University of North Carolina at Asheville

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

Minutes, September 16, 2004

Senate

Members: L. Atkinson, B. Butler, R. Booker, L. Cornett, J. Konz, B. Larson, D. Lisnerski,

S. Mills, G. Nallan, P. Nickless, D. Pierce, B. Reynolds, I. Rossell, M. Ruiz, S. Walters.

Visitors: J. Burges, T. Glenn, A. Gravely, L. Holland, S. Honeycutt, A. Shope, K. Whatley.

I. Call to Order

Dr. Pamela Nickless called the meeting to order at 1:20 pm and welcomed senators and guests.

II. Announcements

Dr. Padilla is attending a meeting of the Chief Academic Officers in Chapel Hill.

III. Approval of minutes

The minutes of August 26, 2004 were approved with an editorial correction.

The order of business was modified.

XI. New Business

Election of Alternate to replace Tracy Brown

Dr. Nickless reported that Tracy Brown is resigning from the Faculty Senate for health reasons. The Executive Committee has accepted his resignation with great sorrow. Each year, three alternates are elected to the Senate. Earlier in the year, Linda Cornett was elected to replace Dee James. The remaining alternates are Scott Walters from the Humanities and Rick Maas from Natural Sciences. Scott Walters was elected to fill Tracy Brown’s 2003-06 term of service.

Dr. Nickless explained that the Executive Committee looked at the composition of IDC – the four member committee would have had one member from the Natural Sciences and three members from the Humanities. The Executive Committee has asked Bruce Larson to serve on IDC so it will have a member from the Social Sciences. Scott Walters will serve on FWDC in place of Dr. Larson.

IV. Administrative Report

Dr. Kathy Whatley did not have a report, but indicated she would be happy to answer questions. Mr. Steve Honeycutt was present to answer questions on the enrollment budget.

Enrollment Report

A summary of Dr. Archer Gravely’s enrollment report follows:

· NC public high school graduates are projected to increase by 10,000 from 2004 to 2013. Most of this increase will occur in the piedmont as the western and eastern areas of the state will remain relatively stable.

· Key statistics for UNCA’s Fall 2004 enrollment compared to Fall 2003:

· Headcount: 3,485 (+ 4.1%)

· FTE: 3,201 (+ 5.8%)

· Student Credit Hours: 44,825 (+2.6%)

· Black students: 94 (+20.5%)

· Minority total: 277 (+14.9%)

· New Freshmen:

Ø Number: 707 (+18%)

Ø Mean SAT: 1,169 (+0.3%)

Ø Mean H.S. Rank: 76 (0.0%)

· New Transfers: 228 (-25.0%)

§ We are projecting an annual FTE of 3,153 which exceeds our 2,999 budgeted FTE by 154.

§ UNCA is projecting to grow approximately 125 annual FTE per year for the next two years.

This rate of increase will yield an annual FTE of 3,275 in 2005-06 and 3,400 in 2006-07.

§ The projected Fall headcount for 2005 is 3,660 and 3,768 in 2006. These headcount projections

fall within the August 2004 IDC recommendations for adjusting the 3,500 cap to exclude

non-degree and graduate students.

§ These enrollment projections will create 22.17 new faculty positions and over $3M in new

funding for 2005-06. In 2006-07, UNCA will receive an additional 9.44 faculty positions and

$1.3M in the enrollment change budget.

Dr. Konz noted that without an explicit directive from the Office of the President, we should not presume that the growth of high school graduates translates into an imperative for us to have growth.

Dr. Lisnerski asked if there had been any talk about not meeting the budgeted revenue targets this year. Mr. Honeycutt indicated that he had not heard this, however UNCA has experienced about $500,000 in budget cuts this year.

Administration canceled classes at 12:15 today

The Senate discussed the decision to cancel classes at 12:15pm today. Dr. Whatley explained that the administration based its decision on weather information, emergency personnel, and the power company. Asheville is in the center of the projected path of the storm. If it hits as predicted, the rain and wind will likely cause trees to fall and power outages. It is highly likely that we will be without power on Friday and Saturday, and perhaps Sunday. The water system is in a precarious state, and there are projections that we could be without power and water over the weekend. This is a safety issue. The administration does not want students trapped in the dorms without power and water for three days. The logistical considerations are such that canceling classes is the most reasonable and safe course of action. The Senate thanked the administration for watching out for everyone’s safety.

