East Carolina University
FACULTY SENATE
FULL MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2006
The first regular meeting of the 2006-2007 Faculty Senate
was held on Tuesday, September 12, 2006, in the Mendenhall Student Center,
Great Room.
Agenda Item I. Call to Order
Mark Taggart, Chair of the Faculty called the meeting to
order at 2:10 p.m.
Agenda Item II. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of April
18, 2006, and April
25, 2006, were approved as distributed.
Agenda Item III. Special Order of the Day
A. Roll Call
Senators absent were: Professors Kim (Art and Design), Wang (Geography),
Chancellor Ballard, Provost Smith, Vice Chancellor Mageean, and Rigsby (Past
Chair of the Faculty).
Alternates present were: Professors McKernan for Warren
(Education), Grobe for Stapleton (Education), Abdulali for Robinson
(Mathematics), Alligood for Rose (Nursing), and Jenkins for Bunch (Social
Work).
B. Announcements
1. 2007-2008
Teaching Grants are due Tuesday, October 3, 2006, in the Faculty Senate
office. Faculty are encouraged to
contact John Bort, Committee Chair at bortj@ecu.edu
if you have any questions about the granting process. Applications are
available online at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/tg/teachinggrants.cfm.
2. Changes are being made to the Guidelines for 2007-2008 Research/Creative Activity Grants. The
new grant submission deadline will be Tuesday, January 16, 2007.
The evaluation process will take place during the Spring semester instead of
the Fall. The awarding of
grants will be made for the full fiscal year July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008, and
announced by May 1, 2007. The changes will allow faculty receiving
stipends to select either 2nd summer session 2007 or 1st
summer session 2008 to receive the stipend.
Proposed changes to the guidelines will be considered by the Faculty
Senate in early Fall. Grant applications will be available in the Faculty
Senate office and online at: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/rg/research.cfm
by October 15, 2006. Faculty are
encouraged to contact Seodial Deena, Committee Chair at deenas@ecu.edu
if you have any questions about the granting process.
3. The
Chancellor has approved the following resolutions from the April 18, 2006,
Faculty Senate meeting:
06-17 Addition to the Undergraduate Catalog, Section 4: Academic
Advisement, Progression, and Support in order to clarify the policy that
entering ECU with credit for 1100 & 1200 does not affect the requirement
that students must complete 12 s.h. of writing intensive classes in order
to graduate from ECU.
The Chancellor has approved only the
revisions to Appendices C and D as presented to the Faculty Senate and is
reserving judgment on the completeness of the appendices as a whole. His
approval is given on the two conditions that: 1) these matters relating to the
current incompleteness of “C” and possibly “D” will be addressed over the
summer and in the fall and that he receive additional Faculty Senate
resolutions that resolve these matters as soon as is practicable; and 2) the
single-word editorial change in Appendix C, Section I.D.3.c, requested by Deans
Horns and Thomas, and approved as editorial by the Faculty Governance Committee
be included.
06-11 ECU
Faculty Manual, Appendix
C. Personnel Policies and Procedures for the Faculty of East Carolina
University.
4. The
ECU Alumni Association has graciously offered to fund the three annual
University Awards for Outstanding Teaching from now on. In the past, the
Chancellor has funded two and the Alumni Association one. The award procedures have been editorially
updated to reflect this funding change and are available online at: http://author.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/committee/aa/alumniaward.htm.
5. Faculty
are eligible for the following university-wide teaching awards: Board of
Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching, Board of Governors Distinguished
Professor for Teaching Award, Alumni Award for Outstanding Teaching, and Max
Ray Joyner Award for Faculty Service Through Continuing Education. A description of each award is available at: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/aa/academicawards.cfm.
Nominations for these teaching awards are due September 1, 2006, in the Faculty
Senate office. The deadline for
submission of portfolios by nominated faculty members is November 1, 2006. Please contact Dorothy Clayton in the Center
for Faculty Development (328-6470) if you have any questions.
