East Carolina University

FACULTY SENATE

FULL MINUTES OF JANUARY 27, 2009

 

The fifth regular meeting of the 2008-2009 Faculty Senate was held on Tuesday, January 27, 2009, in the Mendenhall Student Center Great Room.

 

Agenda Item I.  Call to Order

Janice Tovey, Chair of the Faculty called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m.

 

Agenda Item II.  Approval of Minutes

The minutes of December 2, 2008 were approved as distributed.

 

Agenda Item III.  Special Order of the Day

A. Roll Call

Senators absent were: Professors Gabbard (Education), Robinson (Mathematics), Grymes (Music), Eason (Nursing), and Taggart (Past Chair of the Faculty and Faculty Assembly Delegate).

 

Alternates present were: Professors Bond for Stiller (Biology) and Matarelli-Carlson (Theatre and Dance).

 

B. Announcements

The Chancellor has acted on the following resolutions from the November and December

2008, Faculty Senate meetings:

08-45  Service Learning criteria, request to have the “SL” designation included in the University Undergraduate Catalog for all courses approved by the Administrative Service Learning Committee, and a SL designation form in the Service Learning Course Submission Process.

08-46  College of Education’s Request for Unit Reorganization.

08-47  Request for Authorization to Establish New Distance Education Degree Program for a MAEd in Family and Consumer Sciences Education.

08-48  Notification of Intent to Plan (Distance Education) BSBA in Management and a

            Notification of Intent to Plan (Distance Education) BSBA in Management Information Systems.

08-49  Approval of ENGL 3920: Film Theory and Criticism as a Foundations Curriculum Course for Humanities. REJECTED

08-51  Guidelines for Unit Academic Program Review. 

08-52  Guidelines for Reviewing Low Productivity/Low Enrollment Programs. REJECTED

08-53  Change in Placement of Military Programs, including minors in Professional Officer Course (Air Force) and Military Science (Army) into the College of Health and Human Performance.

08-54  Change in Name of the Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology to Communication Sciences and Disorders. 

08-56  Curriculum matters contained in the September 11, 2008 and October 9, 2008 committee meeting minutes.

08-57    Resolution on Green Space and Heritage Trees.

08-58  Policy for the use of “NR” (Not Reported) for those courses for which the instructor/faculty member fails to turn in a grade.

08-59  Approval of the following Foundation Curriculum Courses: Humanities: RELI 2693, 2694, 3694, 3700, 3800, 1000, 2695, and 2696 and Basic Science: GEOG 1300 (Weather and Climate).

08-61  Change in name of the graduate degree program  in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies.

08-62  Request for authorization to establish a MS in Biomedical Sciences in the School of Medicine.

08-63  Request for authorization to establish a BS in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology in the Department of Geography.

08-64  Request for authorization to establish a BS in Geographic Information Science and Technology in the Department of Geography.

08-65  Post Master’s Certificate in Nursing Leadership in the College of Nursing.

08-66  Revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix L. Section E. Five Year Unit Program Evaluation. (Pending Board of Trustees’ approval)

08-67  Curriculum matters contained in the minutes of the October 23, 2008 and November 13, 2008 meeting minutes. 

 

All faculty are cordially invited to an Open Forum discussion of ECU budget matters in the Hendrix Theatre on Wednesday, February 18, 2009,

from 5:30-6:30 p.m.  Vice Chancellor Kevin Seitz will discuss current (2008-2009) ECU budgetary challenges.  A second meeting will be

scheduled for later in the Spring semester to discuss future (2009-2010 and beyond) ECU budget matters. Please contact Professor Tim

Gavin, Chair of the University Budget Committee, if you have any questions.

 

The Chancellor’s Faculty Senate Reception scheduled in the Spilman Gallery on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, has been cancelled due to budget reversions and decisions made across the entire University to eliminate refreshments and unessential social events. The annual Senate reception and the refreshments will be reinstated when the budget allows.

 

C.        Steve Ballard, Chancellor

Chancellor Ballard stated his regret that the reception for the Faculty Senators had been canceled, but that the money that would be saved in the discretionary accounts were appreciated. He also reported that the Chancellors, from all the Universities in the system, met recently and voted unanimously to support the budget proposal developed by President Bowles that could protect ECU from some of the Draconian budget cuts to the University budget. Chancellor Ballard reported that he supported the overall package.

