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April 15, 1998 Minutes


Present: Anderson, Bible, Conroy, Deduck-Evans, Gillis, Hays, Hunter,
Irvin, Oliver, Pascoe, Sawey, Simpson, Stimmel, and Winek.

Absent: McGee

Guests: Gay James (HPER), Francine Carraro (Art & Design), Kay Hofer (Pol
Sci), Jack Laumer (Music), David Lippmann (Chem), Susan Macey (Geo & Plan),
Wayman Mullins (Crim Justice), M. Moore, and Dylan Sides (Star).

CONTENTS

DEVELOPMENTAL LEAVE PRESENTATIONS FOR SPRING 1999
Francine Carraro
Kay Hofer
Gay James
Jack Laumer
Daivd Lippmann
Susan Macey
Wayman Mullins
NEW BUSINESS
MINUTES OF 4-8-98

The meeting was called to order by Chair Bible at 4:00

The following faculty members presented their proposals for developmental
leave. Abstracts of the proposals, taken from the applications, are provided.

FRANCINE CARRARO
I wish to complete a manuscript and begin the process of publication of a book
about the New Deal art projects in Texas, an unprecedented experiment in public
art. The story of the Texas artists who participated is significant. The Texas
State Historical Association has expressed interest in publishing my manuscript
in a well illustrated book which will include a lengthy discussion of both the
process and the products of the New Deal art programs. Reproductions of each of
the surviving murals in Texas will be accompanied with information about the
subject, profiles of the artists and particulars of each commission.

KAY HOFER
I propose to complete a book which is a comparative analysis of the
taxing and spending policies of the United States, Canada, Germany, and
Australia. The book seeks to answer the question: How can these OECD
countries provide universal health care, comprehensive retirement, and
universal educational benefits with tax rates that are within one
percent of the U.S. tax rate when measured as an aggregate of each
country's GNP? There are numerous analyses of tax structures of OECD
countries, but there is no scholarly work that looks at the benefit side
of the taxing and spending equation.

GAY JAMES
The purpose of this developmental leave is to engage in research to complete
a follow-up study (baseline data collected in 1992) examining the effects of a
statewide health promotion conference held annually on Southwest Texas campus.
The subjects are 98 school districts that attended the conference in 1988-91
and a matched comparison group of non-attendees. Telephone contacts and site
visits will expedite the data collection process. Nationally, no longitudinal
study to examine the effects of these health promotion conferences has been
completed. This research would be used in graduate and undergraduate classes
and will result in presentations and publications.

JACK LAUMER
During this proposed developmental leave I would study with Professor Bengt
Eklund, the world's foremost authority on natural trumpet, and Professor of
Trumpet at the School of Music, Goteborg University, Sweden. I would practice
the natural trumpet and as I learn how to play the instrument, I would prepare
a manuscript for publication of a method book for students to use during their
study of natural trumpet. Based on my study with Professor Eklund and my own
musicological research, I will prepare and record a CD of natural trumpet
repertoire.

DAVID LIPPMANN
I propose to begin development of a general science course that will
satisfy the natural science requirement of the general studies curriculum and
will be appropriate for students who are not majoring or minoring in a science.
The first semester will deal with the history and philosophy of science. The
second semester will present applications of scientific methods to fields
outside of science. There will be a laboratory with experiments designed to
illustrate scientific principles and methods.

SUSAN MACEY
During my leave I intend collecting and analyzing material that will
form the basis of a book on the human cost of natural hazards in the
United States. This research will examine the coincidence of
socioeconomic and physical attributes which result in deaths from
various natural hazards. In particular, the following two-pronged
question will be posed: why are there proportionally more deaths for
certain areas/events versus others, and who is most vulnerable? The
primary analysis will utilize multivariate and spatial statistics.
Data sources will include several federal agencies. In addition to
the research contribution this project will make, I expect my
teaching to benefit greatly from the inclusion of examples from my
firsthand application of the techniques I teach.

WAYMAN MULLINS
My project is the data collection for a book on nuclear, biological and
chemical (NBC) terrorism. NBC terrorism is becoming a major threat in the
world and the United States. These are weapons that are readily available,
easily purchased, and/or easily constructed. They have the potential to cause
mass destruction and can be used with relative impunity by terrorists. My
project will fill a void in the literature concerning these weapons, will be
information I can use in classes, lead to publishing/grants opportunities, and
further professional development.

The Senate met in closed session to rank the leave proposals. The
recommendations will be forwarded to the VPAA for approval.

NEW BUSINESS

Chair Bible reported to the Senate on the following miscellaneous items:

1. Regents Rules on faculty promotions
Recently the Senate proposed changes in the Regents Rules relating to faculty
promotions. Specifically, we asked that the rules be amended to guarantee that
faculty denied a promotion be given a statement of the reasons; alternatively,
we urged that if the rules are to be amended as suggested by the system review
committee, which recommends the addition of language stating that administrators
are not precluded from giving faculty "suggestions" to help them to be promoted
in the future, that language be recast in mandatory terms.

VPAA Gratz has informed Chair Bible that in a conference call early this week,
the system presidents recommended changing the language to provide that
administrators will be "encouraged" to provide such suggestions. The Senate
decided that this was an acceptable compromise.

2. Replacement of misplaced faculty transcripts
A question has arisen concerning the costs of faculty transcripts required
because of the SACS study. Apparently some departments or schools or perhaps
the VPAA's office have misplaced some of the education transcripts which faculty
must provide as part of the job application process. It has been suggested that
if a transcript was on file and was lost through no fault of the faculty member,
the university should bear the cost of its replacement.

Chair Bible reported that he mentioned this issue to VPAA Gratz, who indicated
that although it might be difficult to pinpoint which faculty transcripts were
lost, there might be a way for the university to pay for a replacement if that
issue could be solved; further consideration would be necessary.

Today various Senators noted that because transcripts are always required in the
application process, any faculty member whose transcript has been misplaced
should be entitled to a free replacement because it would have had to be in the
files at some point. Chair Bible will pursue this issue with the VPAA.

3. Availability of faculty exams
Recently a question arose concerning the availability of an examination given to
a student. A student enrolled in a section of a course, took an exam, and then
at mid-year transferred into another section because of a conflict with the
professor. Later the student asked for a copy of the exam given by the first
professor. It was mutually agreed by the professor and the university attorney
that the student's request would be granted, but the question has arisen as to
whether this sets a precedent that would require professors routinely to allow
student access to previous exams. The issue is whether such exams are part of
the "education records" to which a student is entitled under the federal FERPA
("Buckley Amendment"). Chair Bible reported that he and University Attorney Fly
have agreed that if a similar issue arises, it should be recommended that an
Attorney General's ruling on the availability of such exams be requested.

4. Promotion raise study
Recently the Senate asked its Tenure, Promotion and Compensation committee to
explore whether the Senate should recommend that salary increases via promotion,
which are currently 14 steps, be increased. Chair Bible reported that he has
visited with committee chair Swinney, who wants to study in greater depth what
other universities do in this area and formulate some precise questions. This
issue will return to a Senate agenda when that process has been completed.

MINUTES OF 4-8-98

The minutes of 4-8-98 were approved.