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Sept 15, 1999 Minutes



Senators Present: Bible, Conroy, Early, Gillis, Gordon, Hays, Irvin,
McKinney, McGee, Peeler, Renick, Skerpan-Wheeler,
Stimmel and Stone.

Absent: None

Liaisons Present: None

Guests: Tina Schultz, Disability Services
Douglas K. Tatsch, University Bookstore
Mike Moore, Shouldn't he be an honorary senator?

CONTENTS

NEW DISABILITIES HANDBOOK (TINA SCHULTZ)
BOOKSTORE PROBLEMS (DOUGLAS TATSCH)
COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS FROM APPLIED ARTS (IRVIN, STONE)
CAD REPORT (HAYS)
NEW BUSINESS
APPROVAL OF 8 SEPTEMBER 1999 MINUTES (EARLY)

The meeting was called to order by Chair Hays at 4:05 p.m.

NEW DISABILITIES HANDBOOK (TINA SCHULTZ)

Schultz reviewed the history of the development of the handbook.

Bible, Hays, Irvin, Renick, Skerpan-Wheeler, and Stimmel voiced various
concerns about the services that disabled students can demand, and the
rights and responsibilities of faculty who have those students in class.

Schultz addressed all of those concerns to the apparent satisfaction of
the senators.

The Senate congratulated Schultz on the quality of the handbook.

BOOKSTORE PROBLEMS (DOUGLAS TATSCH)

Hays, Gordon, McGee, and Stone voiced various concerns about the availability
of textbooks, both in number and in timeliness of appearance, on bookstore
shelves.

Tatsch apprised the Senate of various realities of the bookstore business
including: private bookstores in San Marcos having 60% of the business,
publishers issuing new editions willy-nilly, departments reneging on
their commitments to use older editions of textbooks, etc.

The Senate was gratified to learn that faculty can specify older textbook
editions, and the bookstore will honor that specification so long as copies
of the older editions are available. If faculty commit to staying with an
older edition even when a new edition is available, then the bookstore will
continue to buyback older edition copies from students; otherwise students
will be stuck with their copies.

Customers should be able to purchase from the bookstore using the www
early next year.

Tatsch was asked if the bookstore had to fund its own operation, and he
answered yes, including paying (rent?) for the space they use in the new
student center.

McGee then opined that one consequence of this lack of University support
was that the bookstore must charge premium prices for their goods and that,
in his experience, virtually anything available in the bookstore can be
purchased off campus at a lower price.

COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS FROM APPLIED ARTS (IRVIN, STONE)

Nelwyn Moore (Family and Consumer Sciences) to replace Winek on the
Committee on Committees.

Sylvia Crixell (Family and Consumer Sciences) to replace Sriraman on the
Tenure, Promotion, and Compensation Committee.

Bob Davis (Agriculture) to replace Stapper on the Academic Computing
Committee.

Motion to endorse the preceding appointments contingent on the appointees'
willingness to serve. Irvin/Gillis 12-0-1.

Ruth Taylor (Management/Marketing) to replace Temponi on the University
Lectures Committee.

Motion to endorse the preceding appointment contingent on the appointee's
willingness to serve. Bible/Irvin 12-0-1.

CAD REPORT (HAYS)

1. Fall 1999 enrollment up over Fall 1998. About 300 students. But
graduate enrollment down about 45 students.

2. The next joint Senate/CAD meeting will be on 20 October 1999 at 4 p.m.

3. Over the next 5 years, departments will be subjected to yet another
departmental review scheme.

Gordon: What's it going to cost for external reviewers? Put another
way, how much can departments spend on external reviewers?

McGee: And where's the money going to come from?

Bible: Probably from the VPAA.

4. CAD seems displeased with the staff bonus plan. Deans seemed astonished
to learn that staff might not be enamored of the plan because staff,
unlike faculty, tend not to express their views as forcefully.

Still, CAD seems disposed to tinker with the system rather than, as it
so richly deserves, eliminating the scheme entirely.

5. In next year's merit cycle, there will probably also be 'equity'
adjustments.

6. Various program proposals slated for THECB review are being dropped,
modified, or delayed.

7. Bible agreed to talk to VPSA Studer about joining a conference on
reducing corruption in sports.

NEW BUSINESS

Early: Referring to the 11 August 1999 Liberal Arts Council minutes,
Dr. Ellis is reported as advising the chairs to 'go soft' on
service and concentrate on teaching and research. McGee agreed
to try to discover the implications of the phrase 'go soft'.

Conroy: Art Department M&O, and hence travel, is an embarrassing pittance.
Can course fees be raised to cover the M&O shortfall?

Peeler: Well, we can ask for increases, but the increases must be spent
on the courses themselves. Of course, this might free up M&O money
currently being spent to do things that course fee money could do.

This discussion metamorphosed into a general litany of dissatisfaction
with departmental funding whilst the black hole at Aquarena, among
other black holes, seems to get plenty of money.

Money Flow, Money Flow. Where Does It Come From? Where Does It Go?
[Apologies to Dick Hammond.]

APPROVAL OF 8 SEPTEMBER 1999 MINUTES (EARLY)

Bible suggested adding 'televising and/or' before 'electronic' in the item
on putting the Senate on the internet.

The minutes were then approved as amended.

The meeting was adjourned promptly at 6:00 p.m.

cheerfully submitted

grady

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