 

Chancellor Ballard stated that every campus in the system had proposed tuition and fee increases and every campus’ proposals had been reduced by one third; ECU had one of the smaller tuition increase requests in the UNC  system.  Thus, the increase going to the Board of Governors was reduced from about $70. to around $45. A ceiling had been set that allowed no tuition increases above 4 ½ percent. Twenty five percent of any tuition increase would go to student assistance but the faculty salary component had now been eliminated for this year since there would not be salary increases for other state employees. Thus, any increases would be allocated to be 40% to financial aid and the remaining 60% to programs related to student success and retention. The Pirate Tutoring Center was an example of a student retention and assistance program that could benefit from this reallocation.

 

Chancellor Ballard stated that there was a current agreement in principle that the budget cuts for ECU next year would be around five percent non-recurring; this was less than the seven to ten percent permanent cuts that had been discussed. ECU was gaining a lot in the long run due to making some short term sacrifices.  The UNC system funding proposal would be made public by President Bowles soon and considered by the Board of Governors in early February. Every attempt was being made to protect the core mission of the University. The ECU Board of Trustees spent much of their time two weeks ago in their annual retreat discussing the budget for 2009-2010. They were adamant that our core mission would be protected.

 

The final selection of the 24 members of the University Budget Task Force had been selected and publicized.  The task force, co-chaired by Provost Sheerer and Chair Tovey, will start its work next week and meet indefinitely until there is better economic news. The task force was charged with communications campus wide across all constituencies, generating good ideas, and prioritizing ideas to help in budget decisions. Cuts are expected to last through both years of the next biennium. The Chancellor concluded his remarks by reporting that President Bowles had done remarkable work in protecting the quality of the education that ECU has, given all the political ideologies and perspectives throughout the state.

 

The Report on Faculty Employment, to include a longitudinal profile of faculty tenure status and tenure status of permanent and temporary faculty (by unit), was not yet available and would be presented at the February 2009 Faculty Senate meeting.

 

Professor Rigsby (Geology) about the representation of the Faculty Senate Budget Committee representation on the University Budget Task Force. The Chancellor responded that there would be five or more Faculty representatives including the chair of the budget committee and Chair Tovey.

 

Professor Martinez (Foreign Languages and Literatures) asked about the rejected resolution relating to the procedures for determining low enrollment/productive programs. Chancellor Ballard stated that he would like Provost Sheerer to respond to that issue.

 

Professor Sprague (Physics). Asked about proposal for a Film Theory and Criticism class which was not signed by the Chancellor after approval of the Academic Standards Committee and the full Faculty Senate. Chancellor Ballard asked that Provost Sheerer or another of the Academic Council members respond to the issue.

 

D.        Marilyn Sheerer, Provost for Academic and Student Affairs

Provost Sheerer began her remarks by responding to the question ask by Professor Martinez.

She reported that the criteria had been set by UNC GA. The response from departments justifying low enrollment /low productive programs had been read and considered. She suggested that cross campus collaborations might be a way of increasing enrollment. In the final analysis, the response had to be made to the criteria established by UNC GA.

 

Regarding the film studies foundations course a request has been made for more information. Rather than a rejection, it was a request for more information for a course that was a foundations course at the 3000 level. This was one of several courses being proposed that were being carefully reviewed in this time of budget restraint. The issue of teaching loads must be considered when any new course was sent forward for consideration. While the issue of curriculum development definitely rests with the faculty the ability to fund additional courses at this time of budget reduction must also be considered very carefully.

 

Provost Sheerer stated that she had been asked to address the Faculty Senate specifically on the topic of the process being used so far in budget reduction in Academic Affairs.  Several budget reports were distributed to each Senator at the beginning of this meeting. She mentioned that the hope was that the information, on consideration of different ways to save money, would filter down to the departments and to the individual faculty members.  However, it had become clear that that is not always the case; even though a lot of time had been spent with individual deans and these deans may have discussed these issues and ideas with the department chairs, the word was still not getting out to the individual faculty members. The desire was to have the decision making process be transparent. In addition to encouraging this avenue of communication, the newly formed University Budget Task Force will offer new opportunities for faculty to share their ideas about how resources can be used and to be informed about the process of making decisions based on this advice. The Provost then began describing what the process looked like so far and what it looks like in terms of the different units on campus.

 

The first page of the handout showed state funds available for personnel and operating expenses in academic affairs. This amount is $167 million dollars in state funding; the handout also showed what money was allocated to central administration and a breakdown by units.

