University of North Carolina at Asheville FACULTY SENATE MEETING Minutes, October 13, 1988 Senate Members: S. Browning, A. Comer, L. Friedenberg, M. Gillum, A. Hantz, M. Marshall, C. Mitchell, L. Nelms, P. Nickless, S. Patch, C. Prokop, A. Wengrow, K. Whatley, B. Wilson, L. Wilson Excused: D. Sulock Alternates: M. Boyd Visitors: C. Brown, J. Buckner, J. Garrett, D. Harmon, D. Hedgins, J. McGlinn, G. Rowland The October 13th meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order at 3:33 pm in the Whitman Room of Ramsey Library by Chair Charles Prokop. The minutes of the September 8th meeting were presented by Dr. Nickless and were approved as written. Dr. McGlinn substituted for Dr. Gentile at the September 16 Faculty Assembly meeting and gave the following report. The meeting consisted primarily of introductions and forcasting of future business. President Spangler addressed the Assembly and responded to questions asked last August by the Executive Committee. A $1M liability policy covering all faculty and staff is in effect beginning Fall 1988. Although this is a very broad, comprehensive policy, it does not cover libel, slander or copyright violations. Anyone interested in additional information on the policy should contact Mr. John Neuse. An Illegal Drug policy has been implemented at every UNC institution. UNCA's Academic Eligibility for Intercollegiate Athletics policy compared well with those of other schools. Dr. McGlinn stated that an extensive discussion of high school curriculum requirements for undergraduate admissions is going on with high school counselors, parents of high school children, and students. A letter is being mailed to parents of children in the middle and junior high schools informing them of these requirements which are slated to go into effect in 1990. Dr. Wilson asked if there was any discussion regarding the cost to the institutions to implement these new requirements, and Dr. McGlinn responded that cost was not discussed. President Spangler also discussed the University budget. The first proposal of the 1988-89 budget was based on 112,075 students, and was revised to a projected enrollment of 114,475. The actual enrollment will probably exceed this figure. For the first time, the year's budget requests exceeded $1 Billion. $25.7M went to faculty/staff salaries which allowed for a 4.5% increase in salaries; 2% for all continuing faculty, 2.5% for merit increases. In the next biennial budget currently being proposed, the emphasis will be placed on library acquisitions and increasing Page 2 faculty salaries. The Board of Governor's adopted a policy in June to encourage more admission and retention of American Indians in the North Carolina system. More details concerning this will be forthcoming. Dr. McGlinn gave information/agendas for the following committees: Professional Development - is in the process of surveying the UNC schools regarding their Faculty Development programs. Tenure Committee - will inform faculty of policies relative to filing for office and will survey and report the tenure and promotion procedures of various campuses. Budget Committee - reported some individuals on other campuses are experiencing problems in switching to a university-wide fiscal calendar in the sequencing of their paychecks. Governance Committee - is looking into a policy of establishing fixed terms for department chairmen and is studying university-wide grievance procedures. Program & Planning - reported on the mandate for accepting majors for Education students. All graduates of education programs in state schools will now need a second major. Universities must have these in place by Fall 1989. Faculty Welfare - will survey retirement benefits of other institutions. They also discussed the new liability insurance policy. At the Faculty Assembly meeting Roy Carroll gave a brief history of the Assembly and stated that it had influenced the functioning of the university-wide system. Dr. McGlinn noted that in 1980 a resolution was passed expressing appreciation to Dr. Shirley Browning for his chairing of the Faculty Assembly, and in 1987 a resolution was passed acknowledging Professor Gene Rainey. A brochure on the new agenda of Women for Higher Education published by the American Council on Education is available for review. Detailed minutes of the Faculty Assembly meeting will be available in mid-November. Dr. Prokop asked that a copy of the official Faculty Assembly minutes be placed in the Senate office when available. Dr. Wilson gave the Administrative report. During the last Senate meeting the availability of undergraduate research money during the academic year was discussed. Under the guidelines of Thrust funding, money will not be available this academic year. Dr. Wilson is trying to appropriate some money in the academic year for support of student research. The Southern Association team came to UNCA regarding the MLA program and gave a very strong endorsement. If all goes as expected, the Association will meet in December and the MLA will begin officially in January. A draft of UNCA's Faculty Development Page 3 Distinctive funding guidelines was circulated to the Council