October 18, 2017

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
October 18, 2017

Present: Dean Astumian, Susan Bennett-Armistead, Tony Brinkley, Rick Borgman, Alice Bruce, Dick Brucher, Farahad Dastoor, Julie DellaMattera, Paula Drewniany, Phil Dunn, Thane Fremouw, Per Garder, Mark Haggerty, Sam Hanes, Anil Raj Kizha, Robson Machado, Robert Meulenberg, Grant Miles, Patti Miles, William Nichols, Christopher Nightingale, Nigel Pitt, Paul Grosswiler for Laura Rickard, Deborah Saber, Michael Scott, Howard Segal, David Townsend, Phil Trostel, Seth Tyler, Stephanie Welcomer, Mark Wells, Gail Werrbach, Clayton Wheeler, President Susan Hunter, Provost Jeff Hecker, VP Research Kody Varahramyan, Jen Bonnet (PEAC),

Absent: Erik Blomberg, Jason Bolton, Emmanuel Boss, Mauricio da Cunha, Scott Dunning, Nuri Emanetoglu, Torsten Hahmann, Nancy Hall, Leonard Kass, Margaret Killinger, Peter Koons, Michael Montgomery, Renae Moran, John Singer, Kathryn Slott, Mona Therrien, Andrew Thomas, Xudong Zheng, Brian Preziosi (Grad Stud Gov), Bentley Simpson (Undergrad Rep)

The meeting was called to order at 3:20 pm

I.  Welcome, Announcements and Comments:

II.  Approval of Minutes
September 20, 2017
Approved

III. Committee Reports
BOT – Patti Miles
The next BOT meetings (committees and general meeting) are in November. If anyone would like something brought up let Patti know. BOT reps from the various campuses are discussing ways to facilitate communication between campuses.

Q.  Shawn Moody just declared he was running for Governor, what happens when he’s a BOT member and member of the Community College System?
A.  President Hunter stated she’d have to look at the BOT Policy website to answer that.

Academic Affairs – William “Dee” Nichols
— Academic Affairs subcommittee – General Education – Farahad Dastoor
The committee will meet on October 25 at 3 pm in 229 Merrill Hall. Discussions regarding student evaluations on instruction and alignment of Gen Ed course assessments. The committee received good feedback on a proposed motion from the last Elected Members meeting.

Constitution & Bylaws – David Townsend
No report.

Research & Scholarship – Deborah Saber & Peter Koons
The committee met on October 13, to discuss past challenges and upcoming opportunities. The committee will meet with Vice President Varahramyan and hold their next meeting on November 3. The committee is looking for additional members, especially in humanities.

Finance & Institutional Planning – Mauricio da Cunha
The committee will meet on Thursday, November 2, 3:00 pm in Alumni Hall; second meeting will be Friday December 8. There is an open budget meeting November 9, 3:00 pm in 100 Nutting Hall.

University Environment – Stephanie Welcomer
The committee is in the process of setting a meeting date. Discussions will be free speech and sustainable issues.

Service & Outreach – Susan Bennett-Armistead
Susan said they’re in the process of setting up meetings and will contact members with those dates shortly.

Committee on Committees – Rick Borgman
The committee is in the process of getting nominees for, Review Committee for Dean Dana Humphrey, Search Committee for Vice President for Enrollment Management, Scientific Misconduct Committee, and Provost’s Promotion and Tenure Advisory Committee.

Program Creation & Reorganization Review – Clayton Wheeler
The Maine Business School proposal from the Provost will have a public meeting on Wednesday at 3 pm in Jenness Soderberg Lecture Hall. Once that takes place, a review committee will make recommendations to Faculty Senate for a vote.

Library Committee – Howard Segal
The Digital Commons was owned by Berkley Press but has been sold, library staff will monitor any changes. There are no anticipated changes to the library budget this year. A new Administrative Integration team has been created by Vice Chancellor Robert Neelly and will be chaired by Vice Chancellor Carol Kim. The team will explore a common catalog across the UMaine System and possibly the State of Maine Library. The next meetings will be November 17, and December 15. There is a concern regarding databases UMaine pays for with no access outside this campus. The cost to make them available to other campuses could be very costly. The Office of Major Scholarships has been set up and staffed.

Q.  Having an Integration Committee sounds like things are going ahead, is it a done deal or are they still exploring?
A.  The charge to the committee is to explore a common catalog. Joyce Rumery, Dean of Libraries, said she doesn’t get the impression that it’s a done deal because it will be very costly.
Comment: Previous exploration of One University seemed to end as a done deal hence the question.

