February 23, 2011

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Present: Janet Fairman, Michael Grillo, Sue Hunter, Kirsten Jacobson, Melvin Johnson, Deborah Killam, Kurt Klappenbach, Irv Kornfield, Judy Kuhns-Hastings, Stuart Marrs, James McClymer, David Morrison, Harlan Onsrud, Anne Pooler, Andrew Reeve, Bob Rice, Thomas Sandford, Michael Scott, Scott See, Phillip Silver, Robert Strong, Kathryn Slott, Claire Sullivan, Janet Waldron, Chuck Wallace, Mark Wells, Huijie Xue.

Absent: Douglas Bousfield, Ian Bricknell, Tony Brinkley, Chris Campbell, Sudarshan Chawathe, David Dvorak, Cynthia Erdley, Susan Erich, Robert Franzosa, Todd Gabe, Eric Gallandt, Robert Gundersen, Gordon Hamilton, Duane Hanselman, Dan Harrison, Clarissa Henry, Robert Kennedy, Dennis King, Bill Livingston, David Marcincowski, Sid Mitchell, Tina Passman, Howard Patterson, Justin Poland, Paul Rawson, Howard Segal, Susan Lambrecht Smith, Touradj Solouki, Shihfen Tu, Roy Turner, Vivian Wu.

The meeting was called to order at 3:19 pm.

Announcements

The Maine NEW Initiative was sent via email by Mary Cathcart.

The TTTT System Committee needs 10-20 UMaine campus members actively involved in e-learning. A meeting is tentatively set for April 6 to work on recommendations to the Chancellor on e-learning. One goal is to design a “climate” survey on e-learning on each campus. If interested in participating, send Senate President Michael Grillo an email.

We are hoping to have a staff person in a week or so who will take minutes and help prepare documents for Senate.

Approval of the Minutes

The minutes of the January 26, 2011 were not yet ready.

Committee Reports

BOT Rep – Robert Rice
The Presidential Search Committee met with the Chancellor today and submitted all the necessary documents to him. The Chancellor will make the announcement on March 14, 2011, first to the Orono campus, then to the public. The salary will be $ 240,000 plus perks.

Dr. Kennedy announced at the BOT meeting that the program suspensions would be announced on March 14, 2011.

The BOT Finance Committee met about the IT security issues on the various campuses and the hardware in Neville Hall. The Data Center will stay on the Orono campus; it is located in Neville Hall and will be upgraded. The funds for the upgrades will come from the System office. Currently the Data Center is in a high-risk state so this project is being fast-tracked. VP Janet Waldron elaborated that it was necessary to address the deficiencies in the electrical and mechanical systems, and so the BOT was asked to approve $ 4.19 million to upgrade the Data Center, this amount being more than the $ 1.19 million previously requested. The data server supports the UMaine System and systems such as the statewide library system. Irv Kornfield asked where the funding will come from to address the IT security issues. In response, Janet Waldron distributed a draft of the Information Security Policy (previously sent to members of the IT Council), and she requested rapid faculty input on this document because it is being fast-tracked. The BOT is being asked to approve $383,000, which includes salary for a Chief Information Security Officer, but which does NOT include related security expenses at the campus level. Irv Kornfield expressed concern about the availability of the necessary resources to implement the security policy and also had grave concerns about how “assets” were being defined. Mike Scott expressed similar concerns about the blanket nature of the document and what negative impact it could have on teaching and research. The document was written by the CISO of Protivity, a company that came in to look at the vulnerabilities in our security system. Michael Grillo asked whether Protivity had a track record with academic institutions. Janet Waldron replied that Protivity works with both academic and corporate institutions. Grillo also asked what other academic institutions were doing about IT security issues. Waldron replied that it was not uncommon to have a CISO at an academic institution: it is the CISO’s job to develop a security policy and to act when a security breach occurs.

Academic Affairs – Judy Kuhns-Hastings

The common calendar will be done in two-year segments. From now on, every two years the campus presidents will meet with the System office to propose a calendar. For the time being, the two-week Spring Break will be kept at the Orono campus.

Constitution & Bylaws — Harlan Onsrud

Harlan sent a request out to Joe Carr to have all faculty email addresses so that he could send out the latest changes to the Constitution and the Bylaws to the full faculty.

Research & Scholarship – Janet Fairman

On Friday, March 18, 2011 there will be a session to share the wisdom of the UMaine faculty for success in grant writing. It will take place in Wells Conference Center room 1 from 8:30 am – 1 pm. Please RSVP by February 25, 2011 to CETA at either 581-3472 or CETA@umit.maine.edu.

Finance & Institutional Planning – James McClymer

In the UMaine System the total amount of research space has decreased from 9.7% (FY 2006) to 6.5% (FY 2010). This decrease will result in approximately an $800,000 loss of research dollars.

UMaine needs to increase its number of student credit hours. The prediction is that if UMaine has the same number of incoming new students as in the past, we will be about 4000 credit hours short of what we currently have. UMaine would need about a 10% increase in new student credit hours to maintain its current numbers. If not, the 4000 credit hour deficit will result in about a $ 1 million shortfall in tuition dollars. This could be offset somewhat if we did a better job of retaining students.

The committee will also look at responsibility centered management.

University Environment – Mike Scott

The committee is reviewing the classroom environment on campus. It has requested a meeting with Stuart Marrs on this issue. In 2007 there was a campus report produced on classrooms; Mike Scott asked what the response from the UMaine administration was to that report because apparently that report never crystallized into any action. Janet Waldron said that she would look into this.

Some faculty have serious issues concerning technology use in the classroom. Often the technicians from Audiovisual Services are not available during class meeting hours or they cannot respond in time, thereby resulting in lost class time.

Library Advisory – Robert Rice for Howard Segal

No Report. — the committee has not met.

Service & Outreach – Deborah Killam & Claire Sullivan

Deborah Killam reported that the learning circles are ongoing.

Committee on Committees – Roy Turner

Roy was not present and there was no report.

Program Creation & Reorganization Review – Harlan Onsrud

The MS degree in Accounting has been eliminated.

The motion concerning the School of Computing will be reviewed under New Business.

The Chinese institution Guan Gxi Medical University has signed an agreement with UMaine for an associate degree. It is expected that 20 students a year from China will participate. They will spend two years in China and two years at UMaine, where they will enroll in the Nutrition program.

General Education – Tina Passman

Tina was not present, but Kathryn Slott said that the committee would meet Friday morning.

Ad Hoc IT Advisory – Irving Kornfield & Mike Scott

Irv Kornfield reported that there was an effort to update the technology plan for the university.

Jim McClymer asked about the security of the wireless connections via Tempest. In the discussion it was stated that it was more secure to use an ethernet connection rather than a wireless connection. The need for security using Tempest needs to be addressed in the new service-level agreement.

Committees of the Administration Reports

None presented.

Graduate Student Representative — Kurt Klappenbach

Kurt reminded everyone about the Graduate Student Expo.

Questions for Administrators

A question was asked about having grant writing information available for faculty in the humanities. A grant writing seminar for the humanities will be held Friday, March 25 from noon – 4 pm.

Deborah Killam asked about which federal laws had recently been passed that would impact our funding. Michael Erickson replied that ongoing grants and contracts would continue to be funded but that applications for new grants and contracts would be put on hold. The status of the TRIO program and the Pell Grant program are up in the air. There might be cutbacks in several granting agencies.

Old Business

None.

New Business

The motion for the School of Computing was presented and voted on: 19 FOR, NONE AGAINST, NO ABSTENTIONS.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:29 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathryn Slott, Secretary