee(s) they serve on, how many years employed at UMaine, and include years spent at other institutions.

Questions for Administrators:

Dr. Kass referred to President Kennedy’s September “Go Blue” message in which he mentioned developing plans for improving certain areas to move UMaine up in the rankings. Could the president elaborate on this?

Dr. Kennedy responded that there are many areas and departments on campus that are undergoing major undertakings. He said that this year’s enrollment numbers are up. The new graduate program in biomedical sciences, which is a major initiative, has begun this year. The proposal for a school of policy and international affairs is still being developed. One of his goals is to have UMaine placed on the top 50 public institutions in the country, Dr. Kennedy feels UMaine is as good and probably better than all the other public universities in New England.

Dr. Kennedy was asked to comment on the progress being made for the school of policy and international affairs. Dr. Kennedy said that since the plan was presented to the faculty senate last spring, there has been no updated plan. They are hoping to

recommend this to the BOT soon. They think that the school will have one dean who will work with the dean’s across the university who have faculty involved. Other than thinking about how it will be organized structurally and financially, there has been no further developments to the original plan. Dr. Kennedy stated that there is tremendous expertise across campus for such a school. A question was asked about the cost, estimates have suggested about 100k to start up. Dr. Kennedy said it wouldn’t cost that much to start up. He said nothing additional has been done with the plan. He also said that a copy of the report will be sent to all faculty senators.

A question was asked related to the increase in tuition, would this then result in increased scholarship opportunities. Dr. Kennedy replied each year that tuition is increased, scholarship monies are increased at a proportional amount.

Provost Edna Szymanski was asked to outline what was on her list of things to do. She said that the Strategic Plan Implementation committees have begun meeting, the NEASC accreditation is coming up and we are preparing for that, many faculty will be involved. She would like the self-study completed a year early to be ready for the campus wide re-accreditation which occurs every 10 years. The graduation and retention committee is consuming much of her and others time, but it is well worth it, especially for the students. Graduation rate at this time is 53%, taking six years to graduate. We are trying to get more of the top 20% of high school students to come to Maine. This group has a good probability of graduating from a program. We are also increasing our articulation with the community colleges so that well-qualified students who start at those institutions can transfer here and be adequately prepared to complete a program.

A comment was made that some students, because of life circumstances, can’t graduate within 5 or 6 years, but they do and shouldn’t be considered failures because it takes longer for them. Dr. Szymanski said these students are not the group she is concerned about, as she is aware that in some instances, people have to take time for family, work, etc., the students that concern her are the ones that leave and don’t go to another institution, and never complete their education at all.

Committee Reports

Academic Affairs – Dr. Irving Kornfield & Dr. Aria Amirbahman

Dr. Amirbahman said the committee is looking at a couple of things from last year; the procedures at Continuing Education Division, and he also stated he would be the new Faculty Senate representative to the UPCC.

Dr. Kornfield, the representative to the University Teaching Council, said that they will continue to work on the Student Evaluation of Teaching. A report will be presented to the senate at the conclusion of their work. Another activity in concert with the Provost will be to celebrate academia, there are several initiatives coming from the Provost’s office.

Constitution & Bylaws – Dr. James Gilbert

Dr. Gilbert announced that he is in need of senators to sit on the C & B committee, three people from different colleges and the parliamentarian.

University Environment – Dr. Amy Fried

The committee continues to work on family issues and retention of faculty.

Research & Public Service – Dr. Mick Peterson and Dr. Scott Johnson

Dr. Peterson stated that they have an excellent committee this year, some new members, and some members who will continue on from last year. The committee will continue to look at the effects of graduate education on the state’s economy. They will be working with the Graduate School to extend that study to professional programs as well as doctoral programs which were the focus of their study last year. They will also be working with the VP for Research on documenting and expanding opportunities for research on campus.

Finance & Institutional planning – Dr. William Halteman

Dr. Halteman stated that he needs one more member to sit on the committee from NSFA. They will continue to work with Janet Waldron’s office as in the past.

