October 16, 2013
DRAFT FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
October 16, 2013
Present: Dick Brucher, Stephen Coghlan, Micheal Montgomery for George Criner, Mauricio da Cunha, Janet Fairman, Michael Grillo, Judy Kuhns-Hastings, James McClymer, Robert Milardo, Martha Novy-Broderick, Harlan Onsrud, Michael Peterson, Jay Rasaiah, Jonathan Rubin, Thomas Sandford, Allan Smith, David Townsend, Clayton Wheeler, David Yarborough, Bob Rice, Kathryn Slott, William Dee Nichols, Paul W. Ferguson, Jeff Hecker, Carol Kim, Janet Waldron, Alicia Bolduc (Stud. Gov), Abigail Jones (Grad Stud Gov). Melvin Johnson, Charles Rote
Absent: John Allen, Steve Barkan, Jason Bolton, Richard Borgman, Emmanuel Boss, Ian Bricknell, William Congleton, Benildo de los Reyes, Charlsye Diaz, Marcia Douglas, Scott Dunning, Dylan Dryer, Thane Fremouw, Robert Gundersen, Ramesh Gupta, Gordon Hamilton, Clarissa Henry, Steven Kimball, Dennis King, Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, Mary Ellin Logue, Paul Myer, Ray Pelletier, Andrew Reeve, Brian Robinson, Michael Scott, Howard Segal, Mark Wells, Gail Werrbach, Susan Wheaton, Peter C. Altmann,
The meeting was called to order at 3:20 pm
I. Welcome and Announcements:
There will be a Community Conversation and breakfast on October 25, 2013 at Wells Commons.
II. Approval of May 1, 2013 Minutes
Vote: Motion approved.
III. Committee Reports
BOT Rep – Robert Rice
There’s good news for UMaine, on October 15, 2013 the official headcount was announced. UMaine looks good with an increase over last year, up 3.2% in terms of total headcount. Total credit hours up for in-state at 0.4% and out-of-state up 17.6%. Undergraduate fte up 380 for a total of 7804, Graduate Students numbers are at 1,171 students, down a little from 2012 when there were 1,236. “Thank you Jimmy Jung for all your effort.” The October 6 and 7 BOT meeting discussed some strategic issues regarding education. Those issues will be on the floor at the next meeting November 21. The Transfer metrics is near completion. Next they’ll look at transfer among programs across all campuses. Dr. Hunter addressed the BOT for the first time and laid out her plans.
Academic Affairs –Richard Borgman & Judy Kuhns-Hastings
No report.
Constitution & Bylaws – Mick Peterson
No report.
Research & Scholarship – Emmanuel Boss & Mauricio de Cunha
No report.
Finance & Institutional Planning – James McClymer & Tom Sandford
The report from the System Office equals 5,000 additional credit hours from last year.
University Environment –Mike Scott & OPEN
No report.
Library Advisory – Robert Rice & Howard Segal
The committee met on October 3, 2013. The Digital Common is now offered at nine other libraries in the state. UMaine has over 8,000 items which have been downloaded over 200,000 times. There are three new rooms in the Information Commons, a classroom, two small writing and tutor rooms, and journals are now on level 2. Level 2B is closed and will house government documents and maps. With an increase in requests for Reference Staff assistance the hours at the desk have changed so it is covered during peak hours.
Service & Outreach – Martha Broderick & David Yarborough
The Carnegie Fund application is progressing. The next Carnegie meeting will be on 11/1/13.
Committee on Committees – OPEN
Functioning but still no Chair. Requests are being processed when they come in.
Program Creation & Reorganization Review – Brian Robinson & Mick Peterson
A motion under New Business. Institute for Leadership and Democracy will be moving forward and a public meeting will be scheduled. Moving forward with public meetings on the backlog of program elimination.
General Education — Harlan Onsrud
There’s activity at the System level for transfer of Gen Ed courses. There is no intention of a System wide common Gen Ed requirement but only that they transfer. The Registrars and campus Administrators from each campus are involved in the process and a key priority is to encourage faculty involvement on core evaluation. Also, making it easier on students, parents, admin., etc. and that there isn’t a problem transferring.
Ad Hoc IT – Michael Scott & OPEN
No report.
Committee of the Administration
No report.
IV. Open Comments from the Administration
Q.
There was a motion last month to convene an open meeting of campus wide IT to discuss strategies and timeline of the University of Maine System. What progress has been made to convene this open campus conversation?
A.
Janet Waldron pointed out that Dick Thompson was at the meeting along with John Gregory. They’re trying to arrange a date for a meeting when Mike Scott is back, so looking at early November.
Both met with the President’s Cabinet and had good discussions about issues that came up and about communication. John Gregory still attends Janet’s direct reports monthly meetings. The two governing IT Counsels have been convened and met with Dick and John.
Q.
Is there any opportunity for open forums with students and faculty? Some students were out of sorts due to the disruption of IT and it would be good if they could air their grievances.
