University of North Carolina at Asheville FACULTY SENATE MEETING Minutes, May 5, 1994 - 3:15 p.m. Senate Members: S. Browning, P. Caulfield, F. Davenport, M. Gillum, C. Goedsche, G. Henderson, C. James, N. Kauffman, P. McDonald, M. L. Manns, B. Miller, D. Mullen, P. Nickless, P. Snoyer, B. Yearout, T. Cochran Visitors: T. Byers, D. Howard, B. Larson, P. Laughon, D. Lisnerski, R. Maas, C. McClary, G. Moses, S. Patch, A. White-Carter, K. Whatley, L. Wilson I. Call to Order Dr. Browning, Faculty Senate Chair, welcomed faculty and guests to the last meeting of the 1993-1994 Senate and called the meeting to order at 3:25 pm. II. Administrative Report Dr. Tom Cochran, Interim VCAA, gave the Administration Report. Parking The Botanical Gardens Board unanimously approved a resolution against building a parking lot above the Botanical Gardens. At this time there is no specific plan to proceed with the project. The Board of Trustees will meet the end of June and may have a say in the process. Minor modifications may be made to existing spaces along the circle to increase the number of street parking as no temporary lots are being planned. Dining hall parking will become available in January. Assistant Vice Chancellors Dr. Cochran reported on the activities of Assistant Vice Chancellors Moseley, Downes, and Hantz. Merritt Moseley has been working with outreach programs and community service, and has developed an inventory of activities taking place in those areas. Peg Downes has recently been working extensively with the University Teaching Council on the GA mandated conference on Enhancement and Evaluation of Teaching and chairing a task force to examine the state of teaching at UNCA. The task force is composed primarily of UTC members and Distinguished Teachers. There is also a GA mandate to establish Teaching Centers; department chairs will meet next Thursday to discuss this project. Dr. Downes has been asked to continue working on this project until the conference is completed and the results of the conference have been distributed to the campuses. This natural stopping point should occur in September or October. A retreat dealing with the issue of evaluation and enhancement of teaching is being planned for the beginning of next fall's semester. One activity of the task force will be to gather after school in May to plan the event. This will probably serve as an opportunity to get to know Chancellor Reed. Dr. Cochran asked senators to inform their colleagues that an all-campus faculty retreat would be held the day before faculty are expected to return in August. Alan Hantz has worked on the Long Range Plan, the proposal for the new degree program, and has recently been working on the First Year Experience project. Discussions focusing on ways this project might proceed have been held on Friday afternoons. Dr. Hantz has been asked to shepherd the project through next year to its natural conclusion. In response to Dr. Goedsche's question, Dr. Cochran stated that Dr. Hantz will be encouraged to work on this project over the summer. Literature Department Chair Dr. Merritt Moseley will be assuming the chair of the Literature Department for next year. Special Registration In response to Dr. Lisnerski's question, Dr. Cochran stated that over 100 students registered during a special registration day. Nearly 100 students who failed to pre- register were contacted and encouraged to take advantage of the special registration day. Although UNCA is now 25 students above last year's figures, the University is far short of last year's enrollment target. III. Executive Committee Report Dr. Shirley Browning reported for the Executive Committee. Graduating with Distinction At a recent faculty meeting concern was expressed about when a student could graduate with distinction in a major or non-major; it appeared that the faculty wanted the APC and Faculty Senate to deal with the issue. Dr. Browning asked APC formally to put the issue on the agenda for next year. Handout from Chancellor Reed Dr. Browning distributed a handout from Chancellor Reed to be shared with the campus community. The message outlined seven points Dr. Reed recently made while on campus as well as comments to the faculty. Faculty Assembly Dr. Browning reported on the April 22, 1994 Faculty Assembly meeting. President Spangler and GA submitted a request for a six percent salary adjustment. The budget also contained $5M toward library acquisitions. The Teaching Award Program was reviewed by Vice President Little. Starting next year, each of the campuses will nominate a person from the campus to receive a Board of Governor's Award as an Outstanding Teacher. The campus will receive $7500 to fund additional teaching awards; these funds cannot be used in conjunction with any existing awards. Each campus will devise a system to establish criteria and ways the monies will be allocated. GA clarified the undergraduate load of 15 hours a semester as an average that is being targeted and not a strict requirement in legislation at this point. This will be monitored closely to see the extent to which campuses accomplish this by 1997. The intent is to see students graduate in four years. The Board of Governors denied a Faculty Assembly Resolution which asked that when a faculty member successfully defends themselves against a personnel action leading to dismissal that the University then pay the expense of that faculty member's defense. The Faculty Assembly passed a Resolution asking that the Chair of the Assembly be permitted to appear before the Study Commission to testify about the academic areas the Commission will study. The Study Commission, comprised of legislators, will look at undergraduate education, funding, and quality issues. A partial list of concerns follows: Undergraduate Education: rewards and incentives for quality undergraduate teaching; assessment and evaluation of faculty teaching and the role of this assessment in the reward system including salary increases and granting of tenure; academic support system for undergraduates including under-prepared students; consistent establishment of minimum standards for college level course work and the success rates of