2000-01FC Minutes Meeting #2

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2000-2001 FACULTY COUNCIL
MINUTES
Meeting # 2, Tuesday, September 5, 2000

Present: McKeever (chair), Smelser (vice-chair), Brunsfeld, Chun, Coonts, Finnie, Foltz, Fritz, Goble, Goodwin, Guilfoyle, Haggart (w/o vote), Hong, Kraut, McCaffrey, McClure, Meier, Nelson, Nielsen, Olson, Pitcher (w/o vote), Thompson, Vaughn Absent: Cole Observers: 4

Call To Order. A quorum being present, Faculty Council Chair, Professor Kerry McKeever, called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. in the Idaho Commons.

Minutes. The council, by voice vote, accepted the minutes of the April 25th meeting of the 1999-2000 Faculty Council (meeting #22) and the April 25th meeting of the 2000-2001 Faculty Council (meeting #1) as distributed.

Chair’s Remarks. Chair Kerry McKeever said that she had spent the summer learning a great deal about the history of the U of Idaho and the Faculty Council. She told the council that "I feel newborn, standing in the looming shadow of the history of past Faculty Council Chairs . . . excited about what we can accomplish during this next year." She asked the council to tell her what it is they wish to accomplish during the next year, asking them to develop a relationship with her and that included correcting and helping her become a better leader. McKeever then asked the members of the council to take her "charge" to them – seriously.

McKeever urged the council to develop a strong relationship with their constituents by developing email distribution lists that would enable them to keep their constituents informed, as well as getting feedback from them on issues being discussed by the council. She also charged the council to take on the tough issues that needed to be resolved, such as post-tenure development, the definition of scholarship, morale issues, teaching evaluation, and computing policies.

McKeever implored the council to read the materials and come to the meetings prepared and ready to discuss the issues and make informed decisions. She promised that she would make good use of technology to keep them informed, by posting on the Faculty Council web site (http://www.its.uidaho.edu/facultycouncil) documents pertinent to meetings well in advance of the meeting date.

Finally, Professor McKeever asked the council to govern. She reminded them that it is both a privilege and a responsibility to be a member of the Faculty Council. "What we achieve here affects everyone at the university, and how we achieve it can forge strong bonds between the administration, the staff, the students, and ourselves. We journey together. We represent together. We govern together. We improve the university together. And hope for the best."

Introductions. Chair McKeever introduced ASUI President Bart Cochran, ASUI Vice President Buck Samuel, Staff Affairs Chair Dennis Lincks, and Staff Affairs Vice-Chair Deborah Olson. Each of them indicated that they would keep the council informed of issues that were important to their organizations. Since it was the first council meeting of the new academic year, McKeever asked the members of the council to introduce themselves.

Provost’s Report. Provost Brian Pitcher made the following announcements:

Enrollment figures for the fall semester (as of 9/5/00) indicate that the U of Idaho continues to be on track for a 3-4% overall increase. The numbers are up for all classes of students and it would represent an increase of over 300 FTE students. He thanked all the students, staff, administrators, and faculty members who have worked so hard to help make this happen.

Enrollment for the 2000 summer sessions had increased by 4% overall. In response to a councilor’s question, the Provost said that the enrollment for graduate students should also be up by 4% this fall. He noted that this increase only brings us back up to the level of a couple of years ago and that more attention needs to be paid to this part of the enrollment picture. A task force has been working on a research plan that will speak to the needs of supporting a growing graduate program. There will be several forums this fall to discuss that plan and its recommendations.

The Sherman Bellwood Lectures will feature an address by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Student Union Ballroom at 4:30 pm this coming Thursday.

A team from NASA visited the U of Idaho last week looking at partnership ideas for research and education programs. A memorandum of understanding is being sought between NASA and the U of Idaho.

Year-End Report. The Faculty Secretary, Peter Haggart, called the council’s attention to the traditional year-end report of Faculty Council actions and activities during the past academic year. He noted that the report would also be available to the general faculty on the council web site.

