Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes 3-4-09
The meeting was called to order by Dr. Clint Atchley, President
Present: Clint Atchley, Mitzi Bass, Aaron Calvert, James Duke, David Evans, Maralea Gourley, Martin Halpern, Barbara Landrum, Brett Serviss, Jamie Engman (alternate for Michael Taylor), Anna Smith (alternate for Jane Dunn), Linda Evans, Vickie Faust, Rhonda Harrington, Paul Huo, Yunsuk Koh, Catherine Leach, Patti Miley, Michael Miller, Rochelle Moss, Ceyla Taylor, Allison Vetter, Dusty Schmid (Staff Senate Representative)
Dr. Vernon Miles, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, attended the meeting and discussed several subjects as well as answering questions posed by senators.
1. Budget concerns: Dr. Miles stated that this year’s constraints are unique due to the national economic crisis, the directive for HSU to pay the early retirement amounts due, and the budget including a projected one hundred students who did not materialize. He stated that the current budget process includes budgeting for 97% of the students enrolled during the Fall 2008 semester. He urged caution concerning fund raising based on “Help us through this crisis!” which is bad public relations and might discourage giving to special projects in the future. Dr. Miles also stated that Contingency Funds and Cash Reserves need to be enhanced. In his opinion, the important questions concerning budget are: “How much does it cost to run HSU?” “Where are we the most and least efficient?” “What areas are meeting our goals and our education mission for our students?” Dr. Miles extended an invitation for anyone, who so desires, to attend the Budget meetings.
2. The visit from the Higher Learning Commission will take place either during the Fall 2011 or Spring 2012 semester. Dr. Angela Boswell and Jennifer Holbrook are the Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee. Five committees, looking at each of the HLC’s five standards, will be formed.
3. The Strategic Planning Committee will hold some parallel discussion to the Higher Learning Commission visit preparation.
4. On line evaluations of the president and vice presidents will be posted soon.
5. An Institutional Review Board is working to draw up regulations which will be presented to the Academic Committee of the Faculty Senate.
6. Dr. Miles requested that the Faculty Senate not vote for a Smoke Free Campus as this time. All of the deans concur in this request.
The minutes of the February meeting were approved as distributed.
Clint Atchley presented the following report:
President’s Report
4 March 2009
Meeting with President Chuck Welch—
I met with Dr. Welch on 3 March 2009 to discuss the issues. Regarding the recent budget freeze, Dr. Welch indicated that the action is the result of a “perfect storm.” It stems from the $660,000 cut from the state last year, the budgeting of 100 extra students who did not enroll, and the early retirement which auditors now say must be paid out of this year’s operating budget to the tune of $638,455. We might have weathered any two of these, but the existing budget cannot absorb all three; thus, he implemented the freeze. Dr. Welch did indicate a willingness to work with people on an individual basis, but he also stated that the freeze is across the board for all departments and divisions. He also strongly emphasized that there will be no job cuts for faculty or staff or existing programs. He believes that, by good planning and sound fiscal management, we will be better off in the future. If we budget correctly, we will not have to freeze monies late in the year. We still have 1.5 years left to pay on the early retirement package.
Dr. Welch also indicated that we are working to cut scholarships from 22% to 15% and to do away with stacking all together which he thinks is hurting recruiting. He and Bobby Jones are looking into a 3.8% tuition increase which is tied to the HEPI index. Along with the scholarship cuts and tuition increase, he is looking to decrease the budget by 3%. There is also the possibility of carving an additional 3% from existing areas for a salary increase to offset the fact that HSU will not receive COLA from the state this year.
I asked Dr. Welch for an update on legislative issues which will affect the faculty. The lottery scholarships is a major area of discussion right now. Dr. Welch and Dr. Alan Sugg from UA are representing four-year colleges in talks about the lottery monies. As the situation now stands, the legislators are doing away with the Academic Challenge scholarships and folding them in with the lottery. Any student in Arkansas with a 2.5 GPA or a 19 on the ACT will be eligible for a scholarship of $2500 to attend a four-year college or $1250 to attend a two-year college. All awards will be adjusted on a sliding scale for the first few years. The first scholarships should be available for the fall semester of 2010.
Several bills have been filed, but Dr. Welch does not anticipate that they will run. Among these bills are the one requiring common course numbering and the concealed weapons bills. The Higher Education transparency bill, which will publish on the web the names of everyone making $100,000 or more, passed on 2 March. Two more bills to watch for are a bill requiring ADHE to set standards for all developmental courses and a bill requiring all colleges and universities to require students to take any remedial courses within their first thirty hours of coursework.
Senators questioned whether students who receive lottery funding scholarships should need to earn a 3.00 gpa in order to retain the funding.
Committee Reports:
1. Executive---Catherine Leach reported that the Executive Committee has no resolution concerning a Smoke Free Campus. The Staff Senate agreed that more discussion is needed on this issue, and no report was made from the Student Government Association. Concerns about businesses coming to campus and asking to use campus buildings for GRE instruction were raised. The Academic Committee is already discussing this situation.
2. Finance—James Duke reported that he is attending the University Budget Committee sessions, and he is receiving all materials under discussion. Fees, according to current conversation, must help the student, not serve as a revenue source. Salaries will be the topic of discussion at the next meeting.
