April 10, 2019 (Draft)
Draft Faculty Senate minutes
April 10, 2019
Present: Erik Blomberg, Alice Bruce, Dick Brucher, Paula Drewniany, Phil Dunn, Nuri Emanetoglu, Mark Haggerty, Leonard Kass, Margo Lukens, Molly MacLean, Robert Meulenberg, Patti Miles, William Nichols, Laura Rickard, Deborah Saber, Howard Segal, Kathryn Slott, David Townsend, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy (on the phone), Provost Jeff Hecker, Tora Johnson (UMaine Machias), Jennifer Chiarell (CEAC), Jaqulin Wallace (Grad Stud Gov) Harrison Ransley (Undergrad Rep)
Absent: Seanna Annis,Emmanuel Boss,Stephanie Burnett, Sandy Butler, Mauricio da Cunha, Julie DellaMattera, Scott Dunning, Per Garder, Torsten Hahmann, Nancy Hall, Sam Hanes, Valerie Herbert, Margaret Killinger, Anil Raj Kizha, Colt Knight, Peter Koons, Robson Machado, Grant Miles, Renae Moran, Christopher Nightingale, Nigel Pitt, Deborah Rogers, Michael Scott, John Singer, Sean Smith, Mona Therrien, Andrew Thomas, Phil Trostel, Stephanie Welcomer, Mark Wells, Clayton Wheeler, Xudong Zheng, Jen Bonnet (PEAC), VP Research Kody Varahramyan,
The meeting was called to order at 3:15 pm
- Welcome, Announcements and Comments
A senate rep will attend the next UMaine Machias Faculty Senate meeting, that meeting hasn’t been scheduled. Attendance will be on a rotating schedule. The rep from UMaine Machias is Tora Johnson.
- Approval of Minutes
March 13, 2019
Approval at next meeting
IV. Committee Reports
BOT – Patti Miles
The Chancellor search is moving along. Patti would like senators to send her questions they’d like asked.
Academic Affairs – William “Dee” Nichols
The committee met March 28, continuing to focus on the Constraint Form and better communication. The committee looked at online SET and will work off data Jeff St. John is working on. Last year’s General Education Assessment data will be reviewed then shared. The next General Education assessment will be May, the committee is still looking for volunteers. There is an item regarding Residency Requirement under new Business.
Gen Ed – Subcommittee of Academic Affairs – Sam Hanes
Combined with Academic Affairs report.
Constitution & Bylaws – Grant Miles
No report.
Research & Scholarship – Deborah Saber & Nuri Emanetoglu
The committee is in the process of forming an Ad Hoc Committee for research capacity, how to proceed and assistantships, physical space, equipment, etc.
Comment: As discussed at the March Senate meeting, the availability of physical space and other factors will limit the capacity to grow faculty numbers and will limit growth of our research enterprise, prompting the formation of this ad hoc committee. The committee will be discussing those issues with a goal of making recommendations to the administration. In addition, we discussed the numbers of institutionally-supported forms of graduate student support at UMaine, Maine’s doctoral-granting, flagship campus, which numbers about 200, which corresponds to about 10% of our graduate students. Data from institutions around the country show they have a larger percentage, prompting a suggestion that the shortfall at UMaine might be addressed via a state budget line item to increase from 200 assistantships to 400, which would come to approximately $8 million a year. Such a line item would be similar to the MEIF line item, except that it would support all areas of education at the graduate level. An Ad Hoc committee could be formed to look into this over the summer. President Ferrini-Mundy commented that it’s a fascinating idea, but that she’d like to be involved in those conversations.
Q. How do we currently compare with peer institutions with teaching assistantships?
A. Talking with Scott Delcourt, he knows deans at Land Grant Universities and is willing to call for that information.
Comment: Related to more assistantships, seems a three-day a week schedule impacts the research schedule. In Spring 2020, afternoon Monday Wednesday classes can be scheduled. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes will still be available but faculty can opt to have Monday Wednesday starting at 2 pm. Discussions with students, there’s a preference for the Monday, Wednesday, Friday class.
Finance & Institutional Planning – Mauricio da Cunha
The committee is looking forward to working with the Provost on ideas that came in and how they’d make sensible motions for Faculty Senate.
University Environment – Erik Blomberg
No report.
Service & Outreach – Colt Knight
No report.
Committee on Committees –
No report.
Program Creation & Reorganization Review – Clayton Wheeler
No report.
Library Committee – Howard Segal
No report.
Joyce Roomer is testifying as Chair of the Maine Library Commission and Maine Infonet Board. One bill she’s testifying for is asking for money for libraries the other is not.
Information Technology Committee – Patti Miles
The committee met last week and discussed an Adobe Pro site license and how expensive it is. There should be a review of licenses to see what is used and what is not. There’s also a conversation on the amount of technology in each classroom and if there is an in between for what is needed and what is not.
