University Governance
FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
January 27, 2009
Provost’s Conference Room – 3:00 p.m.
Approved 2/10/09
PRESENT: Nancy Kinnersley, Liz Kowalchuk, Lisa Wolf-Wendel, Ben Eggleston John Staniunas, John Stratton, Lisa Friis (by telephone)
ALSO PRESENT: Molly Mulloy, Kathy Reed
EXCUSED: Mary Berry
FacEx chair Nancy Kinnersley called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
MINUTES for December 2, 2008 were approved.
REPORT OF THE FACULTY SENATE PRESIDENT
Nancy Kinnersley reported on events at last week’s Board of Regents meeting. COFSP (Council of Faculty Senate Presidents) passed a statement urging consideration of removing the 60 day waiting period for health benefits imposed on new employees.
The Regents approved the FY 2010 housing and food service rate adjustments. There was much discussion about tuition proposals from the universities that will be presented in May and voted on in June. Kinnersley said it was clear that the Regents do not want state budget cuts to be passed along to the students.
The Regents approved a Master of Arts in African and African-American Studies and the creation of a School of Music and School of the Arts at KU, as part of the restructuring of the School of Fine Arts.
The Regents approved a policy amendment to allow universities to offer a “health care bridge” in certain circumstances to assist employees who would be ready to retire but for the cost of health care between the time of retirement and the time they would be eligible for Medicare health care benefits.
The Board considered options to implement the Admissions Task Force recommendation to remove the admissions standards from statute and give the authority to establish those standards to the Board of Regents. The Board decided to maintain the current admissions standards but pursue amendments to the statute that would authorize the Board to modify one or more of the statutory standards.
The Regents discussed the fifth strategic question - alignment with the goals of the state - at the January meeting and will discuss the issue of learner outcomes in February.
The state legislature’s efficiency audit of the six state universities will focus on program and degree duplication, faculty workload, on-line courses, low priority programs and activities, and various efficiency ratios. KU’s OIRP (Office of Institutional Research) is gathering data on this.
Kinnersley reported on her meeting with Provost Lariviere yesterday. The Provost promised that sabbaticals won’t be affected by the budget cuts. He said it’s important to get across the message that the university doesn’t have a lot of money from which the cuts can be drawn without a major impact. The university is looking at everything, including furloughs, which have also been discussed by members of COFSP. The invention agreement is basically on the back burner
Kinnersley announced that the Task Force on the Faculty Handbook expects to forward its document to FacEx and the Provost very soon. John Stratton noted that the task force met for three hours last Friday in order to complete its final revisions. Task Force chair Rick Hale will bring to FacEx several items that need to be moved from the Handbook to the Faculty Senate Rules (FSRR). Subcommittees of the task force were formed to look at specific policies for academic staff and professional staff.
Kinnersley spoke with SPPT (Standards and Procedures for Promotion and Tenure) chair Mark Ezell yesterday, who expects the committee will bring forth several Code changes for Faculty Senate to consider.
OLD BUSINESS
SenEx Football Committee. Chair John Staniunas said the committee has held its first meeting and he is meeting with Athletics Ticket Manager Charlette Blubaugh shortly.
SenEx Basketball Committee (SBC). Several questions were raised about the number of persons purchasing season tickets. SBC member Kathy Reed explained that the number of persons buying tickets decreased this year, perhaps because of the price increase. SenEx’s new contract with Athletics will be for six years rather than five because reseating takes place every two years.
NEW BUSINESS
Faculty Elections. Referring to a handout, members discussed whether the new School of the Arts should have a separate representative on the Faculty Senate, since the Code requires at least one faculty member from “each school and the College.” Consensus was that faculty in the School of the Arts would be considered members of the College in regard to elections to the Faculty Senate.
Chancellor Search Committee. Much discussion ensued over the fact that the search committee does not include a representative from faculty governance, does not include a Lawrence administrator or dean, and does not have gender balance since just five of the eighteen members are women. Consensus of FacEx was for Kinnersley to keep in contact with the two KU faculty and the presidents of the Student Body, Support Staff, and Unclassified Staff, who are all serving on the committee, about the role of governance at KU.
No further business.
Respectfully submitted,
Molly Mulloy