1999-2000 Faculty Senate
FULL MINUTES OF 21 MARCH 2000
The seventh regular meeting of the 1999-2000 Faculty
Senate was held on Tuesday, 21 March 2000, in the
Mendenhall Student Center, Great Room.
Agenda Item I. Call to Order
Chair Brenda Killingsworth called the meeting to order at
2:10 p.m.
Agenda Item II. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of 21 February 2000, were approved as
distributed.
Agenda Item III. Special Order of the Day
A. Roll Call
Senators absent were: Professors Joyner (Education),
Bauer (English), Gares (Geography), Boswell (Health and
Human Performance), Lyandres (History), Davis and Friend
(Industry and Technology), Fiordalisi and Metzger
(Medicine), Theurer (Music), Pozzuto (Social Work and
Criminal Justice Studies), Clark (Theatre and Dance),
Everett (Faculty Assembly Delegate), and Vice Chancellor
Hallock (Health Sciences).
Alternates present were: Professors Jones for Taylor
(English), Felts for Barnes (Health and Human
Performance), Hanrahan for Gilliland (Medicine), and Reiser
for Mooney (Sociology).
Following roll call, Brenda Killingsworth, Chair of the Faculty,
asked for a moment of silence in memory of Dr. Lawrence E.
Hough. She noted the many years of dedicated service and
hard work Larry gave to the Faculty Senate, UNC Faculty
Assembly, and various University committees.
Allred (Psychology) spoke of the success of Faculty Scholar
program and that there will eventually be a scholarship
representing the ECU faculty.
B. Announcements
1. The Chancellor has approved the following resolutions
from 22 February 2000, Faculty Senate meeting:
#00-7Revision to the On-Line Advisor Evaluation,
to include a section for student comments.
#00-8Curriculum matters contained in the University
Curriculum Committee minutes of 27 January 2000.
#00-9Revised Fall 2000 University Calendar to reflect a
October 21-24 Fall Break.
2. Earlier discussion on participating in the Parking
Survey prompted faculty to inquire about how to access their
individual PIN numbers. The procedures are as follows:
First, go to the ECU home page and click on "Faculty
and Staff". Then, near the bottom, left corner of the page,
click on "PIN". Next, click on the green area that states
"activate your personal identification number and gain
access to your staff records". Follow the directions stated
and the PIN number will be provided by e-mail.
3. A member of the Agenda Committee has
recommended that the Faculty Senate office try to
incorporate the University's email system into the monthly
mailings of Faculty Senate agenda and minutes and various
other materials distributed by campus mail to all faculty.
This incorporation would provide faculty with quicker access
to various Faculty Senate documents and greatly save on
the office budgetary funds. Joe Norris (Director of
Information Technology Consulting) has worked diligently to
arrange this and provide us with a Faculty Listserv.
Beginning this Fall 2000, all Faculty Senate materials will be
distributed automatically via the Faculty Listserv. Faculty
choosing to opt out of the Faculty Listserv will continue to be
able to access the materials via the Faculty Senate website.
Actual paper copies of the various documents will then only
be available in the Faculty Senate office. We encourage you
to share your thoughts on this with the Faculty Officers.
4. Tom Feldbush, Vice Chancellor for Research and
Dean of the Graduate School, has been asked to consider
adding the appointment of the Chair of the Faculty, or his/her
designee, as an ex-officio member of the
Graduate School Administrative Board without vote. This
addition would provide a communication bridge
between the graduate and undergraduate faculty serving in
both the Graduate Assembly and Faculty Senate.
Members of the Faculty Governance Committee discussed
this request at their March 8th meeting.
5. Faculty interested in periodically receiving copies of
"The Chronicle of Higher Education" are asked to call the
Faculty Senate office and place their name on a list for
distribution.
6. Plans are now being made for the annual Teaching
Awards Ceremony to honor upcoming recipients of the
three teaching awards: Alumni Teaching Excellence, Board
of Governors Award for Excellence, and Board of
Governors Distinguished Professor. The ceremony will
begin at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 3 May 2000 (Reading
Day). Chancellor Eakin will host a reception immediately
following the event. Formal invitations to all faculty will
be mailed soon. Please make plans now to attend.
7. Committee chairs are reminded that all Academic
Committee Annual Reports are due in the Faculty Senate
office by Thursday, 4 May 2000.
