October 17, 2012
FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
October 17, 2012
Present: Steven Barkan, Jason Bolton, Emmanuel Boss, Douglas Bousfield, Ian Bricknell, Dick Brucher, Stephen Coghlan, William Congleton, Mauricio da Cunha, Benildo de los Reyes, Charlsye Diaz, Janet Fairman, Michael Grillo, Dennis King, Judy Kuhns-Hastings, Bill Livingston, Mary Ellin Logue, James McClymer, Paul Myer, Martha Novy-Broderick, Harlan Onsrud, Ray Pelletier, Jay Rasaiah, Thomas Sandford, Michael Scott, Philip Trostel, David Yarborough, Bob Rice, Kathryn Slott, Susan Hunter, Stuart Marrs, Molly MacLean
Absent: John Allen, Richard Borgman, Marcia Douglas, Dylan Dryer, Thane Fremouw, Robert Gundersen, Ramesh Gupta, Gordon Hamilton, Clarissa Henry, Steven Kimball, Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, David Marcincowski, Robert Milardo, Michael Peterson, Andrew Reeve, Brian Robinson, Howard Segal, Claire Sullivan, Roy Turner, Chuck Wallace, Mark Wells, Gail Werrbach, Robert Strong, Paul W Ferguson, Melvin Johnson, Jennifer Hooper (GSG), Robert Jackson Pineau (USG)
The meeting was called to order at 3:17 pm
I. Welcome and Announcements:
Stuart Marrs introduced CK Kwai, Director of the UMaine Office of International Programs. He’s worked in the field of International education for over 15 years with extensive experience in all aspects of International education.
October 31, 2012 from 8:30-11:00 the Credit Transfer Steering Committee meeting on the Orono campus, Faculty Senate members are encouraged to attend. Susan Hunter stated that each campus is being visited. The meeting is actually a working session but open. A location is still being determined.
Graduate School open house is today, 4:00-6:00.
II. Approval of September 2012 Minutes
MA in Bio Informatics should be an MS
Vote: Approved with amendments
III. Committee Reports
BOT Rep – Robert Rice
The BOT retreat is next week in Falmouth. This year, for the first time, University Presidents will be invited for most of the day. Bangor’s report on performance funding is moving ahead. Approximately $3-5 million in funding will be held back then redistributed base on performance measures. No idea how funding will be determined at this time.
Academic Affairs –Richard Borgman & Judy Kuhns-Hastings
Meeting next week with Susan Hunter discussing credit transfer issues. The motion regarding grade changes for today postponed until possibly next month.
Constitution &Bylaws – Mick Peterson
No report.
Research &Scholarship – Robert Gundersen
UMAP IT had one proposal last year so please pass word on to colleagues.
Finance &Institutional Planning – James McClymer & Tom Sandford
Although far from being completely resolved, the Marketplace and PCard situation has substantially improved since the beginning of the semester. One of the improvements is a Frequently Asked Questions web page just posted by the Purchasing Office.
(1) you know that recent changes in purchasing practices by all university units were caused primarily by an Administrative Practice Letter issued by the Chancellor’s office,
(2) you know that a PCard is a credit card and that Maine Street Marketplace is the preferred procurement tool and why it is preferred,
(3) you know that PCard purchases are intended primarily for emergencies and for small dollar amounts under $500 that cannot be made readily through Marketplace,
(4) you know that pre-approval by supervisors is still needed for all PCard purchases but that the written documentation for that pre-approval will be maintained and managed at the unit level and (to the best of our belief), in order to reduce bureaucracy, that documentation need NOT be forwarded with the purchase receipts,
(5) you know that the wording of the acknowledgement statement when acquiring a PCard has improved,
(6) you know that the number of pre-approved vendors in MaineStreet Marketplace will grow to include most of your preferred vendors over time, and
(7) you know there exists a current proposal to the University of Maine System whereby an externally funded grant itself serves as the pre-approval mechanism for the Principal Investigator. Further, similar mechanisms for pre-approval are being sought in conjunction with EPSCOR, MEIF and MAFES funding.
Before taking questions and comments I’d like to ask Harlan to relate some further actions that Janet Waldron is still pursuing relating to this situation.
Harlan:
Let me quote and paraphrase some language in an email from Janet since she was unable to be here today.
She states: At this point we have done the following:
Negotiated with the systems office for permanent pre-approval for research grants such that the grant will serve as the approval vehicle therefore not requiring any other supervisory approval. Of 37,000 P Card transactions, this takes care of 15,000.
The Marketplace electronic search mechanism is not working efficiently. Therefore, we are working to put in place a new electronic search form intended to facilitate the sourcing search to make it easier for the end user. The form is in the testing phase at this point with the intent to roll it out shortly.
We are presently enabling certain vendors (in particular Amazon and NewEgg) within Marketplace so that the PCard can be used within Marketplace. If this is successful, other similar vendors may be added.
We have a request in to the system to essentially suspend pre-approval for all P Card transactions up to $500. If successful, this should take away a major challenge for the total of the 37,500 transactions that fall into this dollar range. This would leave only travel, which is covered currently by a different Administrative Practice Letter and anything over $500 to require supervisory approval on the P Card.
We were able to obtain a modification to the definition of supervisor to enable other designees to give approvals and are working with individual program areas to align the personnel approval function so that it will work for them. This obviously is important to all but particularly in circumstances that are off campus and also out of country.