Comments: Tora Johnson, UMaine Machias Faculty Rep, commented that looking for efficiencies to fold the UMaine Machias and UMaine licenses together could lead to additional efficiencies. It was commented that the Polycom in Aubert failed during a class, audio worked video did not. Calling Pro AV in Portland was the only option to fix it. Robin Sherman commented that it’s great when it works but it’s a very complex system and people need to be trained to maintain them. Currently looking at what is being installed and that there is support.
Reports of Faculty Members on Committees of the Administration
Molly MacLean commented on Navigate Steering Committee, Maryellen Mahoney O’Neil will present updates to senate at the next elected meeting.
Provost Hecker commented it’s nice to see a report from Committees of the Administration members. Also mentioned, how to get committee members to report during Faculty Senate meetings and find out who members of those committees are. Provost Hecker said there is a list on his website that they try to keep updated. One member stated not knowing a report should be made to the whole senate, normally they report to their committee.
Research Council discussed ways to increase the number of assistantships.
Patti says she rolls the ITSC information in to the IT report.
Harrison Ransley (Undergrad Rep) said Student Government will be making a budgetary cut to the Collegiate Readership Program that supplies newspaper to campus at various locations. He said if other groups are interested in helping fund the program they can discuss an alternative. Dr. Dana commented that a matrix from vendor’s shows the number of papers returned, that matrix didn’t support keeping the program any longer.
Harrison also mentioned a Student Government committee will discuss mental health on campus. If there were interest from Faculty Senate it would be welcomed.
V. Announcements and Updates from the Administration
President Ferrini-Mundy thanked the incredible participation in the Strategic Value and Research and Development Plan. She also thanked participants in the New England Council of Higher Education (NECHE) visit and how the report went.
Provost Hecker commented that the NECHE meeting went well. There was a preliminary report given and the draft is expected in May, the draft gives a chance to respond. Eight areas commended UMaine; student success to graduation, relationship with UMaine and UMaine Machias, the UMaine and USM Business School move into Portland, the General Education Assessment progress, an improved financial position since 2009, a well defined budget process, improved research opportunities, improved online education, gains in enrollment management planning and Flagship Match.
Concerns: There’s no strategic plan, program assessment progress made but more needed, some UMaine System initiatives not well coordinated with UMaine, institutional autonomy (what is One University, UMaine lack of authority over decision making and erosion of that raised concerns). The Council thought the One University was raised in a thoughtful way but against the standard.
Dave Townsend commented on a question he got about faculty governance and how well it works on campus. Shared governance with the UMaine administration works well, but we have no shared governance at the System level. Howard stated a conversation he had regarding shared governance going down. President Ferrini-Mundy stated the need to understand specific cases where it’s in play and where it is not. Future discussion is needed and where issues are.
Another concern, if there is a model to fund research, questions about the enrollment goal. There’s a five-year plan to grow enrollment, is it realistic. Also comments that Student Accessibility Services needs space and staff, faculty salaries not nationally competitive, and post tenure guidelines are not as clear as they could be.
The report was perceived as a constructive review, issues with UMaine System autonomy weren’t a surprise to hear. The draft report will come in a month, returned in mid-June and the final report will be discussed in the fall. Someone from NECHE will attend the fall meeting.
The report also mentioned mental health as part of Student Accessibility Services.
The Strategic Vision is being discussed with deans and directors to gather information. The working session was rescheduled for next Monday 3-5 pm.
Other work, the R & D Plan, which is public, and First Year Student Success, each need goals and strategies.
Trying to gather a lot of information and then have teams look to organize into larger areas.
There will be a follow-up session in Wells Conference Center on the 22nd, 1 – 2 pm. An update on First Year Student Success next week, reports due May 1 and on May 15 a Faculty Forum where groups will give a snapshot of work done.
VI. Questions of the Administration
Q. Is there an update on Childcare Taskforce?
A. President Ferrini-Mundy put together the Implementation Group, recommendations are there. Looking to have some implemented in the fall. A report may be available at the end of May but can’t promise that.
Parental leave, the senate recommended having sick leave available once hired. President Ferrini-Mundy supported that and sent it to the UMaine System and bargaining group.
Communication/awareness, HR and Deans Council are working on a plan, starting with new faculty orientation and Chair’s training.
Q. The upcoming meetings, are they open to undergraduates?
A. Yes
VII. Old Business
No report.