students in remedial or developmental programs; accessibility of higher education to qualified residents of the state; student contact with tenured faculty; and the use of teaching assistants. Funding issues: equity and funding; the effect of budget flexibility on the ability of each campus to carry out its mission in an effective manner; the impact of allowing campuses to retain a greater proportion of indirect cost reimbursement from research grants; total funding sources available for each constituent institution and each affiliated entity including institutional trust funds, research grants, gifts, grants and donations; expenditures for the benefit of the campus by private groups or foundations; the projected impact of changing the state funding for full time equivalent students from 12 semester hours to 15 semester hours for undergraduate students; changes in faculty teaching loads and student course loads over the past ten years; affordability of higher education including existing financial aid programs, alternative methods of providing student financial aid, and various plans of savings for college education. Quality issues: the impact and effect of research on the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina; the quality and current levels of services of all libraries of the University of North Carolina; faculty salaries and other compensation relative to public institutions and other states; and the relative quality of all 16 campuses compared to peer institutions and to changes in quality in each of the 16 campuses. In response to questions, Dr. Browning stated that faculty should be prepared to provide information to the Office of Academic Affairs, to sit on task forces, and to be aware that rules may change with regard to student and teaching loads. The issues of teaching load, funding, time to graduate and retention are real concerns; at the larger schools the relationship between teaching and scholarship is a real concern. WNC's legislators on the Study Commission are Mr. Nesbitt (co-chair) and Mr. Winner. The Assembly passed a resolution requesting President Spangler to ask each campus to place in its Faculty Handbook, with the advise and consent of the faculty, a statement of professional responsibility of faculty. The Assembly passed a sample statement articulating the fact that faculty do work more than 12 hours per week. Second Reading: EC #2: Recommendations re: Report on the Status of People of Color and Women at UNCA (Browning/Yearout). Dr. Mullen stated that the Task Force recommends that the UPC formulate a long range plan for increasing the racial diversity of the student population of the campus. The plan should not lump all "minorities" together in its long range goals, but should instead set specific targets for individual racial groups. Since UNCA is the State's only campus classified as Liberal Arts I, it is appropriate that the composition of the population of North Carolina be used as the campus' guide. It also recommends that by the year 2005, the student population of the campus reflect the racial diversity found in the State. In order to attract students and compete with schools who can give larger financial packages, the Task Force recommends that UNCA's Capital Campaign Fundraising Drive prioritize the earmarking of significant dollar amounts as the future source of financial support targeting African American students. Dr. Henderson stated that page three, section (j), referred to a "First Year" experience program which does not exist. A discussion of programs followed. Dr. James stated that when people discuss retention or recruiting efforts for minority students they discuss programs designed to improve academic performance. The programs listed in section (j) are good, necessary, and provide vital services on campus, but the majority of students handled are traditional students. This gives a false impression that UNCA is bringing in writing centers, retention programs, and remedial programs. If the programs don't primarily provide for minority students then they are not programs that UNCA can say it has in place. These efforts are not enough when trying to increase or retain minority students. Dr. Henderson made a motion to substitute paragraph (j) with: "To assist the development of programs designed to assist minority students toward successful completion of the academic programs at the university." Dr. Mullen seconded the motion to amend and the motion passed. Dr. Henderson made a motion that under (j) there is need to have certain support services, both curricular and co-curricular; Dr. Henderson wanted to make sure everyone understood what was being said. In an editorial correction, the following sentence was added to (j): "These programs should also be monitored by the Commission." Dr. Mullen stated that these were recommendations and he hoped the Faculty Senate, in changing the charter for the Commission on Minority Affairs, would do some fine tuning. This is an attempt to change the Commission on Minority Affairs from an implementing body to an advisory and oversight body. In response to questions from Dr. Goedsche and Mr. Moses, Dr. Mullen stated that one recommendation is that a long term partnership occur between the campus and contiguous local school systems. EC #2 passed unanimously as amended and became Senate Document #2794S. IV. Student Government Report Mr. Gerard Moses gave the Student Government Report in Charles Ewing's absence. An emergency SGA meeting will be held at 8:45 pm tonight at the Highsmith Center room 37 to discuss how the Judicial Code will be operating. Mr. Moses requested feedback on SGA's final exam schedule draft presented at the last meeting. The schedule was discussed during APC's report. V. Academic Policies Report Dr. Bob Yearout reported for the Academic Policies Committee. Second Reading: APC #19: Reading Day proposal - SGA version In response to Dr. Yearout's request for feedback, the Senate discussed the number of exams possible in a day, a ten minute break between exams, rotating exam times for 8:00 a.m. classes held on M-W-F, and the impact of the schedule on students' ability to perform. Dr. Yearout agreed to discuss