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. 

06-18 Curriculum matters contained in the minutes of the March 9, 2006, and April 13, 2006, University Curriculum Committee Meetings. 

            06-20  Interpretation of the ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix D. clarifying that the numbers of faculty votes either yea or nay or abstaining in secret ballot voting can not be shared with administrators.

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.

06-19 Revised ECU Faculty Manual, Appendix D.  Tenure and Promotion Policies and Procedures 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