6. Faculty
members not located on main campus (Allied Health Sciences, Health and Human
Performance, Health Sciences Library, Medicine, and Nursing,) and who serve on
various academic standing committees are reminded of special courtesy parking
permits available from the office of Parking and Transportation Services. Special
Courtesy Permits allow faculty members
attending meetings, etc. to park in "A1/B1” lots on main campus. These permits are issued to unit heads at no
charge and are to be used in conjunction with a paid parking permit. Additional
information is available from Mike Vanderven, Director of Parking and
Transportation Services at 328-1961.
7. All Faculty Senate materials (agendas,
minutes, announcements) will be distributed via
a Faculty Listserv that
has been established and used in conjunction with the Microsoft Exchange mail
system. Faculty choosing to opt out of the Faculty Listserv will continue to be
able to access the materials via the Faculty Senate website. Paper copies of documents will always be
available in the Faculty Senate office (140 Rawl Annex).
8. Faculty
interested in periodically receiving past copies of "The Chronicle of Higher Education" are asked to call the
Faculty Senate office at 328-6537 to have their name placed on a distribution
list.
9. Faculty
are encouraged to participate in the Down East Heart Walk scheduled for
Saturday, October 28, 2006, at 8:00 a.m. at the ECU Blount Recreational
Sports Complex. This is an event geared toward the fight against heart disease
and stroke disease, the nation’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers. This is a
non-competitive walk/run that celebrates survivors of heart disease and stroke,
encourages walking and physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle,
educates employees about the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease
and stroke, and raises money for biomedical research, education and outreach
programs. Austin Bunch, Chief of Staff and Chairperson of this event, has
asked for a faculty team of 15 faculty members.
Anyone interested in being a team captain and recruiting other walkers
is asked to contact the Faculty Senate office at facultysenate@ecu.edu.
10. Each Spring and Fall the Academic Awards Committee issues an official
call for nominations for the Annual
Lifetime and Five-Year University Research/Creative Activity Awards. The deadline for submission of materials (which include 7 copies of departmental and unit review
committee nominating letters, complete CV, and 3 letters from outside referees)
is November 1, 2006. All relevant procedures
are attached and available online at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/committee/aa/researchspecifics.htm.
Please direct any questions to
Professor Patricia Dragon, Chair of the
Academic Awards Committee, at 328-0296 or dragonp@ecu.edu.
11. Several
reports were distributed to the group prior to the meeting. Those reports included the ECU
Strategic Plan (Draft Z), and the Faculty
Senate Survey on University Priorities.
“Draft Z” is the mission and vision statement
and part of our strategic plan. Please
send your comments on the Strategic Plan to Provost Smith.
12. Chancellor
Ballard, Provost Smith and Vice
Chancellor Mageean are representing ECU this week at the Oxford Conclave in
England.
13. The
Fixed Term Task Force has completed the final draft of their Report
of the Task Force on Fixed Term Appointments. In accordance to the
Chancellor’s approval of resolution on Fixed Term Faculty on November 29, 2005,
the plan that will now be discussed with the Chancellor’s Executive Council and
the Faculty Governance Committee. The Academic Council will then, in concert
with the Faculty Governance Committee, present the plan to the Faculty
Senate. Please send your recommendations
to the Faculty Governance Committee.
14. ECU has
decided to postpone participation in the College Learning Assessment program
until the next academic year. Any
questions should be referred to Michael Poteat at poteatg@ecu.edu.
C. Kevin Seitz, Vice
Chancellor for Administration and Finance
Vice
Chancellor Seitz addressed the process underway to revise business practices
related to the Medical Faculty Practice Plan to ensure its financial stability.
He stated that the Chancellor’s Steering Committee has met and reviewed the
initial work of the ECG Consultants. A
number of possible changes are being considered. In particular, these include a
new organizational structure, establishing new partnerships with the hospital,
reducing expenditures and increasing revenues. The goal is to begin short-term
implementation of these changes within six months, as we continue to formulate
long-term plans. Vice Chancellor Seitz said he would continue to keep the
faculty Senate informed on the progress of this project.