The second sheet showed the departments from the Chancellor’s office down to Research and Graduate Programs as well as the savings being sought. As an example, Academic Affairs accounts for 55% of the state funding and a cost savings of over a $1 million dollars is being sought from this budget item. The third sheet showed initial reductions that occurred early on in programs like the Pace initiative. The next section shows amounts that were broken down by division were broken down into 75% non recurring and 25% recurring reductions. That equation might change, but this was the division that was requested from G A at the time of these calculations.

The next section showed the amounts by are by area and show how we propose to  make the 4% , 6%, and 8% cuts that were originally requested by G A. In Academic Affairs this was not done across the board; overall 2.73% of this budget is shown for cost reduction. However, 2.76% of the Fine Arts and Communication budget was deducted while only 1.38% of the College of Human Ecology budget is to be returned. This is due to an analysis of the formula funding for all of the units to determine if some units are overfunded or have more faculty than they are utilizing to generate student credit hours. If the analysis of the 6% reduction is reviewed, the handout showed more money is taken from the central administration than from the colleges; this amount is 4.16% so the teaching and research core can be protected. The 8% budget reduction requires across the board cut backs in all areas of the university. The last sheet indicated impacts at 3%, 5%, and 7% levels. Increases in faculty work load and increasing class sizes are the first response and the last column (7%) indicates drastic cutbacks.

 

Professor Martinez (Foreign Languages and Literatures) asked if the figures stated are for the future or this year?  Provost Sheerer said that ECU was at 6% cuts right now.  It really depended on what President Bowles negotiates with the legislature. Professor Martinez then asked should the faculty change the tenure track requirements to handle the impact on the budget since ECU  is losing fixed term faculty positions. Provost Sheerer stated that academic units were using adjunct and fixed term faculty to teach a lot of courses, and in a worse case scenario, the units would  lose part-time positions which is the reason deans and directors were asked to look at the teaching loads.  Provost Sheerer noted that she and Chair Janice Tovey were overseeing a Faculty Workload Subcommittee formed from the Deans and Directors Council.  Provost also stated that  the ECU Faculty Manual refers to a 4/4 workload and that administration has noticed a reduction in teaching loads without a balance in examples of research or scholarships. She also questioned the practice of offering so many classes with fewer than 15 students in each class.  Not offering a course in every semester and allowing courses to cycle in on a rotating basis to offset the loss of adjunct or part time faculty may need to be considered. Provost Sheerer stated that the faculty workloads were not consistent across the University and that ECU was going to lose some adjunct and part-time faculty positions in order to meet the budget challenges and that faculty should work within their units to resolve this.

 

Professor Levine (Medicine) stated that he sees compromises in academics, etc. but nothing about cuts in athletics, and wondered if they were immune to the cuts or was it true that athletics had a different criteria when addressing budget restraints.  Chancellor Ballard responded that athletics uses very few State funds.  Athletics has been supported by its own funding sources for several years.  

 

Professor Zeager (Economics) stated that over 23 years he has seen a large growth within the University and variety among the disciplines.  Teaching loads vary according to the faculty within the units and disciplines.  The missions are not the same for all disciplines, so the research and teaching responsibilities differ.  Provost Sheerer stated that what drives this is the academic unit’s code of operations.  She thinks that the unit codes drive the faculty workloads via their written mission statements, i.e. Education has teaching as their main mission, so it should be weighted that way, versus Biology where research is strongest. Particular language in unit codes play a role in the mission statements and that plays out with the unit code administrator.

 

Professor Vail-Smith (Health and Human Performance) asked if there will be a reduction in the funding of teaching and research grants.  Both Provost Sheerer and VC Mageean responded yes. 

 

Professor Jesse (Nursing) asked Provost Sheerer to describe the reference to “4/4 and 3/3”.  Provost Sheerer stated that an undergraduate faculty workload included teaching 4 courses each semester, totaling a 12 hour load each semester and that a graduate faculty workload included teaching 3 courses each semester, totaling a 9 hour load each semester as a minimum.

 

Professor Zoller (Art and Design) asked about the rumor that on-going searches would be put on hold.  Provost Sheerer stated yes that was correct and that she was working with various deans to address these concerns.

 

Professor Rigsby (Geology) stated that Provost Sheerer had stated earlier that there would be vertical cuts and she wondered what other programs did the Provost deem necessary to cut, i.e. honors program. Provost Sheerer responded that some programs were protected, but that when the Budget Task Force got together everything would need to be discussed.  Technology and the delivery of courses were being reviewed by an administrative  committee that was looking at the overlapping in services, outside of the course function of teaching the students.

