George Mason University
Approved Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting
January 8, 2003
Present: J. Bennett, L. Brown, P. Buchanan, R. Coffinberger,
M. De Nys, E. Elstun, D. Kuebrich
Chair Jim Bennett opened the meeting at 12:01 pm.
I. Approval of Minutes
The Minutes of the December 4, 2002 Executive Committee meeting were approved
as distributed.
II. Announcements
The Provost has appointed another Task Force on Academic Standards that will
be headed by Laurie Fathe.
All Standing Committees must submit their annual reports electronically to the
Faculty Senate office by April 21st so that they can be distributed to the Senators
two weeks before the May 7th meeting.
Dave Kuebrich and Jim Bennett have written a proposal on study leaves at GMU.
One contradiction, however, is that tenured faculty have complained about the
number of adjunct faculty, but sufficient adjunct faculty are needed to cover
during study leaves.
III. Reports from Senate Standing Committee Chairs
A. Academic Policies
The Chair announced that the Committee completed seven items during the fall
semester. It is working on numerous issues this spring:
1. A motion making the C- grade unsatisfactory will be introduced in January.
It was noted that the Senate may then need to reconsider the B- grade at the
graduate level for consistency.
2. A motion on residence requirements and courses taken elsewhere is scheduled
for introduction in February.
3. “University internship courses” will be researched at the Vice
Provost’s request.
4. Evaluation of academic integrity recommendations that will be received from
O&O this semester.
5. Review of Academic Appeals Committee recommendations once the Banner System
is running well in the Registrar’s Office.
6. Responding to any Provost Office’s actions concerning the issue of
Minors.
7. Follow-up action on a Student Senate resolution to extend the drop period.
B. Facilities & Support Services & Library
The Committee’s major issue this spring is library administration. The
Committee is divided on the question of whether the library should be under
the governance of the VP of Information Technology or the Provost. The Committee
will attempt
to introduce a motion in April on the issue.
C. Faculty Matters
The Committee is reviewing four major topics this spring:
1. The Study Leave Proposal will be considered and further researched by the
Committee. One issue is that newly-hired professors get an entitled study leave
as part of their hiring package, but professors who have been at GMU a long
time don’t get an equivalent guaranteed study leave. The Committee will
study the departmental politics determining how study leave proposals are accepted,
and review the application and evaluation process and procedures for consistency
and professionalism. Dave Kuebrich will attend the next Faculty Matters Committee
meeting to give examples of study leave procedural problems. Marty De Nys will
also have a one-on-one meeting with Provost Stearns on this issue. The Committee
will do further analysis of the Senate Clerk’s research on GMU, peer,
and other VA institutions’ policies on faculty study leaves.
2. The Committee will research precedents for moving the date of faculty raises
from the current date of December 1 back to the original date of September 15.
3. A motion concerning compensation for lab instruction during summer school
will be submitted as soon as possible.
4. The Committee will look into a bill recently introduced in the state legislature
(HB1513) that would eliminate tenure for faculty accepting employment at a public
institution of higher education in Virginia.
D. Nominations
The Committee will submit a nominee for the new vacancy on the General Education
Committee.
E. Organization & Operations
The Committee has two items in process:
1. A motion to change the charge of the University Grievance Committee so that
it can hear grievances from research faculty to be introduced in February.
2. Reallocating the Honor Code Task Forces’ recommendations for review
and action.
F. Ad Hoc Budget Committee
The Committee’s main focus this spring will be fighting for increased
faculty participation in the next round of budget cuts and adjustments. Rick
Coffinberger attended a budget meeting on December 23rd in which it was announced
that tuition will be raised over the next two years to make up for the decrease
in state funds. It was mentioned that there might be another hit in 2004, but
the effect was downplayed. The faculty may receive bonuses, if anything, instead
of raises. Rick Coffinberger will be attending the President’s Council
meeting in lieu of Jim Bennett so that he can speak with Provost Stearns and
President Merton about faculty participation in the budget process.
IV. New Business
The Provost will address the issue of tenured faculty teaching undergraduate
courses at the next Executive Committee meeting. He will also be asked to present
an accountability report at the end of each academic year concerning the increase
of tenured faculty that was promised.
A Resolution on a BOV Ombudsman will be introduced by Dave Kuebrich (Executive
Committee) at the January 22nd Faculty Senate meeting asking Rector Meese to
appoint a BOV Ombudsman.
It was mentioned that GMU’s inconsistent policy concerning severance makes
it ripe for abuse and favoritism and, therefore, needs review and general guidelines
need to be determined. It was agreed that the topic will be logged in with O&O
and addressed by the Faculty Matters Committee.
It was agreed that the External Relations Committee needs to take responsibility
for coordinating and organizing lobbying efforts at GMU in terms of awareness
of Richmond’s actions on higher education issues and contacting legislators
when
needed.
V. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Debi Siler
Clerk, Faculty Senate