Minutes for 01/16/08

Senators Stone, Bond, Davidson, Feakes, Furney, Hazlewood, Hindson, McGee, McKinney, Meek, Melzer, Ogletree, Shah, Winek, Wilson

Guests: Rebecca Swindal, Staff Council Representative; and Selina Saucedo, University Star

Meeting called to order at 4:00.

Updates:

• Arms Report:  President Trauth responded in writing to the Senate’s query regarding UPD vehicles being equipped with assault rifles.  She indicated that the policy at Texas State for such equipment is consistent with policy at other universities.
• Complaint:  A privacy rights group has complained about individual birthdates being posted on a Computer Science web page, indicating that such information aids identity theft.

Texas Council of Faculty Senates:  It was decided that Senate would send no representatives to the February 15 &16, meeting of TCFS.

Mace Bearers:  Senators Feakes, Hindson and Melzer will serve as Mace Bearers for the spring graduation ceremonies.  A person representing either Fine Arts & Comm. or Applied Arts still needs to be appointed.

University Curriculum Committee Recommendation:  Senator Hazlewood forwarded the recommendation of the UCC to the Senate.  The committee recommends approval of:

• A new minor request for an undergraduate minor in Secondary Education
• A Master of Arts major in Applied Philosophy and Ethics
• A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with Major in Nursing

Formal consideration of the recommendation will be next week.

Dedication of Avent Plaque:  It was decided that the formal dedication of the Avent Plaque for the Senate meeting room would be held April 2^nd as part of the monthly PAAG meeting.  Senate Liaisons and the Music Faculty Quintet will be invited.  Speakers suggested were President Trauth, Dr. E. Swinney, and an unnamed colleague of Dr. Avent.

Break:

New Senate Web Page: Senator McGee demonstrated the new Senate web page that will be a dramatic improvement over the current page.  It will come online shortly.

Joint Senate Meeting with CAD: It was decided that the annual joint meeting of the Senate and the Council of Academic Deans would be held February 27^th.  Some tentative agenda items might be:

·   Required distribution of Dean’s Chair evaluations to Departmental Personnel Committees

·   Selection of Interim Chairs

·   College Budget Committees’ Travel Allocation Policies

·   Compliance with University Policy by Deans

Senate Priorities for Spring: Several issues were considered as possible Senate priorities for the Spring semester. Items included:

·   Faculty Perceptions of Deans and Above

·   Required Policy Audit – who’s complying and who isn’t.

·   Study Abroad

Senators are asked to consider other possible issues for the next meeting.

New Business: 

• Complaint:  A faculty member has complained that the salary of $2000/2500 per course, undergraduate/graduate, respectively, for mini-sessions is inadequate.  There was some question as to current policy governing mini-sessions, which eventually expanded into a question of policy governing summer budgets and teaching generally.  Assoc. Provost Bourgeois will be invited to discuss such policies.
• Academic Calendar:  Concern has been raised with respect to the Academic Calendar and the start of SSI beginning before the end of the spring session of the Public Schools.  It will be considered as a possible PAAG item.

Minutes:  Minutes for 11/28/07 were approved as amended.