He then
informed the Senate about the status of PACE—the President’s Advisory Committee
on Efficiency and Effectiveness. It is divided into three phases 1) the
gathering of data concerning the percentage of funding spent on non-core
functions, relative to FTEs, at the sixteen campuses 2) the development of
recommendations for reducing costs, eliminating barriers, streamlining
processes, consolidating operations, etc. 3) campus plans to implement a
similar (although unspecified) reduction in their own non-core spending. He
announced that, in phase 1, ECU finished at the system wide average of 51% in
enabling functions and, with a 49% in core functions.
He then noted that the Executive Council’s is reviewing the
policy for reserved parking spaces. The number of parking spots assigned to
administrators is 56, which is approximately the same number as last year. The
Executive Council will continue to look into ways to improve the faculty
parking situation.
Sprague (Physics) stated his concern that plans for
renovation of Howell Science Complex not considering effect on research and
academic activities, and that Facilities Services has not informed faculty
affected. Vice Chancellor Seitz stated that Provost Smith had formed a group to
oversee that process, and promised to find out what the situation is.
Stiller (Biology) stated that he served on the Steering
Committee to renovate the complex and have found it very hard to obtain
information from the Facilities Department.
In a follow-up to Vice Chancellor Seitz’s report, John
Toller, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, informed senators that
new hires after Oct 1st will have a 20 year vesting period for
“full” health benefits (10 yrs for 50% premiums), compared to the current 5
year health insurance vesting for active employees. He stressed that the
changes do not affect current employees.
D. David Dosser,
Chair of the University Athletics Committee’s Academic Integrity Subcommittee
Professor Dosser pointed out that he
is a faculty member and does not work for the department of athletics, and
explained that FAR’s function is to
provide oversight and advice in the administration of the athletics
program and plays a strategic role to ensure academic integrity, institutional
control of intercollegiate athletics, and enhancement of the student-athlete
experience. He then reported the following initiatives taken: 1) strengthening
the academic requirements for initial and continuing eligibility to ensure that
athletes are moving toward graduation and not just taking easy courses to
remain eligible. 2) The use of the Academic Progress Rate (APR) to measure
academic success is into its fourth year and is making a large and positive
difference. The APR, which considers
both retention and eligibility, was designed to replace graduation rates as the
only measure of success for student-athletes.
Each year for each player on each squad, points are awarded: one for
retention and one for remaining eligible.
In this way a sort of batting average is calculated for each team that
can then be compared to other teams on that campus and to other teams across
the country. 3) Underperforming teams each year are subject to contemporaneous
penalties that include not being able to replace 0 for 2 student-athletes. That means when a player leaves a team or is
not retained and that player would not have been eligible, that player’s spot
on the team cannot be filled. 4) Underperforming teams over time will be
subject to additional penalties including additional loss of scholarships and
the opportunity for post-season competition.
Those teams that do well in terms of their APR will be rewarded.
Professor Dosser affirmed that the
result of these initiatives is that coaches are considerably less interested in
recruiting athletes who do not want to be students and those who do not have a
reasonable chance of succeeding academically and graduating. This acts as an incentive for coaches to
recruit good athletes who also are committed to academic success, since, if the
recruits cannot or will not succeed academically, it will hurt the program both
sooner and later. He called on faculty to recognize their crucial role: they
must have a voice and claim that
voice, must have influence and use
that influence responsibly, must have access to information so that they can be part of the decision-making and
oversight processes, and must accept
ownership of the responsibility for
overseeing athletics.
Professor Dosser explained that the
faculty’s involvement is through this body and one of its committees: the
University Athletics Committee (UAC).
The Faculty Senate through the UAC has oversight responsibility for what
goes on in athletics. Members of the UAC
represent this body and all faculty members. He called upon faculty to ensure
that within your unit student-athletes are treated the same as other students.