Motion from Academic Affairs and General Education on Residency Requirement and 300 Level and Above Courses
April 10, 2019
Background: The School of Engineering and Technology serve a unique niche as the only institution in New England offering a four-year degree in Surveying Engineering Technology. The program is highly recognized at the national level due to quality of faculty. The program is currently the largest surveying program in the country. Over the years the school has been contacted by individuals and other states that wanted to become licensed surveyors. Many states require a four-year surveying degree to obtain licensing although their state may not offer the degree. So, some years ago the unit conducted a study to determine the potential market for an online surveying degree. It showed significant demand, so the unit began offering the degree online officially in May, 2018.
As the unit began admitting students into the program a trend was identified. Many students that applied were disappointed to learn that even if they could complete the degree requirements by taking 30-35 credits from UMaine, they might have to take up to an additional 25 credits to meet our policy requirement of 30 credits at the 300 level or higher.
The Surveying Engineering Technology baccalaureate degree requires students to learn technical surveying topics along with topics from multiple areas such as mathematics, physics, business, economics, and general education electives. The degree requires the completion of 126 credit hours, with only 31 credits at the 300+ level. Thus, if a student transfers to UMaine to earn the degree and has taken ANY 300-level course at another institution, those credits must be offset by an equivalent amount of credits at the 300 level at UMaine.
For example, a recent applicant for the online program transferred in credits from Slippery Rock University and Oklahoma State University. To complete the degree requirements, the student would be required to take 34 credits of course work. Unfortunately, only 9 credits of those required courses are at the 300 level. So, the student would need to take an additional 21 credits of generic 300-level courses to earn the degree that are not necessarily applicable to the degree.
A few years ago, Faculty Senate passed the revised transfer requirements and did not foresee this being an issue. At that time, we may not have considered the possible impact on transfer students. We assumed that a typical degree would have 60 credits of 300+ credits so asking for 30 at the 300+ level seemed reasonable based upon that assumption.
The School of Engineering Technology did a quick review of our recent transfer admits to the SVT program. The table below shows each student. Column 1 is their name, Column 2 is the credits needed to complete the degree requirements, and column 3 is the additional credits the student must take to reach 30 credits at the 300 level or higher. You can see that at minimum, all of the students must take at least 9 additional credits with many needing more than 25. This is a real enrollment disincentive and I don’t believe that was our intent with the policy.
The 30 cr. of courses numbered 300+ for transfers
Examples of accepted and potential online BS SVT transfers (a random sample of applicants)
Applicants Credits to graduate # credits needed 300+
Student A 34 10
Student B 43 12
Student C 37 13
Student D 58 21
Student E 61 25
Student F 26(1) 13
Student G 35 21
Student H 72 31
Student I 69 28
Student J 41 28
Student K 64 31
Student L 55 31
Student M 40 16
Student N 46 9
Student O 59 24
Student P 62 31
Student Q 59 28
Student R 66 28
Student S 53 31
- Would require 30 cr. at U Maine to graduate
The students with less than 20 cr. of 300+ remaining are all transferring in significant amount of surveying courses. It basically shows a cutoff of 60 credits remaining where the 30 cr. of 300+ numbered courses is a very limited issue. For students with less than 45 credits remaining, the 30 cr. of 300+ numbered courses is a major issue to their education. The unit can provide more examples but this should illustrate the trend.
See spread sheet of requirements across degrees.
The current undergraduate residency requirement is: Earn a minimum of 30 credits originating from the University of Maine campus at the 300 level of higher over any year of study.
Proposed new wording:
Motion: In order to complete a degree from the University of Maine, students must earn a minimum of 30 credits originating from the University of Maine with at least 15 of those credits at the 300 level or higher.
We Academic Affairs and General Education committee think this change would provide flexibility for online learners in professional degree programs who already have a B.A or B.S. and are seeking to complete a second degree entailing a mix of 200-, 300-, and 400-level courses. Faculty in the School of Engineering Technology, Distance Learning, and the Senior Associate Provost for Academic Affairs support the flexibility of this motion.
We also believe the new wording would preserve the fundamental intent of the existing residency requirement: To ensure that students earning our degree complete a meaningful portion of that degree here at UMaine in courses in the major.
Discussion: Students studying away have a hard time getting 30 upper level credits in their senior year. Many universities have a 30-credit requirement. Should this be left up to each department? Also mentioned, biology students with a pre-med concentration have difficulty getting 30 credits in upper level. Usually they need a 200 level chemistry and need Gen Ed to take the MCAT exams. To fit requirements of the concentration they get close to 30 credits but it takes imagination to get 30. Jeff St. John commented that the residency requirement was done with good intent but unforeseen consequences arise. Provost Hecker said he supports flexibility i.e., people who want to come back to finish a degree need some flexibility.
Vote: Approved
Opposed 1
Election of Officers:
Vote: President David Townsend
Vice President William Nichols
Secretary Grant Miles
BOT Rep Patti Miles
Adjourned 4:40 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Grant Miles
Prepared by Kim Junkins