 

E.        Deirdre Mageean, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies

Vice Chancellor Mageean announced Carnegie Engaged University recognition and thanked all of the faculty involved in the large undertaking. She addressed the restructuring of the Graduate School, now that Dr. Pellicane had left ECU, and Professor Newton was working with Finance and Administration.  Paul Gemperline will serve as interim Dean and there is a search committee, chaired by Professor Margie Gallagher formalized for the Associate Dean position. 

 

VC Mageean stated that the state of the admissions process was so bad that she has created a new position entitled Director of Graduate Admissions.  Professor Len Rhodes is chairing the search committee to fill the vacancy and reviewing the number of processes, etc. to keep the work moving smoothly. VC Mageean stated that she was confident that problems would be resolved and the Graduate School improved.  VC Mageean also discussed graduate assistantships and stated that only 5% of State funds go into research grants, with some of this coming for graduate assistantships.  Although she has tried to protect graduate assistantships for as long as possible, she will need to eliminate all administrative GA positions due to the 6-7% budget cuts. 

 

In relation to the funding of research grants, VC Mageean stated that she has stressed to the Research/Creative Activity Grants Committee to look closely at humanities grants since there  are very little other funding opportunities.  She also stated that start-up funds are important and that there will be no roll-over with these funds, so faculty were encouraged to spend the start-up funds when it was indicated in the proposals and/or contracts.

 

Professor Wang (Geography) stated that 08/09 research grants ran through June 30, 2009 and wondered if funds not spent by the researcher would be taken away.  VC Mageean replied that there are guidelines in relation to research funds so that faculty know that they need to use their money if it was awarded, etc. and that she would work with the Academic Council to clarify the process and allow direction. 

 

Professor Vail-Smith (Health and Human Performance) asked if there would be graduate assistantship money available for this summer? Gemperline responded yes through first summer session.

 

Professor Zoller (Art and Design) asked what would be the outlook for out-of-state tuition remission.  VC Mageean responded that she was working with GA and their curricular formula for this.  ECU was handled differently than State and UNC-Chapel Hill was handled.  The formula  looks at programs and external dollars and rewards the haves and does not encourage others to grow.  VC Mageean stated that Charlotte, Greensboro, etc. all feel that we are all underrepresented with GA on that some State-funded institutions seem to not count. 

 

Professor Rigsby (Geology) stated that a few years back, there was a run on F&A funds and the result was that many units that had F&A funds lost it.  Were there any assurances that F&A funds would be secure?  VC Mageean stated that to cover the cost of doing business, the money was used to support research and graduate students, so she couldn’t really say to spend it all now, but definitely spend it wisely.

 

F.         Catherine Rigsby, Faculty Assembly Delegate

Professor Rigsby (Geology) discussed activities from the January 16, 2009, Faculty Assembly meeting and referenced several reports, including the Faculty Assembly January Meeting, UNC Fall 2008 Enrollment Report, Discussion on Tuition by the Credit Hour, Online Quality Council.

 

Professor Rigsby (Geology) asked Chancellor Ballard if the University had discussed tuition by credit-hour and asked would Academic Council work with GA and the local University academic committees when addressing this issue because faculty needed to be kept abreast of what the University did.  Chancellor Ballard responded that yes it had been discussed and that Provost Sheerer had asked Chair Tovey to co-chair a study of the issue.

 

G.        Janice Tovey, Chair of the Faculty

Professor Tovey started her remarks welcoming back Professor Dee Dee Glascoff, stating that we were all happy to have her back in our midst. In Jan’s 8 years in the Faculty Senate, Fall semester was the first time Professor Glascoff had missed any meetings.

 

Chair Tovey stated that Provost Sheerer had invited her to become a member of the Academic Deans and Directors group. They met last week and among the discussion items were the budget, as well as preliminary discussions about a code of conduct and faculty workloads. Chair Tovey stated that this would give her yet another opportunity to work on behalf of the faculty.

 

Chair Tovey stated that she had been attending meetings as a member of the Administrative University Policy Development Committee (roster and draft guidelines) and that this group had been charged to develop the format, guidelines, and authorizations in order to begin the development of an ECU Policy Manual. The work had gone forward and the committee would be presenting the recommendations to the Faculty Senate, as well as Staff Senate, and other constituencies before the end of Spring semester. She stated that this was only the first step in a very long process that would see ECU gather policies from all divisions on campus and make them accessible to the entire University community.  NC State did this recently and Faculty Senators were encouraged to look at their University Policy Manual on the web.