He reported that one area where he continues to find student-athletes are being
mistreated is in terms of the requirement that they miss class while
representing the university competing in their sports. These missed classes
should be university excused absences and should not hurt their grades. These students should be allowed to makeup
the missed work with a comparable assignment and the absences should not count
against the total absences allowed. The
UAC, the Department of Athletics, and Conference USA have been working to
minimize missed-class time of student-athletes because of competition, but it
continues to be a problem. This will continue to be an area of focus for the UAC
and we have plenty more work to do.
Finally, Professor Dosser reported
that there have been no major problems regarding academic integrity or rules
compliance and the welfare of student-athletes has been maintained, called on
faculty to continue their vigilance, involvement, and concern.
Stevens (Health and Human Performance) commended the group
on the focus on academics and expressed problems still with the traveling of
athletes, particularly student athletes competing in sports with less visibility.
Professor Dosser agrees that continues to be a problem, and that athletics
continues to work to solve it, particularly by better controlling the
non-conference scheduling.
Tovey (English) asked if there had been improvements in
GPA’s in particular sports such as football and basketball? Professor Dosser
responded that there has been considerable improvement over the last two years.
Fraley (Communication) asked for the rationale behind
football players missing Friday morning classes when the game is not until
Saturday evening? Professor Dosser explained that students do need time to
prepare before the bus actually leaves, but that exaggerated excuses for
absence should be reported to the Department of Athletics.
Wilson (Sociology) expressed his appreciation for the
improvements in progress and asked if students were being discriminated due to
faculty members’ attendance policies? Professor Dosser distinguished between
the policy and its enforcement: university excused absences should be honored
and not considered absences, as per the policy approved by the Senate last
year. Professor Wilson then asked for Professor Dosser’s personal assurance
that, in his judgment, there were no academic integrity problems within the
Department of Athletics. Professor Dosser responded that he could give his
assurance and more importantly so could the University Athletics Committee.
Professor Dosser’s full comments to the Senate and
distributed reports are available online at the following links: Faculty
Athletics Representative Full Report,
Faculty
Athletics Representative Report of Activities, and University
Athletics Committee’s Academic Integrity Subcommittee Report.
E. Terry
Holland, Director of Athletics
Director Holland addressed the difficulties faced by
athletic programs in the present competitive environment; specifically,
universities’ increasing dependence on financial donations (frequently tied to
athletic success) and administrations’ use of sports programs to promote their
institutions. He decried the fact that this contributes to short-term thinking
over long-term interests. He called on the faculty and administration to
pressure the NCAA to allow for more local control over scheduling, and to
financially reward programs based not only on their athletic success but also
on their success at recruiting scholar-athletes that correspond to each
school’s desired student academic profile.
There were no questions posed to Mr. Holland.
F. Mark
Taggart, Chair of the Faculty
Professor Taggart stated that he wished to reiterate the
comments he made at Faculty Convocation regarding our work on search committees
in order to fill vacancies in faculty and administrative positions. It is important that we do all that we can in
finding the right colleague or administrator, and it is crucial that we fully
review the credentials of any candidate we bring on campus. He noted that recently, the College of Fine
Arts and Communication, in cooperation with Academic Affairs, had a review of
the hiring process with their unit and personnel chairs. He noted that he was
sure that Academic Affairs would be delighted to have similar reviews with any
college that requests it and suggested that anyone call him if their college
would like to have such a workshop. Professor Taggart stressed that the work we
do on these searches may be some of the most important service that we provide
for our university. So, don’t forget to
be thorough when you contact their references.
G. Bill Koch,
Chair of the Task Force on Smoking
Mr. Koch stated that the Task Force’s efforts were based on
the concept of moving designated smoking areas away from high-traffic areas to
shelters that would preferably either blend into the landscape or be attached
to existing structures at locations such as breezeways or secondary exits. He
noted that the Task Force has been particularly occupied with areas at the new
Allied Health Sciences building, BSOM, and the hospital facilities. He reported
that they have also been working with both ACT-WEL, the university employee
wellness committee, and the student-administered Health and Wellness Trust Fund
in efforts related to education and prevention. He also informed the Senate
that a proposal to exempt ECU from the 1993 smoking law mandating up to 20% of
public building space be designated for smoking had passed from the Chancellor
to GA, after which it would be placed on the legislative agenda. He added that
another concern they had addressed was smoking litter, and that a new urn
design was being tested to reduce this problem. He indicated that the Task
Force’s plans are still on target to begin implementation in summer 2007.
