George Mason University
Approved Minutes of the Faculty Senate
February 8, 2002
Senators Present: J. Bennett, E. Blaisten-Barojas, D. Boileau,
B. Brown, L. Brown, P. Buchanan, S. Cobb, R. Coffinberger, R. Conti, M. DeNys,
E. Elstun, H.W. Jeong, D. Kuebrich, B. Manchester, R. Nadeau, L. Pawloski, J.
Sanford, J. Scimecca, S. Slayden, P. Stearns, P. Story, C. Sutton
Senators Absent: K. Avruch, A. Berry, W. M. Black, L. Bowen,
R. Carty, S. Cheldelin, T. Chorvat, Y. D. Chung, S. deMonsabert, M. Deshmukh,
P. Feerick, T. Friesz, J. Gorrell, H. Gortner, M. Grady, L. Griffiths, G. Hanweck,
K. Haynes, J. High, R. C. Jones R. Klimoski, A. Kolker, M. Krauss, C. Mattusch.
A. Merten, J. Moore, H. Morgan, W. Reeder, J. Kozlowski, L. Rockwood, S. Ruth,
L. Seligmann, R. Smith, P. So, A. Sofer, D. Struppa, B. Sturtevant, C. Thomas,
S. Trencher, P. Wilkie, J. Zenelis, S. Zoltek
Robert Nadeau presented his resolution which
is as follows:
WHEREAS the present budgetary problems in the Commonwealth of Virginia have
resulted in a crisis situation in higher education, in general, GMU, in particular,
that requires the full and active participation of the Faculty Senate;
WHEREAS the diverse missions of the standing committees of the Faculty Senate
and the usual time frames in which the work of these committees becomes actionable
are inadequate to effectively respond to and deal with this crisis;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate instructs the Senate Executive Committee
to create on its own authority ad hoc Action Committee composed of five tenured
faculty members who should have experience in one or more of the following areas:
a) state and local politics; b) economics and finance; c) law; d) conflict resolution;
and e) working with the BOV.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the charge of said Action Committee will be as follows:
a) prepare a short report to be distributed by action of the Executive Committee
to all GMU faculty members via e-mail and hard copy that describes in summary
fashion the current budgetary crisis and the various proposals that have been
made to deal with this crisis, including recent actions taken by the BOV; b)
monitor all aspects of the current crisis and meet with the members of the Senate
Executive Committee on a weekly or biweekly basis to discuss findings; c) develop
in concert with members of the Senate Executive Committee appropriate means
for the Faculty Senate to make its issues and concerns more public; and d) fashion
legislation on particular initiatives that, following the approval of the Faculty
Senate, could be introduced into the General Assembly by delegates from Northern
Virginia.
Friendly amendments have been included in the above resolution.
Provost Stearns spoke in favor of the motion, commenting that the legislative
session is half over and new initiatives were unlikely, but he added that this
resolution should be valuable in encouraging other people, such as parents,
users of facilities, to write their legislators.
After general discussion the Senate agreed to elect a Committee to monitor all
aspects of the current budget crisis and meet with the members of the Senate
Executive committee on a weekly or biweekly basis to discuss findings. It was
the sense of the Senate that this Committee would continue until the crisis
ended. It was the sense of the Committee that this Committee will serve until
a final report is received by the senate who will then dismiss them with thanks.
The Senators agreed that publicity is needed to inform the general public of
this crisis.
The motion passed unanimously with no abstentions.
Chair Don Boileau invited James Sanford to share with Senators his e-mail to
students concerning the budget crisis: "I am certain that all of you have
heard about the budget crisis in Virginia and how some of the budget proposals
will impact higher education. This message is to let you know that you can easily
contact your state senator and delegate to express your opinions, if you
want to. From the GMU homepage, simply click on "government and you"
located just below the picture. From there you will be able to enter your zip
code to ensure that messages are sent to the right people, and you can identify
issues you would like to address. You may forward pre-scripted messages or construct
your own. One caveat: some people have suggested that you use a private e-mail
address rather than your own GMU account. By doing this you are not using state
resources for political purposes. I don't believe this is a big deal, however,
since GMU has the site on its homepage and the Commonwealth does not incur any cost for your e-mails. By the way, this message
does not fall under the caveat above because I am not promoting (overtly)
particular positions. I am simply informing you of the opportunity and method
by which you can become involved."
The meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Lorraine Brown
Secretary, Faculty Senate