March 30, 2001

Approval of Agenda:             

The agenda was approved with an additional item for a Faculty Advising committee report.

Approval of Minutes:           

The minutes were approved as written.

Treasurer's Report:              

$10 donation to Faculty Emergency Fund.  Balance $0

President's Report:               

Paula Robertson-Rose reported on the following items:

• The Faculty Emergency Fund has a balance of $475 with an additional $830 in pledges
• The current slate of Senate nominations was presented.
  • The Senate needs 2 representatives to attend the meeting concerning employee vouchers. (Frank Cronin volunteered.)
• The Board has invited employees for a dialogue at the next Board meeting.  All Faculty are urged to attend.
• A short list of some still unresolved problems was presented and Senators are urged to review the list and give feedback before the next Faculty Senate Officers meeting with Dr. Fonte

Report from President of Student Government:     

Student Government representative Dawn Shestko made a report regarding the activities of Student Government.  They are working toward increasing membership, parking fee issues, and increasing student services.

Discussion of Speech/Journalism Issue:     

Mark Butland reported that the Speech/Journalism Departments will stay in the Communications Task Force.

Report from Facilities Committee:              

Carol Hirsch distributed a written report regarding the activities of the Facilities Committee and went through the items.

Report from Policies and Procedures Committee:  

Steve Bradley distributed a written report and went through the items.

• Administrative Rule on Task Force Chair Election:     

The committee recommended that majority of changes were semantics and punctuation.  The Senate voted to strike items 3 and 6, to change item 5 to take out voting in the Dean's office and for the voting to take place in the task force meeting.  These changes passed unanimously.

• Administrative Rule on Staffing of Adjunct Faculty:    

There was no input from the committee on this rule.

• Administrative Rule on Internal Mail:  

The Senate discussed concerns that the restrictions on internal mail might place limitations on our ability to communicate.

Report from Academic Affairs Committee: 

A. L. Mackey reported that the Honors Program has two courses offered in the spring.  The concern of the committee is that there is a 12-hour requirement to be an Honors graduate.  The question was asked how this requirement compares to other institutions.  To enter into the Honors program a current student must have a 3.25 GPA while entering Freshmen must have a 3.50 GPA.  Since students are required to do a project, what is the criteria measuring the effectiveness of the project.

Faculty Advising Committee Report:          

Judy Scholl reported that the Faculty Advising Committee is working on a Faculty Advising System to enhance student retention.  The Faculty Senate is not ready to declare an official position regarding the committee's work until more is known; however, there was general support that the Committee should move forward in the pilot project for evaluation purposes.

Report from Bylaws Committee:     

Frank Cronin presented the revised report including the changes presented at the previous Senate meeting.  The Senate voted to accept the revised bylaws.  The new bylaws will appear on the ballot for Senate representatives and President Elect. 

Meeting adjourned.

Denise Anding, Juan Molina, Morgan Stout, Patti Dungan, and Dorothy Martinez were absent.  Carol Hirsh substituted for Robyn Richter.  Frank Cronin took minutes for the last item on the agenda.