these concerns with the SGA President. General Education Review - Mathematics and Natural Sciences Dr. Yearout distributed the APC general education review of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and directed the Senate to read paragraph nine on page three. APC was not tasked to review the guidelines but rather how they were being carried out. Dr. Yearout made a motion that the Senate task the APC for the 1994-1995 year to review the administrative practices and restrictions of the natural science general education guidelines. Dr. Henderson seconded the motion. The Senate discussed the intent of the 1985 general education guidelines and passed the motion unanimously. VI. Institutional Development Committee/University Planning Council Report Dr. Gwen Henderson gave the Institutional Development Committee/University Planning Council Report. Environmental Studies Department and Environmental Quality Institute The UPC asked the Environmental Studies Department and the Environmental Quality Institute to come together given the direct relationship between these entities. The EQI has asked for permanent establishment. The UPC believes EQI has many positives, and has generated funding on its own. The UPC recognized that EQI needs an efficient accounting system and the campus does not currently have this resource. Given this, and the certainty that other arms of the institution will have this need, the UPC recommended to the administration that a position be created in the business office for a person who has a proven track record and can assist in accounting. Short of actually securing a permanent position or a new position, UPC will understand if the administration temporarily provides an internship at a highly successful university for an individual in the business office. The thorough training necessary cannot be provided in a two week workshop. In addition, EQI needs an external consultant to help perform a thorough assessment. The UPC also feels that the Environmental Studies Department has many pluses but is sensitive to the fact that the members have never engaged in a self study. The department recognized after meeting with the UPC that there was need for greater detail in their responses and in the manner in which typical questions were addressed. In view of this and the fact that the department is now in its tenth year of existence, the UPC recommends that the UNCA administration arrange for an external consultant to assist the department in making a thorough, realistic, and accurate self assessment, including the status of their outcome. There should be a second survey of students, and where there are concerns, the department should clearly indicate how they are addressing those concerns. In making this recommendation, the UPC wanted to be clear to the Senate that we are not denigrating the department. UPC feels that it has a positive role to play at the university; the UPC is only interested in assisting them as others have been assisted. Long Range Plan for Space Allocations The UPC is recommending to the VCAA that there is development of a long range plan with regard to space allocations, that consideration be given to construction needs for Robinson and Rhodes, and that a report be made to the UPC. UPC realizes that this has been done before, but is asking that it be repeated. Request to establish a Survey Research Center The request to establish a University Survey Research Center was presented by Mark West last fall. The UPC approved the development of the idea and seed money with the following stipulations: full consideration be given to concerns relative to scope, emphasis be given to university faculty and student involvement and community served; and consideration be given to possible future resource implications. After three years, those involved will return to the UPC with a request for establishment of an Institutional Research Center. The UPC will evaluate the progress that has been made, the feasibility inherent to any resource implications, and whether full development should ensue. In response to Dr. Mullen's question, the Senate briefly discussed the relationship between this program and the office of Institutional Research. VII. Faculty Welfare and Development Committee Report Mary Lynn Manns gave the Faculty Welfare and Development Committee report. Faculty Conciliator The Senate elected the following slate of four faculty to be forwarded to the Student Government Association: Edwin Dickens, Claudel McKenzie, Dot Sulock, and Michael Stuart. Next fall the SGA will elect the Faculty Conciliator and an Alternate from the list of faculty. Election Results When counting the ballots for Faculty Grievance the FWDC overlooked the rule that only one member may serve from any department; therefore, Rick Chess and Sam Schuman could not serve at the same time. Since Dr. Schuman received more votes than Dr. Chess, Dr. Schuman will serve on the committee in the Full Professor capacity and a new name was selected from the Assistant Professor rank. Cheryl McClary received the second highest votes in the Assistant Professor category and will serve in that capacity. Ms. Manns stated that the elections went well. - Second Reading FWDC #2: Medical Authorization Form (Manns/Snoyer) FWDC #2 passed unanimously and became Senate Document #2894S. FWDC #3: Student Enrollment Agreement (Manns/Snoyer) FWDC #3 passed unanimously and became Senate Document #2994S. Faculty Disability Document The Task Force is making progress in addressing issues raised during a meeting with Larry Wilson. The document should be presented for first reading during the beginning of the school year. VIII. Old Business There was no Old Business. IX. New Business There was no New Business. X. Comments from the Chair and Adjournment Dr. Browning thanked all of the Senators for their work this year and stated that Senators Forest Davenport, Michael Gillum, Gwen Henderson, Dwight Mullen, and Pamela Nickless would be missed. Dr. Browning adjourned the meeting at 4:50 pm and announced that the organization meeting of the 1994-1995 Faculty Senate would begin in five minutes. Respectfully submitted by: Sandra Gravely Mary Lynn Manns