February 5, 2020
FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
February 5, 2020
Present: Susan Bennett-Armistead, Erik Blomberg, Alice Bruce, Stephanie Burnett, Kristina Cammen, Mauricio da Cunha, Paula Drewniany, Phil Dunn, Per Garder, Colt Knight, Sara Lello, Margo Lukens, Natalie Machamer, Robert Meulenberg, Grant Miles, Patti Miles, Renae Moran, William Nichols, Christopher Nightingale, Elizabeth Payne, Nigel Pitt, Laura Rickard, Deborah Saber, Holly Schreiber, Michael Scott, Kathryn Slott, Andrew Thomas, David Townsend, Phil Trostel, Xudong Zheng, Todd Zoroya, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Faye Gilbert Interim Provost, VP Research Kody Varahramyan, Claire Strickland CBO, Robert Dana, Ken Ralph, Chris Lindstrom, Kimberly Whitehead Chief of Staff,
Absent: David Barrett, David Batuski, Donald Beith, Amy Booth, Julie DellaMattera, Nuri Emanetoglu, Mark Haggerty, Emily Haigh, Heather Hamlin, Torsten Hahmann, Sam Hanes, Judith Josiah-Martin, Leonard Kass, Anil Raj Kizha, Amanda Klemmer, Peter Koons, Robson Machado, Timothy Reagan, Deborah Rogers, Mary “MJ” Sedlock, Howard Segal, Mohsen Shahinpoor, John Singer, Sean Smith, Peter Van Walsum, Mark Wells, Jen Bonnet (PEAC), SuriyaPrakaash LakshmiBalasubramaniam (Grad Stud Gov), Jennifer Chiarell (CEAC), Camryn Hammill (Undergrad Rep)
The meeting was called to order at 3:16 pm. Before the official meeting, Chancellor Malloy spoke to the Senate regarding system Unified Accreditation and other issues.
I. Welcome, Announcements and Comments
No announcements.
II. Approval of Minutes
December 18, 2019
Approved
III. Committee Reports
BOT – Patti Miles
The MBA program ranking is up in US & World Report, rank up to 47. Enrollment is also up in the program. Approval of student debt holds has gone up from $100 to $1,000. MaineStreet is being updated. Help desk fielded 47,000 requests last year – working to make things clearer. The migration to Brightspace will be taking place so faculty should take a look at it. One feature is it will sync with Google Calendars. Some faculty are currently using the program to help work out any issues.
There is an updated BOT policy on health insurance for retirees. Board Policy 411 was out of date and the only BOT policy that pertains to employee benefits. The recommendation was to create an Administrative Practices Letter.
Patti announced she will be stepping down as the BOT Rep in May.
Q. At the last College of Education and Human Development meeting Brightspace migration was brought up, is Blackboard going away?
A. In the fall everyone will be on Brightspace.
Q. What is the transition time to Brightspace?
A. Peter Schillings team is piloting courses.
Patti will talk to Peter Shilling for details on process. With migration, faculty will have to change over. Migration will take place automatically but there are still things faculty need to do.
Jeff St. John suggested Peter be invited to speak to Faculty Senate to get more detail and dates for transitions.
Q. Regarding the cloud system, there’s confusion on the whole thing with people on campus. Are there any communications coming out?
A. Robin Sherman said Microsoft One drive will replace Box but Box will be in place for an additional year. Microsoft will have someone assist with migration. Communications with details will be available shortly.
Academic Affairs – William “Dee” Nichols
Currently working on the online student evaluations. About 70% of faculty are already using the online format.
Gen Ed – Subcommittee of Academic Affairs – Sam Hanes
The forum in the fall, created working groups looking at perceptions of Gen Ed and best models and perceptions. Also looking at how assessment will proceed.
Constitution & Bylaws – Grant Miles
There is currently a draft with many changes. Elected members will see those in about a week electronically. Discussions can take place at the next meeting if time allows. Please look at the items and see which items should be pulled for discussion. Much of the changes are cleaning up language.
Research & Scholarship – Sean Smith, Deborah Saber & Nuri Emanetoglu
The committee met yesterday with the VPR Kody Varahramyan regarding strategic movement to R1 classification. Several motions introduced last year will be brought back to Faculty Senate.
Also discussed, meeting with the President/CEO of the UMaine Foundation for information on fundraising, how it happens, etc.
Q. Was there any discussion regarding Gen Ed?
A. No but Sam Hanes will attend the next meeting.
Finance & Institutional Planning – Mauricio da Cunha & Mike Scott
Jeff Hecker would like to present shared services to Faculty Senate. FIPCE will be scheduling meetings with the Provost.
University Environment – Erik Blomberg
There will be a committee meeting a week from today and a meeting scheduled with the Provost in March. Regarding childcare, in January the Implementation Taskforce met, a lot of positive things being discussed.
Service & Outreach – Colt Knight – No report.
Committee on Committees – Grant Miles No current open requests.
Program Creation & Reorganization Review – Margo Lukens
Recently met Penny Rheingans regarding the Science and Engineering MS in Data. Discussions were around how proposal revisions have evolved. There will be a campus-wide forum and then recommendations can be prepared. There was a meeting last week discussing a degree in Criminal Justice. It appears it should pass quickly and will ask elected members to distribute information.