8. The Libraries Committee has formulated a Faculty
Library Survey that all faculty are being asked to complete.
This survey is available via the Faculty Senate website at:
http://www.ecu.edu/fsonline/. Please direct any questions to
Allan Rosenberg, Chair of the Committee, at #816-3538.
C. Richard Eakin, Chancellor
Chancellor Eakin expressed thanks to the Faculty Senate for
changing the break for Fall Semester 2000. The Chancellor
spoke of the Merit Scholarship campaign and the Campaign
for East Carolina Scholars. Irwin Belk of Charlotte will
provide a gift of $3.78 million spread over the next 30 years.
ECU will have one $10,000 scholarship each year for the
next 20 years. The Campaign raised $11 million in total
funds for the campaign. The scholarships funded by Mr. Belk
will be named after Carol Belk. The ECU Board of Trustees
named the clock tower in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Fred
Langford tower. ECU received a multi million dollar donation
from the late Mr. Langford for Joyner library. The March 7
legislative visit to ECU highlighted the need to convince the
General Assembly - in this legislative session - to fund
capital needs projects for ECU and other University
institutions. Schneider (Business) asked that the proper
administrative officials inform faculty in a timely manner as to
the addresses and names of the various legislative officials
who may be influential in securing such funding. The
Chancellor stated that this would be done in timely manner.
D. Vice Chancellor's Report
Richard Brown, Vice Chancellor for Administration and
Finance, presented a presentation on the budget outlook for
the immediate future. The budget outlook for 2000-2001 is
poor, and the budget will remain tight for next two years.
This is the case for several reasons: 1) because of tax cuts
and spending commitments, such as teacher pay raises,
Smart Start funding commitments, needed employee raises;
2) multiple court suits related to refunding of money to retired
North Carolina employees; 3) natural disasters; 4) customer
service budget requirements; and 5) a potential economic
slowdown. Vice Chancellor Brown said that the University
should prepare for a 1/2 percent budget cut for coming year.
The University of North Carolina has requested $30 million in
the supplemental budget, in part to accommodate
anticipated enrollment increases, including ECU's portion of
the request. $14 million is targeted for distance, and other
funds have been requested for faculty salary adjustments.
As for the current year, ECU is on target with the exception
of money allocated for utilities, because of recent price hikes
for fuel.
Vice Chancellor Ringeisen addressed the distance education
and weekend university budget. He emphasized that
distance education funds are earmarked specifically for
distance education. It is an entirely separate line item, with
close scrutiny given to what qualifies as distance education
and what does not. The Vice Chancellor said that distance
education courses are to be taught by faculty, which means
distance education funds may be used to pay for a traditional
course if someone teaches a distance education course.
50% of salaries for consultants' salaries is paid with distance
education funds, and that Continuing Studies is also being
run with distance education funds. Ferrell (Faculty
Assembly) asked if any cost studies are being conducted on
distance education. The Vice Chancellor said that General
Administration is conducting such studies.
Dr. Ringeisen said that the Weekend University is up to 1600
hours credit, with 230 students, and is breaking even. The
Vice Chancellor said that Associate Vice Chancellor Gary
Lowe furnished the Senate with the requested budget
information for the Office of International Affairs.
Bruce Flye, Director of Facility Planning, spoke about the
campus master plan and campus needs for next 10 years,
and the accompanying accommodations and constraints.
For example, enrollment needs for 27,000 students will
necessitate around need 3000 additional square feet. A
planning district is being considered to study possible
expansion needs. Mr. Flye said that the plan is to confine
the academic core area to a relatively small space, but that it
will be difficult. The plan is to extend the campus to Elm
Street and create additional parking spaces around edges of
campus outside core area. A conference performance
center is also being planned, as are alternative plans for the
area of 10th Street running in front of the campus. The DOT
is not seriously considering closing 10th Street but may
consider plans to make it more pedestrian friendly.
Schneider (Business) asked if it is possible to alter Dickinson
Avenue to provide a direct route from 264 to campus. Mr.
Flye said that a project is on board to provide a more direct
route from 264, and that this has the support of city
government. Cali (Education) asked about the implication of
expansion plans for a fraternity house and campus ministry
building on 10th Street. Mr. Flye said that numerous ideas
are being considered. Engel (Medicine) asked if community
input was being considered when the planning district was
laid out. The response was that community involvement was
present up front, and that the University met with
neighborhood association representatives. The planning
district has been open about what the University wants from
the beginning. Vice Chancellor Brown said that the1992
plan incorporated the neighborhood currently being studied
for expansion, and that there should have been no surprises
to the residents in the affected neighborhood.
