University Governance

UNIVERSITY SENATE
October 23, 2008 – 3:30 p.m.
Room #203, Green Hall,

Approved: 11/13/08
PRESENT: Faculty – David Brackett, Matt Burke, James Daugherty, Ada Emmett, Iris Fischer , Joe Harrington, Nancy Kinnersley, Liz Kowalchuk, Alice Lieberman, Charles Marsh, Steve Maynard-Moody, Joyce McCray-Pearson, Bozenna Pasik-Duncan, Jean Peterson Jean Phillips, Gitti Salami, Dan Spencer, John Staniunas, Jeff Staudiner, John Stratton, Stacey White, Kelli Thomas, Rodolfo Torres, Donna Tucker, Anthony Walton, Lisa Wolf-Wendel.  University Support Staff – Mary Ann Baker, Cayla Witty. Unclassified Staff –Jason O’Connor; Students – Ben Cohen, Mason Heilman, Elise Higgins, Tonia Salas, JJ Siler. Ex-officio -  Adam McGonigle, Dennis Constance, Paul Farran.

EXCUSED: Faculty - Mary Berry, Melissa Birch, Marta Caminero-Santangelo, Mohamed El-Hodiri, Ben Eggleston, Mark Ezell, Lisa Friis, Allen Ford, Bob Harrington, Doug Huffman, Man Kong, Brent Metz Jim Orr,  Barbara Phipps;  Staff - Betty Childers Jeannette Johnson, Danny Kaiser, Dennis Constance; Students -  May Davis, Stacy Elmer, Aly Rodee, Eric Foss, Libby Johnson, Bill Walberg,

ALSO PRESENT:  Molly Mulloy, Governance; Kathy Reed, Governance; Diliwar Grewal, IT; Prof. James Carothers; Vice Provost Mary Lee Hummert

            Presiding in Mary Berry’s absence, Faculty Senate President Nancy Kinnersley called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

MINUTES for September 11, 2008 were approved.

CURRENT INITIATIVES IN INFORMATION SERVICES
            Nancy Kinnersley welcomed Diliwar Grewal, new director of Research IT Services at KU, who was present to speak on behalf of Vice Provost Denise Stephens.
Grewal explained that last year Vice Provost Stephens led an effort (“Initiative One”) to examine KU’s overall information technology services, support, and infrastructure and to explore new models for using resources in the most efficient manner. The Initiative One report indicated that KU’s current IT model was not working and that better planning was needed everywhere from the desk PC level up to special use clusters and higher-end research software.
Grewal said responses from the deans to a survey he sent them regarding high performance computing have been overwhelmingly supportive. He emphasized that the infrastructure must be looked at in a holistic manner, from an individual’s desktop PC to the “dark fiber” endpoint, in order to produce cost savings and better service. At the request of the Provost, Vice Provost Stephens looked at ways to reallocate her budget in order to identify $3 million dollars to improve the infrastructure and develop sustainable solutions. Major changes are underway; Grewal hopes that a new collaborative model for KU will be worked out among the academic departments, schools, and IT within the next six months. He stressed that humanities and the arts should not be left behind when building capabilities for high performance computers. Grewal answered various questions from Senate members and said he would like to come to the Senate on a regular basis to share information and to receive feedback on what needs to be done.  
Kinnersley thanked Director Grewal for meeting with the Senate today.

SPECIAL REMARKS
            Nancy Kinnersley welcomed Prof. James Carothers who was present to speak about former University Council President  Lloyd Sponholtz, who died recently.  A copy of Prof. Carothers’ remarks are attached to these minutes.

REPORT OF THE FACULTY SENATE PRESIDENT
Nancy Kinnersley reported that the Board of Regents is looking at the five strategic questions it developed last year, at data on how well prepared students are for College, and at enrollment numbers. Its eight specific legislative initiatives for FY2010 are listed on the BOR website.  The BOR would like responsibility for admission standards to be transferred from the state legislature to the Regents. The Council of Faculty Senate Presidents (COFSP) is looking at retention issues and may be again discussing tuition waivers for dependents.
Kinnersley reported that Governance’s Athletic Committee is reviewing a proposal from the Council on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) and will send a representative to COIA’s annual meeting in the spring.
SenEx discussed various questions raised by Engineering School faculty about the invention agreement form that faculty/staff have been asked to sign by 10/31/08. Kinnersley has received numerous emails today from concerned faculty. She and Mary Berry are communicating with Vice Provost for Research Steve Warren about the issue.
SenEx referred a Resolution passed by Student Senate concerning midterm grades to the Academic Policies and Procedures committee for a recommendation.

