University Governance
SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
May 29, 2009 – 10:00 a.m. – Chancellor’s Conference Room
PRESENT: John Stratton, Ben Eggleston, Lisa Wolf-Wendel, Barbara Phipps, Jim Daugherty, Ada Emmett, Steve Maynard-Moody, Paul Farran, Jeannette Johnson, Mary Ann Baker, Andrea Peterson, JJ Siler, Mason Heilman.
ABSENT: Kellee Kirkpatrick, Dennis Constance, JJ Siler
ALSO PRESENT: Molly Mulloy
Chair John Stratton called the meeting to order and invited members to introduce themselves.
MINUTES for 05/05/09 were approved.
STANDING REPORTS
SenEx Chair
John Stratton reported that the Regents will announce the new KU Chancellor at 3:00 p.m. today. The amendments to the Code and Rules passed by the Senates have been forwarded to the Provost for final approval. He and Lisa Wolf-Wendel will meet with Associate Vice Provost for Research Josh Rosenbloom in June to discuss possible revisions to the Conflict of Interest Policy. Dan Bernstein will be invited to meet with University Senate this fall to discuss the report of the Task Force on Learner Outcomes, and Dean of Graduate Studies Sara Rosen will be invited to discuss graduate student travel funds. The joint proposal to increase the University Senate membership of the two employee senates and the student senate will be on the first University Senate agenda in the fall.
Stratton reported that he and Lisa Wolf-Wendel have been discussing how to proceed with the work of last year’s Task Force on Employee Benefits. For example, one option would be to discuss the task force’s objectives in the fall with KU’s new Chancellor and Provost and then reactivate the task force in the spring. Paul Farran proposed that the task force be appointed now to start with preliminary steps such as identifying how its proposals would be implemented, looking at policies in Iowa and Ohio, and discussing issues with contacts at the other Regents universities. Two items mentioned by members as particularly relevant were domestic partner benefits and the waiting period for new employees to receive health care benefits. John Stratton stated that discussion would continue when governance task forces are considered later on the agenda.
Faculty Senate President
Lisa Wolf-Wendel announced that the Provost has approved the Open Access Policy passed by the Faculty Senate this May. Representatives from faculty governance and the Provost’s office will meet this fall to discuss the implementation details of the policy.
Student Body President
Mason Heilman reported that he will be meeting throughout the summer with Vice Provost Marlesa Roney and the community alcohol coalition.
Unclassified Senate President
Jeannette Johnson reported that her group is working with HREO to develop an annual performance evaluation policy for unclassified staff and is also reviewing professional development opportunities. Noting that more than 600 unclassified senate members work in the research sector at KU, Johnson requested that in the future an Unclassified Senate representative be included on an ad hoc basis when research policies, such as the new Open Access policy, are being discussed
University Support Staff President
Reporting for Dennis Constance, Mary Ann Baker said that support staff representatives from all of the Regents’ universities are meeting today in Lawrence to discuss legislative agendas and other issues of mutual interest.
CHARGES TO UNIVERSITY SENATE COMMITTEES
ACTC. (Academic Computing & Telecommunications)
Paul Farron pointed out that the ACTC Committee includes nine faculty but just one unclassified staff member, whereas nearly all employees in information technology are unclassified staff.
Stratton noted that he is communicating with former FacEx members Rick Hale and Lisa Friis regarding concerns raised by Engineering School faculty about the employee invention agreement form distributed by the Provost last fall. Members briefly discussed the idea of appointing a group in FY10 to look into the employee agreement form as well as KU’s Intellectual Property policy. Stratton will report back to SenEx on this at the first fall meeting.
Paul Farran/Lisa Wolf-Wendel moved to delete Standing Charge 2 and to approve the other charges. Passed.
AP&P (Academic Policies & Procedures)
In regard to Specific Charge #2 (English proficiency testing for undergraduate admission), Wolf-Wendel explained that international students sometimes have to spend 2-3 years at the Applied English Center to correct language deficiencies before they may enroll in other classes. The recommendation is to test language skills for undergraduates before they come to campus; KU already does this for graduate students.
Andrea Peterson proposed that a new charge be added to review the impact of the College’s new plus/minus grading option. However, the consensus of SenEx was that it would be preferable to have another year of data on the new option before a review of it. Johnson pointed out that the College’s plus/minus grading option is a College decision and not one for SenEx. Following discussion, members agreed with Heilman to add a charge concerning grading inconsistencies throughout the university. He and Peterson will draft the new charge.
Wolf-Wendel/Farron moved to approve the charges. Passed.
Athletic Committee
Members agreed to add four new charges: 1) a new charge to review the applicability of the current charges and whether they should be retained; 2) a new charge concerning ethical issues in licensing agreements, to be drafted by Peterson; 3) a new charge concerning club sports, to be drafted by Maynard-Moody; 4) a new charge to provide a rationale to SenEx regarding the recommendations in the FY09 final report. Members agreed to delete Specific Charges1-7.
Wolf-Wendel/Peterson moved to approve the charges. Passed.
Calendar Committee. Postponed to next week.
International Affairs.
Members agreed that John Stratton will draft a new charge for the committee to consider (1) renaming itself and (2) broadening the function of the committee to include multicultural affairs as well.
Phipps/Emmett moved to approve. Passed.
Libraries
Members deleted Specific Charge #2, and added a new charge to convene an open forum for faculty/staff/students to foster communication between members of the Library Committee and the constituencies it represents. A new standing charge will be added to distribute the committee’s charges and membership list to the liaisons within the libraries who are assigned to specific disciplines.
O&A (Organization & Administration)
Farran will draft a new charge to review the structure and composition of University Senate committees.
The agenda will be continued at the June 1st meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Molly Mulloy