MINUTES
OF THE
FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2013
Mason Hall D1, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
.
Senators Present: Jim Bennett, Charlene Douglas, Star Muir, Peter
Pober, Joe Scimecca, Peter Stearns, Susan Trencher.
T. Mills Kelly, Chair
of the Provost Search Committee will speak at the Nov. 7th
meeting. The ad is out, people are
beginning to apply. Mark Smith, Director of State Government
Relations, will also speak at the Nov. 7th meeting.
(with thanks to
Suzanne Scott for reviewing/editing)
Purview of the
Graduate Council and the Academic Policies Committee: A
proposal from the Graduate Council to limit the time PhD candidates have to
complete doctoral degrees (nine years) was distributed, asking for catalog
change university-wide. Cody Edwards,
Associate Provost for Graduate Education was unavailable to attend today’s
meeting, but plans to attend the next Executive Committee meeting (November 25,
2013) to answer questions and discuss procedures. Concerns expressed by the
Executive Committee included:
·
Role of
the Graduate Council to approve new procedure; role of the Academic Policies
Committee in presenting catalog changes impacting units across the university
requires Faculty Senate approval; an issue of direct faculty concern.
·
Some saw
nine-year limit as unreasonable for part-time students pursuing PhDs. Students who enter PhD programs without
masters’ degrees require different kind of course work. Some units in favor of and approved the
change.
·
When does
the nine-year clock begin? Enrollment
in first class or post comps?
·
By-laws of
the Graduate Council distributed. Each
college has its own curriculum, role of Graduate Council in lieu of Graduate
School.
·
Variations
among academic units in selection/election of faculty representatives to the
Graduate Council, communication within academic units. The AP Committee will contact CHSS to
ascertain how their representatives to the Graduate Council are selected.
·
Does this
proposal exclude EdDs and other doctoral degrees?
·
Need for
appeals process to address medical issues.
Individual units may have appeals processes, vary across units.
·
Departments
also have the right not to accept credits towards a degree. What suffices for a residency requirement?
Provost Stearns noted
the proposal sets nine years after admission, currently eleven
years. There is an appeals process, but he does not know details. He
noted that much of the work in Graduate Council goes across units, and he stated that AP Committee should not be
involved in the minutia.
Dominique Banville is the AP Committee representative to
the Graduate Council, and Cody Edwards will attend the AP committee meetings
whenever there is a graduate education issue on the agenda. He will be invited
to attend the November 25 Senate Executive Committee meeting. Suzanne Scott
will meet with him before the next AP meeting.
B. Budget and
Resources – Susan Trencher, Chair
We just sent salary data request to Linda Harber, copying Gil Brown,
whose employee crunches data, and Meg.
Joe Scimecca and I will meet with Cathy Evans (Director, Special
Projects and Summer Term) on Wednesday.
We are working on some
committee charges. General Education has
a possibility for renaming, as does NIAL, and have spoken with the director of
the WAC Committee. Committee structure business is ongoing. In response to question raised, will research
last time Teaching Evaluation Forms came up for review. We will also check with
committees who have not yet elected a chair.
Charlene has asked a
number of committees if they want to include a report on the agenda. There is no report/update from the Faculty
Handbook Committee.
Masonvale –Motion to appoint a faculty member to
the Board of Masonvale – after some
discussion, decided to include as agenda item for discussion at Senate
meeting.
INTO: Chair
Douglas encouraged faculty to attend the upcoming Forum. The ELI faculty are all term faculty and all teach 12 credits
now. Concern that they would have to
teach at least 18 credits/5 courses per semester. Some ELI faculty also serve
as advisors. Consensus among EXC this is
way more than faculty should be asked to do.
What does “contact hours” mean? ELI faculty terrified they could lose their
jobs.
Respectfully
submitted,
Meg Caniano
Faculty Senate clerk