University of North Carolina at Asheville
FACULTY SENATE MEETING
Minutes, August 30, 2001
Senate
Members: K. Bramlett, F. Davenport, C. Ho, C. James, J. Kuhlman, B. Larson, H. Lee, C. Mitchell, D. Mullen, P. Nickless, S. Patch, J. Rackham, A. Weldon, G. Wilson; M. Stuart, S. Walters; T. Cochran.
Visitors: S. Browning, W. Bruce, L. Friedenberg, E. Katz, W. McDevitt, B. Sensabaugh, A. Shope, K. Whatley.
II. Announcements
There were no announcements.
III. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of May 3, 2001 (3:15 pm and 4:30 pm) meetings were approved.
IV. Administrative Report
Vice Chancellor Cochran gave the Administrative Report.
Enrollment
UNCA met the projected Fall 2001 enrollment with 2856 FTE. Enrollment headcount increased by
25 students, fundable FTE increased 2.6%, and retention rates increased 6.4%. The administration
anticipates receiving three new faculty positions when the budget is approved. There is a slight increase
in diversity of the entire student body, with the largest increase in the number of Hispanic students.
The downside of the enrollment profile is the number of adjuncts we have had to employ to deliver the curriculum. Over $300K has been allocated for adjuncts this semester, with adjuncts receiving approximately $1500 - $1600 per course. Last year over 20% of the classes were taught by adjuncts and that number will increase this year.
Budget
The Chairs recently discussed establishing a base budget for the academic departments based
on enrollment and credit hours generated at the departmental level. A model with several options will be
presented at the next Council of Chairs meeting.
SACS
Dr. Cochran stressed the importance of responding quickly to any SACS committee requests for
corrections or additional information as the deadline is approaching. Dr. Gillum is preparing a draft and is
being ably assisted by Bryan Alexander. Mr. Alexander is checking credentials on faculty and ensuring
that we are not missing important documentation. Dr. Page, Chair of the SACS Reaccreditation Team,
will visit campus in November.
Question/Discussion
Dr. Rackham asked Dr. Cochran for a minority enrollment count. Dr. Cochran did not have this
information on hand; his enrollment report was from the report he received yesterday. There was a slight
increase in the number of African American students and a significant increase in the number of Hispanic
students. Dr. Dwight Mullen requested a breakdown by race and gender and Dr. Cochran agreed to bring
a copy of this report to the next meeting. The material will also be available on Institutional Research's
website.
V. Executive Committee Report
Dr. Cathy Mitchell gave the Executive Committee Report.
Vice Chancellor for Administration and Financial Affairs
Vice Chancellor Wayne McDevitt pointed out how important UNCA is to the State of NC, to the
region, and to him personally. He is a UNCA alumnus and past member of the Board of Trustees and
The Foundation. His son is a May 2001 graduate of UNCA and his daughter is a freshman this year. He
testified to the virtues and benefits of a liberal arts education. As Vice Chancellor for Administration and
Financial Affairs, he is responsible for facilities, budget, financial affairs (accounts payable, accounts
receivable, cashier, purchasing, travel), the campus Bookstore, and human resources. He also serves on
fourteen committees and plans to teach six Leadership classes this year.
Developing a strategic plan with clear institutional goals, priorities and resources is imperative to our mission and is a priority for Mr. McDevitt. He reported on the Legislature and the pending budget, state expenditures and funding by categories, tuition, and construction. $80M in construction will take place over the next six years and facilities management has reorganized to make the construction as painless as possible for our campus.
General Education Review Task Force
(GERTF)
Dr. Ed Katz gave an update of GERTF's work and presented an overview of its agenda for the
year. Last year GERTF completed its portion of the SACS enhancement project self study report on
General Education and developed a list of directive recommendations to be used to guide discussion and
to guide its work over the next two years. Two directive recommendations were distributed: (1) the
process of revising UNCA's general education program, with a timetable for curricular design and
implementation, and (2) resource allocations and/or structural changes necessary for general education
reform. The APC supported many of these guiding concepts last spring in its comprehensive report on
the status of general education. Dr. Katz reiterated that these are discussion points and he encouraged
faculty to E-mail him with suggestions so they may be incorporated into the final recommendation of the
committee. Faculty can access this information from the SACS website and it will be available on the
University homepage soon.
