MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
OF THE FACULTY
SENATE
NOVEMBER 21, 2005
MASON HALL D109A,
2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Present: Jim Bennett, Rei Berroa, Lorraine Brown, Esther Elstun, Dave Kuebrich, Jim Sanford, Peter Stearns, Cliff Sutton, Susan Trencher
Absent: Rick Coffinberger
I. Approval of Minutes of Executive Committee Meeting of October 24, 2005: The minutes were approved.
II. Reports from the Chairs of Senate Standing Committees regarding action items for next Faculty Senate Meeting (November 30, 2005):
Faculty Matters: Jim Sanford reported a second meeting took place with David Rossell and Linda Harber regarding phased retirement. Three tentative options were presented: a two-year phased retirement, a four-year phased retirement, or a terminal study leave.
Work on the copyright proposal is continuing; there are still one or two legal questions pending but most of it seems OK. This discussion does not include patents.
Nominations: All general faculty are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections for representatives to the five BOV standing committees. Concern was expressed that some departments become engaged in voting and others do not; a lopsided result may occur. There was general agreement that winners would be decided by a plurality, rather than majority of the votes cast, as several committees have numerous nominees. In the instances where one individual is a candidate for more than one office, should the individual candidate win more than one office, the Nominations Committee would decide the outcome.
Organization and Operations: Rei Berroa presented two motions for consideration at the next meeting; the first, as it affects the By-Laws of the Faculty Senate, will need to be considered twice before it may be voted upon. The second motion would change the charge of the Organization and Operations Committee to allow it to continually review and recommend revisions as needed without the appointment of an ad hoc committee, drawing on the expertise of the O&O committee members serving staggered terms.
Executive Committee: Dave Kuebrich reports that Dean Lloyd Griffiths of IT&E will speak in support of the resolution of appreciation to Ernst and Sara Volgenau and he has asked Dean Bill Reeder of CVPA to attend to speak in support of the resolution of appreciation to Donald and Mary deLaski.
III. Provost Peter Stearns reports a large delegation will visit the United Arab Emirates campus next week. There is much progress in breaking ground there. Classes will begin in September, 2006. The semesters will be of the same length but on a different calendar. Dee Ann Holisky, (Senior Associate Dean – CAS) will remain at GMU for the spring tem and will serve in a consultative capacity during Fall, 2006 to support the new academic units (CLAHS and COS) as they commence operations in Fall 2006.
Revision of the Faculty Handbook: Public meetings will take place at the outset of the process. Release time remains a part of the puzzle as does the issue of summer stipends.
Senate Review of Administrative Contracts: A comparison of administrative salaries to salaries of senior professors in the schools in which the administrators were originally hired is underway in order to illustrate disparities between administrative and faculty salaries.
Potential Survey of Working Conditions/Concerns of Faculty: Several ideas in this general discussion included identification of specific areas of concern as well as open-ended questions; whether to distribute such a survey with the Faculty Evaluation of Administrators (which may also improve response rate of the latter); to ask faculty what areas of concern they would like to see addressed, etc. Should faculty be asked to fill out a short questionnaire during department meetings attended by visitors from the Executive Committee? To perhaps send out a report at the end of the academic year separate from the Senate minutes to highlight activities of the Senate during the past year and solicit suggestions from faculty for ideas they wish the Senate to address in the future?
Respectfully submitted,
Meg Caniano
Clerk, Faculty Senate