REPORT OF THE STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
            Reporting for Adam McGonigle, Mason Heilman said that Student Senate passed a bill last night that would partially reform its election process and would place time limits on election campaigns. The consultant for the new aquatic center has proposed three different options that will be reviewed by various student groups in the next several weeks.   

REPORT OF THE UNCLASSIFIED SENATE
            Reporting for Paul Farran, Jason O’Connor noted that the Provost addressed the Unclassified Senate at their last meeting and answered questions about KU’s budget.  The Senate is currently in the process of updating its Bylaws.

REPORT OF THE UNIVERSITY SUPPORT STAFF
            Reporting for Dennis Constance, Cayla Witty stated that the Oct. 13th mini Wheat State tour was successful.  Support staff from all of the Regents schools will meet during the Oct. 30th Regents’ meeting to plan their legislative agenda. KU’s USS is talking about a shared leave policy.

No further business.
Respectfully submitted,
Molly Mulloy

           

Tribute to Lloyd Sponholtz

Lloyd Sponholtz, our long-time colleague in the Department of History, and in shared governance, passed away on September 30 after a valiant struggle against cancer.
Lloyd earned an undergraduate degree in History from Valparaiso University, an M.A. from Marquette University, and a Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh, where he wrote his dissertation on “Progressivism in the Microcosm: Analysis of Political Forces at Work in the Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1912..”  After holding Instructor positions at Penn State and Slippery Rock, he came to the University of Kansas as an Acting Assistant Professor in 1967, becoming an Assistant Professor in 1969 and an Associate Professor in 1979.  He also served a year as Visiting Professor at University College, Dublin.

            Three times a nominee for the H.O.P.E. award, he received a Kemper Fellowship for his teaching in 2002, and he also earned the J. Michael Young award for advising, the highest honor for advising given by the College.  In his teaching and advising he was an exemplary collaborative colleague, working for many years with Dana Leibengood of the School of Journalism to advise Journalism students interested in History, and students who wished to earn dual degrees in History and Journalism.  For over twenty years he also co-taught a cross-listed course in Franklin Delano Roosevelt with Prof. Wil Linkugel of the Department of Speech Communications.  He served the Department of History well as Director of Undergraduate Studies for two terms, totaling seventeen years, always encouraging undergraduates to engage in original research in their special area of interest.  He also served a term as Associate Chair of the Department, and he worked tirelessly with high school teachers in the region to encourage effective transfer and articulation from secondary to university programs.

            It was, perhaps, in shared governance activities that Lloyd was most widely known.  A career-long member of AAUP, he served on its Executive Committee and was twice the AAUP representative to the Committee on Tenure and Related Problems, where he was respected as a fair and thoughtful judge of difficult issues, whether the cases involved were considered quietly or accompanied by extraordinary publicity.    He served on the College Committee on the Budget, and a long term on the University Committee on Business and the Humanities.  He was elected to a term on The College Committee on Undergraduate Studies and Advising, chairing the Academic Standards subcommittee.  He helped out with the Chancellor’s Students Awards and Honors Scholarship Committees, and he was an early advocate and willing worker in the creation of the University Advising Center.  He served nine years as Director of the Mount Oread Scholars program, providing advice and guidance for some of our best students, and vastly improving the academic success and retention rates of this group of extraordinary freshman.

            Lloyd was elected to three separate terms on University Senate (then called “University Council”), and he was elected three times by that body to the Senate and Faculty Executive Committees.  He twice chaired SenEx/FacEx, and presided over the University Council for one term.  In that capacity he represented faculty interests in Topeka, as a member of the Board of Regents Council of Faculty Senate Presidents, and he Chaired that Council, articulating Regents Faculty opinions and recommendations to the Board, earning commendation from the Regents for his warm, lucid, and witty style of presentation.  His tenure on SenEx/FacEx was marked particularly by his support of the successful effort to add Classified Staff and Unclassified Academic Staff to Senate, Council, and their executive committees, making both bodies more comprehensive in their representation of our community of interests.

            This recitation does not begin to exhaust the myriad ways in which Lloyd Sponholtz served his University.  His manner in all this, however, seems to me also to be worth remembering.  Lloyd was a warm person, a courteous person, and an articulate, fair, and lucid expositor of complex issues.  He was a kind and cheerful man, a hard worker, and a colleague who always put the University’s best interests first.  Lloyd Sponholtz was an extraordinary citizen of our University.  It was an honor to have him as our colleague.   

 

Tribute from Prof. James Carothers
University Senate Meeting
October 23, 2008