GERTF plans to conduct a series of listening projects in departments/programs. Teams from GERTF will meet with chairs and faculty to gain input from their expertise, their concerns, and what they would like to see reflected in general education from their departmental views. GERTF will also discuss and study the recommendations from APC's report. Key topics include diversity, assessment, absolutely free electives, the number of credit hours in the program, and fiscal resources available for curricular development.
A Faculty Forum on General Education is scheduled for Friday, September 7, from 4:15-5:45 p.m. in the Laurel Forum. Student Forums will also be held for students' input.
Dr. Mitchell asked APC to review the document Dr. Katz distributed and to coordinate with him if there are any issues raised by it.
Faculty Workload and Compensation
Dr. Mitchell announced that the Executive Committee has chosen to make faculty workload and
compensation the primary issues it will deal with this year. This is a terribly overworked faculty and the
more high quality the university has become, the more pressure there is on the faculty to do more internal
service -- particularly student co-curricular activities. The faculty are starting to say no because of the
teaching load. After gathering data from Institutional Research, Dr. Mitchell submitted a report to
Chancellor Mullen and the Senate on the teaching load. She asked Dr. Wilson to summarize FWDC's
study on faculty compensation conducted last year.
Dr. Wilson stated that after looking at the data, FWDC found that UNCA faculty salaries were significantly below both the UNC system as well as our peer institutions. FWDC made the following recommendations: (1) that the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor for Administration and Finances, and VCAA in consultation with the Office of the President develop a five year plan which would increase the rankings of UNCA's average salaries (assistant professors, associate professors and full professors); (2) that the VCAA continue to make equity adjustments to salaries, particularly to assistant professors; and (3) that the FWDC give annual reports on faculty salaries.
Dr. Cochran discussed initiatives to increase salaries for assistant professors. Eighteen months ago Academic Affairs built some fairly significant increases to the assistant professors' equity adjustment while preparing the salary schedule for the 2000-01 academic year. However there were only minimal increases at the assistant professor rank when we lost our enrollment budget increase for this past year. We are now in a position with our continuing salary budget to make adjustments at the assistant professor rank -- assuming that there are no cuts in the salary budget.
Dr. Mitchell noted that in 1985 the Faculty Senate passed a resolution that UNCA faculty should have a 9-hour per semester teaching load. Over the summer she studied the data to learn what would happen to class size if existing resources went into a 9-hour teaching load. The Chancellor has endorsed the concept of 9 hours of in-class teaching. This change would recognize the fact that liberal arts institutions of high quality expect their faculty to put forth a large amount of effort outside the traditional classroom setting. The Executive Committee will discuss these issues with Chancellor Mullen on September 18. Chancellor Mullen indicated a strong commitment to work on both of these issues in a speech at the faculty meeting at the beginning of the semester.
Dr. Rackham asked Dr. Cochran if he was willing to make a public commitment to work toward this goal and to report on the status of the goal. Dr. Cochran replied yes, and he said he would give a Faculty Workload Report as part of his administrative report to the Senate.
Vice Chancellor Campus Presentations
Dr. Mitchell explained that in the past the Faculty Senate required that University Relations make
an annual report to the Senate about its activities. Ms. Modlin has noted that she has been the only vice
chancellor required to report to the Senate. Dr. Mitchell distributed Ms. Modlin's report. Last year the
executive committee discussed asking all of the vice chancellors to give a report to the university as a
whole -- faculty, staff and students. Chancellor Mullen also supports this idea. Therefore, this year each
vice chancellor will host a tea in the Laurel Forum. The vice chancellor will give a 15-20 minute report
followed by questions and answers from the audience. The Chair of the Faculty Senate will emcee the
events, or in his/her absence another member of the Executive Committee would emcee.
VI. Student Government Association Report
There was no Student Government Association Report.
