Present: Bible, Bechtol, Bourgeois, Conroy, Deduck-Evans, Hays, Hunter,
Irvin, McGee, Oliver, Pascoe, Sawey, Simpson, Stimmel and Winek.
Absent: None
Guests: John McBride (Personnel), Michelle Massey (Personnel), Pat
Cassidy (VPAA) and Mike Moore.
CONTENTS:
UNIVERSITY MATERNITY LEAVE POLICY
FACULTY AWARDS PROGRAM
REPLACEMENT FOR SENATOR HUNTER
ACADEMIC POLICY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
MISCELLANEOUS SCHEDULING CONCERNS
PAAG AGENDA
NEW BUSINESS
MINUTES OF 8-27-97
The meeting was called to order by Chair Bible at 4:06 pm.
UNIVERSITY MATERNITY LEAVE POLICY
Sen. Hunter suggested that Faculty Handbook and UPPS provisions on
maternity leave appear not to reflect actual policy. Mr. McBride and
Mrs. Massey disagreed but also invited suggestions as to how to clarify
the policy if it is misleading. They explained that under federal law
sick leave can only be used during the time that a physician declares
that the mother is under post-partum care. Such determinations must be
made case-by-case; although roughly six weeks is routine, that number
varies per individual.
Two suggestions for clarifying the policy were including an example of
the most routine case of sick leave use and stating that the amount of
leave that can be used must be determined case-by-case. Sen. Hunter
will provide personnel with a copy of another company's policy (Abbott
Labs.) which is similar yet clearer; Personnel, in turn, will explore
ways to clarify university policy, and any changes will be included in
the new Faculty Handbook revision being considered.
FACULTY AWARDS PROGRAM
The Senate discussed the School Deans' responses to Sen. Sawey's memo
requesting information on how bonuses were awarded. To date, three
Deans have responded. Sawey requested that a summary of reasons and
processes for awards in each school be compiled and published to be used
by faculty seeking information on how to attain future awards.
It was moved that the Senate request, through the VPAA if necessary,
information regarding (1) which points of each school's strategic plan,
if any, were targeted for bonuses this year; (2) which points, if any,
will be targeted next year; (3) what process each dean followed this
year in allocating bonuses; and (4) what process each dean intends to
use in making bonus determinations in the future.
Several points were made in the ensuing discussion. Some senators
wanted the emphasis to be on how bonuses would be awarded in the future
rather than on what happened in the past. Several senators cited
instances in their school in which, based on what was said in their
School Meetings, it did appear that the Strategic Plan was the bonus
criterion. Dr. Cassidy noted that there was no one specific goal in the
Plan which was selected as a target for the entire university on which
to base the awards. It was noted that some positive may have arisen as a
result of the bonuses since some had been given for service. Finally,
concern was expressed that in some schools there was no written policy
governing faculty awards, or that policy which did exist did not appear
to have been followed; specifially, it was noted that some schools
appeared to require faculty to apply for bonuses, which the Senate
understands was not supposed to occur.
The motion passed 10 to 4. It was also agreed that this issue will be
placed on next week's PAAG agenda.
REPLACEMENT FOR SENATOR HUNTER
Senator Hunter reported that Dr. Oren Renick from Health Administration
has agreed to serve on the Senate as the School of Health Professions
Senator during her upcoming absence for parental leave. The Senate
voted unanimously to endorse Dr. Renick as her temporary replacement.
ACADEMIC POLICY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS AND CHARGE
The Senate revisited the issue of the composition of its new Academic
Policy Oversight Committee. It discussed possible appointments that
would best meet its goals for this committee, which include having a
diverse group of faculty who will aggressively explore perceived
failures to follow applicable policies in departments, schools, and the
university generally. As finally constituted, the committee will con-
sist of Profs. Wilda Meixner (Business), William Peeler (Fine Arts &
Comm.), Ron Sawey (Science), Michael Smith (Health Prof.), William Stone
(App. Arts & Tech.), David Wiley (Education), and Joseph Yick (Liberal
Arts). A meeting of this committee will be convened as soon as possible
to discuss its charge and to select a chair.
MISCELLANEOUS SCHEDULING CONCERNS
RTA'd due to time constraints.
FORMULATION OF PAAG AGENDA FOR 9-17-97
The Senate agreed on the following agenda for the 9-17-97 PAAG meeting:
PPS 7.01 - PAAG response to Senate's statement
Evaluation of Chairs and Deans - Status of committee
Bonuses and Adjustments - Criteria for Determination of
Success of the Bonus Program
Status of EDP 1350 Situation
NEW BUSINESS
The Senate discussed the possibility of adding the Director of the
Center for Gender and Multicultural Studies to its new Learning Excel-
lence Team. During the ensuing discussion it was noted that at a prior
meeting the Senate chose committee representatives from each school and
also created a limited number of at-large positions for the heads of
campus programs in which teaching/learning is a large component. A
motion to include the Center for Gender and Multicultural Studies among
these at-large positions failed 3 to 9 with one abstention.
RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT
Widespread concern was expressed that a Sept. 5 memo from AVPAA Tangum
on the Research Enhancement Grant application process did not accurately
reflect Senate conclusions about the role that outside grant activity
should play in evaluating grant applications. Specifically, the memo
stated that "special consideration" will be given to applicants who have
received two grants in the past and also competed for external funding;
it further stated that "Leveraging [enhancement grant funds] is a goal
of the State Coordinating Board which provides us with the funds." In
the discussion it was noted that the word "special" suggests a far
greater degree of "consideration" than was decided on by the Senate, and
that seeking external funding is not required by the state law which
created the Research Enhancement Grants program. It was decided that
Chair Bible should visit with Dr. Tangum about this.
SENATE COMMITTEES
Sen. Irvin noted that in two instances the same person had inadvertently
been both appointed and reappointed to a Senate Committee. The Senate
corrected this problem by appointing two new members.
MINUTES OF 9-3-97
The Senate agreed to the following changes in the draft minutes of the
9-3-97 meeting: remove factual data on CUPA because it might mislead
faculty, and instead refer interested faculty to the relevant document;
change the discussion of the Research Enhancement Guidelines along the
lines suggested by Prof. Folse; change the discussion of the Patient
Consumer Satisfaction Survey along the lines suggested by Prof. Renick.
The Senate then approved the minutes as amended.
The meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