A.
The issues were gone over with the Help Center and a survey was completed with over 500 responses. Those responses are being analyzed now.
Q.
Martha Novy-Broderick stated the system crashed today during her class. A forum would help students and faculty now.
A.
Dick Thompson was unaware of a crash today but would check in to it.
Q.
Who should be called when the system crashes?
A.
Report it to the Help Desk. The UMaine Help Desk communicates with the System Help Desk to see if it’s a UMaine issue or system wide.
Q.
At a meeting recently we were given three pages of enrollment targets and goals report. The three pages came from a 32-page report that had no mention of investing in faculty with the increase in students. Is there a strategy in place with the increase in students, do we hire new faculty after or before students arrive?
A.
Jeff Hecker said “yes”.
We are looking at College priorities for faculty hiring, enrollment growth, teaching needs, and faculty positions in a variety of ways.
Q.
The template showed requests can be made but then asked how it will be funded. Doesn’t seem to work if funds come out of the department. If a request is put in for a lecturer the tuition money would more than cover it but we’d be told that’s not how it works. If using funds from an open position due to retirement it won’t help the issue because a department will still have more students and less faculty.
A.
We’re not sure what the answer is but we’re trying to get ahead of it. Extra tuition funds don’t always equal extra funds, it’s not that straight forward.
V. Old Business
None
VI. New Business
Motion to support the proposed Departmental Structure for the College of Education and Human Development. Program Creation & Reorganization Review Committee
Background
COEHD does not have departments. Three new departments are proposed, including A) Exercise Science and STEM Education; B) Teacher and Counselor Education; and C): Educational Leadership, Higher Education and Human Development. The COEHD proposal was posted on the PCRRC website on August 21, and the open meeting was held on October 4, 2013, attended by Dean Nichols and seven faculty including the new chairs, and four PCRRC committee members. Everyone at the meeting was in favor of the new departmental organization. Concern was raised regarding departmental names to assure that the disciplines are clear to students. It was agreed that naming and content of the departments was an ongoing project, but that the number of departments and their makeup took into consideration existing programs and faculty. The PCRRC committee voted to recommend that the Faculty Senate support the full proposal for the creation of new departments in the College of Education and Human Development
Motion:
The Full Faculty Senate supports the full proposal for the creation of new departments in the College of Education and Human Development.
Discussion
The Education faculty seem to be in support of the motion.
Motion: Approved
MOTION ON SHARED GOVERNANCE FROM THE FACULTY SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE TO PRESIDENT FERGUSON
Motion of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee
In April, 2009, the Faculty Senate of the University of Maine and the President of the University and its administration agreed to share governance in all academic affairs. The principles of shared governance are documented in the University of Maine Shared Governance Policy (available at <https://umaine.edu/facultysenate/wp-content/uploads/sites/218/2010/12/SharedGovernanceUMaine.pdf>http://umaine.edu/facultysenate/ files/2010/12/SharedGovernanceUMaine.pdf). The sense of trust and collaboration captured in this policy is emphasized by terms such as “shared confidence,” “mutual respect,” “mutual desire to collaborate,” “collaborative process.”
Due to a perceived need to move quickly, both administrators and faculty agree that during the summer of 2013 a number of administrative searches were not performed in full accordance with the agreed-on shared governance policies. This motion should not be interpreted as a statement for or against any individual appointed to a position. The failure to follow the Shared Governance Policy did not provide the faculty sufficient input or information to make a determination of the appropriateness of appointments. The Shared Governance Policy must be followed in order to ensure a fair, open, and collaborative process.
THEREFORE IT IS MOVED that the Faculty Senate requires that the principles of shared governance detailed in the University of Maine Shared Governance Policy be followed in the future. There is no emergency or expediency justifying circumvention of these core principles, no matter the time of year.
The sections of the Shared Governance Policy relevant to the selection of deans, provost, associate provost and other vice presidents and appended as part of this motion are as follows:
From Section II E (a) which states:
The faculty and administration will collaborate in the recruitment and selection of deans, the provost, associate provosts, and other vice presidents. Administrative searches are normally competitive and include open sessions to allow faculty members and other appropriate sectors within the university community to meet and give input regarding candidates. Search committees for administrators will include faculty chosen by accepted faculty governance procedures, as specified in Section A. Faculty representatives shall comprise at least half of each search committee for deans and associate provosts.
Section A in the above paragraph refers to Section II A which states:
Representation of the faculty at all levels of University shared governance will be: a) chosen by direct election by the faculty to the Faculty Senate; b) appointed by an elected faculty officer; or c) appointed by an administrator from a list of several nominated by the Committee on Committees of the Senate. For some committees, faculty members may be appointed directly by the administration or other representative body, as long as there are also faculty representatives on these committees appointed according to a, b, or c above.
Discussion:
No discussion other than two emails from Senators that was mentioned.
Motion: Approved
Adjourned at 3:55 pm
Respectfully submitted
Kathryn Slott