The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was held on Monday, November 27, at 3:00pm in the Ether Arthur Conference Room – Library 106.

Members Present: G. Abrahamson, M. Avina, K. Brown, J. Browne, J. De Palma, J. Dorsch, M. Druelinger, S. Ebersole, J. Fogelquist, J. Goodman, V. Hansen, M. Hoots, R. Joyce, G. Miller, E. O’Leary, N. Osborn, W. Sauer, P. Sefovic, D. Sullivan, T. Taylor, L. Valerio, W. Wright, P. Otis, P. Frye, E. Medina.

Members Absent: Calhoun-Stuber, Lucero, Regassa, Tate, Orr

Parliamentarian: E. O’Leary

Guests: Dr. Robert Glennen

1. CALL TO ORDER

4. INFORMATION AND ACTION ITEMS

1. Senate President Browne provided information on the following:

1. The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) is currently developing six faculty/staff involvement workshops as part of the Spring 2001 Faculty Convocation; one workshop for each strategic area identified to date by the SPC as likely strategic initiatives for USC’s 2002-2007 Strategic Plan. These workshops will be facilitated by SPC members and will address the following strategic areas:

1. Academic P. Billington and J. Ryan
2. Student Support G. Dukes
3. Resources V. Borge
4. Technology R. Drabier
5. Quality of Work Life J. Browne

1. The last SPC meeting of the semester will be on 12/6/00

1. Dr. Robert Glennen, Provost reported the SBA met at Ft. Collins

1. A draft of revisions to the Faculty Handbook is underway by the Provost. When the draft is completed it will be forwarded to the Faculty Handbook Committee for review and action. An update of the Administrative Handbook is also in progress.
2. The Provost recognized Dr. Jack Seilheimer for his work on the handbooks
3. The Provost thanked the Faculty Senator for cooperating with him during his tenure at USC. He then asked the Faculty Senate to extend a warm welcome and to work collaboratively with the incoming Provost.

1. General Education Board – Dr. Sam Ebersole

1. Catalog changes reflecting the revision to the GenEd Program requirements will be brought to the Faculty Senate for a vote at its 1/29/01 meeting.
2. The most notable change to the GenEd Program requirements occurred in the Knowledge component areas. The components were reduced from five to three and now comprise Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science & Technology.
3. There was discussion regarding exemptions from the Knowledge component requirements and the potential for confusion as to what these exceptions will be under the revised GenEd Program. Faculty Senate President Brown summarized the thrust of this discussion in two points: 1) a broad statement about exemptions is preferable over a detailed and all-inclusive listing and 2) to avoid confusion about exemptions, students should be encouraged to consult with their a advisor for more information on specific exemptions for their major or minor.

1. Hoots highlighted the following recommendations from NORED‘s Final Report that were consistent with its preliminary report: retention of the Colorado Compact Program and a structural realignment in the CSU governance system by separating the CSU President’s Office from the a Chancellor’s Office for the CSU System.
2. The highlight of the Faculty-to-Faculty Conference dealt with a common course numbering system for public higher education institutions throughout Colorado.
3. Colorado State Representative Keith King, who is in charge of drafting legislation facilitating transfer of student course credit under a common course numbering system, asked M. Hoots to help draft the legislation.
4. Hoots described the performance evaluation he provided to the SBA for President Guerrero as relatively global and qualitative in nature.

1. CAPB – Ms. Kathy Brown

1. K. Brown distributed a report compiled by Kathy Shisler in the Records Office, of everything the CAPB has accomplished this semester. This report is available upon request from the Faculty Senate Secretary. From this report, K. Brown highlighted the CAPB’s recommendation supporting 3 new majors that will be presented for CCHE approval:

1. Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems
2. Master of Science degree in Nursing
3. Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies along with concept papers for a minor in Elementary Education

1. T.Taylor motioned to accept the changes and N. Osborn seconded.
2. Questions were raised regarding the paralegal course in Political Science. Since this is a certificate course should it be listed in the University’s course bulletin? An argument was presented by W. Wright that the proper place for a discussion about the appropriateness of the paralegal course is at the department level, not in a meeting of the Faculty Senate. M. Hoots moved to amend the motion by approving the curriculum changes outlined in the CAPB Report with the exception of two political science courses POLSC260 and POLSC261. Hoot’s motion was seconded by K. Brown. The motion failed. A vote was then taken on the original motion to accept the CAPB Report as submitted. Motion carried.

1. APSB – Mr. Paul Sefcovic

1. In regards to the ongoing discussion pertaining to a possible increase in the number of semester contact hours, there was a general discussion as to how contact time is defined (e.g., should final exams count as part of the semester contact time?).
2. APSB is recommending approval of a proposal from the Graduate Studies Committee relating to graduate program policies in two broad areas: specification of just cause for dismissal or termination of a student from a graduate program and the need to improve graduate program quality through implementing higher standards (e.g., prohibiting graduate students from repeating a course a strategy for improving their initial grade). Discussion about the need to increase graduate program standards highlighted the need for USC to have higher standards in order for its graduate programs to be comparable to other graduate programs throughout the country. A motion to accept the more rigorous academic policy standards made by W. Wright and seconded by N. Osborn. Motion carried

1. Faculty Compensation Committee – Dr. Mel Druelinger

1. M. Druelinger reported the following:

1. V. Borge (VP, Financial Services) suggested that to the degree budget resource reallocation occurs when planning next year’s budget, money could be redirected to provide a larger resource base to increase faculty salaries and provide requisite salary equity adjustments. Faculty input during the budget development process is requested. However, not all budgets are candidates for reallocation.
2. M. Druelinger commented on the low attendance by members of the Budget Board during a recent meeting of that board.. He emphasized the importance of timely participation in the budget planning process by board members.

1. The Faculty Compensation Committee submitted a report to President Guerrero identifying concerns over USC faculty salary equity and salary compression. The report also provided recommendations for addressing these concerns. The report is available upon request to Faculty Senate Secretary.

1. Handbook Committee – Dr. Wolfgang Sauer: No report
2. Committee on Committees – Mr. Gayle Abrahamson: No report
3. CFAC Representative - Dr. Pauletta Otis: No report

1. The question was asked as to how the Faculty Senate will address the issue of bringing back football to USC. Faculty Senate President Browne stated that President Guerrero accepted his suggestion to schedule an open forum for faculty as part of the Spring 2001 Faculty Convocation.
2. L. Valerio suggested that affirmative action be viewed as a topic of concern for the Faculty Senate. Faculty Senate President Browne invited Valerio to detail the nature of his concerns at the next meeting of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
3. Dissatisfaction was voiced about the early deadline for faculty to submit applications for tenure and promotion.
4. The recommendation from the NORED report pertaining to Charter Schools needs clarification.
5. The next meeting of the Faculty Senate will be on January 29, 2001 in L-106.

4. Adjournment

• Without objection the Senate meeting was adjourned at 4:59pm

Respectfully submitted,

Dan Sullivan Pamela Parrack

Secretary Recording Secretary