VII. Academic Policies Committee Report
Dr. Jeff Rackham gave the Academic Policies Committee Report.
APC has met once to discuss two issues -- a SACS non-conformity issue which had determined
that we are deficient in having a formal method of determining computer competency and the Honor
Code. Each department/program will be asked to identify which course or what method they are using or
plan to use within the major to determine computer competency.
APC also discussed the Honor Code and plans to made some slight revisions. APC's final proposed version, if agreement is reached, will be sent to IDC for its consideration.
VIII. Institutional Development Committee/University Planning Council Report
Dr. Bruce Larson gave the Institutional Development Committee/University Planning Council Report.
Report on Prospective Activities for the Year
Dr. Larson distributed UPC's meeting schedule and membership list for the year. UPC's
composition changed last year by designating Vice Chancellors as members of the council.
UPC will continue working on our strategic planning process, the environmental scanning 5-year process initiated last spring, and our institutional level goals and indicators. Chancellor Mullen charged UPC with developing a new strategic plan by September 2003.
Institutional Effectiveness Committee Report
Mr. Jim Kuhlman reported one problem the Institutional Effectiveness Committee (IEC)
encountered last year was the lack of identifiable, written institutional goals with indicators for success. An
important point is that SACS recommended that UNCA have institutional goals in 1992. Over the
summer, he, Dr. Larson and Dr. Gravely reviewed institutional goal statements. IEC's goal is to have a
document in place before the Chair of the SACS committee visits our campus in November. This draft
document will also aid discussion in the strategic planning process. Dr. Larson emphasized that we do
not want to be embarrassed once again by SACS, by not having clear institutional goals and indicators.
IX. Faculty Welfare and Development Committee Report
Dr. Gordon Wilson gave the Faculty Welfare and Development Committee Report.
Presentation on Faculty Handbook
Dr. Wilson thanked Dr. Friedenberg for undertaking the herculean task of revising the 1993
edition of the Faculty Handbook. Dr. Lisa Friedenberg reported on the status of the Faculty Handbook
and outlined procedures for future revisions and recommendations on the section on committees and
service appointments. She noted that new committees had been in operation for at least two years
although they lack enabling documents. Documents are needed to formally establish each of these
committees: Academic Support Services Committee; Africana Studies Advisory; Teaching Awards;
Teaching Fellows; Violence Prevention Task Force; and Center for Teaching and Learning Advisory.
The Senate should take action to appoint a Faculty Handbook editor for a 2-year term beginning as specified in SD4385S. All members of the University community should be instructed each year to provide Diane Royer (Academic Affairs) with copies of documents that have Handbook implications. Ms. Royer is serving as collator of information for Handbook revisions. The Handbook editor should meet periodically with Ms. Royer to obtain information for Handbook revisions.
Dr. Friedenberg recommended:
(1) that this year, each committee chair cross reference the document-based description of that
committee (membership, charge, reporting) against current practice of that committee;
(2) that any other active committees which Senate views as necessary standing committees be established formally by Senate document (e.g., the Fulbright Committee); and
(3) that Senate consider evaluating the use of the word "advisory" in the names of committees to make more explicit which ones serve an informal, advisory function and which ones serve a specific decision-making function. She also made suggestions for revisions to the Committee Preference/Service Record form. The Senate gave Dr. Friedenberg a round of applause.
Report on Activities for the Year
Dr. Wilson reported that FWDC began looking at our committee structure last year and Dr.
Friedenberg has done an excellent job of categorizing the committees. Chancellor Mullen charged FWDC
with getting a handle on committees and FWDC needs to consider streamlining and consolidating
committees and their membership.
Dr. Nickless has volunteered to run the faculty elections next spring.
A committee composed of Dr. William Bruce (chair), Dr. Marcia Ghidina, and Dr. Deb Van Engelen has been formed to study our election process and how it can be improved.
FWDC has received last year's salary data and will give a faculty salary report soon.
X. Old Business
There was no Old Business.
XI. New Business
There was no New Business.
XII. Adjournment
Dr. Mitchell adjourned the meeting at 4:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted by: Sandra Gravely
Gordon Wilson