March 2, 2016
DRAFT FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
March 2, 2016
Present: Erik Blomberg, Jason Bolton, Dick Brucher, Laura Cowan, Mauricio da Cunha, Farahad Dastoor, Paula Drewniany, Michael Grillo, Zhihe Jin, Scott Johnson, Leonard Kass, Sara Lindsay, David Marcinkowski, Grant Miles, Patti Miles, Sidney Mitchell, William Nichols, Brian Olsen, Michael Peterson, Charles Rote, Jonathan Rubin, Thomas Sandford, Michael Scott, Howard Segal, Kathryn Slott, Andrew Thomas, David Townsend, Shihfen Tu, Mark Wells, Clayton Wheeler, Jeff Hecker, Carol Kim, Jen Bonnet (PEAC), Piper Black (Grad Stud Gov)
Absent: John Allen, Dean Astumian, Bob Bayer, Tony Brinkley, Sandy Butler, Sudarshan Chawathe, Scott Dunning, Thane Fremouw, Amy Fried, Jason Harkins, Jordan LaBouff (away spring), Robert Lilieholm, Deborah Rogers, Mary Shea, Allan Smith, Owen Smith, Mona Therrien, Tim Waring, President Susan Hunter, Peter C. Altmann (CEAC), Austin Madden (Stud. Gov.)
The meeting was called to order at 3:20 pm
I. Welcome, Announcements and Comments:
Len Kass introduced Brian Doore who discussed a pilot project to gather online student evaluations. He stated that the project has been fairly successful but they’d like to see how it would function for live courses. During the second week of break they will ask faculty if they’re interested in participating in the program. There was a 60-80% response rate, close to paper evaluation responses. They’re hoping to have 75-80 course sections participate in the spring. All data will be reported as normal, the questions will be the same as paper evaluations.
II. Approval of Minutes
February 3, 2016 minutes approved.
III. Committee Reports
BOT Rep – Patti Miles
Patti is looking for input for upcoming BOT meetings. The Academic Affairs Committee and Tech Committee will be meeting next. The proposed Information Technology Work Plan has four priorities; MaineStreet App, $705,000, streamlined course registration $250,000, user experience improvement for faculty on MaineStreet $250,000, adapt MaineStreet to One University $795,000. Patti asked for input and/or if these should be the priorities for this campus. The total cost was $44 million. Cindy Mitchell stated there is an alternative plan and no “ranked order” of the four points Patti mentioned. Adapting MaineStreet to One University is a “placeholder” if One University happens. Patti asked that anyone email her with input.
The next BOT meeting will involve Human Resources and Patti would like to ask how a 52.4% fringe rate is broken down. Provost Hecker thought it was a good question. Claire mentioned there is a breakdown online but Provost Hecker thought it was still a good question to ask.
Academic Affairs – Michael Grillo
The committee met today and discussed degree residency requirements. The Division of Lifelong Learning asked that the motion from the 2013 Faculty Senate be reviewed. Also to be discussed, a motion under New Business, Proposed Academic Quality Indicators.
Constitution & Bylaws – David Townsend
David said he’d be exploring how to consider adjunct faculty and their role in Faculty Senate. The Teaching Council did a review of adjunct and Faculty Senate came up in that survey.
Research & Scholarship – Scott Johnson & Mauricio de Cunha
No report.
Finance & Institutional Planning – Grant Miles & Jonathan Rubin
The committee met with Claire Strickland, Ted Coladarci, Jeff St. John, and Carol Kim. The meeting was more for general information to get the committee going. A few things discussed were research awards being at a good level, as new faculty come in those awards should increase. Indirect cost recovery is down slightly, that’s a normal trend. A concern heard is One University and cost recovery. It was stated that grants are awarded to a university so any awards would stay at UMaine. An update of the Unified Budget: it is still moving forward based on Ryan Low’s meetings in the fall. There are several subcommittees looking at many aspects of the budget. These committees will try to get reports out this spring to allow time for feedback. The committee will be asking about Centralized Services and if there will be real savings.
Are unrestricted reserves the same as endowments? No
University Environment – Tom Sandford & David Townsend
The committee is gathering data on classroom facilities and improvements needed. There are a lot of good classrooms but many others need work. Once the data is pulled together discussions will take place to see what other feedback can be gathered.
Patti Miles asked if the committee had the file from Student Records showing all the classrooms. Tom Sandford has a map from Facilities Management. Michael Scott mentioned that Jeff St. John has a Paint and Polish Committee looking for one member. Jeff St. John said there’s a small budget for work to be done in the spring. There is a request with Committee on Committees; Jeff stated Tom Sandford’s name was given to possibly fill the open spot on the committee.