Q.  Will the Library become part of the UMaine System?
A.  Provost Hecker said he didn’t see that happening.

Q.  Are you talking about electronic journal subscriptions?
A.  Electronic journals, books, databases.
Comment: Hasn’t that already been done like Marine Sciences has an understanding to merge programs with UMaine Machias?

There’s no plan to merge Marine Sciences. The 2 & 2 isn’t a merger; it’s a collaboration which is different.

Isn’t having students take courses at all campuses the goal? Without library resources that isn’t possible. Provost Hecker said that’s what they’re trying to solve, how to manage, and how much it will cost.

Ad Hoc IT – Patti Miles
Patti said she’d be moving forward with a motion for a regular work committee.

Ad Hoc Shared Governance –
Grant asked for clarification regarding bylaws being completed by all colleges. He stated he’d looked for them online and didn’t see anything posted.

Reports of Faculty Members on Committees of the Administration
No report.

IV.  Announcements and Updates from the Administration
President Hunter said, with the questions about One University today, she’d announce the Chancellor is coming to campus for an open meeting October 25, 3 pm in Wells Conference Center. The Chancellor will have Vice Chancellor Neely and Vice Chancellor Ryan Low with him. This is a good time to get updates and ask questions.

Today’s Engineering Job Fair had a record number of employers and was attended by seven Legislators.

Provost Hecker stated the Office of Major Scholarships is open and staffed. He encouraged everyone to stop by and have students stop in.

NEASC teams are on track with their sections of the report. A draft will be sent to NEASC in February for review.

Provost Hecker thanked those attending the Pathway meetings. The next meeting is October 19 for Pathway 2.

President Hunter stated she’s chairing an accreditation team and going to Rhode Island for their review. It will be useful for moving ahead with the UMaine review.

V.  Questions of the Administration

Q.  Regarding the Director of Scholarships, is this to get all scholarships in one place?
A.  The office is about major scholarships.   It will help prepare students to be more successful when applying for these scholarships.   E.g., holding workshops and mock interviews for students.

Q.  Regarding Pathway assessments, is there a sense how positive or negative, were the goals correct?
A.  Overall sense of both success and falling short. Nature of reports will depend on the audience. E.g., reports to BOT or Legislators will highlight successes but will focus internal work on complete reports that will have both positives and negatives.

Q.  Do you know that the student who returned a punt 77 yards in the football game Saturday is a poet?
A.  President Hunter said no and asked who it was.

Comment: Micah Wright

Q.  Is there additional information on the selection of Peer Institutions, can it be discussed?
A.  The information was submitted last Friday. It’s a good question to ask Vice Chancellor Low at the open meeting next week.

Q.  When is UMaine’s opportunity to see Peer evaluations?
A.  Once they’re identified but Claire will ask Ryan Low.

Q.  Does UMaine get a look at who peers are and provide input?
A.  There will be a draft developed and then comments on those.

Q.  A faculty member mentioned the latest Nobel recipient was from UMaine. Will there be any official announcements?
A.  President Hunter stated he was at UMaine for a very short time to teach prior to retirement. UMaine is the institution of record but Brandeis was where he taught. Because grant money transferred with him it looks like UMaine was his institution of record. They’re delighted for him but don’t want to overstate his affiliation with UMaine.

Comment: UMass Amherst listed him and the Nobel website lists him as UMaine. Seems like there should be more mention.

Q.  Jeff St. John was asked about NEASC timing and the review.
A.  He stated there are nine writing team leaders; within each standard there are four or five, up to 45 elements, of each standard. Each team is asked for a draft by December. Data will be added to the nine areas and then in February a draft report will be sent to the NEASC Vice President assigned to UMaine. In March or April there will be a campus visit, comprehensive review and public exit discussions. President Hunter stated she received a call from President of the Commission on Higher Education regarding qualifications of the chair for the UMaine team. President Hunter told her qualifications within a system is important and/or a President of a Land Grant or someone with perspective of Land Grants.

Q.  Has there been an official announcement of the Presidents Search?
A.  There is a website.

VI.  Old Business
       None.

VII. New Business
None.

Q.  William Nichols asked how to go about making changes to the Faculty Handbook. Mike Scott stated those issues should go to the Executive Committee.

Adjourned 4:00 pm

Respectfully submitted,
Grant Miles

Prepared by Kim Junkins