Library Advisory Committee – Dr. Dianne Hoff

Dr. Hoff stated that the library committee has some new members which will give them a new perspective and members from last year. As the strategic plan implementation develops the committee wants to analyze and communicate to the campus community how these items affect the library, what resources are needed to implement the plan and how does it enhance its reputation as a research library, and how it enhances the educational opportunity for both faculty and students.

Service & Outreach Committee – Dr. Kathleen March

Dr. March is trying to merge the Service Learning Leadership Team at the Center for Teaching Excellence with the Service & Outreach Committee of the senate. This was done after consultation with Virigina Nees-Hatlen, Director of CTE, who thought it was a good idea to join the two committees. The committee will be looking at the survey on service and engagement activities, which was sent to faculty last year, it has been collated. They will also be working with Joyce Rumery, Dean of Libraries, to see if it is feasible for the library to keep a repository of service and engagement faculty and projects.

Board of Trustees Representative – Dr. Robert Rice

Dr. Kass introduced Dr. Rice as the only faculty representative from across the system to be part of the Search Committee for Chancellor of UMS.

The BOT met at the Buchanan House on September 10 & 11. The chancellor reiterated that he would be going forward with an additional request for 14.8 million in funding for the fiscal year ’08 and 21.6 million in FY09. In that request, 4.3 million each year, is devoted to special initiatives, including $900,000 in FY08 for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and $300,000 in FY09 for the GSBS. The University of Southern Maine is moving forward rapidly on its PhD Program in Nursing, it is expected to be brought before the BOT this academic year, it has been through the USM senate twice. This will be the first PHD for USM. There is a new Student Code of Conduct; if faculty members have any student issues, please be sure to read the new code.

There are two major appointments that were approved: Dr. Edward Ashworth has been approved as the new Dean of NSFA and Dr. James Breece has been appointed as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs which is a one year appointment.

The cost of PeopleSoft is now estimated at 19.3 million. Gifts to this campus last year at this time were 10.4 million dollars, this year 11.8 million. The Campaign for Maine has raised 18.3 million dollars of the 150 million dollar goal.

Dr. Kennedy gave a presentation at the BOT meeting outlining some very positive things happening at UM. At the end of his presentation he told the BOT of our goal to become one of the top 50 institutions in the United States. Dr. Kennedy’s talk was favorably accepted by the BOT.

The Chancellor search is underway. Dr. Mactaggart hopes we will have a candidate by the spring 2007. They will not be hiring any consultants, which will result in $150,000 in savings. The BOT is working on a statement of shared governance.

Someone corrected the statement that USM was offering a PhD in Nursing, it is in fact a Doctorate of Nursing Practice.

Committee on Committees – Dr. Michael Greenwood

Dr. Leonard Kass gave the report as Dr. Greenwood was unavailable. Dr. Kass stated that he had spoken with the administration and that all committees formed on campus will go through the Faculty Senate Committee on Committees, which means that the senate will always be represented. Dr. Kass encouraged everyone attending to keep volunteering for committees and to encourage their colleagues to do so.

Shari Baxter also wanted to remind faculty that there are always graduate students who are willing to serve on the various committees of the administration. Traditionally they try to have a grad student on all of the senate committees.

Old Business – There was no Old Business

New Business – NEASC Report

Dr. Szymanski will be sending a copy of the NEASC Standards of Accreditation to all members of the senate. Dr. Kass requested that everyone become familiar with the standards. There will be a site visit in 2009, the campus needs to start preparing for this now. There will be a preliminary site visit in early 2008 and it is spelled out precisely what these committees are looking for. Dr. Kass would like people not to look at this as a test, but as a tremendous opportunity for this campus. There is a book titled “The University: An Owners Manual”, which was written by Henry Rosovsky, Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Harvard University. It is not written for administrators, it is written for faculty members. It should be the approach we take toward accreditation. This will be a major agenda item in the upcoming year.

Dr. Kass thanked everyone for attending, and reminded everyone of the social at the President’s House after the meeting.

A motion was made to adjourn, it was seconded.

The meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted.

Kathleen March

Secretary