George Mason University
Approved Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting
July 26, 2002
Present: J. Bennett, E. Blaisten-Barojas, L. Brown, R. Coffinberger,
E. Elstun
Chair Jim Bennett opened the meeting at 1:45 pm.
I. State Budget Crisis
As the state budget crisis worsens, the Ad Hoc Budget Committee plans to help
the administration determine where the reductions in overhead, personnel, etc.
will take place, as well as inform the Senate of what cuts are made. They will
also make clear to the administration that the faculty have already suffered
their fair share in past budget cuts. A memo to Judith Jobbitt and David Roe
concerning “GMU Foundation’s Role in the Budget Crisis” was
reviewed. It was determined that Section (a)(2) should be changed to “recognizes
the role of faculty in determining the proposed allocation of these funds;”
and Section (a)(3) should be deleted altogether. A discussion ensued concerning
the net worth of the Foundation, including the Lynch property, the Koch money,
and what percentage of the funds is already earmarked for specific projects.
II. Filling Empty Senate Seats
CAS, GSE, CPVA, and the Law School will hold new elections as soon as possible
to fill vacant seats allocated to their colleges. The Executive Committee will
request that David Haines schedule a new election for CAS with Maria Dworzecka
as a candidate.
III. Appointment of Jim Metcalf to Task Force on Quality of Work Life
Jim Metcalf will replace Don Boileau as the Senate representative on the QWL
Task Force. Karen Rosenblum, Chairman of the QWL Task Force, has been invited
to address the Senate both in the fall and spring. Estela Blaisten-Barojas will
be contacting the QWL Task Force on office space for instructional faculty,
especially in colleges and schools in which the faculty FTE has increased dramatically.
IV. Report on Reserved Parking Spaces at GMU
A report was distributed detailing the reserved parking policy at GMU and listing
those employees who currently hold reserved parking spaces. This report will
be sent to all faculty members and the Chair of the Staff Senate. The report
will also be posted on the Faculty Senate website. It was recommended that a
new heading, “Information for Faculty” be created on the home page
and this report be added as one of the sub-items.
V. Consulting Contract at GMU Foundation
The Executive Committee approved a memo to Judith Jobbitt and David Roe concerning
the Foundation’s consulting arrangements. Specifically, the Executive
Committee would like information concerning the hiring of a faculty member as
a consultant, the amount that individual was paid, and what criteria determined
the hiring decision.
VI. Replacement for Pat Wilkie on Ad Hoc Budget Committee
Debbie Boehm-Davis will be asked to replace Pat Wilkie on the Ad Hoc Budget
Committee. She has served as the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies, and
it was agreed that she would be an excellent choice. Jim Sanford was mentioned
as a second candidate if needed.
VII. Senate Minutes
It was noted that the Faculty Senate Office must do everything possible to keep
costs down this year. This year, a hard copy of the draft minutes will be sent
only on request; otherwise, electronic copies will be the basic method of distribution.
Hard copies of all Senate and Executive Committee minutes are available in the
Senate Office, and all approved minutes can be found on the Senate website.
It was suggested that ten (10) hard copies of the draft minutes be brought to
meetings for senators who hadn’t read the minutes or brought their copy.
An “experimental resolution” was agreed to: the draft minutes will
be distributed by e-mail, senators will have a week to add any comments or corrections,
then an amended draft will be sent at the end of the week, again by e-mail.
If the system does not seem to work well, the issue will be readdressed at a
future Executive Committee meeting.
VIII. International Dual Degrees
Esther Elstun met with Yehuda Lukacs and will present a motion concerning International
Dual Degrees at the 25 September 2002 Faculty Senate meeting.
IX. Final Report of the Teacher/Course Evaluation Task Force
It was announced that the final report of the Teacher/Course Evaluation Task
Force is extensive. The Senate Clerk will be sent a copy by e-mail and a hard
copy will be distributed to Executive Committee members. The report will be
discussed at the
7 September 2002 Senate meeting. John Miller will be invited to the 25 September
meeting to facilitate discussion of the report. As background, it was mentioned
that the Task Force was created in 2000 by the Senate and referred to the Academic
Policy Committee for implementation. The life of the Task Force has been extended
through Fall 2002.
X. Relations with Staff and Student Senates
The Faculty Senate Clerk has been in e-mail contact with the Chairs of the Staff
Senate and Student Senate. Both organizations are eager to work with the Faculty
Senate this academic year, and Faculty Senate members have been extended an
open invitation to any of the Staff or Student Senate meetings.
XI. Next Meeting of the Executive Committee
It was decided that the next Executive Committee meeting will be held on 21
August 2002 at 9:30 am in D109A Mason Hall. Peter Stearns will be invited to
attend.
XII. New Senator Orientation
Orientation for new senators will be held 28 August 2002 at 3:00 pm in D3A Mason
Hall. The orientation program will be sent by e-mail to all Executive Committee
members, and binders with Senate information will be sent to all new senators.
XIII. Sergeant-at-Arms Appointment
Clifford Sutton has agreed to continue serving as Sergeant-at-Arms. However,
it was brought up that the Senate should have two Sergeant-at-Arms in case one
cannot attend the meeting. Linda Monson was mentioned as a possible candidate.
The Bylaws will be reviewed to see if they need to be amended to allow this
change.
XIV. Additional Topics
Salary Initiative
A copy of current faculty and staff salaries is supposed to be located in Fenwick
Library, but it has been moved to Johnson Center. The copy is out of date. The
Chair will try to obtain current and historical data on faculty and staff salaries
for distribution by e-mail and website. The main goal of this salary initiative
is to hold the administration accountable for its actions concerning salary
and raise determinations across the University. Many questions were raised about
this topic, such as: Will distributing this information freely cause friction
between faculty members or unite them on this issue? Will it be more helpful
to analyze the data and send a report on the findings instead of disseminating
raw data? What are the different ways these data can be used once they are collected?
Should the Salary Equity Study Committee be given the data to analyze? Should
the entire Senate be informed and/or give input in the decision before salary
information is distributed? Will it weaken our position with the faculty if
the information is sent out without the approval of the Senate? It was agreed
that the Executive Committee would wait and see what kind of data Human Resources
sends, and then return to this issue for further discussion.
“New Day” of the Faculty Senate
The Chair announced that a “new day” is being introduced, with the
Senate becoming more proactive than it has been in the past. Lorraine Brown
will draft a new mission statement, and the Executive Committee will work on
setting the agenda for this year. The two major issues to be addressed this
year will be: 1) the accountability of the administration, and 2) the academic
standards and integrity of the faculty. The Senate’s focus will be on
the needs and concerns of the instructional faculty. One of the first items
the Senate will deal with is the Faculty Rewards and Incentives report. Jim
Bennett will compile a list of further topics to be covered this year as they
are brought up by members of the Committee.
11 September 2002 Dinner with President Merten
The Executive Committee has been invited to a dinner with President Merten tentatively
scheduled for 11 September 2002. This will be an opportunity for the Committee
to address the main issues they are going to focus on this year with the president.
XV. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 3:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lorraine Brown
Secretary, Faculty Senate