3. Buildings and Grounds Committee Report to the Faculty Senate for March 4, 2009
Committee members: Mitzi Bass, Linda Evans, Vickie Faust, Yunsuk Koh, Michael Miller, Rochelle Moss, and Brett Serviss, Chair.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee recently met on February 23, 2009 in order to discuss various items that were brought before the committee regarding campus facilities, grounds, and security. A list of these items is as follows:
- ongoing maintenance problems in the Library, especially the roof that has been leaking for years and the front doors that have only been partially replaced;
- the presence of asbestos in the ceiling of the Library; it makes wiring for computers very difficult and potentially poses a hazard to people in that building;
- ongoing problems regarding the badly leaking roof of Mooney Hall;
- additional outdoor lighting around campus/campus lighting in general;
- security cameras;
- repair of uneven sidewalk in front of Proctor Hall;
- determining the location of faculty parking spaces (motorcycles versus cars);
- handicap parking near Foster Hall;
- parking lot in front of the Wells Center;
- wheelchair access ramp in front of the Wells Center;
- additional automatic doors for Foster Hall;
- malfunctioning automatic doors; and
- large hole under stairs near the Reynolds Building.
General Report.
The committee unanimously agreed that items one through four should be addressed in detail during the next Campus Master Planning Committee meeting (the chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee is on that committee). However, the Buildings and Grounds Committee does again extend a strong recommendation to the Henderson State University Administration that the inadequate lighting conditions that occur essentially campus–wide be corrected as soon as possible, and that this matter should be considered a top priority to be accomplished in the very near future.
Items five through twelve have been reported to the appropriate university personnel, who have acknowledged them, but resolution is currently pending. The committee requested the following regarding items five through twelve: 1. one to two additional handicap parking spaces to be placed in the immediate vicinity of Foster Hall; 2. automatic doors for the front of Foster Hall; 3. repair of the wheelchair access ramp at the Wells Center; 4. to repair or repave the front parking lot of the Wells Center; 5. the large hole on the north side of Reynolds to be filled in; 6. repair of the uneven area(s) on the sidewalk in front of Proctor Hall; and 7. inquiry as to whether or not the personnel of each building could have some input in determining the faculty parking layout in the vicinity of their respective building.
In regard to item eleven, any external doors to buildings that are malfunctioning should be reported concurrently to Physical Plant and Campus Police.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Buildings and Grounds Committee,
Brett Serviss
Buildings and Grounds Committee Chair
4. Academic Committee Report
Report of the Academics Committee to the Faculty Senate, March 4, 2009
The Academics Committee met on February 24 and discussed three issues. We were unable to address at our initial meeting a fourth issue on our agenda, Research Expectations/Teaching Loads/Equity across colleges, but hope to do so at a future meeting.
IRB procedures
One of our members, Allison Vetter, is serving on a committee appointed by the Provost to review our IRB procedures. Allison will consult with another committee member, Rafael Bejarano, and keep the committee informed of proposed changes so the Faculty Senate can be kept in the loop on this issue. The impetus for action is a concern that our procedures may not be in compliance with current federal regulations.
Admission standards/remediation/retention
The committee had a wide-ranging discussion focused on the question of the lack of readiness for college work of a significant number of our students. We discussed a New York Times article which highlighted a tendency across the country for many students to feel they deserve a B if they attend class or do the reading. Several programs are in place to address these problems, including the Henderson Seminar, the First Year Experience program, the Center for Student Success and Transition, and Student Support Services. The committee is still deliberating on these issues but among the concerns discussed are including sustained attention to academics at Reddie for Henderson Day and Heart Start and providing more resources to and empowering the Center for Student Success and Transition (CSST) so that students on suspension take seriously their responsibilities to adhere to their contracts. Getting lists of students on probation to advisors and getting a complete list of students on probation to CSST are additional concerns. Integrating the CSST into academic affairs is an idea that should be considered.
Committee members also spoke about the need to think long-term about solutions to these problems. We need to reach students in the public schools early in their experience so that they set their sights on college and get an idea of both the value of a college education and the preparation they need in order to be ready to meet Henderson standards and benefit from a Henderson education. Some programs are already in place to make alliances between Henderson faculty and staff and public school communities. Among these are a variety of summer programs and the Educational Renewal Zone Partnership (ERZP) program. The committee suggests that Paulette Blacknall, the Director of the ERZP, be invited to a Faculty Senate meeting as a step in getting faculty more informed and involved in this important program.
Should Henderson faculty in their official capacity be advertising the services of private companies?
We had a preliminary discussion of this topic regarding recent promotions of for-profit exam preparation companies. Concerns were expressed on the one hand about the appropriateness of such conduct and on the other about protecting freedom of speech. Jamie Engman conducted some research and found limitations on the posting of advertising materials but no policies on the subject of faculty involvement. Professor Engman wonders if we should drop the subject or undertake, as he puts it in an email, “forging new ground?”
Submitted by Martin Halpern, chair
5. No report from the Procedures Committee.
6. The Ad Hoc Committee on Promotion/Tenure and Salary Study passed out materials which compare HSU salaries to comparable schools based on region, membership in COPLAC, and membership in the Gulf South Conference. A compression study was also included as were comparisons based on AAUP figures. Senators were asked to study the data.
There was no old business.
There was no new business.
A motion to adjourn was seconded and approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Mitzi Bass, Secretary