Levine (Medicine) expressed his appreciation with the
efforts thus far of the group. He stated
that he has seen the damage caused by smoking and suggests that the University
become totally smoke-free in the shortest amount of time.
H. Brief Moment
in History, Henry Ferrell
Professor Ferrell (History) discussed various historical
happenings relating to the development of the liberal arts as part of ECU’s
curriculum in the 1930s and1940s, the evolution of the Student Government
Association and “democratization” of the student body during those same years,
the dismissal of faculty members and expulsion of a student related to those events,
and the outcome of a state audit of this institution at that time.
I. Question
Period
Stevens (Health and Human Performance) asked Chair Taggart
to whom he should send feedback concerning the ECU Strategic Plan. Professor
Taggart answered that he should do so to Provost Smith.
Sprague (Physics) pointed out that, at present, bus
transportation on West Campus ran every 30 minutes, and asked Vice Chancellor
Lewis if transportation to the new building for Allied Health Sciences, Nursing,
and Health Sciences Library will be offered every 10 minutes via ECU Transit
Authority? Vice Chancellor Lewis responded that they are aware of the problem
and working on it, but that he could not yet state when service frequency would
be increased.
Wilson (Sociology) asked about the status of Part XII and
the use of the new or old procedures.
Taggart stated that the new procedures as stated in Parts
XII and XIII are the appropriate procedures to follow for this year, however
from discussions with Provost Smith, whichever form is most beneficial to a
faculty member is the one that should be followed.
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. Educational
Policies and Planning Committee
Dale
Knickerbocker (Foreign Languages and Literatures) Chair of the Committee,
presented first for information only the following items of business that have
already been forwarded to Chancellor Ballard for his consideration: a) Request
Authorization to Plan PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education,
Curriculum and Instruction, b) Notice of Intent to Plan Doctorate of Audiology
degree (AuD.) program, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders,
School of Allied Health Sciences, c) Request for Authorization to Establish MS
in Athletic Training, Department of Health Education and Promotion, College of
Health and Human Performance, d) Request to change the name of minor in
“Industrial Supervision” to “Industrial Technology Management”, Department of
Technology Systems e) Proposal for a
Graduate Certificate program in Biofeedback, Department of Recreation Leisure
Studies, College of Health and Human Performance, f) Proposal for a Graduate
Certificate program in Autism, Department of Curriculum and Instruction,
College of Education, g) Request to
discontinue the graduate certificate, Social Work Practice with the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing, School of Allied Health Sciences, h) Request to discontinue
B.S. Degree in Occupational Therapy, Department of Occupational Therapy, School
of Allied Health Sciences and i) Proposal for a Graduate Certificate program in
Sport Management, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, College of Health
and Human Performance.
Knickerbocker stated that the criteria used in reviewing
these items were: demonstrated need for the program and a potential pool of
students, whether it duplicated or negatively affected existing programs, human
and infrastructure resources (faculty, office and lab space, library holdings,
information technology, clinical or internship opportunities), and academic
quality.
Knickerbocker then presented a request to separate the
Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management into two departments:
Department of Hospitality Management and Department of Nutrition and Dietetics.
There was no discussion, and the request to separate the
Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management was
approved as presented. RESOLUTION #06-21
There was no additional business to come before the Faculty
Senate at this time. The meeting
adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dale Knickerbocker Lori
Lee
Secretary of the Faculty Administrative
Officer
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures Faculty Senate
FACULTY
SENATE RESOLUTIONS APPROVED AT THE SEPTEMBER 12, 2006 MEETING
06-21 Separation of the Department of Nutrition and
Hospitality Management, within the College
of Human
Ecology, into two departments: Department
of Hospitality Management and
Department
of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Disposition: Chancellor