Committee on Committees Report. A report from the Committee on Committees was distributed to the council indicating appointments that had been made to committees over the summer.

The Faculty Secretary noted that the committee booklet that is normally printed each year at this time is now available on the web by addressing: http://www.its.uidaho.edu/facultycouncil/commchairs.html Printed copies of the committee booklet will be made available on a limited basis to departments and individuals. He noted that the web publishing will allow the committee listings to be kept up-to-date.

Special Orders.

Professor Emeritus Peter A. Haggart was confirmed by the council as Secretary to the Faculty Council.

Prior to the election/appointment process, Professor Kraut explained the structure and function of the Budget Liaison Committee [including the fact that the council will be asked to consider expanding the membership of this committee this year] and Professor Meier explained the structure and function of the Campus Planning Committee. Nominated councilors then told the council why they would like to serve on the Budget Liaison Committee.

Budget Liaison Committee. Professor James R. Nelson was elected from the council to a three-year term and Professor John Finnie was appointed from the council to a one-year term (replacing Professor McKeever) on the Budget Liaison Committee.

Campus Planning Committee. Professor Joseph McCaffrey was asked and agreed to serve a three-year term on the Campus Planning Committee. This unusual step was required because the other eligible candidates had been elected to the Budget Liaison Committee or were unwilling to stand for election.

Sabbatical Leaves. It was moved and seconded (Brunsfeld, Meier) to approve the first round of sabbatical leaves as recommended by the Sabbatical Leave Evaluation Committee and approved by the Provost. The approved listing will be posted at the Faculty Council web site. The motion was adopted by a unanimous voice vote.

Councilors’ Proposals for Agenda Items. The following items were presented by council members as needing attention from the council or its committees during the coming academic year:

Classroom Space – particularly the logistics involved during the transition phases when buildings are being constructed or remodeled.
Schedule a Report from the new Information Technology Committee concerning, among other things, network use restrictions and time limits on the modem pool.
Class Size and Class Limits – Is it a problem? Is there a bigger issue? Dene Thomas and Reta Pikowsky will be invited to speak on this subject.
Student Issues – the ASUI President will regularly report student concerns to the council.
Teaching Evaluation Task Force guidelines – the preliminary report, and its subsequent questions and comments will be scheduled to be heard this semester. Also, the validity of the present teaching evaluation instrument was questioned.
Parking Issues – the Parking Task Force will be asked to report to the council. Two parking issues have been decided – (1) increased fees for reserved parking spaces and (2) moving university vehicles from the near parking lots. Councilors specifically mentioned: the parking location for university vehicles (noting a distinction between those vehicles used for academic purposes, i.e. field trips and those used for facilities operations), the number of parking permits issued vs. the number of spaces, and people moving systems for getting people from the outlying parking areas to the center of the campus. Councilor Meier invited council members to email (smeier@uidaho.edu) him their questions and comments for consideration by the task force and noted that this is a very controversial set of issues that will take time to solve.
Leadership Training Task Force – Professor Trotter will report on the progress of this task force at a later date.
Student Honor Code – what happened to its creation?
Faculty Morale Study – keeping it alive with the Employee Friendly Task Force. Improvements in councilors’ abilities to communicate with their constituents will also be addressed.
Responsibility Center Management – more information and discussion on this management plan and university budgeting will be forthcoming, beginning with a presentation by Wayland Winstead at the next council meeting.
New Student Services – how can the faculty, staff, and students help in the recruitment and retention of students? The university has a draft report of recommendations from a consultant and the consultant might be available to speak to the council.
Feedback from University Committees – posting brief summaries of important points arising from committee meetings to the faculty on the web. Also, notification to the council via email containing a link to the new web information is important.
Getting Timely Information to the University Community – a study will be conducted to help determine the best way for the university to get information to the faculty and staff.

Adjournment. There being no other business to come before the council, Professor McKeever adjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Peter A. Haggart,
Secretary of the Faculty Council

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