of Chairs and a revision will be sent to the Teaching Council, Research Council, and Faculty Welfare and Development Committee after Fall break. UNCA, along with every other state university, has been asked by legislative action to file a three year statistical summary of grievances filed on the campus by all employee groups. Dr. Wilson made reference to a publication in the Asheville-Citizen Times titled "AB Tech joins college credit transfer revolution." The story presented misleading comparisons between tuitions at AB Tech and UNCA. The State has allowed formerly technical colleges to seek community college status, and all the technical colleges in our area have elected to do so. The new school names in our area are AB Technical Community College, Blue Ridge Community College, McDowell Community College, and Mayland Community College. Some of these institutions will be trying to look more like four year colleges, and are attempting to implement programs modeled after UNCA's Humanities program. This will increase competition at the freshman and sophomore level. These institutions are also increasing their general education component. UNCA will continue to monitor these institutions to determine how their courses may or may not resemble UNCAs. Ms. Marshall asked if UNCA was still operating under the old transfer agreement it had with some two-year schools. Dr. Wilson stated that these schools were notified that our general education requirements would be in effect Fall 1989. UNCA is trying to work out a one-to-one course comparison arrangement with each of the schools rather than the binding agreements, which we felt disadvantaged students. Mrs. Harmon stated there will be a line-by-line course agreement listed by the Registrar. Dr. Prokop began the Executive Report by distributing material for general information. The first document provided enrollment information over the last decade on all the universities in the system, by headcount and in percentages. UNCA has had the largest enrollment percentage increase in the system. The next document, UNCA and Selected UNC Campuses - Fall 1987, came from the Chancellor's office. Dr. Wilson noted that UNCA was fourth in the system in faculty with Ph.D.'s (79%), behind Chapel Hill, NC State and ASU. The balance of the material distributed was from the Board of Trustees meeting concerning budgetary information, projected budget requests for the next biennium, estimated enrollments through 1991, and refunds for lab fees as well as for course tuition. Dr. Prokop stated that Dot Sulock had an opportunity to attend a AAAS meeting having to do with nuclear disarmament and had taken some students to Washington, D.C. Dr. Prokop spoke with Walt Boland regarding the sidewalk issue on Edgewood. Dr. Boland is willing to bring this up again at a City Council meeting, and felt it would be advantageous to have a statement from the Chancellor and the Senate concerning the desires and virtues of having a sidewalk along Edgewood. Dr. Comer moved that the Chair of the Senate be authorized to compose such a letter to the City Council. This was seconded by Ms. Nelms and was unanimously approved. The Computer Center is working on a menu for faculty to review Senate documents. When this is operational, faculty can request a particular year and then have the option of looking at the documents or looking at the index and Page 4 minutes. Faculty will also be able to request a word search on a particular subject matter. Dr. Prokop requested that Senators who were members of either this year's or last year's Tenure Committee, Faculty Welfare & Development Committee, the Executive Committee and Dr. Wilson remain after the Senate meeting. Dr. Prokop stated that the Executive Committee met and discussed a proposal made by Alan Comer at APC which had to do with two readings of documents rather than just one when they were considered by the Senate. He asked Dr. Comer to present his proposal for a Sense of the Senate. Dr. Comer passed out a proposed amendment to the Senate constitution which stated: "A motion involving an important matter of policy shall not be voted upon at the meeting of the Faculty Senate at which it is first proposed but shall lie on the table until a later meeting, unless by vote of two-thirds of the members present a special order is adopted." Dr. Comer explained the proposal and discussion followed. Dr. Mitchell moved to refer this proposal to the Executive Committee for discussion and, if they chose, to bring it back for full consideration of the Senate. This was seconded by Dr. Hantz and unanimously approved. Dr. Friedenberg reported for the Academic Policy Committee. She amended and moved: APC Document #1-A - Transfer Credit for the Honors Program at UNCA. The motion was seconded by Dr. Whatley. There was no discussion and the motion passed unanimously. APC #1-A became Senate Document #0188F. Dr. Friedenberg announced that next Thursday the APC would be developing guidelines for departments/programs to submit policies and catalog copy regarding entry requirements to the major. This was made official policy last year by a Senate document, and all departments are now