V. Executive Committee Report

Dr. Nickless gave the Executive Committee Report

Constitution Revision Update

Prior to the next meeting, Senators will receive a draft constitution that incorporates the suggestions of the 2003-04 Senate. A special campus-wide Senate meeting will be devoted to working on the draft and finalizing a document to submit to faculty members. The special meeting will be held on October 28^th in Owen Conference Center at 3:15pm. Dr. Nickless will ask Dr. Konz to chair the meeting so she could present the document as chair of the Constitution Revision Task Force.

Goals for 2004-05

· Continue to emphasize communication. One reason why the Senate has moved its meetings to Karpen 006 is to create an inclusive atmosphere and increase the number of visitors who attend meetings.

· Continue to improve communication with the administration. A top priority is to clear up the planning process and resolve how we are going to move forward with planning.

· Highlight diversity efforts. Dr. Nickless will pursue this with Heidi Kelley and Dwight Mullen. She anticipates reports to the Senate on some of our challenges and successes in these areas.

Empowering IDC to fulfill duties/responsibilities of UPC

Dr. Rossell explained that at the last meeting, Dr. Lisnerski questioned whether IDC could fulfill UPC’s function without formal approval by the Senate. Last fall, UPC voted that IDC could fulfill UPC’s functions for the 2003-04 year. She only called UPC meetings when absolutely necessary – to vote on the Engineering and ILS proposals. She preferred to not call UPC meetings this year. Half of the seats on UPC are vacant, and it seems unnecessary to fill the vacancies just to delegate the duties to IDC. IDC thought perhaps the Senate could vote to allow IDC to fulfill UPC’s function. UPC and IDC are intertwined and both have Senate documents. The history of UPC is complicated, but there is a Senate document that outlines its membership and specific duties. If the Senate created this document, then the Senate should be able to modify it.

Dr. Rossell made the following motion: “For this academic year, or until further notice, the Faculty Senate empowers IDC to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of UPC.” Dr. Reynolds seconded the motion.

Dr. Konz asked if this implies that the Senate plans to make UPC disappear through documentary action this year. Dr. Rossell replied that UPC does not appear in the revised Constitution. We will have an opportunity to discuss this at length at the October 28 special meeting. The proposed

wording “For this academic year, or until further notice…” allows the Senate to revive UPC and fill the vacant seats. Because Mark Padilla currently holds three seats on UPC, we would need to rewrite the membership to have a workable committee.

Dr. Nickless clarified that last year the Senate was hopeful that it would have clarification on how the planning process was going to work, and have a better idea of what type of committee would

evolve that would replace UPC. That has not happened. That is one reason the Executive Committee said it would be working with the Chancellor to clear up the planning process. Hopefully this will be the last year that we have this limbo.

Dr. Larson noted that UPC has historically been the only place where faculty members and administrators were able to come together and talk about issues that are of concern to the university as a whole. He appreciates that if some folks do not want to play, that it is hard for that function. Is it really the case that people do not want to play? Dr. Rossell stated that it is partly because some of the administrators travel a lot and often miss meetings. She asks them to send a designee, which they have been willing to do. But often, the designee has not participated in UPC meetings, or did not receive the document ahead of time. UPC would be discussing voting on a document and the designee often did not have the historical perspective on the issue that the administrator had. It was not satisfactory in terms of getting things done.

Dr. Lisnerski stated that the motion does not preclude IDC from inviting administrators to its meetings. Dr. Rossell added that Dr. Padilla generally attends UPC meetings; Kathy Whatley and Lisa Friedenberg have attended meetings. Last spring UPC met with each of the vice chancellors to talk to them about budget issues and it plans to do this again this year. IDC can create task forces on issue-specific concerns, such as the task force to look at enrollment growth. The task force includes administrators who are willing to work with us. This is a big issue that we need to resolve with the Chancellor. The motion is temporary, until the planning process is resolved.

Dr. Larson understood that one of the goals for the Executive Committee is to improve communication in the university. This is an area where the possibility for regular communication is actually going to be eliminated. Is there an alternative structure that could be developed?

