University of North Carolina at Asheville FACULTY SENATE MINUTES March 5, 1981 A Faculty Senate met on Thursday, March 5, 1981 at 4:00 pm in RL1 with Dr. Gene Rainey, Chairman, presiding. Members present: Dr. Browning, Dr. Coyne, Dr. Dorr, Dr. Friedenberg, Dr. Greenawalt, Dr. Howard, Dr. Johnston, Dr. Lang, Dr. Perry, Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Squibb, Dr. Sulock, Dr. Walker, Dr. Wilson. Excused absences: Dr. Braggio, Dr. McCoy. Visitors: Mrs. Cadle, Dr. Cochran, Dr. Cranston, Dr. D. Hoyer, Dr. Seitz, Dr. Stevens, Ms. Strayhorn. The minutes of the February 12, 1981 meeting were approved as published. Reports from Senate Committees Institutional Development - Dr. Wilson Dr. Wilson distributed a document for Senate approval establishing a Research Council. It was moved and seconded that the document be approved by the Senate. The motion carried. Academic Policies Committee - Dr. Perry The following documents were adopted by the Senate: APC Document #25 - Policy statement with regard to Special Topics courses. APC Document #26 - Proposal to change major requirements for Literature and Language major, Program C (Creative Writing) APC Document #27 - Course addition for the Department of Drama. Faculty Welfare - Dr. Howard 1) Dr. Howard distributed a summary of the discussion between the committee and Drs. Dorr and Walker concerning committee assignments at UNCA. The committee recognizes that committee loads at UNCA are heavy due to the relatively small number of faculty members. It also finds that the administration tries to spread these assignments as evenly as possible, although some faculty are more loaded with committees than others due to various elections, etc. Page 2 Dr. Friedenberg distributed a report compiled by the Faculty Welfare Committee and a group of students concerning the evaluation of faculty advising with an eye toward developing a system to reward good faculty advisors. This report will be sent on to the Faculty Advising Committee. Task Force Reports Developmental Studies - Dr. Sulock Dr. Sulock distributed a list of concerns or questions that the committee presented concerning the Developmental Studies program. The ones that were more addressed to the Senate were question #5: Should the name of the Developmental Studies program be changed? and question #6: Should the Senate take a benign interest in the development of the Developmental Studies program? In relation to question #5 regarding the name change, Dr. Sulock explained that the committee felt that especially the younger students felt a stigma or peer pressure and therefore resented the "tag". The committee's concern is that it hinders progress. It was decided that any kind of name change would have to come through APC. As to the question of the Senate taking a benign interest in the development of the Developmental Studies program, it was felt that this should also go through the Academic Policies Committee before coming to the Senate. It was suggested that the current APC chairman brief the incoming chairman on the concerns of the Developmental Studies task force. Also, that Dr. Sulock meet with the next APC chairman concerning this document. The Senate added one more question to the document: "What about the unclassified student?" Campus Community Spirit - Dr. Walker Dr. Walker distributed a report to the Senate on the observations of the task force concerning campus community spirit. No action was required of the Senate, but Dr. Dorr suggested that the task force get together with him and Dr. Iovacchini and see if they can get some of the suggestions going that are on the report. Outstanding Teacher Award - Dr. Baumann Report to be given at next meeting. Dr. Dorr distributed the Memorandum of Agreement between UNCA and A-B Tech and touched on some of the aspects of the agreement. Page 3 Dr. Browning reviewed recent action of the Faculty Assembly; 1. Passed a resolution asking President Friday to seek fringe benefits for part-time faculty on a pro-rated basis. 2. Passed a resolution asking President Friday to propose to the Board of Governors that all EPA personnel of the University of North Carolina shall receive longevity pay in accordance with uniform criteria as established for all other state employees. The first resolution was non-controversial, however the second could be viewed as a mixed blessing. Should the funding for longevity come from current "in lieu" appropriations to UNC EPA employees, a faculty member could suffer a substantial reduction in life-time earnings and retirement benefits due to (1) potential reduction in across-the-board increments and (2) the fact that longevity pay is not added to the base salary and therefore not subject to compounding. The impact on any individual will depend on how such a plan is funded; length of service; probability of receiving merit pay with or without the longevity pay. Current SPA longevity system: Years of Service Longevity Rate 10 to 15 1.5% 15 to 20 2.25% 20 to 25 3.25% 25 or more 4.50% APPROVED: Deryl Howard Jan Scroggs Faculty Senate Secretary Secretary