 

Chair Tovey stated that she had attended the Academic Integrity Forum on the proposed revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part IV. Academic Integrity Policy. Although the turnout was relatively small, the conversation was lively! The subcommittee that put the proposed revised document together had done an outstanding job but there was still work to be done as the University fine tunes the policy and puts it in place. The subcommittee needs faculty input. Once the forums are complete the subcommittee will take the suggestions and review them and revise as necessary. Then the policy will go back to the Admissions and Retention Policies committee for action. Chair Tovey urged Faculty Senators to attend these forums so that when the revisions come to the Faculty Senate for consideration, Senators will have a better understanding of the whole process and the issues surrounding the revisions.

 

Chair Tovey stated that some of the Faculty Senators may have received, and responded to, invitations to serve on either a committee to explore the concept of an ECU Scholars Advisory Council and Honors College Planning Task Force (rosters).  The Honors College will be vetted through the standing University Academic Committee structure as recommended by the Strategic Enrollment Management Task Force. 

 

The budget cuts are affecting all aspects of the University. To this point, the classroom has been spared some of the cuts, but if they continue for very long this year, and into the next couple academic year, even ECU’s classrooms and faculty positions will have to suffer cuts. In order to help manage these budget reallocations, the Chancellor announced last week that he has charged Provost Sheerer and me to chair a University Budget Task Force (roster) that will bring together all constituencies of the campus. It’s a large committee and she thanked the Faculty Senators and other faculty who offered their services. Faculty members have already been generous with their thoughts and ideas and concerns about the budget. Chair Tovey encouraged faculty to continue to send suggestions to her and she would make certain that all issues come to the table.  Chair Tovey also reminded the Senators of the budget forum scheduled for Wednesday, February 18, 2009, from 5:30-6:30 in Hendrix’s Theater.

 

Finally, Chair Tovey stated that she knew that many Senators liked written reports at their seats for each meeting, but the Faculty Senate office has had to cut its budget also, so she urged Senators to be sure to check links on the agenda, and to continue to bring their laptops to meetings so that they can access those links during the discussion.  We will provide written reports as long as we can.

 

No questions were asked of Chair Janice Tovey at this time.

 

H.        Bill Koch, Associate Vice Chancellor with Campus Operations  
Bill Koch provided the Faculty Senators with an Annual Report on Parking and Transportation Services,  5 Year Financial Plan, Parking Fee Proposal, and a UNC Parking Fees Comparison. He noted a nominal parking fee increase with 50 cents or $1.00 increase per pay period in Fall 2009.  He stated that there had been a 6 year gap with no raise in fees but now a recent court case involving the public school system and collected fines resulted in the University losing 3.9 million dollars in reserves, leaving ECU with 80% of fine revenue being taken away.  This money was used to maintain lots and monitor the parking and that now administrative positions are either frozen or eliminated. Mr. Koch stated that the University had invested in electric vehicles and 10 hybrid vehicles and that the department is looking into a bicycle sharing program and moving State vehicles off campus by summer to provide more parking spaces for “A” permit holders.

 

Professor Glascoff (Health and Human Performance) asked if the University was now forced to give the money earned from parking fines away, what was the benefit to continue ticketing people.  Koch responded that the department was now emphasizing education first and offering parking assistance then ticketing last.  The website will be updated to provide more information and since the ticketing and fines had been a losing operation to begin with, the department will minimize their efforts with ticketing.

 

Professor Sprague (Physics) stated that since ECU can not keep the fines, could they restrict the fining structure?  Koch responded that he was unsure of how best to handle the situation at this time.

 

Professor Mathews (Anthropology) stated that the situation was now such that we have faculty without raises, more healthcare paid out of pocket, and now a parking increase.  What bothers many is that the required A-permit parking lots are now open at 3 pm, allowing everyone to use the lots close to campus, such as Brewster, Slay, Bate and that students are taking the spots before faculty can return to campus after dinner for evening classes.  She asked could the A-permit parking spaces be moved back to open after 5 pm?  Mr. Koch responded yes that they were checking lot usage on a regular basis and that not all A-permit parking lots opened at 3 pm.  He will look again at the master plan to see how many spaces are available for A-permit holders until 7 pm.