Dr. Rossell stated that the Executive Committee hopes to meet monthly with the Chancellor to facilitate communication so that we hear about things before they happen, not afterwards. Certainly that has a lot of implications for planning.

Dr. Larson stated that if the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate were to meet on a regular basis with the Chancellor, and perhaps the Chancellor’s senior staff, it could play some of the same function. Dr. Nickless noted that she was not sure that it would, but one of the Executive Committee’s top priorities is to discuss the planning process and come up with a solution. The motion passed unanimously.

VI. Student Government Association Report

Mr. Tarik Glenn reported for the Student Government Association.

Due to the weather, Freshman elections will be held October 4-5^th instead of September 27-28^th. Freshman students need to tell the students who they are and what they want to do for the campus.

Porscha Yount hopes, in the next two or three years, to be able to implement an alternative, affordable insurance for older students.

SGA is rewriting the constitution, in particular the judicial branch. Housing is now responsible for “write-ups” on campus, so this will be removed from the constitution. The SGA also plans to raise the minimum grade point average to serve on SGA from 2.0 to at least 2.5.

VII. Academic Policies Committee Report

Dr. Jeff Konz reported for the Academic Policies Committee.

APC’s first meeting was canceled last week due to the weather. Although APC has not arrived at any decision about what it will focus on this academic year, Dr. Konz has been sending members some issues for consideration beyond the normal curricular documents. It will continue its effort to address the issue of consistency in the Catalog, with regard to style and structure of program descriptions. A style sheet may emerge out of this exercise.

It has been suggested that APC investigate plus/minus grading and the impact it has had in a number of dimensions, most of which have to do with questions of equity. He has created an initial list of issues for APC to think about in this regard. APC will decide if this is an issue that it wants to

address when it meets next Thursday.

VIII. Faculty Welfare and Development Committee Report

Dr. Don Lisnerski gave the Faculty Welfare and Development Committee Report.

Goals for 2004-05

· Develop a nominating process for establishing a slate of candidates for election purposes. An approved process would then be included in the revised Constitution.

· Develop an oversight process for reviewing faculty development activities on campus.

· Be more active in the establishment of policy and document writing than in tasks.

· Develop a recommendation for the administration on the establishment of a formal exit interview and questionnaire process for faculty separating from UNCA.

FWDC will also be working on the third revision of the committee assignment listings. One problem is that several faculty serve on multiple committees and task forces, while other faculty do not serve on any committees. Hopefully, a tentative schedule of committee assignments will go out soon. FWDC is waiting for committee assignments from the Chancellor, the VCAA, VCSA, and SGA. Every committee should have a Senate document, and almost every committee does. The Provost position incorporated the VCAA and VCSA positions, which raises the question of whether the Provost prefers to delegate some committee responsibilities. Dr. Lisnerski will discuss this with Dr. Padilla.

Committees

The Senate agreed that changes in position titles on committees (such as changing VCAA and VCSA to Provost) are editorial and do not require Senate documentation.

Dr. Lisnerski reported that as FWDC worked on committee assignments, it questioned the overlap of duties of some committees and ILSOC. For example, we have a First-Year Experience Advisory Committee and its duties are now performed by ILSOC.

Questions were also raised about the duplication of work in the Writing Across the Curriculum Committee and the Writing Intensives. It was suggested that the Director of the Writing Center be an ex officio member on the Writing Intensive subcommittee of ILSOC. This would reduce the need for the Writing Across the Curriculum Committee. Dr. Konz noted that last year it was discussed that each of the four intensive subcommittees has a natural ex officio member: the Director of the Writing Center on the Writing Intensives subcommittee; the Director of the Math Lab on the Quantitative Intensives subcommittee; a Library representative on the Information Literacy Intensives; and an Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs representative on the Diversity Intensives subcommittee. He suggested that we may want to revise the structure of the subcommittees of ILSOC.

Dr. Lisnerski supported modifying the composition of ILSOC; the change would add to communication as the directors are very involved in these areas. FWDC will communicate with Dr. Konz about adding ex officio members to ILSOC’s subcommittees.

IX. Institutional Development Committee Report

Dr. Irene Rossell reported for the Institutional Development Committee (IDC).