Comment: There was always a concentration so it may be similar to what was done with Statistics last year.
David Townsend received a draft of the BS in Sports Management, MBS approved it.
Library Committee – Howard Segal & Robert Rice. No report.
Information Technology Committee – Patti Miles. No report.
Ad Hoc Shared Governance – No report.
Reports of Faculty Members on Committees of the Administration
Harlan Onsrud is the Faculty Ambassador to the UMaine System. He stated it’s to explore multi-campus academic initiatives. Several proposals being looked at. One item is sustainability education on all campuses and encouraging proposals to the Maine Sustainability Water Conference. Another item is making the UMaine Graduate Distance Programs in industry critical areas to be more available to citizens. Last is to expand the 4+1 undergraduate to graduate programs. The concept is to bring students in their senior year, 3.25 GPA or above, into a graduate program.
There will be a meeting with the Graduate School and DLL, on whether to move forward. A lot of the proposals won’t work unless faculty are in favor and willing to collaborate.
IV. Announcements and Updates from the Administration
President Ferrini-Mundy stated she gave the State of the University address yesterday with several announcements. There will be an external national search for Provost, Dr. Dana’s title changed to include Inclusive Excellence and VPR Kody Varahramyan will now report directly to the President. Chris Richards is now Interim VP for Enrollment Management.
The preliminary budget was presented to the BOT. In March it will be presented for a public session. Faculty are showing research to the BOT and President Ferrini-Mundy hopes to see more presentations in the future.
The next Provost Forum is February 13, 3:00 – 4:30. Best practices, success rates, gathering information from faculty with round tables.
There are two searches currently, Dean of NSFA and an internal search for Dean of Honor’s College. Also, a Director of Rising Tides internal search possible. There are changes in that center and discussions on what should stay and not will be taking place.
The 1st Year Student Success meeting will look at the outcomes then make suggestions for next years’ initiatives. Strategic Visions Framework is working toward measuring progress.
V. Questions of the Administration
Rising Tide Center
Q. Why the changes to Rising Tides?
A. Susan Gardner will return to faculty. Reviewing what all has evolved in the center over time and whether at least some of those activities should be addressed elsewhere (e.g., in HR, CITL, departments). In addition, questions remain regarding the funding model and roll of academic units. Department of Women’s Gender will not be part of Rising Tides.
Q. Any thought on the timeline for the search?
A. Hoping there will be a draft in March and job description by mid-April so it can be sent out. Discussions about possibly this being a Fellow position for two to three years.
Q. Faculty feel the center serves an advocacy role for them.
A. There needs to be an ombudsman on campus. Looking at what an advocacy roll would be and not be. Advocacy is important but it’s a lot to expect of a new director.
Research Experience for Students
Q. Regarding an authentic research experience, what is the vision and where does the Center for Undergraduate Research fit?
A. It’s at an early stage and the Center for Undergrad Research and others need to be involved.
Comments: There’s no place that looks at something like this as developmental. It would be great to have something in place to bring students in early, first year. Students could get credit or certificate.
The March Provost Forum will focus the discussion on how this might work. Experiential learning in general but also the research experience.
Q. A group should involve grad students. They’re doing research and would benefit with teaching the undergrads.
A. Yes
Comments: Current service courses could be linked. Social Science research could also be involved, not in a lab but it’s research.
Q. Dean Dana, how do you enforce ethical behavior or discourage it among students in dorms. Students say they get fined for poor behavior and also must do community service hours? Where does the fine go?
A. It’s an administrative fee that goes to support substance abuse, activities etc.
Q. When recruiting could more focus be placed on students that go away to other schools but then decide to come back to UMaine? Could there be something in the way of scholarships for those students that want to come back after a semester or year away (many of whom turned down UMaine scholarships when they initially went to other schools)?
A. President Ferrini-Mundy was not aware of this but will talk to Enrollment Management. Provost Gilbert stated they are working on the issue and a program that would flag those students and be able to distribute leftover scholarship funds.
Q. An email came out regarding choosing between Qualtrics and Survey Monkey. Is that all campuses or Orono?
A. All campuses.
Comment: Qualtrics currently used by faculty for research – we hope that is being looked at. President Ferrini-Mundy acknowledged the concern and that the needs of a research university may be different from other system campuses. Need to include faculty on the system RFP teams. It’s the same with scheduling program maintenance during finals.
Q. There is lots of talk about graduate students and the importance of research, but a Department Chair recently received an email that an MS is under review for possible discontinuance.
A. Review of small enrollment graduate programs is a system initiative. It is based on the number of students that graduate and number of faculty. If the numbers fall below those numbers it triggers a review. Note that review does not necessarily mean discontinuance. Some PhD and MS programs don’t require extra money or faculty. Others may look at options to enhance enrollment (e.g., through online offerings or other efforts) or may specify other justifications for remaining with small enrollments.
Note regarding Unified Accreditation. Jeff St. John said composition of teams working on Unified Accreditation has been set. Presidents and senior staff make up the committees. There are two working groups; finance and support services, and academic and academic affairs.
VI. Old Business
No old business.
VII. New Business
No new business.
Adjourned 5:10 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Grant Miles
Prepared by Kim Junkins