 

Professor McKinnon (Secretary of the Faculty/Interior Design and Merchandising) asked what were the goals for the administrative Master Plan Committee and how would the University Environment Committee be involved with their efforts.  Mr. Koch stated that the Steering Committee is beginning the process and the Chair of the Faculty is currently on board.

There will be faculty, city and county people, students, staff, and administration on all committees.  Faculty experts will be asked to participate and provide their expertise.

 

Professor Vail-Smith (Health and Human Performance) asked about Freshman cars and was it cost-effective now in light of the situation.  Mr. Koch responded that this issue would need to be revisited.  Freshman were now being moved off of Freshman lots and those lots were being used for special events, etc. This eliminated the expenses of providing lights and allowed the lot to be used for Health Sciences personnel, for construction vehicle needs or for special events.

 

Professor MacGilvary (Medicine) stated that within the five year financial plan distributed, there seemed to be an error in the 2006 figures noted on the spreadsheet.  Mr. Koch thanked Professor MacGilvary and stated that he would look into that.

 

I.          Question Period

Professor Glascoff (Health and Human Performance) asked the status of the early college high school program debated so vocally last year.  Provost Sheerer responded that it was to be redone over the summer and that student life will run a pilot program with 16 high school students in the Fall.

 

Professor Sharer (English) asked if the Sumer Reading Program was being cut.  Provost Sheerer responded that she had not thought about it and that it really needed more buy-in from the faculty.  She then asked Professor Tovey (Chair of the Faculty) to work with her and student affairs personnel to look into this issue.

 

Professor Fraley (Communication) stated that the University had set a goal a few years ago to protect certain populations within the University by setting a base salary with a living wage promise and with a large chunk of money distributed in 2005-06.  He stated that he understood that this goal had now slowed down after moving at least 600 employees to the minimum salary funding and wondered when the remaining University employees would be taken care of.  Chancellor Ballard stated that he still maintained the commitment to University personnel and that no person hired today would be offered less than a $25,000 annual income.  He felt that this was important because more had to be done for the lowest paid employees of the University.

 

Agenda Item IV.  Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business to come before the body at this time.

 

Agenda Item V.  Report of Committees

 

A.        Academic Standards Committee

Professor Linda Wolfe (Anthropology), Chair of the Committee, presented the following Foundation Curriculum Courses for Humanities, as follows: ASIA 2010/GRBK 2010 Great Books of Modern China, GRBK 2400 Great Books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance,
GRBK 2500 Great Books of the Enlightenment, GRBK 2600 Great Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries.  There were no questions and the Foundation Curriculum Courses for Humanities were approved as presented.  RESOLUTION #09-01

 

B.            Admission and Retention Policies Committee

Professors Wendy Sharer (English) and Gary Levine (Medicine) Co-Chairs of the Committee, presented proposed revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Academic Information, Section I. Academic Procedures and Policies in reference to class roll verification.

 

Professor Roberts (Philosophy) asked if this wasn’t really referring to an email and if so, why the language about “completing a form”?  Angela Anderson (Registrar) responded that this refers to a list of students in a faculty member’s class where he or she notes which students are not attending class.  There is no actual form that needs to be returned, but a place on OneStop.

 

Professor Glascoff (Health and Human Performance) stated that we don’t take role online but do know who are taking quizzes, etc.  roles. She suggested that the text reflect an electronic roll and that when referring to the 2nd time of roll-taking that it is clear that it needs to be in the context of  having someone on the roster the last day of class.

 

Professor Sharer responded that this was an attempt to institute a 2nd course roster verification because ECU had not been doing this.  That is why that it reads twice because it is a change in the way things are currently being done. Professor Glascoff responded that without clarification, what faculty know as roll verification happens only once and the 2nd class check can not be also called roll verification. 

 

Professor Brown (Psychology) stated that when people go to ECU Faculty Manual sometimes things are written on the fly and that this committee should try to make the procedures read the way that financial aid and the Registrar want it to in order to meet their needs.  He then moved to have these proposed revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Academic Information, Section I. Academic Procedures and Policies in reference to class roll verification returned to the Admission and Retention Policies Committee for a report again in February. RESOLUTION #09-02

 

C.            Committee on Committees

Professor Tom Caron (Education), Chair of the Committee, presented the first reading of proposed revisions to the Standing Academic University Environment Committee Charge.  Professor Brown (Psychology) stated that the last sentence was a bit confusing and that the Committee may consider deleting the word “how”.  Professor Caron replied that he would look again at that particular sentence.  No action was taken at this time since the revised charge will be considered again in February.