More specifically, Mike has worked out individualized approaches for areas such as Marine Sciences, Climate Change, AEWC and Athletics while continually working with individual requests for special accommodation. I believe this is resulting in adjusted procedures and some changes that are working to assist the business process.
We are expecting to put in place increased automation to connect the PCard more directly into the data capture functions of Marketplace which will also be beneficial to all in that once it is in place it should enable greater P Card flexibility.
Lastly, there are some “tweaks” ongoing to Marketplace itself to make it a more user friendly environment.
Wrap Up by Harlan:
On a personal note, although there are many details yet to be worked out and we don’t know that all of our requests will be supported by the system office, I want to thank faculty and staff for funneling their e-mails and correspondence through the Faculty Senate. This has made it much easier to build cases for change in an organized fashion. Please continue to use the Finance and Institutional Planning Committee for this purpose and FIPC will continue to monitor the situation.
I also want to publicly thank President Ferguson, Senior Vice President Janet Waldron and Mike Noblet, Director of Purchasing, for championing this effort with the UMS and for being comprehensive and persistent in addressing the concerns of faculty and researchers.
This effort will continue to take a lot of faculty senate time and time of administrators when we would rather be doing other things but I dearly appreciate the professionalism of all involved.
Question: One area that may still be an issue is meeting registrations that may be more than the $500 limit. Claire Strickland stated registrations are not being compromised at this point.
University Environment – Andrew Reeve & Mike Scott
Scheduling a meeting with Janet Waldron to discuss classrooms.
Library Advisory – Robert Rice & Howard Segal
No report.
Service & Outreach – Emmanuel Boss & Claire Sullivan
Met two days ago work to coordinate efforts working on the Carnegie application. First thing will be to come up with a survey but working with another committee on campus. Want to get survey out as soon as possible.
Committee on Committees – Roy Turner
Sent out notification for Committee of Administration but will make a second request for volunteers. Please talk to your units about these committees.
Program Creation& Reorganization Review – Michael Grillo
There are two motions under New Business today. Friday, 2:00pm is the open meeting on MS in Bio Informatics. Committee is reviewing a proposed BA in Human Dimension in Climate Change. The PCRRC needs a new chair.
General Education — Vacancy
Last year a series of Gen Ed changes were approved, specifically the Student Learning Outcomes for all Gen Ed areas. Not clear on the process but assume they need to go to the Administration and will discuss with Provost Hunter.
Ad Hoc IT – Martha Novy-Broderick & Mike Scott
Question for Provost Hunter, what is the state of the former IT Council, any move to resurrect? The Provost said she’s not sure but will discuss it with Janet Waldron.
Committee of the Administration
No report.
Blue Sky Reports
The Blue Sky Steering Committee met yesterday, took in reports, most just getting started. Within a week, or two, a website will be announced with matrix for each. Pathway 4 met today to set priorities and brainstorming. The Systems Office has a representative at each meeting to assure strategies align with the System plan.
IV. Invited Report from the Administration
Provost Susan Hunter and Ted Colardarci, Director of Institutional Studies, The Distribution of Instructional Resources at UMaine
The study grew out of discussions in the Faculty Senate regarding who’s teaching courses, tenured faculty, adjunct, or instructors.
There will be two reports posted on the Faculty Senate website. One is a general summary and the other is a set of appendices.
Ted introduced Deb Allen, Asst. Director of the Office of Institutional Research. This was a massive undertaking and Deb did a lot of the work on the project.
The study looked at course sections, course credit hours, and student credit hours, tenured/tenure-eligible, non t/te faculty, grad assistants, other instructors (non-faculty UMaine employees). Three years of data were studied, 08-09, 09-10, 10-11 and easy to add 11-12 later. This report is Phase I and Phase II available spring 2013 broken out by academic unit.
Tables include, Table 2. Course Sections/Student Credit Hours by Instructor Group, T3.… by Faculty rank, T4. …by Full-time/Part-time, Figure 9 Percentage of Course Sections Taught by Full-time/Part-time Status: Grad Lecture & Seminars, T12. …Taught by Instructor Group, and Table 17…(face to face vs. online).
See attached for study details. More extensive documents will be posted to the Faculty Senate website under Documents.
Questions
Q: Is there any comparative data with other institutions to be found?
A: No.
Q: Can 2010-11 be compared to 10 years ago?
A: Yes, by taking a quick look. There is a trend away from T/TE.
V. Old Business
None
VI. New Business
Motion to Recommend Creation of the PhD in Communication
The Program Creation, Review, and Reorganization Committee
17 October, 2012
In accordance with the University of Maine’s Fifteen Stage Process of New Academic Program Creation, the PCRRC has held public hearings on Friday, 21 September, 2012, on the stage eight, Full Program Review of the proposed PhD in Communication. On the basis of these hearings, in which all attendees voiced unalloyed support for the program, the PCRRC recommends the Faculty Senate support this proposed program at this stage eight review through passage of this motion.
Vote: Motion Approved
Motion to Recommend Creation of the MS in Spatial Informatics
The Program Creation, Review, and Reorganization Committee
17 October, 2012
In accordance with the University of Maine’s Fifteen Stage Process of New Academic Program Creation, the PCRRC has held public hearings on Friday, 21 September, 2012, on the stage two, Intent to Plan Review of the proposed MS in Spatial Informatics. On the basis of these hearings, in which all attendees voiced unalloyed support for the program, the PCRRC recommends the Faculty Senate support this proposed program at this stage two review through passage of this motion.
Vote: Motion Approved
Adjourned at 4:25 pm
Respectfully submitted
Kathryn Slott