Proposal on Global Issues Concentration within IST

Dr. Linda Cornett has met with IDC three times to discuss the proposal on Global Issues Concentration within IST. The proposed curriculum is highly interdisciplinary and draws primarily from existing courses. Dr. Cornett submitted letters of support from eight department chairs (ECON, MCOM, PHIL, FLANG, POLS, SOC, MGMT/ACCT, HIST) who indicated that their departments could accommodate the projected increased enrollments in their courses. Dr. Cornett presented her 2003-04 budget for International Studies of $2500. She would like to request an additional $2000 each year to support curricular development. Dr. Cornett received three hours of course release per year to support her role as Director of International Studies, and has no secretarial support. Dr. Nickless also receives no secretarial support in her role as Director of IST.

- Recommendation and comments

IDC recommended that Dr. Cornett’s proposal be forwarded to APC. The proposed concentration has received demonstrated support from across campus and is worthy of further review. However, IDC brought the following concerns to the attention of APC and the Faculty Senate:

· IDC questioned whether there may actually be some hidden adjunct cost. Dr. Cornett does not have specific courses that she has requested adjuncts for, but there will be three new interdisciplinary study courses that she will either teach herself or seek others from across

campus to teach. This concerns IDC, as it seems likely that at least some faculty volunteering to teach these courses would seek release from other teaching obligations within their departments, perhaps necessitating their chairs to request adjunct instructors to cover departmental needs. The resource implications are that this could increase the university-wide demand for adjunct positions, which have been limited in recent years.

· Dr. Cornett presently receives no secretarial support. If the proposed concentration is approved and becomes popular with students, her need for secretarial assistance will increase.

· Last spring Dr. Padilla and IDC agreed that the Interdisciplinary Studies Program (IST) should be reviewed, with a task force looking at the role of this program at UNCA, particularly in light of the new ILS. This review was proposed to take place in Fall 2004, concurrent with IDC reviewing Dr. Cornett’s proposal for a Global Issues concentration within IST. Dr. Ed Katz has informed IDC that a meeting has been planned to discuss IST and decide whether a task force should be formed. IDC is concerned about adding another concentration to IST when several bodies at this university have agreed that the program needs to be reviewed.

Task Force on Enrollment Growth and University Size

IDC and the Executive Committee finalized the membership of the Task Force on Enrollment Growth and University Size. There will be 16 members, who are listed below. Dr. Rossell thanked those who volunteered to serve on the task force. Selections were based on several factors, including the need to balance the membership by division and rank, and the ability of the members to meet during the designated meeting time.

The task force will begin meeting soon, and will hold a series of campus meetings to get input from across the UNCA community. Faculty are encouraged to attend these meetings and share their vision of the size and nature of our university.

- Task Force Membership:

Co-chairs: Irene Rossell and Bruce Larson

4 members of IDC: Irene Rossell, Bruce Larson, Brian Butler, Dan Pierce

4 additional faculty: Peg Downes, Chris Bell, Dee Eggers, Keith Bramlett

Provost: Mark Padilla

Institutional Research Director: Archer Gravely

Admissions Director: Scot Schaeffer

Diversity/Multicultural Affairs representative: Dwight Mullen

Student Affairs Representative: John Bucher

CSAC representative: Leanna Preston

SGA representative: Porscha Yount

Chancellor's appointee (to be determined)

Change in location of IDC Minutes

IDC minutes are now available on the Faculty Senate web page. There is also a link to access IDC and UPC minutes from previous years, which are on the Office of Institutional Research web page.

X. Old Business

Dr. Nickless reminded Senators that Dr. Friedenberg raised the issue of the Faculty Handbook editor at the last meeting. There is an old Senate document saying we shall appoint a Faculty Handbook editor every two years. Dr. Chuck Bennett is the current editor and he did not know he was appointed for only two years, but he did not feel strongly about remaining in that position. As it stands now, Academic Affairs, Sandra Gravely, and Dr. Nickless are in discussion about the possibility of the Senate secretary being the Faculty Handbook editor. Dr. Bennett will continue as editor until a resolution is reached.

XI. Other New Business

Dr. Nickless encouraged new Senators who would like to have an orientation, to send her an email. She will set up a small, informal setting where Senators can ask questions. All Senators are welcome to participate.

XII. Adjourn

Dr. Nickless adjourned the meeting at 2:45pm.

Respectfully submitted by: Sandra Gravely

Don Lisnerski