E. Brenda Killingsworth, SACS Self-Study Director
Professor Killingsworth (Business) reported that a meeting
was scheduled for the next day to finalize committee work,
and that a workshop on institutional effectiveness had been
scheduled. Information pertaining to the SACS self-study is
on the SACS self-study web page at: www.ecu.edu/pir/sacs.
F. Approval of Spring 2000 Graduation Roster, including
honors program graduates
Jim Joyce (Physics) stated that there was a name of a
person on this graduation roster who was very special to all
of the faculty. From the day she joined the staff on East
campus, she began taking her one free course each
semester and continued with at least two courses each
summer session without fail. After 10 years, she had now
earned her undergraduate degree with a 3.89 G.P.A. He
stated that he was not sure if this had ever been done
exactly like this before. But he thought that it was very
special to all faculty who value education so much.
Professor Joyce therefore moved the approval of the Spring
2000 Graduation Roster and called upon the entire Faculty
Senate to second the motion with a special commendation
for the administrative assistant of the Faculty Senate, Mrs.
Lori Lee, Bachelor of Science in Child Development and
Family Relations (Family and Community Services).
RESOLUTION #00-10
Agenda Item IV. Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business to come before the
Faculty Senate at this time.
Agenda Item V. Report of Committees
A. Credits Committee
Doug Schneider (Business), Chair of the Committee,
presented the proposed revision to Section I.J. Grade
Appeals of Part V. Academic Information of the East
Carolina University Faculty Manual. The question
addressed was how long faculty should be required to retain
records, with respect to the appeal process? Currently,
grade appeals must be made before drop date of next
semester. Ferrell (Faculty Assembly) asked for clarification
on the definition of course record. Professor Schneider
stated that it might include exams, spreadsheet records,
projects, or project contents, but at a minimum, some record
of how the grade was assigned. Sexauer (Immediate Past
Chair) asked if a grade book would be sufficient, but that the
only thing in the grade book would be the grade. Professor
Schneider stated that only records use to arrive at grade
needed to be kept for a year, and that there was no intention
of increasing the amount of material that faculty needed to
keep.
Following discussion, the proposed revision to the ECU
Faculty Manual was approved as presented. RESOLUTION
#00-11 (Following approval by the Chancellor, the revision
will be made to the ECU Faculty Manual, located on the
Faculty Senate website at www.ecu.edu/fsonline/part5.htm.
B. Educational Policies and Planning Committee
George Bailey (Philosophy), Chair of the Committee,
presented an overview of the University budget issues. The
University has created long-range budget team group; he
read the draft charge for the group. The team will make
decisions about what to prioritize over the long term, and it
will include the EPPC chair. Professor Bailey talked about
how the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs allocates
continuing and additional funds to academic units for
budgets. There are 4 general categories for making
decisions: 1) the strategic plan; 2) the service and outreach
activities of individual units; 3) the productivity index (which
would negate the impact of using fte's as the sole or primary
basis for budget allocations); and 4) the merits of budget
proposals.
Martinez (Foreign Language) asked if different types of
publications are taken into account, for example, books
versus articles, or if differences in availability of funds are
taken into account. (Natural and medical sciences may have
more accessible funding opportunities than the humanities.)
Vice Chancellor Ringeisen stated that the productivity index
measures what comes out versus what comes in, and stated
that some departments are more expensive to fund than
others. The productivity index serves as a comparison
index. Morrison (Vice Chair) asked if University committee
service is taken into account. The response was affirmative.
Chancellor Eakin spoke of the danger of getting into a
mechanistic formulation, and that the process should remain
somewhat subjective, but fair.
C. Faculty Governance Committee
Henry Ferrell (History), Chair of the Committee, presented
first the proposed replacement for Section VI.
Personnel/Evaluation Files of Appendix C. of the East
Carolina University Faculty Manual. Rosenberg (Faculty
Assembly) asked for clarification on materials restricted by
state law. Pravica (Mathematics) asked if there were
consequences attached to not informing a faculty member of
changes in personnel file. Professor Ferrell stated that there
would be negative consequences for those who did not
make faculty aware of such changes. Chamberlain (Art)
asked what "examining other files" meant. Sexauer
(Immediate Past Chair) stated that faculty members may
examine all personnel files in all locations, not just their
primary personnel file. Miller (Philosophy) asked when must
a faculty member be notified of changes. Ben Irons,
University Attorney) stated that such notification must be
made in a reasonable period of time.
