Present: Bible, Bourgeois, Caverly, Deduck-Evans, Ford, Hays, Horne,
Hunter, McGee, Pascoe, Sawey, Simpson, and Winek. Absent: Stimmel and
Weller.
Guests: Prof. Robert Northcutt (Math/Budget Committee); Sheila
Torres-Blank and Margaret Vaverek (Library); Mike Moore, Adolph Trudeau,
Shirley Pilus,
CONTENTS:
CONCERNS INVOLVING TEMPORARY FACULTY
BUDGET COMMITTEE REPORT (Prof. Northcutt)
SENATE LIBRARY SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT (Prof. Ford)
FACULTY RESEARCH COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
NEW ITEMS
MINUTES OF 1/22/97
The meeting was called to order at 4:07, Chair Bible presiding.
CONCERNS INVOLVING TEMPORARY FACULTY
A recent conversation involving the Senate chair and a non-tenure
track long-time temporary Ph.D. asst. prof. sparked a discussion concerning
a lack of written policy, in many departments, setting forth the expectations
and evaluation criteria for those in this position. It was noted that nearly
half of our faculty are temporary. The Faculty Handbook is no help; it
defines "temporary faculty" and states that all faculty are to be evaluated
annually, but is silent regarding the performance expectations of temporary
faculty. There are "temps" who have been here for years without clear rules
about their statuses and future possibilities. In 1991 a draft PPS on this
subject made it through the Senate and various university councils but was
never promulgated. Temps are legally excluded from faculty research grants
and development leaves.
The Senate passed a motion to appoint a Subcommittee to investigate
the issues in the "temp" area (Senators Hays (Chair), Pascoe, Simpson, and Ford --
with Ev Swinney serving as consultant). The Subcommittee is charged with:
(1) Defining the problem(s) of temp faculty, (2) Checking out the nascent
PPS and other legal situations (including the bar on development through
grants and leaves) regarding temps, (3) Holding hearings to assertain
personal experiences, (4) Reviewing and offering recommendations for
revision of the 1991 draft PPS.
BUDGET COMMITTEE REPORT (Prof. Northcutt)
The Budget Com. looks at the overall budget situation and picks out
specific issues to target in each report. The Committee passes these
reports along to the Senate for action, which consists of addressing the
problem with the Administration. Prof. Northcutt will be on hand to
explain the details when the Senate discusses these questions with the Adm.
at the PAAG meeting 2/12/97.
This report contained the following topics: (1) Costs of Round
Rock and distance learning; (2) Better planning of summer school schedule
and funding [There seems to be no reason why depts. don't know early on how
much they have at least every other year, given the biennial budget.]; (3)
Staff job descriptions should not be done in the spring at the busiest time
of year; (4) Mini-semester implications for the regular and summer terms
need reviewing; (5) The proliferation of directorships and other
quasi-administrative offices needs examination. [There should be an
explicit process, more open, data informed, etc.]; (6) Hidden costs of our
computer system operations; (7) Late approval for hiring, which puts us
behind in the search for new faculty and staff.
Prof. Northcutt pointed out that many of our problems seem to be
driven by our scheduling practices.
SENATE LIBRARY SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT (Prof. Ford)
In October 1994 the Senate asked the Subcommittee to investigate
the hiring of a Reference/Electronic Services librarian at several thousand
dollars above the advertised price and our Career-Ladder Librarian Pay
Scale for a Librarian I with four years of experience. [This has been a
campus-wide situation apparently and the State auditor has warned us to
cut-it-out.] The Subcommittee met in November to fact-find on this
situation and to discuss progress on the suggestions in the 1995
Subcommittee report on Librarian Pay and Status which compared our Library
pay and practices with state, regional, and national norms and ARL/ALA
models. Prof. Ford distributed the executive summary containing the 1995
suggestions and the minutes of the Nov. fact-finding of progress on the
report's recommendations and the more recent new-hire situation.
With Senate concurrence, the Senators on the Subcommittee (Ford,
Horne, Sawey, and Stimmel) will meet with University Librarian Heath on
these issues next week.
FACULTY RESEARCH COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
RTA'd.
NEW ITEMS
Chair Bible reported that at the last CAD meeting a statement was
made that Coordinating Board enrollment projections for SWT are substantially
lower than our own projections, which could undermine the university's budget
planning. This issue will be explored at future meetings of the Council of
Academic Deans, Executive Planning Council, etc.
A complaint has been received concerning the new SWT Bookstore
policy requiring faculty to purchase their desk copies and return them in
pristine condition if they want a refund after receiving a free desk copy
from the publisher. Any book with marks or with "desk copy" stamped on it
by the publisher will be refunded at the used price. RTA'd.
MINUTES OF 1/22/97
The minutes of the meeting were approved as read. Prof. Conroy has
e-mailed a correction on the approved minutes of 1/15/97: the "Faculty
Research Committee" gives out "Research Enhancement Grants."
The meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
Ramona Ford
Secretary