 

D.            Faculty Welfare Committee

Professor Bruce Southard (English), Chair of the Committee, presented the proposed revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part VI, Section II. Welfare and Benefits, in reference to hospitalization insurance.  He stated that this was intended to tidy up the ECU Faculty Manual with actual practices being followed clearly noted in the manual.  Professor Southard noted that the earlier resolution still pending the Chancellor’s approval of other revisions to the manual related to overload pay was made to bring the manual into compliance.  There were no questions posed and the proposed revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part VI, Section II. Welfare and Benefits, in reference to hospitalization insurance were approved as presented.

RESOLUTION #09-03

 

E.            Educational Policies and Planning Committee

Professor Sandra Warren (Education), Chair of the Committee, presented first the five programs as follows: Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, MS in Counselor Education, within the College of Education; Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree, BS in Industrial Distribution and Logistics, College of Technology and Computer Science; Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, BSBA in Management, College of Business; Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, BSBA in Management Information Systems, College of Business; and a Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, BSBA in Marketing, Operations, and Supply Chain Management Concentration, College of Business.  There was no discussion and the programs were approved as presented.  RESOLUTION #09-04

 

Professor Warren then presented the proposed revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Academic Information, Section III. Curriculum Development.  Professor Roberts (Philosophy) asked why in the Program Development Approval Process there were the statements added that bachelors programs only related to the Faculty Senate and University Curriculum Committee and that clarification as to the wording was needed.

 

Professor Sprague (Physics) moved to delete “bachelor’s programs only” and “undergraduate level only” throughout the revised document when it related to the Faculty Senate, meaning all parenthetical statements following the words “Faculty Senate” are to be deleted.  The motion passed 

 

Professor Coleman (Medicine) stated that in Section B. Curriculum Approval Process, the references to the University Curriculum Committee only acting on undergraduate matters went against the committee’s charge that included other responsibilities such as 1) policies and procedures governing the acceptability of programs and courses, 2) requests for permission to establish new degree programs and requests to establish new minors 3) proposals for new courses and programs and modifications of existing programs, the banking and deletion of courses (and programs), and standards and requirements for admission to, and retention in, degree programs. The editorial revision to delete references to the University Curriculum Committee only considering undergraduate matters or bachelor’s programs was accepted.

 

Professor Rigsby (Faculty Assembly Delegate/Geology) stated that the Faculty Senate’s responsibilities are detailed in Appendix A of the ECU Faculty Manual and that the Faculty Senate served as an umbrella over all University curriculum matters, including new and existing academic programs, whether graduate or undergraduate and that the Faculty Senate body should remain involved in all aspects of the review process.  The Faculty Senate provides valuable input and a negative vote from the body did not necessarily end the consideration of the proposed program.  It served to provide the Chancellor with faculty input on why the program needed further study.

 

Professor Winstead (Academic Library Services) stated that after looking over the proposed new academic program approval checklist, why ITCS, the respective libraries, and Planning and Institutional Research were being left out. Associate VC Linner Griffin replied that all new programs had to interact with those various groups before moving forward in the approval process and that there were places on the actual forms to designate that verification.

 

Professor Roberts (Philosophy) moved that the Faculty Senate be added to Section B. in reference to acting on graduate curriculum changes.  Professor Novick (Medicine) spoke against this motion stating that the process was problematic in keeping within the timeframe now. Professor Sprague (Physics) also spoke against the motion stating that the Faculty Senate did not need to be involved in approving graduate curriculum courses.  The motion failed. 

 

Following discussion, the proposed revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Academic Information, Section III. Curriculum Development were approved as revised.  RESOLUTION #09-05

 

Agenda Item VI.       New Business

Professor Zoller (Art and Design) moved to revise the ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix A., Faculty Constitution, Section VII. Method of Election of the Faculty Senate to allow for faculty on leave to not be penalized.  The text, if approved by the General Faculty during Fall 2009 Faculty Convocation and Chancellor Ballard thereafter, would read as follows:

 

“Each senator shall serve a two-year term.  Senators may be elected to succeed themselves twice.  After a lapse of one year following the expiration of this third term, they will again be eligible for election.  The seat of an elected senator who fails to attend more than three consecutively held meetings of the Faculty Senate shall be declared vacated by the Chair of the Faculty. If a senator is awarded a research or medical leave and an alternate senator attends in his or her place, the three consecutive meeting rule will not be invoked.” 