Following discussion, the proposed replacement to the ECU
Faculty Manual was approved as amended. RESOLUTION #00-12
(Following approval by the Chancellor and Board of
Trustees, the replacement will be made to the ECU Faculty
Manual, located on the Faculty Senate website at
www.ecu.edu/fsonline/appc.htm.
Professor Ferrell then presented the proposed addition to
Part VI. General Personnel Policies ("Section VIII.
Frequently Asked Questions About Faculty Personnel
Records) of the East Carolina University Faculty Manual.
Rosenberg (Faculty Assembly) asked about the parameters
used to disallow looking at confidential medical records in
one's own personnel file. Chamberlain (Art) asked about the
definition of "personnel file". Martinez (Foreign Language)
asked if faculty could submit further questions to Faculty
Governance which had not been addressed. Professor
Ferrell's reply was yes.
Following discussion, the proposed addition to the ECU
Faculty Manual was approved as amended. RESOLUTION
#00-13(Following approval by the Chancellor, the addition
will be made to the ECU Faculty Manual, located on the
Faculty Senate website at www.ecu.edu/fsonline/part6.htm.
Professor Ferrell then presented a recommendation that the
Chancellor initiate the development of training
materials/workshops for administrative personnel covering
proper stewardship of personnel files/records. Chancellor
Eakin spoke in support of recommendation. Following
discussion, the recommendation for Training
Materials/Workshops was approved as amended.
RESOLUTION #00-14
D. Libraries Committee
Allan Rosenberg (Medicine), Chair of the Committee,
presented a brief report on Joyner Library's new policy on
the purchase of new books. Varner (Administrative Council)
spoke about the report, and that the Library does not limit in
any way the choice of books or access to books. Ferrell
(Faculty Assembly) asked if a shortfall in funds could be
made up elsewhere as has been done before. Morrison
(Vice Chair) expressed concern about quality of books and
the possible slant toward disciplines that demand
inexpensive books. The response was that such factors will
be taken into account, and that the rejection of requests is
still low. Professor Rosenberg urged faculty to participate in
a survey on library services.
E. Teaching Effectiveness Committee
Rose Allen (Allied Health Sciences), Chair of the Committee,
presented the proposed Direct Peer Classroom Observation
for On-Line and Distance Education Courses. Dot Clayton,
Professional Development, presented the recommendation.
Sexauer (Immediate Past Chair) and Muzzarelli (Allied
Health) asked how it was possible to have peer observation
in a virtual environment. Professor Clayton stated that the
language in the recommendation comes from General
Administration, and that units need to develop an
observation method on their own. Following discussion, the
proposed procedures for Direct Peer Classroom Observation
for On-Line and Distance Education Courses failed to be
approved by the Faculty Senate.
F. Unit Code Screening Committee
Ralph Scott (Academic Library Services), Chair of the
Committee, presented the revised Academic Library
Services' Unit Code of Operation. There was no discussion
and the revised Academic Library Services' Unit Code of
Operation was approved as presented. Resolution #00-15
G. University Curriculum Committee
Jim Smith (Business), Chair of the Committee, presented the
curriculum matters contained in the 10 February 2000,
24 February 2000, and 9 March 2000, meeting minutes.
There was no discussion and the curriculum matters were
approved as presented. RESOLUTION #00-16 (Copies of
these minutes/catalog copy have been distributed to all
units and are available on the Faculty Senate website at
www.ecu.edu/fsonline/cu.htm.)
Agenda Item VI. New Business
David Glascoff (Business), Chair of the Calendar Committee,
presented a proposed revised Spring 2000 University
Calendar to set Tuesday, May 2nd as a make-up class day
for the January 25th class day lost due to snow and to make
Wednesday, May 3rd as a make-up class day for the April
21st State holiday. This would eliminate a Reading Day for
the Spring semester.Following discussion, the revised
Spring 2000 University Calendar was approved as
presented. RESOLUTION #00-17
There being no further business to come before the Faculty
Senate at this time, the meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m.