Library Advisory – Robert Rice & Howard Segal
Howard urged people to continue using the Digital Commons. One item discussed at the committee meeting was a Floating Collection. If another campus borrows a book from the UMaine Library it will remain at the borrowing campus until it is requested again. There will be an expansion of the library this summer for student areas and there’s still a concern that procurement will take over collections. Bob Rice clarified that the Floating Collection will be tested with two campuses at this point. It was asked what the current turnaround time is when a book is requested. Dean Joyce Rumery stated, within the URSUS system, two days. Patti Miles said she’d heard a rumor that a Wharton database she uses may go away because it’s expensive and not used enough. Dean Rumery said no decision has been made but there have been discussions regarding low usage and very high fees. Patti asked if there was a systematic review, and Dean Rumery said there was. Patti wondered if usage was based on usage by logging in or the amount of data pulled. She said she might login once but download large amounts of data to use later. Joyce said it’s logins but they could gather information about how much work is done within the database. Someone asked if usage is the only thing looked at since some databases are critical to the education/research mission. Joyce said they do check many things but also need to look at those things if there are cuts. It was asked if Wharton alum were on this campus if the cost could be reduced because they’re alum, Joyce didn’t know.
Service & Outreach – Jason Bolton
The committee is working with Jen O’Leary and Marketing, looking at what’s available for collecting news stories and getting them out to the public. There is an online form but most aren’t aware of it, the committee will look at the best way to get that information out to faculty.
Committee on Committees – Michael Grillo
There is a meeting set with Robin Audesse to get a current list of Committees of the Administration and members of those committees. Tom Sandford has agreed to be on the Paint and Polish Committee. There is another committee, Selection Committee for Visiting Libra Diversity Professorship, which meets once in April. Michael mentioned there would be nominations today for Faculty Senate President, Vice President, Secretary, and BOT Rep. Each position is a one-year term and elections will be held in April. Patti said the BOT lists the BOT Rep as a two-year term. Bob Rice stated the BOT lists that as a suggestion, campuses set the term.
Program Creation & Reorganization Review – Sid Mitchell
No report.
General Education – David Townsend.
A draft of the Maine Community College block transfer for Gen Ed was sent to Michael Grillo. This is something that will be voted on by all University of Maine campuses. Michael thought it would be brought forward in April.
Ad Hoc IT – Michael Scott & Patti Miles
No report.
Ad Hoc Shared Governance – Michael Grillo
The committee is continuing with discussions about college bylaws. The colleges are at different stages of drafting their bylaws. At the last committee meeting an environmental survey for faculty and administration was discussed. By doing a survey faculty can see what is working and what is not. The committee hopes to have something by the end of the semester. Grant Miles asked if college bylaws need approval by the President and Provost? Provost Hecker said they did. Grant thought it seemed to contradict the process while not contradicting the administration. Provost Hecker said CLAS has had bylaws for a long time and when changes are made they don’t need permission to make changes but when the document was drafted they did.
Reports of Faculty Members on Committees of the Administration
No report.
IV. Announcements and Updates from the Administration
The UMaine System will be conducting a search for Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. Provost Hecker will serve on the search committee; the new hire will start September 1, 2016. Until the position is filled Provost Hecker will be lead CAO, “I have not taken a job with the system.”
Program integration, there are six teams with reports due March 1. The CAO’s will meet on March 10 and team leaders will give summaries. On March 25 the CAO’s will agree on recommendations from the reports and post them, and reports, for review. There will be a comment opportunity between March 25 and April 22. On May 6 the recommendations will go to the Chancellor.
Two issues: Academic Quality Indices has a longer timeframe but the Unified Online Shared Governance has a short timeframe. Provost Hecker apologized for the miscommunication with Michael Grillo, and the Academic Affairs Committee, since the motion is on the agenda in reverse. Academic Quality has been discussed by the BOT and Chief Academic Officers have created a draft document. At the most recent meeting, BOT members were asking about a report, trying to get a draft by the end of May after talking to Faculty Senates on each campus. Unified online is more pressing. This item was previously tabled by the BOT to review issues raised by faculty. They asked the CAOs to work with faculty and address governance issues. The BOT wanted something by March but that didn’t allow enough time. The issue is faculty from different campuses teaching required courses in the same curriculum. A report will have to be completed by the May BOT meeting.
