�MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

OF THE FACULTY SENATE
Monday, March 26, 2007, Mason Hall, room D5; 3:00 -5:00 p.m.

 

Present:� Phil Buchanan, Jim Sanford, Suzanne Slayden, Peter Stearns, Cliff Sutton, Susan Trencher.

 

Approval of Minutes:� The minutes of our meeting February 26, 2007 were approved.

 

Discussion:� Agenda for the Faculty Senate Meeting - April 4, 2007

  1. President Merten to address Senate
  2. Unfinished business from March 7, 2007 meeting:
    1. Senate reapportionment (O&O Committee)
    2. Copyright Policy (Discussion about substantial competition among local universities and on-line; need to obtain permission from dean/director)
    3. Revised Motion �Absence for Religious Observances of Participation in University Activities� (AP Committee)
    4. Motion:� �Employment of Faculty Member/Partner� (FM Committee)
    5. Nomination of Jose Cortina to serve on ad hoc Provost�s committee to explore a Mason Faculty Practice Plan
  3. Faculty Senate Standing Committee Reports
    1. Academic Policies � Cliff Sutton
    2. Budget and Resources � Phil Buchanan
    3. Faculty Matters � Jim Sanford:� In addition to nepotism motion, Faculty Evaluation of Administrators Survey to be distributed.
    4. Nominations � Jim Bennett:� Ana Stoehr (CHHS) as Faculty Senate Representative to Veterans and Deployment Issues Committee.
    5. Organization and Operations � Lorraine Brown

 

Faculty Salary Task Force requests a special called meeting sometime in April. Meeting with the Provost, Linda Harber and others to be scheduled first.

 

Update on RAK campus:� Provost Stearns reported SACS enthusiastic, made three recommendations (five-month suspense to implement).� The first Board of Governors meeting with partners took place.� They were impressed with budget; biggest short-term challenge to get admissions up - received 4,000 inquiries.� Building program is continuing, may be a few months late.� Scarcity of construction labor; cost $10 million to move sand.� Sharon Siverts proving extremely effective.� There are issues but not systemic problems.� Need to decide what new programs to offer.� The CEO of Halliburton has just moved there.� Now located in a former technical college, OK for next two years; nicer to get our own space.� Would also like to send students from Virginia there to study Middle Eastern minor or Arabic as well as anything else we offer.�� Students can go back and forth as they want subject to visa restrictions.� All faculty hired with approval of faculty here; we control student admission.���

 

Faculty Representative to BOV Committee Elections:� The revision of the BOV by-laws has been delayed (per Tom Hennessey).� Should elections be held in spring so that newly elected representatives meet for first time with also newly appointed Visitors at BOV August meeting?� BOV very enthusiastic about faculty representatives, feel they are doing a good job.� Faculty Senate as facilitator of nominations and election for general faculty.� Those originally elected were not precluded from seeking re-election.� If too many nominations submitted, would nominations committee need to narrow it down?� So many faculty volunteered to serve on search committee for President (Merten); field had to be narrowed down.� Not to ask administration/BOV to make decisions about details of nominations process.� To limit individual nomination to one committee.� Nominees must be full-time faculty; not administrative faculty.�

 

Response Recently Received to Resolution on Diversity/Class Size that was not considered in Senate: As resolution was withdrawn and never voted upon, decided to write back and ask whether author would like it to be attached to a future agenda for discussion under "For the Good of the General Faculty".�

 

Discussion:� Special Called Meeting - March 28, 2007

1        Model on Salary TF Special Called Meeting April 2006

2        New procedures� - Noncompetitive (Waived Search) Hire and motion on Employment of Family Member/Partner (for consideration at April 4, 2007 FS Meeting) developed in response to concerns about a particular issue as well as systemic problem; harbinger re a series of findings by the EXC having to do with hiring and tenure practices not consistent with best practices in academia.� Or prior events appear to be inconsistent with best practices:� hiring and tenuring of a spouse of a dean in the same college (over which dean presided).�

3        Sequence of speakers.

4        (Audience) looking for some sense that kind of process would (not) happen again � procedures not in Faculty Handbook now, future inclusion must have agreement with faculty, BOV, and President.� There is no language in Faculty Handbook now for direct-hire with tenure (procedures).�� Cannot violate a policy which doesn�t exist.� To ask chair of Faculty Handbook Revision Committee about their inclusion in the revised Handbook.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Meg Caniano

Clerk, Faculty Senate