required to state their requirements for admission in the catalog. Ideas or general guidelines from Senators are welcome. Dr. Friedenberg stated that just prior to the Senate meeting, the Executive Committee received a phone call from Academic Advising regarding the advising of students whose schedules will become blocked at the beginning of Spring semester because of their failure to achieve the required GPA for satisfactory progress at the end of Fall semester. A lengthy discussion ensued concerning the intent of the policy, identifying special academic advisors, the number of students involved, informing students of blocked schedules, the logistics of carrying out the policy, and the implications of the policy for the Registrar and the entire university. The Advising Committee, in consultation with the Administration, will establish a procedure by which last year's policy will be implemented. The APC will act in an advisory capacity in order to help implement the program next January. Dr. Browning reported for the Institutional Development Committee. IDC and UPC continue to meet every other week and may need to have weekly meetings in the future. The academic programs of atmospheric sciences, physics, and chemistry have been asked to complete their Page 5 self-study this year and report to the Planning Council. The humanities program will also be conducting a formal self-study this year. General Administration has mandated that all computer science and mathematics programs in the UNC system conduct some form of a self-study similar to the ones conducted by atmospheric sciences, physics and chemistry last year. IDC is directing them to respond to the GA guidelines and to continue with a self-study afterwards. The Council is continuing to review the objectives and activities of Quality Growth and Statewide Impact for 1988-89. Dr. Browning distributed a handout which is also being sent to the Chancellor. It is in response to an objective articulated by Chancellor Brown that UNCA attempt, as an institution, to gain legislative funding at par with the regional institutions in the state. The UPC supports any effort that would bring the institution more resources and funds. However, Dr. Browning stated that from talking with Mr. Pott, he understood that moving UNCA from Comprehensive II to Comprehensive I would mean approximately $1500 per FTE increase in faculty salary on a one-time basis only, with no additional resources and no change in the student/faculty ratio. Making this move would not necessarily gain the institution a larger resource base, and would not change the budget ratios. The UPC's response was that it might be wise to consider the elimination of Comprehensive II as a category in the UNC stratification of the 16 institutions, moving those in group II into group I. The Carnegie listing also has a listing called "Liberal Arts College I" and the Council suggested this listing as an alternative strategy, as it might be wise to consider achieving a special status category within the UNC stratification. This has been done before, as The School of the Arts is in a special category. Dr. Nickless reported that the Faculty Welfare and Development Committee had been investigating the possibility of offering dental insurance. Dr. Caroline Miller's office conducted a survey and feels there is sufficient interest among faculty and staff to have dental insurance. The two most attractive plans were Blue Cross/Blue Shield and American Pioneer. The policies were very comparable with prices running from $10.14 for employee-only per month to $36.38 for a family per month, with either $25 or $50 deductible. The FWC is recommending American Pioneer and Dr. Miller's office is checking with local dentists to see if they accept this plan, what they know about it, etc. Within the next several months one of these programs should be available as an option for employees. 35% participation is required for Blue Cross/Blue Shield and 20% for American Pioneer. Dr. Nickless stated that the best plans must be paid by the employers. Dr. Wilson urged the Senate to consider taking a resolution to the Faculty Assembly at the next meeting, requesting that GA include something like this in their consideration for systemwide compensation. Dr. Nickless stated she was pleased that the Administration would support this endeavor and that it was on the agenda. Next, Dr. Nickless stated that UNCA may be able to get direct deposit for employees and FWD is waiting for documentation from the state budget division. Employees currently employed would be given an option to choose if they want direct deposit or not. Future employees would be required to use direct deposit. Page 6 There was no Old Business. During New Business, Dr. Patch announced the North Carolina AAUP has a Fall meeting on October 21 & 22 at Davidson College. The theme is, "Are the Liberal Arts in Disarray in North Carolina?". Ms. Marshall announced that colleagues start thinking about who they would like to nominate for the Ruth & Leon Feldman Award this coming year. Dr. Prokop adjourned the meeting at 5:05 PM. Respectfully submitted by: Sandra M. Gravely Pamela Nickless Page 7