University Governance
SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
September 22, 2009, 3:00 P.M., Provost’s Conference Room
Approved: 10/06/09
PRESENT: John Stratton, Ben Eggleston, Lisa Wolf-Wendel, Jim Daugherty, Ada Emmett, Steve Maynard-Moody, Paul Farran, Jeannette Johnson, Mary Ann Baker, Dennis Constance, Andrea Peterson, Mason Heilman.
EXCUSED: JJ Siler, Barbara Phipps, Kellee Kirkpatrick
ALSO PRESENT: Molly Mulloy and Kathy Reed, Governance; Estella McCollum, KU Bookstore director; David Mucci, director of the Kansas Union; Saida Bonifield, LGBT Resource Center Coordinator; students Matthew Blankers, Jayne Henson, and Sonja Heath.
Chair John Stratton called the meeting to order and welcomed the guests present today.
MINUTES for 8/25/09 were approved.
STANDING REPORTS
SenEx Chair.
John Stratton reported on several comments he received regarding the proposed amendments to the Code and Rules emailed to the University Community last week.
Faculty Senate President
Lisa Wolf-Wendel reported on events at last week’s meetings of the Board of Regents (BOR) and the Council of Faculty Senate Presidents (COFSP). KU was praised for the excellent outcome of the BOR’s recent audit of the University, and the Regents approved KU’s proposed expansion of KU’s Memorial Stadium.
COFSP has asked each school for feedback regarding interest in participating in the BOR’s proposed annual award to one tenured and one untenured faculty from each institution. The consensus of the faculty members present at SenEx today was to not participate in this award program.
Wolf-Wendel will be involved in writing the BOR’s faculty morale survey which is distributed to faculty every few years. She stated that the Regents will be asking the state legislature for a $17 million increase to cover unfunded mandates. This would not be a budget increase but would allow funding to remain at the current level.
Student Body President
Mason Heilman reported that the Student Advisory Committee (SAC), comprised of the student body presidents of the six BOR universities, met last Wednesday. One of the Regents would like for SAC members to survey students on their campuses about how the economic crisis has affected them. Students have been appointed to various boards and committees, including Governance entities. The Student Rights Committee is reviewing the university’s alcohol policy. The amendments to KU’s Non-Discrimination Policy proposed by Student Senate last April have been reformatted for consideration by the University Senate and are on SenEx’s agenda today.
Unclassified Senate President
Jeannette Johnson reported reported that she and incoming president Phil Wilke met with the Chancellor yesterday and discussed the unclassified staff annual evaluation policy and enhancing professional development opportunities, among other things.
University Support Staff President
Dennis Constance reported that the Kansas Support Staff Council, made up of representatives from each of the Regents’ universities, is working on a position paper for the next legislative session. The Council is opposed to the governor’s proposal to change the benefit structure for retirees.
STUDENT SENATE AMENDMENT TO NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
John Stratton welcomed guests Saida Bonifield, LGBT Resource Center Coordinator, and students Matthew Blankers, Jayne Henson, Sonja Heath to the meeting. He explained that the Resolution passed by student Senate last April had been reformatted as a resolution for the University Senate to consider on Oct. 8th.
Asked about the paragraph in lines 33-35 that was not in the original Student Senate resolution, Saida Bonifield said it was added to clarify that the policy affects more than just the transgendered population.
Jeannette Johnson and Dennis Constance stated that they will discuss the resolution with their respective executive committees before the Oct. 8th University Senate meeting.
Lengthy discussion ensued about the phrase “actual or perceived” in lines 50 and 67 [“Thus, it is also the policy of the university to prohibit discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation, martial status, parental status, gender identity, and gender expression.”].Several persons stated that the words were implied and therefore not needed in the policy; another suggested removing the word “actual” and leaving in “perceived”; several others felt that the two words strengthened the policy. Guest Jayne Henson commented that “gender identity” is how a person inwardly perceives him/herself, while “gender expression” is how a person outwardly expresses him/herself. Jeannette Johnson stated that University employees would be covered by an Executive Order signed by Governor Sebelius in August 2007 that prohibits discrimination in regard to “gender identity.”
Following further discussion, Lisa Wolf-Wendel/Ben Eggleston moved that Senex approve the sense of the Resolution and forward it to the General Counsel and the director of HREO for review and comment. Passed without dissent. Both Jeannette Johnson and Dennis Constance, non-voting members of SenEx, noted that they also support this vote. Stratton said the resolution will be brought back to SenEx before it is presented to the University Senate.
TEXTBOOK PROVISIONS IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY ACT
John Stratton welcomed Estella McCollum, manager of the KU Bookstore, and David Mucci, director of the Union, who were present to explain how the new federal legislation on textbook prices effective in July 2010 will affect KU’s faculty and the KU Bookstore. Members referred to the handout entitled “NACS Overview of Higher Education Opportunity Act Textbook Provisions.” Among other things, the new rule requires universities to provide students with book lists/costs for all courses at the time of enrollment. Ms. McCollum said the KU Bookstore website already provides this information for textbooks that have been submitted by faculty to the bookstore.
In response to a question, Estella pointed out only 50% of textbook orders are received from faculty by the April 15th deadline, with many submitted in May and June; nearly 300 textbook orders were not submitted until late August. In the discussion that followed, SenEx members agreed that the campus culture will need to be changed in order to comply with the new regulations. Both buyers and sellers will make more money if faculty members let the bookstore know by April 15th whether they are using the same textbook again. Mucci and McCollum said they will continue to inform faculty about the textbook deadlines in order to comply with the new legislation as best as possible. Stratton said the handout distributed to SenEx today could be forwarded to University Senate members for their information.
OLD BUSINESS
Lisa Wolf-Wendel announced that a search firm has been hired to work with the Provost Search Committee. She asked that persons send nominations to the chair, Prof. Mabel Rice. The names of 3-5 finalists will be announced in the spring.
John Stratton announced that the Chancellor’s Inauguration Committee, chaired by Prof. Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, is planning a series of events over a weeks’ time sometime in the spring semester.
Steve Maynard-Moody said the name of the Furlough Committee should be changed to “Temporary Pay Cut Committee” to more accurately portray its responsibilities.
NEW BUSINESS
Task Force on Domestic Partnerships. Steve Maynard-Moody, co chair of the task force, said they are exploring a new “plus one” approach where KU alone would pay for domestic partner benefits for its employees. He noted that the KU Endowment Assn has a domestic partner benefit it pays for separately. Several members praised this creative approach to the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Molly Mulloy