 

Professor Jenks (History) asked if parental leave would count as medical leave.  Chair Tovey responded yes.  Professor Jesse (Nursing) asked if missing Senate meetings due to class counted.  Professor Sprague (Physics) responded no that that was not covered by this revision.  He noted that it was being offered in the spirit to help faculty members who were sick or away from North Carolina for a semester.

 

Professor Levine (Medicine) asked if there was a time limit, such as 2 years, etc.  Chair Tovey  responded that there will be some leeway provided and that the Chair of the Faculty would work with a unit to handle the situation.  She noted that it was also possible that if the Senator’s absence was to run for that long of a period, his or her Senate seat would come up for renewal anyway. 

 

Following discussion, the proposed revision to the ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix A., Faculty Constitution, Section VII. Method of Election of the Faculty Senate was approved as presented.

RESOLUTION #09-06

 

The meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Hunt McKinnon                                                                                  Lori Lee

Secretary of the Faculty                                                                    Faculty Senate

Department of Interior Design and Merchandising                                                          

 

 

FACULTY SENATE RESOLUTIONS APPROVED AT THE JANUARY 27, 2009, MEETING

 

09-01  Foundation Curriculum Courses for Humanities, as follows: ASIA 2010/GRBK 2010 Great Books of Modern China, GRBK 2400 Great Books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance,
GRBK 2500 Great Books of the Enlightenment, GRBK 2600 Great Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries.

            Disposition:   Chancellor

 

09-02  Revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Academic Information, Section I. Academic Procedures and Policies in reference to class roll verification returned to the Admission and Retention Policies Committee for a report again in February.

            Disposition:   Admission and Retention Policies Committee

 

09-03  Revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part VI, Section II. Welfare and Benefits, in reference to hospitalization insurance to read as follows:  (Deletions are noted in strikethrough)

“A. Hospitalization Insurance
Hospitalization insurance is provided for full-time or half-time permanent employees through a statewide self-insured program known as the State of North Carolina Comprehensive Health Benefit Plan and HMO’s as approved for the service area.  The university will contribute a set amount governed by the State Legislature for employee's premium for those who have a three-quarters or above permanent appointment.  If the cost for individual coverage is higher than what the State Legislature has approved for payment, the employee will pay the difference.  However, half-time permanent employees must pay their entire premium through payroll deduction if they wish to be covered.  All eligible employees may also insure their dependents by payment of premium through payroll deduction.  The employee may enroll or make changes in coverage by visiting the department of Human Resources. The new employee may gain coverage on the first of the month following the date he or she begins work or on the first of any succeeding month.  The only exception would be an employee starting in August with a nine-month contact.  This employee will receive his/her first paycheck in September and therefore coverage would be effective the first of October.  The employee may start coverage September 1st but must pay the full cost.  If an employee enrolls when first eligible for coverage, there is no waiting period for basic coverage. The only exception would be if the employee was being rehired within 12 months of separation as a state employee and did not continue health insurance coverage.  If the employee terminates employment with the last workday occurring during the first half of the month, hospitalization coverage will cease at the end of that same month.  If the employee works as many as half or more of the workdays of a month that termination of employment occurs, hospitalization coverage may be extended through the following month.”
Disposition:   Chancellor

09-04  Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, MS in Counselor Education, within the College of Education; Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree, BS in Industrial Distribution and Logistics, College of Technology and Computer Science; Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, BSBA in Management, College of Business; Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, BSBA in Management Information Systems, College of Business; and a Request for authorization to establish a new distance education degree program, BSBA in Marketing, Operations, and Supply Chain Management Concentration, College of Business.

            Disposition:   Chancellor

 

09-05  Revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Part V. Academic Information, Section III. Curriculum Development.

            Disposition:   Chancellor

 

09-06  Revisions to the ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix A. Faculty Constitution, Section VII. Method of Election of the Faculty Senate to read as follows:  (Additions are noted in bold print)

 

“Each senator shall serve a two-year term.  Senators may be elected to succeed themselves twice.  After a lapse of one year following the expiration of this third term, they will again be eligible for election.  The seat of an elected senator who fails to attend more than three consecutively held meetings of the Faculty Senate shall be declared vacated by the Chair of the Faculty. If a senator is awarded a research or medical leave and an alternate senator attends in his or her place, the three consecutive meeting rule will not be invoked.” 

            Disposition:   General Faculty (during Fall 2009 Faculty Convocation), Chancellor