Winter session worked well. Jeff St. John commented that 20 courses were identified, 55% response rate on student evaluations compared to 10% in the past when University College did them. There were originally 850 students registered but dropped to 680. Some drops were due to confusion between winter and spring semester, or students changing their mind. winter session did not draw students from spring semester. May and summer session will be analyzed to see if winter session affects registration. Of those taking winter session, 39% were seniors so it appears the message was getting out.
Q. Did all classes originate from UMaine and taught by full-time faculty?
A. Yes, all were UMaine by faculty that had taught online before, they were invited to teach winter session.
Q. Any idea how many of the 680 were successful?
A. 81% of the grades were A or B.
Some students thought it was a lot for three weeks but others liked it.
In English, there were adjunct that taught winter session and were impressed with the dedication of the students.
V. Questions of the Administration
Q. It’s concerning to have a 5-10% response rate on evaluations, 50% is considered low in classes. Does that rate raise concerns?
A. Provost Hecker stated he’s been concerned for years. University College previously administered the evaluations and 5-10% is all they got.
Q. What is the typical response rate in a face-to-face evaluation process?
A. Student evaluations done in classrooms are in the low 80% range, lower in large lecture sections or 100% in grad seminars.
Q. How many of the 680 registered for winter session got grades at the end of the session?
A. Some of the 680 withdrew but a very small number.
Q. How does the 81% A and B’s compare to grades in a classroom setting?
A. Slightly higher but not significantly higher.
Q. How many were UMaine students?
A. Nearly all.
Q. Will students be tracked to see if the 30-30 concept was successful?
A. That’s a good idea. It could be broken out for winter session.
Q. There is an issue with student housing prior to breaks, students are required to be out of dorms by 5 pm on Friday. That means there is a day of teaching lost. Why do they have to be out on Friday and not Saturday?
A. Dean Dana stated there are six dorms that don’t close and out of state students are encouraged to use those dorms. Those that do close have safety checks and then the building is closed.
Q. Someone else mentioned having students missing class, if they have to be out of the dorm they can’t take a Saturday flight.
A. Provost Hecker stated a need to check with out-of-state students since enrollment is going up. Dean Dana stated that continuous housing holds up to 1300 students and he will take a look at this issue.
Q. tudents mentioned that the Women’s Resource Center is closed and replaced with a Grant and STEM Fields office. Why is there no longer a Women’s Resource Center on campus?
A. The Women’s Resource Center will be part of the Rising Tide Center; it will be under a new umbrella. There is a strong women’s association that continues on. It was stated that there is an association but the students are upset about the center closing.
Q. Are there any changes anticipated for Program Integration?
A. No.
Q. One of the College of Education and Human Development candidates mentioned indirect costs being returned next year. Is there a plan for that?
A. Vice President for Research Carol Kim stated the plan is for FY17 will see $125,000 to E&G as Indirect Costs being returned to faculty, based on FY16. There will be other resources explored and hoping to increase that amount.
Q. Who decided to close campus when only half was without power? It was a vague announcement about evening classes.
A. The decision was made due to no phones or emergency systems.
Q. Should the phones have a backup system?
A. There is an upcoming infrastructure meeting and this issue is now on the list of topics to be discussed.
Q. What about the traffic backup?
A. It was monitored to see how an evacuation would occur, it did take a while but it was very orderly. The Orono lights and traffic lights were out also.
Q. Can we have a clarification on the Grad Affair being held at the Cross Center?
A. Carol Kim stated it is on April 27.
Q. Why was this event not held on campus?
A. The graduate students and undergraduate students will be presenting on the same day. When the event was held separately the cost was higher than having both on the same day at the Cross Center.
Q. Why couldn’t it be held at the Field House?
A. It was explored but there are oral presentations and the Field House has no good area for presentations.
Q. Will UMaine provide transportation?
A. Yes
Comment: There are people invited from all over the state.
Q. Is April 7 the Provost Council?
A. Yes, Academic Affairs Faculty Forum, there’s no set topic at this time, possibly the Center for Innovation and Teaching and Learning. There’s a committee looking at Faculty Development and how to do a better job with resources. The April 7, 3:00 – 4:30, forum will allow for feedback.
VI. Old Business
None
VII. New Business
Academic Affairs withdraws the motion.
Patti Miles asked about the percentage of credit hours, not courses, taught by each person, adjunct, professor, lecturer, etc. An adjunct would teach ten classes to get one FTE.
Michael Grillo asked that Patti send an email with specifics so it can be discussed.
Nominations:
President – Mike Scott
Vice President – David Townsend
Secretary – Kathryn Slott
BOT – Patti Miles
Other nominations for the positions can be sent to Michael Grillo or Kim Junkins.
Adjourned at 5:00 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kathryn Slott
Prepared by Kim Junkins